Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - #of lights per run of track lights

How do I calculate the number of light fixtures a 12 ft. run of track lights will handle? The light fixture I like uses 50 watt bulbs. Is there voltage use of the fixture itself? I've tried playing with the formula W=V.A but the numbers I come up with don't seem realistic. (help, math was 35 years ago). :wall:

The track systems should have given you a limit? No?

I would say (6) lamps, so that would be 300W.

A 20amp circuit can handle 2400w's. 15 amp circuit can handle 1800w

Thanks for the reply. That is what I came up with. I read in an article not to overload the circuit but they said not to go over 20 amps which would be a lot of lamps. I'll check with the supplier to be sure.

The light won't overload the circuit alone, you just have to know what else shares that circuit with it.....

A 12-foot track would have to hold forty-eight 50-watt lights to draw 20 amps at 120 volts.

For pure resistive loads like light bulbs, the formula is P=I*E
P = power (watts)
I = current (amps)
E = voltage

Put another way: I = P/E

It's never a good idea to fully load a circuit, though. Also many residential lighting circuits are 15 amps, not 20. 15 amps = thirty-six 50-watt lamps.

You are talking about 120-volt lamps, right? Not a low-voltage track with a transformer? In that case, the transformer dictates the maximum cumulative wattage of the lamps on the track. It's a good idea to leave 20% headroom on a power transformer. (Example, four 20-watt lamps on a 100-watt transformer.)