timers for lights/ fans
- Thread starter ryshark
- Start date
Malum Argenteum
Member
Hardware store timer running a power strip.
solitude127
Proud user of IO Salt!
make sure you get the heavy duty kind
Malum Argenteum
Member
Well, that's what I do. First off, don't draw more than 15 amps through the strip (that is, don't plug more than 15 amps of stuff into it). But, if there is a short, the strip might start a fire.
Think of the whole electrical-delivery system (the power plant, the transmission lines on the poles outside, the wire feeding your house, the circuit breakers in your basement, the wires in your house, the outlets in your house, the power strip, and the cords that you plug into the strip) as a chain -- you must not overload the weakest link in the chain. The weakest link ideally should be the circuit breaker, I suppose, since if you drew 18 amps through the strip -- either by overloading it or if there is a short -- it would fry since the circuit breaker wouldn't break the circuit. Often, a short will be "big" enough that it draws way more than 20 amps, so the breaker might trip before the strip fries.
Look for a strip with a circuit breaker built into it (I think I've seen these; I might even have some). Just looked under my tank -- the strips down there have a 'reset' position on the switch. Must be circuit-breaker-protected. I hope.
Think of the whole electrical-delivery system (the power plant, the transmission lines on the poles outside, the wire feeding your house, the circuit breakers in your basement, the wires in your house, the outlets in your house, the power strip, and the cords that you plug into the strip) as a chain -- you must not overload the weakest link in the chain. The weakest link ideally should be the circuit breaker, I suppose, since if you drew 18 amps through the strip -- either by overloading it or if there is a short -- it would fry since the circuit breaker wouldn't break the circuit. Often, a short will be "big" enough that it draws way more than 20 amps, so the breaker might trip before the strip fries.
Look for a strip with a circuit breaker built into it (I think I've seen these; I might even have some). Just looked under my tank -- the strips down there have a 'reset' position on the switch. Must be circuit-breaker-protected. I hope.
Yes, you can.
