Overloaded Circuits

Overloaded Circuits

Check for Overloaded Circuits
According to the National Electrical Safety Foundation, most home circuits - no matter if they have one or multiple outlets — can support up to 1,500 watts, while some kitchen circuits can handle around 2,000 watts. That's good to know, but how can you make sure you don't put more demand on a circuit than it can handle?

Most electric devices, unless they're quite old and need to be replaced, carry a wattage listing. You usually can find the wattage on the bottom of the appliance near its serial number. So if you discover that your portable heater draws around 1,200 watts, you'll know that you shouldn't plug your iron, which draws about 1,100 watts, into the same outlet or into an outlet on the same circuit.