Guys,
I’m building cabinets for a dining room that will have low voltage xenon lights inside. There will be 8 pucks powered by a 120/12V transformer. The outlets for the dining room are on a 20 amp circuit (not the kitchen circuit). Can I draw from the 20A circuit if I use 12/2 wire to the switches and transformer?
Thanks.
FR
Replies
Unless the transformer is stamped that it must be installed on a 15A breaker (or there are words to that effect in the install instructions) I'd say it's OK.
Thanks Dan. A lot of the low voltage transformers allow you to direct wire or plug them in. I'm not sure how, from a load perspective, this would differ from me just plugging the transformer into the existing outlet. But, I'll make sure there are no limitations on the transformer itself. Again, I'll use 12 wire for the hookup. FR
There is no safety problem with wiring the lights to a 20 amp circuit.
But technically there is code problem.
Even if this is a separate circuit is one of the kitchen small appliance circuits.
And you are not not suppose to have lighting on them.
You can have additional receptacles, on none small applicance circuit, that are switched for lighting.
And while I understand the reasoning behind the code I see not problem with doing this.
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
Thanks Bill. I'm generally big on code compliance, but I was struggling here to see what safety issue could arise if everything (wire, transformer, switch) are all 20 amp rated. Especially because, as you mention, I could add a switched outlet and simply plug in the transformer. Because of the layout of the room, I'd have to break open walls to find a 15 amp line to tap. FR
Everyone,
Just to close the loop on this, I had a hard time finding appropriately 20A rated dimmers for the LV lights and I was still concerned about the code issue - even though there does not appear to be a safety issue. I found a lighting circuit with excess capacity not too far away, so I'm going to tap that. Thanks again for the responses.
FR
GoodBut for future reference the switch or dimmer is only needs to be rated for the load, not the circuit rating.Although the wire size needs to be rated for the circuit rating.It is an odd quirk in the code. But I guess that they figure that if the loads change that it is easy to change the switch or not as easy to change the wire..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe