The Electrical Code

220.14 Other Loads. Other loads will go one letter at a time. So we begin at the beginning with A: all appliances in the United States has a label that tells you all the important things like amperage it uses. If it does not display amperage then it will display watts. Or sometimes both with the required voltage. UL( stands for Underwriters Laboratory) and it requires this. When a device that uses electrical power to operate no material how minimal it needs to conform to these standers or they are not allowed to come into our country. I will make a blog about these labels later on. B: cooking devices can be on for a long duration 220.54 and 220.55 will give you the calculation for this. I don’t want to give it up until then. C: it might seem a waste of time to write something that just leads you to another article but it’s like the table of context. This puts it all together, so not to let you miss anything. D: in a production environment we see this a lot. Where these lights need incandescent so the wattage is much higher than a LED and even though LED’s are the next best thing to sliced bread it does not have the intensity needed and bulbs can’t be replaced with them. Someday soon they will. E: in the event that you install the light for a large Christmas tree this might be something that might interest you, instead of using a regular 120 volt 15 amp plug it might be useful to use a 120 volt 30 amp device and branch off that to the next set of lights. Not difficult. Electrical supply houses around the country have these plugs. I will present a blog about lighting for special events. F: working on signs suck!!! This environment is not just difficult because the installers don’t take into account the fact that someday lighting will fail and will need to be changed. The installers are more interested in the look and how difficult it is to install. The lighting should by now all have LED bulbs that are replaceable. Not those fixed fixture that if they fail you need to replace the entire fixture. For one reason and that is the fixture used today might not be available when it does fail and needs to be replaced. When we run a circuit for those lights it will be operated by a timer and should be no less then a 15 amp circuit all by itself. The equation is I=P/V(I=amp, P=watts, V=volts) so amperage = 1200watts divided by 120 volts. The answer is 10 amps. And since the expense for a 10 amp breaker does not make sense to install we use the next best thing which is 15 amp or more. Don’t forget to increase the wire size when going from15 to 20 amp breaker. G: I am just going to say that I=P/V, 200 divided by 120 volts which is 1.7 amps per linear foot so if your show window is 10 feet long then that is 17 amps, which tells you that 15 amps is to small of a breaker so you need to install a 20 amp breaker and run a 12 gauge wire. H: outlets in hotels, motels, and guest houses that have refrigerators installed in them having 50 linear feet of wall space then its 180/120=1.5×50=75 amps min of power, so you need 5 outlets minimum installed in that room. I: you might ask your self what is a yoke well a yoke is the metal part or metal frame of a receptacle. In the part of this article when we install outlets even if they are convince outlet(outlet placed around the house for convince) they are assumed to pull power because one day when you need it it will pull power and because you have done you calculations correctly the breaker will not trip. J: in this part of the article it refers to 210.11(C)(3), and 210.11(C)(3) says that an outlet suppling the bathroom sink need to be 20 amps and can feed another outlet not serving a counter top can be 15 or 20 amps. It also refers to a Table 220.12 General Lighting Loads by Occupancy. Then it has a third standard that I linked to here 210.70. (K) this part of the article deals with the section of the bank and office buildings. So what they want in simple terms is double of what is generally calculated for a normal receptacle. They continue by saying 2m squared. Which means 6 feet squared. Then the last part of this article which took the longest time of all is (L), this part gives you another number to calculate and that is 180 volt amps. So here it is assumed that each outlet is going to carry 1.5 volts even if there is nothing hooked up to it. So if your running a 15 amp circuit then you can have 8 outlets. That what I would do. How I got this number is 80% of 15 amps is 12 amps and 12 divided by 1.5 you get 8 outlets. 20 amp circuit you get 10 outlets. How again you my ask you get 80% of 20 amps is 16 amps divided by 1.5 = 10.66 you don’t want to go up. You want to round down. So 10 outlets. Simple enough I hope.

“All Occupancies. In all occupancies, the minimum load for each outlet for general-use receptacles and outlets not used for general illumination shall not be less than that calculated in 220.14(A) through (L), the loads shown being based on nominal branch-circuit voltages.

Exception: The loads of outlets serving switchboards and switching frames in telephone exchanges shall be waived from the calculations.

(A) Specific Appliances or Loads. An outlet for a specific appliance or other load not covered in 220.14(B) through (L) shall be calculated based on the ampere rating of the appliance or load served.

(B) Electric Dryers and Electric Cooking Appliances in Dwellings and Household Cooking Appliances Used in Instructional Programs. Load calculations shall be permitted as specified in 220.54 for electric dryers and in 220.55 for electric ranges and other cooking appliances.

(C) Motor Outlets. Loads for motor outlets shall be calculated in accordance with the requirements in 430.22, 430.24, and 440.6.

(D) Luminaires. An outlet supplying luminaire(s) shall be calculated based on the maximum volt-ampere rating of the equipment and lamps for which the luminaire(s) is rated.

(E) Heavy-Duty Lampholders. Outlets for heavy-duty lamp‐holders shall be calculated at a minimum of 600 volt-amperes.

(F) Sign and Outline Lighting. Sign and outline lighting outlets shall be calculated at a minimum of 1200 volt-amperes for each required branch circuit specified in 600.5(A).

(G) Show Windows. Show windows shall be calculated in accordance with either of the following: (1) The unit load per outlet as required in other provisions of this section. (2) At 200 volt-amperes per linear 300 mm (1 ft) of show window.

(H) Fixed Multioutlet Assemblies. Fixed multioutlet assemblies used in other than dwelling units or the guest rooms or guest suites of hotels or motels shall be calculated in accordance with (H)(1) or (H)(2). For the purposes of this section, the calculation shall be permitted to be based on the portion that contains receptacle outlets.

(1) Where appliances are unlikely to be used simultaneously, each 1.5 m (5 ft) or fraction thereof of each separate and continuous length shall be considered as one outlet of not less than 180 volt-amperes.

(2) Where appliances are likely to be used simultaneously, each 300 mm (1 ft) or fraction thereof shall be considered as an outlet of not less than 180 volt-amperes.

(I) Receptacle Outlets. Except as covered in 220.14(J) and (K), receptacle outlets shall be calculated at not less than 180 volt-amperes for each single or for each multiple receptacle on one yoke. A single piece of equipment consisting of a multiple receptacle comprised of four or more receptacles shall be calculated at not less than 90 volt-amperes per receptacle. This provision shall not be applicable to the receptacle outlets specified in 210.11(C)(1) and (C)(2).

(J) Dwelling Occupancies. In one-family, two-family, and multifamily dwellings and in guest rooms or guest suites of hotels and motels, the outlets specified in (J)(1), (J)(2), and (J)(3) are included in the general lighting load calculations of 220.12. No additional load calculations shall be required for such outlets.

(1) All general-use receptacle outlets of 20-ampere rating or less, including receptacles connected to the circuits in 210.11(C)(3)

(2) The receptacle outlets specified in 210.52(E) and (G)

(3) The lighting outlets specified in 210.70(A) and (B)

(K) Banks and Office Buildings. In banks or office buildings, the receptacle loads shall be calculated to be the larger of (1) or (2):

(1) The calculated load from 220.14(I)

(2) 11 volt-amperes/m2 or 1 volt-ampere/ft2

(L) Other Outlets. Other outlets not covered in 220.14(A) through (K) shall be calculated based on 180 volt-amperes per outlet.”