electrical issue 234RK

[jsbrule]

It seems that a coffee pot and a small electical heater continue to "pop" the breaker. Is this common or should I read a little deeper into this? jeff

 

[JeffS]

It can be normal, depending on the wattage of each. A small heater can still be 1500W which is max on a 15A breaker. To be sure, you'd need to add up the devices and compare to the breaker size.

 

[George]

Probably normal. As JeffS said; add up your loads. There may be other small draws on the same circuit too.
To find amps if you only know watts — divide the sum of all wattages by 120. e.g. 1800W / 120V = 15A
If you're under 15A by a few amps and still tripping the breaker you may have a weak breaker or an appliance that is drawing more the it's rated for. Test with a clamp-on ammeter.
Remember electricity runs on smoke; if you let any smoke out it might quit working.😉 Be safe.
.
P.S. Our solution to this was to map out which outlets are on which circuit and put the heater on one and the coffee pot on the other.

 

[jsbrule]

thank you both for responding. I just signed up on this site and your responses are refreshing and helpful,

so when can i use the hammer?

thanks again

 

[Lantley]

A coffe pot and heater can easily trip a 15 amp circuit. This is normal

 

[BryanValRox]

It seems that a coffee pot and a small electical heater continue to "pop" the breaker. Is this common or should I read a little deeper into this? jeff

Just remember that many devices “cycle” when in use.
So if you have multiple devices on the same circuit, depending on the combined load at the time of use, it would be easy to pop a breaker.
Heaters and Coffee pots draw high amperage when they cycle.

 

[7426TRISS]

You can also Google an ohm's law calculator and enter two values.

Also agree with above, coffee pot and heater will not work on same circuit.

 

[Midnight Rider]

I have two coffee pots on kitchen counter. Can’t run both at same time, always pop’s.
I just run them separately.

 

[Lantley]

I have added 3 dedicated circuits to allow me to run space heaters without interfering with anything else.

 

[BryanValRox]

I have added 3 dedicated circuits to allow me to run space heaters without interfering with anything else.

Lantley, l am courious, did you repurpose the dryer and dishwasher prep for two of them?
And what approach did you take for the third?

Or, did you add a sub panel or take another strategy?

Willing to share the details?

 

[Lantley]

Lantley, l am courious, did you repurpose the dryer and dishwasher prep for two of them?
And what approach did you take for the third?

Or, did you add a sub panel or take another strategy?

Willing to share the details?

Yes I'm using 1 washer circuit. 1 dryer circuit, 1 dishwasher breaker circuit, My DW is actually tied to the fireplace and uses some sort of power management box to share power between dishwasher and fireplace (I think the breaker labeling is a factory mistake).
My DW breaker is actually wired to the outlets on either side of the sofa not the DW. With that in mind I used the breaker labeled DW to run a dedicated line to my kitchen island to accommodate a space heater that is mounted to the island.
I turned the dryer outlet around to face the bedroom and I plug a space heater into it.
I have added an outlet on the side of the cabinet at the entry door that contains the breaker panel. I can plug in a space heater there as well.
I use oil filled radiator type heaters.

 

[Midnight Rider]

Yes I'm using 1 washer circuit. 1 dryer circuit, 1 dishwasher breaker circuit, My DW is actually tied to the fireplace and uses some sort of power management box to share power between dishwasher and fireplace (I think the breaker labeling is a factory mistake).
My DW breaker is actually wired to the outlets on either side of the sofa not the DW. With that in mind I used the breaker labeled DW to run a dedicated line to my kitchen island to accommodate a space heater that is mounted to the island.
I turned the dryer outlet around to face the bedroom and I plug a space heater into it.
I have added an outlet on the side of the cabinet at the entry door that contains the breaker panel. I can plug in a space heater there as well.
I use oil filled radiator type heaters.

Genius!