Today I have chosen to cover a topic that I’m sure every homeowner has dealt with at one time or another. The area of focus on this bright spring morning is overloaded circuits. Like any other subject I cover, my research is generally brought on by an issue I have encountered myself. The particular problem I was faced with was a breaker tripping on the kitchen circuit at my brother’s house. From what I have dealt with in the past, it seems as the kitchen circuit is the most likely place to encounter this issue. The reason being is simple. Most people have a kitchen appliance near almost every receptacle. Whether it be a coffee maker, blender, mixer, griddle, microwave, or even a can opener; we all like these electric luxury items for making home life a breeze. If you are anything like my brother, at this point in the article you’re starting to get worried. You’re thinking, “Well Jake I get what you’re saying, but I just simply can’t do without any of these wonderful tools. I must have my blender for making my nightly chocolate milkshake. And I might need the griddle to whip pancakes up this Sunday morning. And oh goodness if I had to go back to opening cans with one of those antique can openers I just wouldn’t be able to function.” My response would be, you can have any trinkets you want as long as you plan for them. But to do that you must first understand the theory behind a circuit breaker, and the purpose it serves.
The first mistake most people make is trying to run all their kitchen receptacles off of only one or two circuit breakers. You might be thinking, “Okay, what’s the problem with that.” Well it’s time to dig in to the details. The purpose of a circuit breaker is to protect the circuit components from damage. The breaker is meant to trip, stopping current flow through the wire, before the wire heats up and becomes a fire hazard. Almost all 110 volt receptacles in homes built in the not so distant past, are fed with 12 or 14 gauge wire. The breakers in the panel are sized in direct correlation with the wire size. The reason for this is each wire size has a maximum amount of amp draw it is rated for. 12 gauge wires are rated for 20 amps and 14 gauge wires are rated for 15 amps. Any amount of current over the rated value will start to heat up the wire and put it at risk to be damaged or to start a fire.
When deciding how many receptacles to put on one circuit, there are many factors that should be considered. General rule of thumb for living areas, such as bedrooms or great rooms, is figure about 1.5 amp per outlet and don’t exceed 80% of total breaker capacity. So for a 20 amp breaker, you could run 10 outlets on the same circuit. For a 15 amp breaker you could run 8 outlets on the same circuit. Although when it comes to kitchens and bathrooms it is a much better idea to get a clear picture of what will be plugged in to each receptacle so you don’t overload any particular breaker. The MINIMUM requirement by code is that you have two 20 amp dedicated circuits for your counter tops to supply your small appliances in your kitchen. I would suggest even more than two if you have a wide range of appliances.
So you now know that you don’t want to exceed 80% of max capacity on your circuit breakers from our previous discussion. This means with each 20 amp circuit, you have 16 amps to work with. Here is a list of average amp draws for small kitchen appliances based on the specifications of the appliances I have at home combined with tables I found online. The amp draw on your particular appliances may vary a little; you would have to check the equipment specifications to know for certain. But this should give you a good idea of the amperage ranges for different items.
| Appliance | Average Amp Draw |
| Blender | 5 amps |
| Coffee Maker | 7 amps |
| Crock Pot | 1.5 amps |
| Electric Skillet | 8 amps |
| Microwave | 10 amps |
| Refrigerator | 8 amps |
| Toaster | 8 amps |
| Dish Washer | 10 amps |
After referencing the chart above, it is easy to see that many of these appliances should be on a circuit of their own. It is always a good idea to run a refrigerator and a dishwasher each on their own circuit due to the high amperage demand. I also recommend running a microwave on a dedicated circuit as well, especially if you have a convection microwave. With the amp draw up so close to the threshold, you put yourself at risk for a tripped breaker if you have your microwave and coffee maker on the same circuit and have them both running at the same time.
With that being said, you still can’t just assume that a breaker is tripped because it is overloaded. A tripped breaker is generally caused by one of three things in a household setting.
- The circuit is overloaded. As we talked about above, it is very common to find over loaded circuits in households. Especially in the kitchen. The best way to remedy this problem is to add another breaker for the kitchen or problem area and move some of the receptacles off of the overloaded circuit to the new breaker. This problem is a fairly easy fix and easy to diagnose as well. The easiest way to diagnose an overload is to unplug all of the items on that circuit and reset the breaker. If the breaker doesn’t trip then plug one appliance in at a time and start it up. If none of the appliances trip the breaker by themselves, you know you don’t have a shorted appliance or wire and the trip was caused by the circuit simply being overloaded.
- There is a short in either the wire or the appliance. You troubleshoot this is the very same way as a circuit overload. Unplug everything from the circuit and reset the breaker. If the breaker still trips with nothing plugged in then you have eliminated the possibility of an overloaded circuit being the cause. You now know you either have a weak breaker or a shorted wire or receptacle. You should now shut the breaker off and unwire one receptacle at a time to try to find the shorted wire. I usually start at the end of the circuit and work towards the beginning. With each outlet you unwire, you should try the breaker again to see if you are still shorted. Make sure when you unwire the outlet that you cap the wires with wire nuts before restoring power. Once the breaker no longer trips, you know your problem is at the connection you currently have unhooked. If the breaker resets without tripping once everything is unplugged, then you should go through and plug back in the appliances one at a time to make sure you don’t have a shorted appliance. If the breaker trips when you plug in any one appliance, then that particular appliance is shorted and needs to be repaired or replaced.
- The breaker is weak. Although breakers generally don’t go bad just from old age, they can get weak or worn from tripping out too many times. Especially if you have a breaker that has tripped many times before because it has an overloaded circuit, that breaker will eventually get very weak and trip out a lot easier. If you have everything unplugged and the first outlet in the series unwired and the breaker still trips or won’t reset, then the breaker most likely needs replaced.
I will go in to more depth on electrical troubleshooting in later posts, but hopefully there was enough valuable information in this article to give you a clearer understanding of simple home circuits. Also remember that anytime you are dealing with electricity, even if it is just 110 volt circuit, you are at risk of electrical shock and serious injury. Always be safe and make sure that the circuit is De-energized when working on it. And if you do not feel like you have a clear understanding on how to work with electricity safely then please contact a licensed electrician for help with home repairs. Feel free to comment with any questions or send me an email if you want more information.
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