What is the maximum number of 15-amp receptacles allowed on a single circuit?

The correct answer is based on the National Electrical Code (NEC) guidelines, which indicate that the maximum number of 15-amp receptacles typically allowed on a single circuit is determined by the rule of calculating the load per receptacle. According to NEC, for general-purpose receptacle circuits, the standard recommendation is to use a calculation based on 1.5 amps per receptacle. Therefore, on a 15-amp circuit, you can divide the total amperage by the load per receptacle.

Using this method, you get a total of 10 receptacles (15 amps ÷ 1.5 amps/receptacle = 10 receptacles). However, for the purpose of practical applications and considering continuous loads or other inefficiencies, 8 to 10 receptacles are typically recommended, but 8 is often cited as a practical number when accounting for load management and to prevent overloading the circuit.

The determination of 6 or fewer receptacles is typically considered for specialized applications or when planning for specific equipment that may draw more current or require dedicated circuits. Hence, while 8 is a balanced answer aiming at realistic use cases, and it's common to suggest a maximum of 10 under technical guidelines, the suggestion of