Merging multiple circuits into a single one at the panel
I am working on slowly updating my house with new wiring and I have a question regarding proper circuit setup.
My house has 2 stories and currently, I work on the second-floor guest bedroom. There are 3 bedrooms on this floor (A main bedroom, a guest bedroom, and an office).
I understand that ideally I should have 2 circuits for each room - one for light and one for outlets, but that would take up a lot of space in the panel.
Is it OK to wire each room as if they have 2 circuits, bring all 6 circuit wires back to panel, and then combine them before connecting to the panel?
So let's say I have the main bedroom outlet circuit, the office outlet circuit and the guest room outlet circuits meet near the panel, their neutrals, hots, and grounds joined together and then from each pigtail to the panel itself, effectively making all 3 a single circuit with a single breaker.
This way, should anyone ever need to have a lot more dedicated power specifically in the office they can disconnect office outlet wires and add a dedicated office outlet breaker.
Is that safe and OK to do?
Thanks!.
Question from user Zakkery at stackexchange
Answer:
What you are describing is legal assuming the junction box all the circuits diverge at is large enough and remains accessible and the breaker that feeds the circuit is sized for the smallest wire used in the circuit. Putting multpiple circuits on a single breaker in the panel is also allowed, but you'll have to check how many wires are allowed in the terminal, any extra must be pigtailed.
However instead of trying to save space in your panel this way, buy a bigger panel.
If you are sending a homerun from each room outlet circuit to your panel so you might as well give them a breaker already.
Or if you want to keep your existing panel, use a subpanel to join all the room loads into a single run to the main panel instead of an oversized junction box. That run from main to sub can (should) be beefier, put a large breaker to the subpanel, get a panel with plenty of spaces and separate neutral&ground bar (might be sold separately) and give each circuit that lands there its own appropriate breaker.
Answer from user ratchet freak at stackexchange
I am working on slowly updating my house with new wiring and I have a question regarding proper circuit setup.
My house has 2 stories and currently, I work on the second-floor guest bedroom. There are 3 bedrooms on this floor (A main bedroom, a guest bedroom, and an office).
I understand that ideally I should have 2 circuits for each room - one for light and one for outlets, but that would take up a lot of space in the panel.
Is it OK to wire each room as if they have 2 circuits, bring all 6 circuit wires back to panel, and then combine them before connecting to the panel?
So let's say I have the main bedroom outlet circuit, the office outlet circuit and the guest room outlet circuits meet near the panel, their neutrals, hots, and grounds joined together and then from each pigtail to the panel itself, effectively making all 3 a single circuit with a single breaker.
This way, should anyone ever need to have a lot more dedicated power specifically in the office they can disconnect office outlet wires and add a dedicated office outlet breaker.
Is that safe and OK to do?
Thanks!.
Question from user Zakkery at stackexchange
Answer:
What you are describing is legal assuming the junction box all the circuits diverge at is large enough and remains accessible and the breaker that feeds the circuit is sized for the smallest wire used in the circuit. Putting multpiple circuits on a single breaker in the panel is also allowed, but you'll have to check how many wires are allowed in the terminal, any extra must be pigtailed.
However instead of trying to save space in your panel this way, buy a bigger panel.
If you are sending a homerun from each room outlet circuit to your panel so you might as well give them a breaker already.
Or if you want to keep your existing panel, use a subpanel to join all the room loads into a single run to the main panel instead of an oversized junction box. That run from main to sub can (should) be beefier, put a large breaker to the subpanel, get a panel with plenty of spaces and separate neutral&ground bar (might be sold separately) and give each circuit that lands there its own appropriate breaker.
Answer from user ratchet freak at stackexchange