fridge, 150 W — 1.5 A on a 100 V / 15 A circuit

Continuous loads get eight tenths

A breaker does not trip the instant you reach its rating — it holds for a long while first, and the wire warms up in the meantime. So a load running more than three hours is planned to eight tenths of the breaker. On a 16 A breaker that is 12.8 A.

Nearby cells

Same appliance, other circuits

Same circuit, other appliances

How to read this

• Current is the power draw divided by the voltage — a different country gives a different answer.
• The number that fits at once is eight tenths of the breaker divided by that current.
• A power strip stops at 15 A. A bigger breaker does not help; the strip is the ceiling.
• The wire gauge is taken straight from the wire pages.