MonsterCookieCutter t1_it4bod5 wrote on October 20, 2022 at 8:53 PM

Reply to comment by napstur in Power outlets have a faint smell. by napstur

How much current are you drawing? Having a higher rated breaker doesn’t make your equipment just draw more current. You should not be drawing more than half the current of the weakest link (which ought to be the breaker) for any length of time. Electric kettle, full power is fine. Space heater, no.

Edit: BTW, where I live you don’t see 16A for normal outlets, but 13A is common or 10A for older installations. Your installation sounds dodgy.

DilettanteGonePro t1_it4y9ik wrote on October 20, 2022 at 11:36 PM

My brother had an old farmhouse and found out the hard way that there was a run of lower rated wire inside one of the walls. He had a space heater plugged in against the outside wall but someone had added an outlet to an inside wall on the same circuit and used cheaper wire just in that section, so a fire started inside the wall. Luckily he noticed the smoke coming from the outlet as he was heading to bed for the night. If he hadn't noticed it he may not have woken up. He had so many similar crappy DIY problems with that house he probably replaced 60% of the house before he sold it