Comments by "Ted Sanders" (@surferdude642) on "Technology Connections" channel.

  1. I think you did a good job explaining this. While it's common knowledge to electricians and savvy diy'ers, most homeowners could learn something here.
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  2. The ground wire, equipment ground, must not carry current under normal operation as it's an open line only connected electrically to neutral/ground bus bar in the main panel. Its purpose is to trip the breaker in the event of a ground fault. Otherwise it's a shock hazard.
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  3. Yes it does, if the resistance remains the same. The inverse relationship applies to power (watts) P=E x I. Double the voltage and only half the current is required to produce the same power and vice versa.
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  4. If you're running your heater at 1500 watts in a bedroom with a 15 amp circuit, you are already at the safe maximum load with no other load on the entire circuit. Heaters, unlike high power hair dryers, run for a long time and can stress a marginal circuit. It would be better to set it at 1000 watts and wear a coat. It would help if you had spec grade or even heavy duty receptacles throughout. These can still be 15 amp receptacles as 20 amp receptacles (not permitted on 15 amp circuit) offer no advantage even on a 20 amp circuit. For middle of the run receptacles, correctly installed wire nuts and pigtails instead of using the receptacle as a connector, can reduce resistance. However, the circuit breaker should trip regardless, if the load reaches 15 amps. If you have a 20 amp circuit (12 gauge wire) in the bedroom you should have no problem as long as the loads from other receptacles on this circuit are relatively low.
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  5. ​ @SYH653 Two ground wires under 1 screw is ok, but not for neutral wires.
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  6. You have incidentally confirmed that the only difference between a spec grade 15 amp receptacle and 20 amp receptacle is the horizontal slot in the plastic on a 20 amp.
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