My Industrial Cabin Build

[BigBlue1]

This isn't 'per code' electrical advice, but in my assessment the rating of a switch is for how much current flows through it. If you have a switch with one or several lights that it switches and the total draw of all lights is less than 15A then a 15A switch should be fine to use. No idea how an inspector would assess that situation. If you had 4 switches with 4 different 5A lights (one per switch) on a single 20A circuit then 15A switches would still be fine even though the circuit was drawing full 20A collectively. In my view...

Outlets are different because the load plugged into one is subject to change and nothing stops a person from plugging in a single thing that draws the peak load of the breaker on that circuit. So I always use an outlet that matches or exceeds the rating of the circuit breaker.

 

[gary49]

Use 15 amp switches, they’re less expensive and more available. You’ll find that if you want dimmers the ones for LED fixtures are typically rated at 150 watts. Switches only need to be rated for the load they’re serving. A 15 amp switch will handle 1440 watts once you account for having to derate it to 80% for a continuous load. And that is a hell of a lot of light with LED lamps, more than anyone would need for even an extremely large residential room.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I was able to find another 8 20 amp switches at Lowe’s today so that’ll hold me over for a couple days while I order some. There are no 15 amp outlets in the house at all. There is one 15 amp circuit that does all of my smokes and I have three lights on that as well, so that i have a clue if there’s a problem with the circuit

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Use 15 amp switches, they’re less expensive and more available. You’ll find that if you want dimmers the ones for LED fixtures are typically rated at 150 watts. Switches only need to be rated for the load they’re serving. A 15 amp switch will handle 1440 watts once you account for having to derate it to 80% for a continuous load. And that is a hell of a lot of light with LED lamps, more than anyone would need for even an extremely large residential room.

Thank you Gary. That will make it easy for the couple of switches that I want to put dimmers on.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

So I previously mentioned the metal lamps my wife bought that have no ground. I could tap a ground screw to the top of the lip round housing but it still seems hanky to me. Here are a couple pictures. It makes me wonder if the UL sticker is legit.

View attachment 784927

 

[Engineer42]

So I previously mentioned the metal lamps my wife bought that have no ground. I could tap a ground screw to the top of the lip round housing but it still seems hanky to me. Here are a couple pictures. It makes me wonder if the UL sticker is legit.

View attachment 784927

View attachment 784929
View attachment 784930

Is it the angle of the picture or are the holes not centered in the housing?

 

[Carl_NH]

You could add a ground wire with a eye around the threaded base, or if you have metal mounting boxes and ground that the screws in the face plate will ground it.

As a point of reference. all table lamps I have seen are all two wire - no ground.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Is it the angle of the picture or are the holes not centered in the housing?

Its the angle. The homes are centered

 

[pmsmechanic]

So I previously mentioned the metal lamps my wife bought that have no ground. I could tap a ground screw to the top of the lip round housing but it still seems hanky to me. Here are a couple pictures. It makes me wonder if the UL sticker is legit.

View attachment 784927

View attachment 784929
View attachment 784930

If the base is screwed to the electrical box that is grounded, would the base not then be grounded too?

 

[buckeyefarmer]

If the base is screwed to the electrical box that is grounded, would the base not then be grounded too?

if the box is metal and it is properly grounded.