I need to wire three (3) 15 A receptacles. I also have some spare yellow 20 A Romex laying around.
Is there any issue with wiring those up? I got a dedicated 20 A breaker to daisy chain the three.
Welcome to Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement is a question and answer site for contractors and serious DIYers. The core of this site is around parts of your home that are typically included when you buy or sell it, the structure, utilities, and major appliances.
It's built and run by you as part of the Stack Exchange network of Q&A sites. With your help, we're working together to build a library of detailed answers to every question about home improvement.
We're a little bit different from other sites. Here's how:
Ask questions, get answers, no distractions
This site is all about getting answers. It's not a discussion forum. There's no chit-chat.
Just questions...
...and answers.
up vote
Good answers are voted up and rise to the top.
The best answers show up first so that they are always easy to find.
accept
The person who asked can mark one answer as "accepted".
Accepting doesn't mean it's the best answer, it just means that it worked for the person who asked.
Three 15 A receptacles on a 20 A breaker
up vote
14
down vote
2 Answers
up vote
4
down vote
accept
No problem doing what you want to do. Just make sure your cable is #12 AWG. Don't use the backstabs on the outlets, pigtail the first and second outlets on the through cable.
answered Feb 28 at 1:40
JACK
47.8k8 gold badges47 silver badges113 bronze badges
47.8k8 gold badges47 silver badges113 bronze badges
up vote
3
down vote
Yes, that’s fine. The NEC specifically allows multiple 15A receptacles on a 20A branch circuit. You must use 12Ga or larger (if in copper) for all wiring - any 14 and you must use a 15A breaker.
This is an exception to the general rules. You can’t put a single 15A receptacle on a 20A circuit and you can’t do things like putting multiple 20A receptacles on a 30A circuit.
answered Feb 28 at 1:35
nobody
1,9483 gold badges13 silver badges17 bronze badges
1,9483 gold badges13 silver badges17 bronze badges
Get answers to practical, detailed questions
Focus on questions about an actual problem you have faced. Include details about what you have tried and exactly what you are trying to do.
Ask about...
- Questions you would typically ask a home contractor.
- Which tools, materials, and best practices for home improvement task.
- Identifying the source or cause of a problem within your home.
- National building codes (of any country).
- Installation, maintenance, and repair of major appliances.
- Carpentry and woodworking.
Not all questions work well in our format. Avoid questions that are primarily opinion-based, or that are likely to generate discussion rather than answers.
Questions that need improvement may be closed until someone fixes them.
Don't ask about...
- Anything not directly related to home improvement
- Hobby projects, decorating advice or landscaping.
- The cost of a job or the price of tools as these will vary between locations and over time.
- Questions that are primarily opinion-based
- Questions with too many possible answers or that would require an extremely long answer
Tags make it easy to find interesting questions
All questions are tagged with their subject areas. Each can have up to 5 tags, since a question might be related to several subjects.
Click any tag to see a list of questions with that tag, or go to the tag list to browse for topics that interest you.
Three 15 A receptacles on a 20 A breaker
up vote
14
down vote
I need to wire three (3) 15 A receptacles. I also have some spare yellow 20 A Romex laying around.
Is there any issue with wiring those up? I got a dedicated 20 A breaker to daisy chain the three.
asked Feb 28 at 1:14
Merkd
3292 silver badges7 bronze badges
3292 silver badges7 bronze badges
You earn reputation when people vote on your posts
Your reputation score goes up when others vote up your questions, answers and edits.
+10
question voted up
+10
answer voted up
+15
answer is accepted
+2
edit approved
As you earn reputation, you'll unlock new privileges like the ability to vote, comment, and even edit other people's posts.
| Reputation | Privilege |
|---|---|
| 15 | Vote up |
| 50 | Leave comments |
| 125 | Vote down (costs 1 rep on answers) |
At the highest levels, you'll have access to special moderation tools. You'll be able to work alongside our community moderators to keep the site focused and helpful.
| 2000 | Edit other people's posts |
|---|---|
| 3000 | Vote to close, reopen, or migrate questions |
| 10000 | Access to moderation tools |
Improve posts by editing or commenting
Our goal is to have the best answers to every question, so if you see questions or answers that can be improved, you can edit them.
Use edits to fix mistakes, improve formatting, or clarify the meaning of a post.
up vote
9
down vote
No problem doing what you want to do. Just make sure your cable is #12 AWG. Don't use the backstabs on the outlets, pigtail the first and second outlets on the through cable.
answered Feb 28 at 1:40
JACK
47.8k8 gold badges47 silver badges113 bronze badges
47.8k8 gold badges47 silver badges113 bronze badges
You don't have to pigtail, but it'll be easier to push the recep back into the box if you do. Another "ease the pain" trick is use metal boxes + "self-grounding" receps. Then you land the grounds on the metal box (which you always must do) first, and then grounds are out of your way. Then the recep picks up ground off the mounting screw threads. 1 less wire to wrestle! - Harper - Reinstate Monica Feb 28 at 2:48
Unlock badges for special achievements
Badges are special achievements you earn for participating on the site. They come in three levels: bronze, silver, and gold.
| Student | First question with score of 1 or more |
| Editor | First edit |
| Good Answer | Answer score of 25 or more |
| Civic Duty | Vote 300 or more times |
| Famous Question | Question with 10,000 views |
Sign up to get started
Signing up allows you to:
- Earn reputation when you help others with questions, answers and edits.
- Select favorite tags to customize your home page.
- Claim your first badge: Informed
Looking for more in-depth information on the site? Visit the Help Center
Home Improvement Stack Exchange is part of the Stack Exchange network
Like this site? Stack Exchange is a network of 177 Q&A sites just like it. Check out the full list of sites.
Use comments to ask for more information or clarify a question or answer.
You can always comment on your own questions and answers. Once you earn 50 reputation, you can comment on anybody's post.
Remember: we're all here to learn, so be friendly and helpful!