Please don’t laugh at how paranoid I am.
I have to plug in the TV, VCR and cable box. That’s 3 appliances, but there’s only 2 wall outlets. What should I use? Is it safe to use one of those adaptor things (don’t know what the technical term is) that lets you plug 2 things into one outlet? It’s got plugs on 3 sides and on the 4th side it goes into the outlet. Will I blow the circuits in my apartment?
Depending on the amp usage you can have up to 12 appliances on a single wall socket (if all separately fused) without too much problems. In the UK that is.
Not sure about in the US. Probably still reliant on the amps drawn from the appliances in use.
peedin, it is much better to be safe than sorry. Considering how many fires are started by people who didn’t ask first, the wise thing to do is ask if you have any doubts. Always.
In the US, if the wiring is in good order, you should be able to plug a total of 1600 W in those couple outlets witout problem and your three items would not add to anywhere near that so you are safe. You can just get one of those triple adaptors. If the appliances have three prongs make sure the triple adaptor is of the same kind and you should be safe.
Can you really start a fire by overloading an outlet? Are you talking about the the case where the breaker (or fuse) happens to be faulty?
By the way, electronics don’t use that much power. It’s the kitchen equipment you really have to worry about. The TV, VCR and cable box probably use less power total than your microwave.
The fire starts when the wiring in the wall overheats from too much juice.
People that don’t ask if it’s okay to put a 20 amp circuit breaker in place of the 15 amp one (it’s not okay), and do it anyway, are the ones who cause the fires.
Peedin: It’s safe, but I really hate like using those “three-to-one” adapters. It’s been my experience that the downward force produced by the combined weight of the three power cables tends to pull the adapter out of the wall socket. (However, this is less of a concern if the power cables are the small gage / two conductor type.) Anyway, my preference is to use a power strip. The wiring will look a lot cleaner (you will only have one power cable going to an outlet instead of three), and you’ll have four to six outlets. Some even have a built-in circuit breaker. Less than $5 (well worth it).
If the house wiring hasn’t been changed after original construction, assuming a house built since the electrical codes has been in place, there shouldn’t be any problem.
Most fires don’t start in the house wiring because the wiring and outlets will handle the maximum current of the circuit breaker or fuze. Putting pennies in the fuze box to get the power back after a fuze blew used to be one problem. The fuze blew for a reason so bypassing it is foolish. People also would put larger current rating fuzes in if the original one kept blowing because of overloading. Circuit breakers are used now and have been for a long time.
However, the wiring from the outlet to the appliance and wiring inside most appliances will overheat if there is a short circuit in the appliance. This is also true of many of the extension cords that people use. I think this is a weakness in the electrical code. Each appliance should have an individual fuze or breaker, sized to protect the wiring of that particular appliance.
Yep, you can start a fire. If the wiring and/or outlet is faulty.
Let’s say you pulling 14 amps from an outlet that’s on a 15-amp breaker. The breaker won’t trip, and everything is hunky-dory, right? But let’s say the wiring has some bad connections… now it’s unsafe. A connection with a mere 1-ohm resistance will produce almost 200 watts of heat. Not good.
Connections should be clean, tight, and low resistance. The alternative is smoke-city.
I agree, but it must be kept in mind that the mere act of installing a 20-amp outlet on a 15-amp circuit won’t cause a fire. It will only become a danger when someone actually plugs a 20-amp appliance into it…
Speaking of which, how many 120 VAC / 20 amp appliances are out there anyway? I once saw an air conditioner with a 20-amp plug, but that was a while ago. Are they still common?
I have yet to see a 20 amp 120VAC appliance designed for residential use. We have some servers here that go over the 15 amp limit, but I don’t think that’s what you meant.
Yes, but the usual reason for people pluggin in a 20 amp breaker on a 15 amp circuit is that their old, appropriate breaker kept triggering. When your breaker is always triggering, it is not a problem with the breaker. It is a problem with what you are plugging in. If you must plug in more than your breaker can handle, hire an electrician to re-wire that circuit.
The problem whit those triple adapters is that they tend to start falling out but still make contact so things still work but becuase the plug is not all the way in the outlet you could start heating the connection between the plug and outlet. As suggested about get a power strip.
Each outlet doesn’t go to it’s own seperate breaker. Three 6 amp devices on the circuit will put a total of 18 amps on your 15 amp wiring, but won’t blow the 20 amp breaker.
Technically, it’s too much resistance which creates the heat to start a fire… but, in practice, we do add up amperage (juice) don’t we? - Jinx
Um, really truly technically, neither the current nor the resistance causes a fire. It is the unfortunate coincidence of too much of one or the other or both – when both are present – that causes the electrical energy to be released as thermal energy at the point of highest resistance in a circuit.
As to the OP, peedin, if the place where you live was built and/or wired within the past fifty years, I doubt that you have a single circuit in the place that’s protected by a fuse or breaker rated at less than 15 amps. Since the combined draw of the A/V stuff you want to use is probably in the range of 5-8 amps, you’re quite safe in plugging all three into an appropriate power strip using a single outlet.
I’m a big fan of splitters like this, a surge protector that plugs into both outlets and gives you six new plugs. It plugs right over the outlet, so there’s no cord or anything, which I find reduces the cable clutter a bit. And they’re much, much harder to accidentally yank loose from the wall than those three-outlet splitters; I’ve even seen some that have a screwhole in the middle so you can remove the center screw and wallplate on your outlet, plug in the surge protector, and screw it on nice and tight.
Shop around, I’m sure you can find a kind you like.
Huh? I wasn’t referring to replacing the breaker; I referring to the act of swapping a 15 amp outlet for a 20 amp outlet.
Let’s say Joe Homeowner has a 15-amp circuit. This means the wiring is 14-gage, the outlet is rated for 15 amps, and the breaker trips at 15 amps. Now Joe gets the bright idea (for whatever reason) of replacing the 15-amp outlet with a 20-amp outlet. Is this dangerous? Well, yes, but in all honesty it really depends. If no one ever plugs an appliance in that has a 20 amp plug, then it’s safe. The danger, of course, is that the outlet can accommodate a 20-amp plug, and if someone were to actually plug an appliance in (with a 20-amp plug) you could overheat the wiring.
Max’s idea of a splitter is good. Myself, I’m a fan of power bars . . . you know, the kind with an on/off or reset switch.
The wire is not necessarily 14 gauge, but most likely is. However, it doesn’t matter if Joe puts a 20 amp outlet on the circuit. The breaker will still blow at 15 amps. Same situation as when you plug to 10 amp appliances into a 15 amp circuit. The problem would arise if someone put in a 20 amp outlet, forgets about it, and then wonders why he has a 15 amp breaker on a circuit that appears to be 20 amps, and replaces it. Now he can run more current through the wire than it’s rated at. Even if Joe Homeowner just replaces the breaker, now there is an outlet that can’t handle that much current as well as the wiring.
Well, Delta-9 was referring to the breaker. In your scenario there’s still a 15 amp breaker (presumably) on the line, so you’re just going to trip the breaker. And if the breaker was replaced with a 20 amp breaker, that is the act that created the fire hazard, with or without the 20 amp outlet.
Here’s a link that talks about 20 amp plugs and outlets, for those who are wondering.