Breaker question, breaker box, amps, watts, lights, christmas lights...?

Question

Ok, so I'm putting up Christmas lights and so far am only using one circuit, it's a 15a piggyback breaker. So far my count looks like this:

4650 .41 watt mini lights
50 5 watt C9s

That's around 2150 watts and I have yet to flip the breaker, any idea why? Also it is going through a timer which has a 15amp breaker in it, and there's a GFCI on the circuit, thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Some times what is on paper has little to do with reality. Using a digital (accurate) amp clamp, what is the actual constant load on the circuit? What is your actual voltage on the circuit? And also it is not unusual for a 15 amp circuit breaker to hold 18 amps. It depends on how much heat and dissipation is present in the panel. Before getting to excited, be aware that a #14 wire can handle 20 amps of current with no degradation of it's insulation at all. Now you know why. On the other hand if you have a Federal Pacific breaker, they are known to fail to trip until the house burns down.

Answer 2

Well, my calculations show only 17.9708 amps but that is assuming that you got all that info straight from the carton that the lights came from. If so.....and if they are flashing lights.....that info isn't going to be exactly correct because the info given is going to be current draw if all the lights are lit up all at the same time. The way I came up with that number is actually the correct way.....((4650 x .41w) +(50 x 5w))/120v = 17.9708 amps.....which is exactly what you came up with....the fact that it is on a piggyback breaker has nothing to do with anything and the fact that it is on a GFCI circuit has nothing to do with anything either. Why is it not tripping the breaker??? Is that the question??? The guy ahead of me probably has the right answer....cuz all the Christmas lights aren't all lit up at the same time. If the question is, can you add more Christmas lights to the circuit........the answer......no.......use another circuit.

Answer 3

The reason that you haven't blown a breaker is simple :the lights flash
If only 1/4 of your mini's are on at the same time then the watts become 537.5 /110 =4.88 A and the wire size reflects that 5 A load

Answer 4

Either you've got the wattage wrong somewhere
or you're using a defective breaker.
A 15A. breaker WILL hold 2150 Watts for quite a
while, (thermal trip is time delayed to cover short term
overloads), but if it doesn't trip out at all at that load
over time, it's faulty.
Recheck that load and if it's accurate, stop using
the circuit until the breaker is replaced.