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142nmb, 14-3????
- Thread starter monkers
- Start date
sberry
Banned
14 will work for 800 watts, about half loaded.
foolishpride
Well-known member
I dont know what you mean about half loaded, 8 100 watt bulbs but I could only use half of them? (im not much of an electrician, sorry for the dumb questions) so if i used 12-2 i could run all 8 bulbs??
What he meant was having the 8 bulbs will only use about 50% of the allowable maximum load on the #14 wire. By using Ohms Law, those 8 bulbs will draw a little over 6 amps.
you know, I thought that after I responded.....sorry guys....thank you for the help, where could I find a chart or guide to help me with this stuff, like what size wire for what etc.....or is it way more involved than I should get.....thank you again for the quick replies, tryin to learn a little....
sberry
Banned
You are doing fine, there are exceptions but generally for fixed loads you want no more than 80% of circuit capacity.
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
14-3 is probably 14-3 w/grd, and you only need 14-2 w/grd.
14-3 w/grd has a white, a red, and a black wire, plus a bare wire for ground.
With incandescent bulbs all you need to do is take the wattage and divide by the voltage (120) to get the amps. Thus each 100 watt bulb draws .83 amps. Lighting loads are continuous and as such you cannot exceed 80% of the circuit rating. So on a 14 gauge wire/15 amp circuit, you are limited to 12 amps........ and on a 12 gauge/20 amp circuit, you are limited to 16 amps.
Not sure why you want to use 100 watt bulbs, thats a lot of current burning up. I'd consider compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) instead.
Charles
14-3 w/grd has a white, a red, and a black wire, plus a bare wire for ground.
With incandescent bulbs all you need to do is take the wattage and divide by the voltage (120) to get the amps. Thus each 100 watt bulb draws .83 amps. Lighting loads are continuous and as such you cannot exceed 80% of the circuit rating. So on a 14 gauge wire/15 amp circuit, you are limited to 12 amps........ and on a 12 gauge/20 amp circuit, you are limited to 16 amps.
Not sure why you want to use 100 watt bulbs, thats a lot of current burning up. I'd consider compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) instead.
Charles
Last edited:
thank you for the help, Im using 100 watt bulbs becaause the garage is (for now) un-heated, so in the cold weather the fluorescent bulbs usually take some time to start up. Now, I plan on using a Miller trailer furnace (oil, not propane) to warm up the shop while in there, so I will probably put a couple ceiling outlets above the benches, welding area etc to plug in some 4' fl. lts I have that have a string switch to use only the ones I want when I need them. If you see any thing wrong with my plan please tell me ok, thanks for the help guys
Gary S
Well-known member
They make florescents rated for 0 degrees F, and also for -20 degrees F if you need that.