Maximum power strip rating - electrical code

Life Technology
1

I was looking for a 20 A power strip to replace the 15 A strip I currently use in the kitchen. The kitchen only has one circuit as far as I can tell, and the circuit is rated for 20 A, so theoretically a 20 A power strip should be OK. (Come to think of it, I don’t know whether the exhaust fan or overhead lights are plugged into the same circuit - if so, then a 20 A strip cannot be drawing full power with either of these things running.)

After looking in many, many stores and being unable to find anything above 15 A, today I went to a specialty electronics shop and they told me that electrical code here limits power strips to 15 A, so I’m out-of-luck. Does anyone know whether that’s true or not? And if it is so, what is the rationale for the limit?

2

Most are just rated for 1350 or 1650 W I believe.

3

Power sockets are rated for 16A (US NEMA standard).

The rationale for this limit is that the plug/socket design is shite. Draw more than about 10A through them and they tend to get warm. At 20A they melt and catch fire (as the ball’n’chain found out after ignoring my advice not to plug too much high-power crap into a power strip).

1 Like
4

And no one believes in 220V, they all think it’s more dangerous because you can’t find any extension cord for it.