220 Volt 15 Amp dryer in a regular (30 amp) outlet???

14 years ago

If I have a Miele dryer that is designed for 220 volt 15 amp electric capacity, can I plug it in to a regular (regular in the US anyway) 220 volt 30 amp outlet?

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Comments (5)

regus_patoff
14 years ago
model number ?

You would need to change the house Circuit Breakers to 15A's and change the Wall Outlet to fit your Dryer Cord.

May depend on local electrical codes..
wa8b
14 years ago
It should be just fine. If you stop and think about it, circuits for kitchen outlets are usually rated at 20 amps. That doesn't mean that you can only plug in appliances rated at 20 amps. No single appliance in the kitchen is likely to draw that much power, the circuits are simply designed to readily handle several appliances operating at one time. You don't have to worry when you plug in a single appliance that draws less.

There's really no reason to change the breaker on the dryer circuit to one rated for 15 amps. All of the wiring should be sufficiently sized and rated to handle 30 amps, so there's no danger of overloading the circuit when operating a 15 amp appliance.

However, if you're really concerned about it, you could order the Miele "Easy-Install" kit (about $200). It's designed to plug into a 30 amp outlet, then split the power into two separately fused 15 amp outlets. It isn't really necessary, though.
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regus_patoff
14 years ago
> There's really no reason to change the breaker on the dryer circuit to one rated for 15 amps.

I disagree...

Are you saying perhaps if I had a 100 A outlet (and 100 A wiring),
I wouldn't need any smaller fuse/circuit breaker to connect my Dryer to ?

I could connect it directly to the Main Breaker Box since it's protected with 200 A Main Breakers ?
weedmeister
14 years ago
"Are you saying perhaps if I had a 100 A outlet (and 100 A wiring),
I wouldn't need any smaller fuse/circuit breaker to connect my Dryer to ?
"

yes. I routinely plug in a 1-amp load into a 20-amp circuit with no problems. So plugging in a 15-amp load into a 30-amp circuit will also be no problem.
dadoes
14 years ago
The dryer will run on the 30-amp breaker. A breaker does not control how much current is allowed through during normal operation. The concern is that a too-large breaker may not protect the machine properly if a problem occurs. Current draw will run higher than it should and possibly damage the appliance. A 20-amp breaker would be better. It's a simple-enough matter to change the breaker. My dryer is rated 24 amps, is on a 30-amp circuit.

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220 Volt 15 Amp dryer in a regular (30 amp) outlet???

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regus_patoff

wa8b

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