How many watts can a standard outlet deliver before it's overloaded? I ask this because occasionally when I'm using a lot of electronic appliances, electricity shuts off in parts of myI have to switch the fuse in order to restoreWhat am I doing wrong? You're not overloading an outlet, you're that each circuit usually supplies power to several outletsFor example, Circuit A might supply power to the four outlets in the master bedroom plus the ceiling light, Circuit B might supply all power to the bathroom, etc. Each circuit is controlled by a breaker or a fuse.  you don't really overload an individual outlet, you overload a You can't tell which circuit an outlet's on just byThe only way to tell is to plug something in, turn it on, and keep turning off breakers (or removing fuses) until the appliance turns off.  make a circuit map of all outlets and lights in your homeOnce you know which outlets are on the circuit that's being overloaded (and which are not), you can

plug some of the offending appliances into outlets onThat way the overloaded circuit won't have to try to supply so much power. Also, if there are any lights on the overloaded circuit, replace them with LED's or compact fluorescent bulbs, which use 70-90% less energy than So, to rephrase your question, how many watts can a circuitthrough wall air conditioner heater unit deliver before it's overloaded?  where is the reset button on my ac unit residential circuits are 15 or 20 amps, so we're looking atoutdoor ac unit covered in ice a max load of either (15A x 120V =) 1800 watts or (20A x 120V =) 2400 watts before the breaker trips.  The breaker will be labeled either 15 or 20. 

I'm unfamiliar with old-style fuse-type circuits but I'm guessing they're also around 15 For continuous loads (on for more than three hours) the limit is 20% lower.  So for 15-amp breaker, you can't draw more than 12 amps from the circuit for more than three hours, or 1440 watts (12A x 120V).  you know, the wattage of a huge window-unit AC or a large electric space heater is... Some people are tempted to swap out a breaker with a larger one to keep it from tripping.  Your home's wiring almost certainly isn't thick enough to handle a higher load. If you put more current through the wiring than it's capable of handling, it can heat up and burn your house down.  If you keep tripping a breaker, just plug some of the offending items into different circuits (or stop using so much electricity to begin with). Thanks to Frank Ketchum for the reference to the National Electric Code. I'm trying to determine how many

amps I'm putting on a circuit so I don't overload it, but I'm having a hard time understanding the labels. instance, my DSL modem adapter says "INPUT: 120V 60Hz 30W" and "OUTPUT: 12VAC 1.67A"  I understand how to convert watts to amps [Watts / Voltage = Amps], so it looks like in this case the input (30 watts or .25 amps) is less than output (200.4 watts or 1.67 amps).  your site says that input is always higher than output. What am I missing? I've heard that it can be a potential hazard to plug a power strip directly into another power strip and that you should rather plug the power strip directly into a wall outlet "only", it thisAlong those same lines, I also heard that you should only plug "one" item into an extension cord even if they have several plugs available. What are the facts? Cincy W., Berkeley, CA My service panel is 125 amps, but the total of the individual breakers inside the panel is

Is my panel overloaded, and is thisI'm so freaked out! about 120 servers running in a computer data center. specs on these say that the power supplies are "Auto-switching 100/240V AC power". Now, if I'm reading your site right, then the most these should draw would be 2 amps --however, we have had five plugged into a 15-amp power strip and the strip has tripped!  is, how can these computers be drawing (as they must be) more than 3 Amps each? First off, the 15-amp rating is only for an instantaneousFor a continuous load, it's likely about 20%So your 15-amp strip is really a 12-amp strip, if the equipment is on constantly. Next, the 100/240V label means that the server can handle any kind of electricity from 100V to 240V, so it will work with the voltage in any country. (US/Japan is 100-120V, mostBut your question wasn't about foreign use, so now that we've taken care of the 100/240V label Next, I don't see where you're getting that your servers

draw a maximum of two amps.  That's unrelated to theIf the maximum number of amps aren't listed, then the number of watts will be, and you divide the number of watts by the number of volts (120V, for the U.S.) to get the number of amps. So let's say that one of those two things is the case and you know your servers should be drawing no more than 10 amps, so why is it tripping your "15-amp" (really 12-amp)There are two possible answers: The first possibility is that you have a faulty power The second possibility is that when the final server or two is switched on the brief power surge when the equipment is turned on is enough to exceed the 15-amp rating of theThe surge you get when you turn on equipment is so brief and so small that you'll never see its effect on your electric bill, but sometimes it's enough to trip a power strip or circuit breaker. If swapping out power strips doesn't work, I suggest getting