# Recessed lights on one circuit



## jbfan (Jul 1, 2004)

I think you will find that means a total of 6 14/2 cables max for each light. 
Use the max wattage for the fixture you are using to determine how many fixtures to put in.
At 450 watts, you will be fine on a 15 amp breaker.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

i plan to have an equivalent of about a dozen recessed lights on a single 15A circuit, is that too many ?

i am using HALO H99ICT. i have seen bulbs for that going all the way down to 30W though i am using the 45W or 50W ones.

http://www.cooperlighting.com/specfiles/pdf/Halo/H99ICT_specsheet.pdf


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## Bubbagump (Apr 10, 2008)

Yup, I just put in 20 or so of those and it is indeed 6 cables max, not 6 fixtures per circuit. Note there are 6 punch outs on the junction box. 

amakarevic, 12 lights at what wattage each? 4 watts? 1000 watts? 

P=VI so 

In your case assuming 60 watt lamps

P= 12 * 60 = 720 total watts

720 = 110 * x
x= 6.5 amps

6.5 amps nominal use is fine for a 15 amp circuit.

For 100 watt lamps

P = 100 * 12 = 1200 total watts

1200 = 110 * x
x = 10.9 amps

10.9 amps might be pushing it as I personally like to put things at about 50% of circuit capacity.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

Bubbagump said:


> Yup, I just put in 20 or so of those and it is indeed 6 cables max, not 6 fixtures per circuit. Note there are 6 punch outs on the junction box.


bubba, did you put the 20 lights all on the same circuit ?


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## Bubbagump (Apr 10, 2008)

amakarevic said:


> bubba, did you put the 20 lights all on the same circuit ?


NO! There were 4 separate circuits, each with 6-8 recessed lights on each and maybe a closet light or two. On a side note, I love how the housing is like $6 and the trim is like $20. Bastages.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

i think i will go with 45 or 50W bulbs on each light. thanks for laying out the formula for wattage vs. voltage vs. amperage, i was gonna start a separate thread to ask how it is done. but it looks simple enough.

W = A * V, correct ?


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## Bubbagump (Apr 10, 2008)

amakarevic said:


> W = A * V, correct ?


Yup. As a rule of thumb, on 110/120 AC circuits you can estimate 100 watts per amp. This gives a little padding and is easy to do in your head. So 10 100watt lamps estimates out to 10amps.... the real math puts it at 9.09 amps, but with my estimation you have a built in bit of wiggle room slightly under the actual usage. What will be interesting is if incandescents go the way of the dodo with CFLs coming in, in another 10 years we may be putting all sort of lights on a single circuit.


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