15A recepts on circuits protected by 20A breakers??

17 years ago

I have studded out a bedroom in my basement which of course means more branch circuits for wall outlets. This is a long term project which I haven't touched for several months due to illness. I hired an electrician to wire it a few months ago, and I asked him if he could use some receptacles which I had bought earlier and never used, he said sure and now I have all six wired up in that room. Then I discovered today that they are all 15A recepts (which I had not noticed previously) and are on 20A breakers and #12 wiring. I came upstairs and checked outlets in several rooms and found that they are also 15A recepts. As far as I can determine all my house's receptacle circuits are #12 wire on 20A breakers and use 15A recepts. This was all passed by inspectors about 10 years ago when the house was built so I assume it's compliant. I looked at 20A recepts at Home Depot today and I see they have a different slot pattern than the 15A. The 20A has 2 vertical slots and 1 short horizontal slot that intersects the vertical slot on the common side. That makes them easy to identify at a glance, and I haven't seen that type recepts in any of my neighbor's homes. I'm pretty sure those houses also have 20A breakers and #12 wire circuits since the same builder built them at about the same time. I guess my question is, is it OK to use 15A recepts on circuits protected by 20A breakers, and if it is wouldn't the first 15A recept downline from the breaker panel limit that entire branch to no more than a 15A load? And do I need to replace all my 15A recepts with 20A?

I'm probably botching up this question and confusing whoever reads it, but I don't know how to explain it any better.

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Comments (5)

dozer
17 years ago
No botching. You explained yourself very well.

There is no problems with your situation. It is allowable.

BTW: your recepts area actually desigend to recieve 15 or 20 amp plugs. A 20 amp recep layout is actually the (with the ground hole on the bottom ) a vertical slot on the right and a horizontal only slot on the left.
petey_racer
17 years ago
As long as there is at least one duplex receptacle on the circuit yes, 15 amp receptacles are fine on a 20 amp circuit.
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petey_racer
17 years ago
I forgot to mention for clarity. This is the code for the US.
Canada is different.
bigbird_1
17 years ago
Very different in Canada. 5-20R 20A T-slot recepts on a 20A cc't.
empjr
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks guys, I feel a lot better now about the electrician I hired. For a while there today I wasn't real sure if the job he did here was properly done, but now I am.

This website has been a great help to me in the last couple of weeks now that I'm able to get back to working on my basement BR again. Where else will pros tell DIYers how to do stuff they get paid big bucks for doing?

15A recepts on circuits protected by 20A breakers??

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15A recepts on circuits protected by 20A breakers??

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