Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - recessed lights question

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aschwartz71
07-09-09, 11:36 AM
I am having a 2nd floor put on my ranch house, and the inside is pretty gutted too, so I have been wiring up the house with Cat-6 and Coax cable, and now I want to put up some cans in the living room and hallway while there are no ceilings.

My question is this, if I put a 15A breaker in and run a line to 2 switches, how many 75W 6" cans can I put in a line from the switch? I was looking to have 3 switches, one for 8 cans in the room, 1 for 3 cans in the hallway, and 1 for 2 or 3 "accent" lights, 4" cans around the area.

They all would be 75W, with 65W bulbs. Is this possible, or should I get a 15A breaker? Also would 14/2 or should I just use 12/2. These will be the HALO cans, with no insulation around them.

chandler
07-09-09, 06:12 PM
Generally accepted for 1440 watts per 15 amp circuit. What you are proposing will push 1050 watts total, so you should be just fine with the one circuit.
aschwartz71
07-10-09, 06:05 AM
Thanks, that is what I will do.

stiggs
07-12-09, 02:29 PM
Just to add on to the question, when you are going to use the same circuit to power multiple rooms and switches, would you simply go from the last light in the string to the next switch then to the string of lights, but then how do you keep the new string of lights on when the first string is off.

Sorry about the lame question, I am sure the answer is not as complicated as I think it is.
Tolyn Ironhand
07-12-09, 09:13 PM
Just to add on to the question, when you are going to use the same circuit to power multiple rooms and switches, would you simply go from the last light in the string to the next switch then to the string of lights, but then how do you keep the new string of lights on when the first string is off.

Sorry about the lame question, I am sure the answer is not as complicated as I think it is.

Welcome!

Best way to do that is run your feed (the hot) to each switch box. Then the switch legs from each switch box to what ever lights they are going to control. The part I have underlined would not work as you pointed out.

If you have any more questions please start a new thread.