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How To Determine How Much Power You Have

http://homerepair.about.com/od/electrical/ht/determinepower.htm
Bill Lewis

How well your hair dryer or computer or television or even your light bulbs will work depends on how good the power to them is. One of the most common mistakes in home wiring and home electricity use is overloading a branch circuit. Determining whether this may be the case in your home isn't hard at all.

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 10 minutes or less.
Here's How:

1. Find the circuit breaker or fuse - If you suspect that one of your circuits is being asked to do too much, you need to find out what it should be able to do. If you don't know which breaker or fuse is protecting that circuit, do this: plug a radio into a receptacle that's part of the circuit and turn it up loud enough that you can hear it when you're at the electrical panel. At the panel, turn the breakers off and back on, or unscrew and re-screw the fuses one at a time. Radio off? That's it.

2. Note the amperage of the fuse or circuit breaker - Screw-in electrical fuses have their rating printed on the face of the fuse. Take the fuse all the way out and carry it to a good light if you have difficulty reading it. Circuit breakers have their value marked on the tip of the trip handle. What you're looking for is a number that should be either 15 or 20.

3. Note the voltage - Look at the schedule on the inside of the panel door. It will have the voltage printed on it It may be in the form of two numbers separated by a slash, as in "240/120." If so, you want the smaller number - the one following the slash. In North America, most homes have 120 volt branch circuits. In other parts of the world, the voltage may be more - usually 240.

4. Calculate the watts available - Watt's Law states that watts equal volts times amps (W=V x A).

5. 15 amp circuits - A 15 amp, 120 volt circuit has 1,800 watts of power available for all the devices plugged into it (15 x 120 = 1,800).

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