[Rapewta]

Well if you get out your NEC (National Electrical Code) book or your Ugly's, You are correct.
A compressor that has a starting current at 6 times the running current (15 amps) and only runs continuous for a couple minutes is not going to heat up #14 THHN or any Romex protected by a 20 amp thermal circuit (Home Depot) breaker.
The electrical engineers that come up with the codes always over protect.

40 years in IBEW and IAM. Everything from 500 thousand volt transmission protection to
lowly 12 thousand volt distribution circuits and God forbid... House wiring... a 15 amp running current @ 120 Vac on a #14 wiring circuit protected by a 20 amp beaker is not going to cause any electrical problems.
Code? No.