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I am running on 20A wiring (12/2) and replacing some unexpected knob and tubing-the previous owner thought it was a good idea to replace the knob & tubing in the basement and give the appearance the wiring was more modern than it really was. Good thing I am doing this.. so I have 5 separate runs upstairs - 1 for each of 3 bedrooms, 1 for the bathroom, and the last I was going to do the lighting on.

So I have a question.

I was originally planning on having one circuit for each room including the lighting? But having the lighting on a separate circuit seems like a good idea as well. Is there some convention that I should try to adhere? I mean which is the best route... Each room, including the light has it's on circuit or each room has it is own circuit, expect for the lighting (throughout the house-for the most part) - which will be on a separate circuit. Maybe put some of the common electricity, e.g., hallway lighting. on a separate circuit? Please chime in with some advice - I want to start wrapping up this project.

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  • One lighting circuit can be shared among rooms, especially with LED. Consider >1 circuit per bedroom. PC, laser printer and 1500W heater will overwhelm a 20A circuit. If you're drilling holes, consider EMT conduit at least to junction boxes near your destination, and THWN in the conduit, and the conduit is the ground. Max 4 circuits per conduit. – Harper Jan 2 '17 at 6:46
  • Some circuits perhaps need to be wired for 20 amp with 12/2. On the other hand 14/2 (15 amp) is much easier to work with. – Tyson Jan 2 '17 at 12:29
  • Do you have a floorplan you can post? Also, where's the main panel located? – ThreePhaseEel Jan 2 '17 at 12:37
  • No - I do not have a real floor plan. One circuit has over 27 connections so I trying to segment it down. Apparently the previous homeowner must have thought that replacing all the breakers with 20A breakers solves that breaker tripping problem without thinking that the wiring is well below 20a - there was at best 14/2 on some circuits and some was the original knob and tubing. Removing the first part of my question - in hopes of getting a focused answer sorry for not splitting it earlier. – ecco88 Jan 3 '17 at 19:20
  • @ecco88 can you draw us a floorplan then? That'd get us an idea of how challenging this house would be to rewire. Also, can you get your paws on two circuit (14/2/2 and 12/2/2) NM cable? – ThreePhaseEel Jan 3 '17 at 23:22

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