Outlet Overload
Every year, U.S. fire departments respond to an estimated 25,900 home electrical fires. These fires cause an estimated 280 deaths, 1,125 injuries and $1.1 billion in property loss.
Thirty-nine percent of home electrical fires involve outlets and receptacles, and other electrical wiring.
To ensure safety, you should only use about 80 percent of the available current for each electrical outlet in your home.
Are you overloading outlets? Use this formula to find out:
wattage/volts=amps
Example:
Let’s say you are using 2,000 watts of power (for one outlet). Divide the watts by the volts in your home (typically 120), and you come up with 16.6 amps of current being used. With a 20 amp electrical outlet, you are using about 80 percent of the available current.