Hey Electricians: Lights and outlet receptacles on the same circuit?
Mark_Fine_Homebuilding_Techeditor
| Posted in Code Questions on
I know it’s not a code requirement (there are exceptions of course), but how many of you electricians out there keep living-space lighting circuits separate in order to prevent folks from fumbling around in the dark if they blow a circuit on a regular outlet? Or do you always combine lighting and outlets in a bedroom, den, living room, etc?
Replies
I'm not a professional electrician, but that won't stop me from having an opinion. :-) I worked for an electrical contractor way back in the early 80s while building up a woodworking clientele. They always kept the circuits separate, as I do now on my own shop and home projects. You can run 14ga wire for lots of lighting circuits, saving money and making it easier to run lots of drops, not filling boxes up as much as 12ga. They're also limited to 15Amps (12 net Amps) per circuit. Running 12ga to receptacles, where you're likely to have heavier loads, and 20Amp circuits (16 net Amps), also makes sense.
This was added after my initial response: It should be an easy calculation to see if the added cost of keeping the circuits separate is worth the extra cost of Romex, which is insanely expensive these days.
I was never a pro sparky either but outside the perfect world remo work addons
can overload 14 ga wire real fast. I advise just say no to 14 ga, if you can't afford it downsize the job else where.
BTW, in some rooms, bedrooms for example, lighting and receptacle circuits are already the same, with switch-controlled receptacles (often split receptacles) for lamp lighting, and no ceiling lights.
That's true!