Let’s say I have 15 20w light bulbs that I wish to power off of a standard US 120v AC socket.
How many can I run off this outlet?
In general, what’s your average home duplex outlet going to provide to me? Can I plug in 4 300w Dell computers and not burn the place down?
Wiring’s up to 1984 Florida code, if that matters.
Thanks!
Remember that electircal power (watts) is the product of voltage and current. So to determine how many watts of power you can safely draw from an outlet you need to know what current (amperage) it is rated for. I don’t know about Florida, but up here in the great white north household wiring is typically rated for 15 amps.
Thus, 15 amps times 120 volt = 1800 watts
This translates to 90 of your 20 watt light bulbs or 6 Dell computers.
The one caveat to this is that you usually find more than one outlet connected to a circuit, in which case you have to make sure that the total load for everything plugged into all of these outlets doesn’t exceed the circuits capacity.
wow, that’s a lot!!
I was only hoping for 15 
goes off to buy 15 cleat sockets and some wire
I sincerely hope you’re joking. Many electrical fires occur from home made extensions and other distribution systems that well meaning homeowners cobble together.
ohhhhhhhhkay…
then what would you recommend I do?
I can figure out simple wiring, not too hard to do… they don’t sell what I want, not that I’ve seen