Dedicated Circuit Question

I am in a position to install a dedicated circuit(s?) now for my Ht. Will just one 20 amp be enough? Or do I need more than one for different components? Not sure if my 770 needs a separate one from my T.V. from my Pre/pro etc...TIA.

The 20 amp circuit will be more than enough to supply everything. JIm

If you go by the nameplate peak power consumption on all of your components, two circuits would probably be preferred (one for the 770 and one for everything else). In general operation, a single 20A circuit would probably* be all you'd need, so it is probably not essential, but if your existing panel has space for two more breakers it would probably be a decent investment to go ahead and pull two at the same time.

* EDIT: I have enough faith in Hullguy's experience to upgrade that "probably" to a safe "certainly" .

Thanks Hullguy, Gonk. Is there an actual noticeable performance difference by having a dedicated circuit?

It depends. I noticed a difference when I moved to a dedicated circuit at my old house because I had been on the same circuit as the kitchen - having the microwave and the fridge's compressor on that circuit introduced some limitations and noise on the circuit that were reduced by my Panamax and eliminated entirely when the dedicated circuit was added. In our current house, the system is on a circuit that serves the rest of the den and I've seen no reason to add a dedicated circuit for it.

Hmmm...well what the heck! I am going to do it while I can. My 770 is in the shop though so I won't really know if it makes a difference until it comes back but I will post any differences I notice.

It wouldn't cost much more to run a second piece of 12-2 Romex to one location if you would feel more comfortable with the 2 20m amp circuits. Jim

My guy quoted me $125.00 to run the one. Is that a decent price?
Actually, I was running everything from what is already in the house (just one 15 circuit). I got louder than I care too and no probs. I was just wondering about the quality of having the dedicated circuit.(s)

This question dedicated of 15 or 20 amp circuits seems to come up quite frequently and I hope some of these numbers help explain why most do not have a problem running everything in a HT setup off of a single 15 amp circuit.

Circuit breakers are not an absolute when it comes to their rating. Consider this..... A 15 amp breaker will carry a CONTINUOUS load of
15 amps (1800 watts) indefinitely
16 amps (1920 watts) for 15 minutes
19 amps (2280 watts) for 1 minute
50 amps (6000 watts) for 2 seconds
64 amps (7680 watts) for 1 second
90 amps (10,800 watts) for .5 seconds

This just shows why the breakers are not tripping every time a 770 charges its capacitors on startup. Our audio equipment also does not present a continuous current load like a toaster or welder, which makes the demand easier on the circuit.
Has anyone ever tripped a 15A breaker from listening to a movie or song to loud? I doubt it.

wingnut the $125.00 sounds steep.

I was tripping a 15A breaker when I listened to a song to loud, but there were a number of problems assosiated with it. To many devices running on the same circuit and old, weak breakers. It made quite a difference in my system when I had the breakers replaced and added two 20A circuits. If your house is over 30 years old and you have never looked at the breaker box, I think it would be wise to have it checked out. You may not need 20A circuits now, but you never know. I changed out all the breakers in the box added two dedicated circuits that required a conduit outside the house. The total job, parts and labor cost about $500.00. But hey, I live in California, we go through a lot of expensive sun glasses, it costs more here.

Keta,

In a perfect world, you might be correct. In the real world, a 15A breaker (especially one that's more than a few years old) is probably going to trip at 80-85% of its rated load. And it only goes downhill from there as the breakers age further.

I'm in the same boat as MeanGene....an older house with older wiring/breakers. I'm just going to have a couple of new 20A circuits pulled with new (and shielded...cuz I'm anal that way) 10/3nstranded cable. It's more expensive to do things that way, but I prefer to over-engineer than try to scrimp and save a few bucks. I can reliably trip my current 15A amp circuit by playing a Bach organ fugue at high volume. I would imagine that very compressed rock music would be even more brutal on the circuit. The old BX in my plaster walls belongs in a museum...when we remodel, I'll probably bite the bullet and have it all replaced along with all new panels.

Cheers,

Sorry about the late response. The $125 for the 1 circuit seems resonable. This is with out knowing how difficult it will be to run the wires. A 15 amp breaker is NOT supposed to be loaded up to 15 amps!!!. The circuits are only supposed to have a current draw of 80% of the rated capacity of the breaker. 12 amps for a 15 amp breaker, 16 amps for a 20 amp breaker. One other thing is you are supposed to "exercise", (turn them off and on), the circuit breakers once a yeaer to help insure they opperate correctly in an overcurrent situation. Jim

The numbers I quoted are from the "real" world. Statements about breakers probably tripping at 80-85% of rated load aren't based on any fact.
I agree that old wiring should be replaced but that is for safety considerations not because your typical audio system is taxing the circuit too much. As MeanGene stated his circuit that was tripping had "a number of problems assosiated with it".
As for running 10/3 for a 20A circuit.....well.....giver hell. :rolleyes: