Quote:
Originally Posted by jyl
Oh, that is something I haven’t considered. Yes, in terms of amperage, some of the excess circuits could surely be combined. I need to read up on how it is correctly done, though. Do I bring two hots of 120 v circuits together in a pigtail then connect to a single breaker, etc.
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What Zeke said. Also, as Zeke hinted, there is something you need to know if you are combining 120V circuits. Trace the incoming cables and connections.....right down into the hot and neutral busses which are behind the circuit breakers, notice there is one neutral
and two hot circuits. Between either of the hot circuits and the neutral, there are 120 Volts.
BETWEEN THE TWO HOT CIRCUITS THERE ARE 240 VOLTS!.
What this means for you is that if you combine two black wires coming from breakers, there is a 50% chance there will be zero Volts between them,
AND A 50% CHANCE THERE WILL BE 240 VOLTS BETWEEN THEM.
So....don't do that.
Sorry for shouting.
However, if you are consolidating circuits then you are not combining black wires coming from breakers. Instead, you are combining black wires coming into your panel from your house. Combining those black wires should work....subject to the limitations Zeke mentions. You are probably twisting three wires into a wire nut. Two of them energize circuits you want to combine, and the third one goes into the circuit breaker. Easy Peezy, subject to considerations like keeping lighting circuits separate from outlet circuits, and also considering the current draw through those outlet circuits.
What I don't know is whether an electrician would feel the need to also identify and combine the matching neutral (white) wires for those circuits you are combining. I wouldn't think this would be necessary, but with electricity there can be surprises. I would feel comfortable not combining those neutral wires. Just leaving the white wires alone.