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I have a small studio and I share it with someone else. We are worried that the elecetrics might now be safe because we're overpowering them.

Can anyone tell me what is the maximum wattage you can suck out of one plug socket before it gets dangerous? And what are the dangers?

Cheers

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Comments

MisterBlue Tue, 01/27/2004 - 10:18

If your house is properly wired the fuses should pop before there is any other damage done. Usually these are 10 Ampere, 16A, 20A etc. which translates into 2200W, 3520W and 4400W worth of devices that you can connect (assuming you are in Germany, it's 220V times the Ampere number). Quite a bit ! I suggest you check in your electrical box to see what size fuses are in there.

Another things you might want to test is if any of the connectors that go right into the wall outlet get warm (or even hot). That is not something that you really want to see happen for a longer period of time. Alternatively you can pull some of the power from a different circuit in the house. Might take a little effort to find one that is convenient.

Hope this helps.

MisterBlue.

anonymous Tue, 01/27/2004 - 10:30

In theory, it should not get dangerous. That is why you have fuses or circuit breakers. They should pop before you have any problems.

But depending upon the age of your structure, who did the wiring, etc, etc, there could be other elements in play.

For the sake of safety, if you think that you have any real concerns in this area, it would be smart to have a professional look it over. You cannot get a 'safe' answer on line.

When I remodelled my place I found a mixture of wiring from all ages... knob and tube, BX, romex... all running into 2 fuses in a 60 amp panel. Neddless to say, I pulled all new wire, put in a new panel, and a new ground.

Bill