Chapter 4
Design of Branch Circuits for Lighting and
Receptacles
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Introduction
• A Brach Circuit is the segment that extends beyond the final
automatic overcurrent device in the system to the connection at the
utilization equipment.
• The initial planning of the electrical system involves the preparation
of a one-line diagram to establish the general means of distributing
the electrical power within the building.
• However, the design of the system cannot be finalized until the
requirements of all the branch circuits have been fully determined
and their exact loading has been calculated.
• Thus the final stage in the complete design of an electrical system
begins with the preparation of the detailed layouts for all the
branch circuits throughout the building.
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• Most branch circuits originate at panelboards and/or motor-control
centers.
• There can be branch circuits for lighting and general-use receptacles, for
specific-purpose equipment, and for motors. The detailed requirements for
specific-purpose equipment, such as electric welders and space-heating
equipment, are too broad for the scope of this course.
• The requirements for motors are covered in next chapter.
• This chapter concentrates on the requirements for branch circuits for
lighting and general-use receptacles such as encountered in commercial,
institutional, and industrial establishments.
• The reader is referred to the National Electrical Code, Articles 210 and 220,
for general requirements for branch circuits and their computed loads.
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Branch Circuit Conductors
• The branch circuit conductors must have an ampacity of not
less than the maximum load to be served. However, a circuit
is not classified by the ampacity rating of the conductors, but
rather by the rating of the overcurrent device protecting the
circuit.
• Typical values are 15, 20, 30, 40, and 50 amperes.
• For example, a circuit may use No. 10 THW copper conductors to
compensate for voltage drop. Even though these conductors have
an ampacity rating of 35 amperes, if the circuit is protected by a
20 ampere overcurrent device, then the circuit is classified as
20 ampere.
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Branch Circuit for Lighting
• Branch circuits for lighting shall have a maximum rating of 20 amperes
unless the lighting units have heavy-duty lamp-holders. Thus, branch
circuits for fluorescent lighting and for the smaller-wattage, medium-base
incandescent lamps (up to 300 watts) are restricted to 15 or 20 amperes.
• Fixed lighting units with heavy-duty lamp-holders [that is, the larger-
wattage, mogul-base incandescent and high-intensity discharge (HID)
lamps] can be connected to circuits rated up to 50 amperes when installed
in other-than-dwelling units.
• HID lamps are the mercury, metal-halide, and high-pressure sodium lamps.
• The lighting involved in the general illumination of such areas as offices,
schools, and industrial plants is considered to be a continuous load.
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• The NEC restricts the maximum loading on a circuit
supplying a continuous load to 80% of the rating of the
circuit (NEC Section 210-22).
• Thus, on a 20 ampere lighting circuit, the maximum loading is
0.8 times 20, or 16 amperes.
• The calculated load for circuits supplying electric
discharge lamps that have ballasts must be based on the line
current to the ballasts and not just on the wattage of the
lamps alone.
• The total input to the lighting unit must include the
ballast losses.
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Branch Circuits for Receptacles
• A receptacle is defined as a contact device installed at the
outlet for the connection of a single attachment plug.
• An outlet is further defined as a point on the wiring system
at which current is taken to supply utilization equipment.
• A duplex receptacle has two devices mounted on a
common yoke and is installed in one outlet box, and
similarly, a triplex receptacle has three devices mounted
on a common yoke and is installed in one outlet box.
• A single receptacle installed on an individual branch
circuit must have an ampere rating not less than that of the
branch circuit.
• For example, a single receptacle on a 20 ampere circuit
must be rated at 20 amperes. 9
• The one exception to this requirement is
that two or more 15 ampere receptacles
are permitted on a 20 ampere circuit.
• Figure shows the configuration of a few
of the common ratings of receptacles.
• The configurations are arranged so that
the receptacle will not accept an
attachment plug of a different ampere or
voltage rating from that of the receptacle.
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• The minimum load for an outlet installed for a specific appliance or load is set by the
ampere rating of the appliance or load served.
• The continuous load supplied by the branch circuit must not exceed 80% of the branch-
circuit rating. However, the majority of receptacles are installed for general-purpose use
and the exact loads are most likely unknown. In this case, a minimum loading of 180
volt-amperes must be allowed for each general-use receptacle.
• The figure shows the maximum number of general-use receptacles that are permitted
on 15 and 20 A branch circuits.
• Note that the 180 VA rating is applied per outlet point, regardless of whether a single,
duplex, or triplex receptacle is used at that point.
• For certain office and industrial areas, good design practices may dictate the use of fewer
receptacles per circuit then the maximum allowed by the code.
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Lighting Panels
• A panelboard is a group of panel units designed for assembly into a single panel,
including buses, automatic overcurrent devices, and/or switches, for the control of
light, heat, and power circuits.
• This assembly is suitable for mounting in a cabinet, which can then be placed in or
against a wall and which is accessible only form the front.
• In other words, a panelboard is a convenient method of grouping together those
overcurrent devices that are fed from a common source and that provide circuit
protection to a number of branch circuits.
• The NEC further defines a lighting and appliance branch-circuit panelboard as one
having more than 10% of its overcurrent devices rated 30 amperes or less for which
neutral connections are provided.
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Section 384-15 restricts any one lighting panel to a maximum of 42 single-pole over-
current devices or their equivalent (that is, a two-pole device is considered as two single-
pole devices and a three-pole device as three singe pole devices in determining this
number)
• A very common form of lighting panel consists of an assembly of light-duty, molded-case
circuit breakers.
• A typical lighting panel using the double-row arrangement of breakers is shown.
• In commercial or institutional buildings, these panels can either be flush mounted into a
wall in finished areas.
• A growing trend in large office buildings is to provide small electrical closets at the same
location on each floor. The panels can the be surface mounted on the walls of the closet,
and the feeders supplying the panels can be run vertically up through the closet space.
• In industrial installations, it is frequently impossible to find a suitable wall in an open
manufacturing area on which to mount the panels.
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• A panel must have an ampacity rating (capacity of the main bus) not less than
that required for the total computed load for the panel.
• Each lighting panel must be individually protected on its supply side by an
overcurrent having a rating not more than that of the lighting panel.
• If a panel is supplied through its own individual feeder or sub-feeder, then a main
overcurrent device is not required at the panel if the feeder overcurrent
protection is not greater than the rating of the panel.
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• A main overcurrent device (main breaker) is required for a
lighting panel that is supplied directly from the secondary of
its own step-down transformer as shown below.
other feeder arrangement is often used in multistory buildings
where panels are located one above the other on each floor.
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• One vertical feeder is used to feed a number of panels. Note the
code requirements for the feeder taps from the main feeder to
each panel as detailed on the diagram.
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Circuit Arrangements for Lighting Panels
• For large buildings where three-phase power is normally used, the
lighting panels are arranged for three-phase, four-wire operation.
• The individual circuits for the lighting and receptacle circuits are
connected from one phase of the panel to the neutral.
• One important advantage of using the three-phase, four-wire configuration
is that it permits up to three circuits to be connected to the one neutral.
Note: that to make use of this arrangement each circuit selected must be
on a different phase.
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• As shown in the figure, when the loads on each of the three circuits connected to the
one common neutral are balanced, the neutral current is zero (ignoring any third-
harmonic components).
• Even if the load on one of the circuits is disconnected, the neutral current (the phasor
sum of the tow remaining circuit currents) still only equals the magnitude of one of the
circuit currents.
• Therefore, the magnitude of the neutral current can never exceed the magnitude allowed
for each of the circuit currents and the same size of conductors as used for the phases
can be used throughout for the neutral.
• The use of a common neutral conductor for each grouping of three circuits results in
considerable savings in the cost of the branch circuit wiring.
• Note in the figure that the circuit breaker connections to the main bus are arranged so
that consecutive breakers on one side are on different phases. For example, circuits 1,
3, and 5 are connected to phases A, B, and C, respectively, and can therefore be grouped
together on the one common neutral, as shown.
• Similarly, circuits, 2, 4, and 6 can be grouped together, 7,9, and 11, and so on. 22
Modified Connection Diagram for Floor Layouts
• To show how the branch circuits for lighting and receptacles are to be arranged, a floor plan
of the area must be prepared.
• This floor plan must show the location of walls, doorways, stairways, and such other building
details that dictate the location lighting units, switches, and receptacles and that affect the
routing of the wiring.
• In most instances, this information is copied from the architectural and structural drawings
for the building. The branch-circuit wiring is then superimposed on these floor plans.
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• Floor plans are normally drawn to a scale of " = 1′ − 0“ unless the layout is unusually
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complicated, in which case the scale may be " = 1′ − 0“.
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• Note that the scale of " = 1′ − 0“ is a ratio of 1:96. for layouts drawn using SI units, a scale
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of 1:100 (1 cm = 1 m) is normally used.
• With this scale of drawing, it would be very difficult (and impractical) to attempt to show
every individual conductor involved in the branch-circuit wiring. Therefore, a modified
method is used to convey the necessary information.
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• Let us start by completely detailing the lighting in three rooms,
including the switching. The floor plan for these rooms is shown below.
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• The schematic diagram of the branch circuit, including the local switching
and the necessary connections to the lighting fixtures in each room is
shown below.
• Room 3 requires three-way switching because it has two entrances.
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• This figure also indicates on the floor plan the complete connection
diagram, showing all the runs of individual conductors and their
connections that are necessary to complete the system.
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• As can be appreciated to draw all the branch-circuit wiring throughout the building in this
degree of detail would be very time consuming and indeed next to impossible to show clearly
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on a layout scaled at " = 1′ − 0“. Therefore, the modified connection diagram as shown is
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adopted to actually show the branch circuit wiring.
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Example Floor Layout of Lighting and Receptacles
• Figure shows the layout of an area that is part of an office building.
• The branch circuits for the lighting and for the receptacles are indicated using the
modified method.
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• The panel schedule is for the above layout is shown in figure below.
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• The legend symbols are shown below.
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• Note that the layout is only meant to cover one section of a much
larger overall area.
• As such, there would be other lighting panels located throughout
the area, and in multistory buildings, there would be panels
located on each floor. Therefore, a means of identifying each
panel must be adopted.
• One method is simply to assign a letter designation to each panel.
The letter A ha been selected for the panel shown on the layout,
and thus the circuits from this panel are identified as A1, A3,
A5, and so on (note the A identification has nothing to do with
phase A).
• There is local switching of the lights in each room.
• The power supply to the lighting panel is 208Y/120 volts, three-
phase, four wire.
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• As noted in the legend, the fluorescent lighting units (designated type A) draw a line current of 0.8 ampere
at 120 volts. Following the code rules discussed previously for the branch circuits for lighting, 20 ampere
circuits are used, which permits a maximum loading of 16 amperes. This is then allows a maximum of 16/0.8
= 20 of the type A fixtures to be connected to one circuit.
• However, the arrangement of the fixtures must also be take into account so that the wiring and switching are
kept as simple as possible. Two basic rules to follow are that (1) the minimum number of circuits should be
used for each room, and (2) where possible each continuous row of fixtures should be on the same circuit.
Considering room 1, there are 3 rows of 7 for a total of 21 type A fixtures in this room, just one more than
can be accommodated on one circuit. It would create an illogical switching and circuiting pattern to put two
complete rows plus six units of the third row on one circuit, leaving just one unit for a second circuit.
• Note that the same problem applies to room 2. Therefore, as shown on the plan, three circuits (A1, A3, and
A5) are used for these two rooms, with two complete rows (total of 14 units) put on each of these circuits.
This leaves spare capacity on these circuits, so the six type A units in room 3 are also put on circuit A1 and
the six type A fixtures in room 4 are also put on circuit A3, which then brings these circuits up to their
maximum loading.
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• The possible extra loading for circuit A5 is not so straightforward. The next
adjacent areas are rooms 5 and 6. the loading in room 5 consists of three type
B, 200 watt incandescent units with a demand of (3x200)/120 = 5.0 amperes.
• This is too much to add to circuit A5. the two type A units in room 6 could
easily be added to circuit A5, but a new circuit must be brought to room 5; so
it is decided to put both rooms 5 and 6 on this new circuit (A2). The loading on
circuit A5 is left at only 14 type A units or 11.2 amperes. Because of this
lighter loading on circuit A5, which is connected to phase C, the loadings on
subsequent groups of circuits are arranged to offset this unbalance as shown
in the panel schedule.
• The total load on the panel should be balanced between the three phases as
closely as possible (within ±10%), as per the total loads indicated at the
bottom of the panel schedule.
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• Circuits A1, A3, and A5 were chosen for the first grouping of circuits so
that the one common neutral can be used for wiring these circuits and for
the homerun.
• The term homerun applies to that portion of the branch circuit wiring
running from the closet outlet point back to the panel.
• There're no further connections to the circuits. The homerun is indicated
on the floor plan by a line with an arrow pointing in the direction of the
panel.
• Note that, with regard to the local switching in rooms 1 and 2, a minimum
of one switch is required for each circuit in the room. If separate
switching of each row of fixtures had been desired, then three switches
per room would be required and an extra switch wire run the third row.
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• It is usual practice to locate the lighting branch circuits at the top of the panel, with the
branch circuits for the receptacles coming next. Therefore, circuits A2, A4, and A6 are
chosen for the next grouping circuits, followed by A7, A9, and A11. the final two lighting
circuits required are assigned to A8 and A10, with circuit A12 left as a spare for possible
future loading.
• The circuiting for the receptacles in the example layout is done on the basis that 15 ampere
branch circuits are used, with a maximum of six duplex receptacles connected to each
circuit. This is less than the maximum permitted by the code, but it reduces the possibility
of overloading the circuit by having too many pieces of office equipment plugged in at the
same time on the same circuit.
• In calculating the load on the lighting panel, a rating of 240 VA is assumed for each 15
ampere duplex receptacle. Note that the receptacle circuits are also grouped together so
that the one common neutral can be used (for example, A13, A15, and A17).
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• It is a good idea to locate a few 20 ampere receptacles at
regular intervals around an office area.
• These receptacles, each on their own dedicated 20 ampere
circuit, are required for cleaning equipment such as floor
polishers. If such equipment is plugged into the general 15 ampere
circuit, it usually trips the circuit breaker on starting.
• The example layout includes one 20 ampere receptacle located in
the hallway.
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• The complete circuiting of the area covered by lighting panel A
is shown on the lighting panel schedule.
• Note that the panel layout includes some spare breakers for
future use and some spaces. The space permit the installation of
additional breakers if and as required.
• As well as serving as a record of the circuits being used during
the design and construction of the electrical system, the panel
schedule should be posted on the door of the lighting panel as a
reference for maintenance purposes.
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• The method used to identify circuit wires, neutral wires, and, in
the case of lighting circuits, switch wires on the sample layout is
detailed in the legend of symbols.
• Also shown is the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) recommended methods of showing branch circuit wiring
and the homeruns.
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Computed Loads for Lighting and Receptacles
• After determining the branch circuit requirements for a lighting
and appliance branch-circuit panelboard (lighting panel), the
total load has to be calculated for the purpose of selecting
the feeder to the panel.
• Notwithstanding the determination of this load from the actual
loads connected to each circuit, the NEC regulations require that
a unit load, based on volt-amperes per square foot, be used to
compute the minimum loading.
• Refer to the following table from NEC which shows the type of
occupancies for which this requirement applies and the unit loads
per square foot associated with each type of occupancy.
• Note that, for buildings laid out using the SI units, the
conversion factor is listed at the foot of the table. 39
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• However, should the actual connected load for the general lighting
exceed the load computed using the values in the table, the actual
load must be used for the feeder calculations.
• The general lighting load for such areas as offices, banks, stores,
and schools is considered to be a continuous load, and therefore the
computed load for the feeder must be based on 125% of the
continuous load.
• The detailed loads for the general purpose receptacles in office
areas are usually not known at the time of designing the electrical
system. For this situation, refer to the footnote of the table, which
states that an additional unit of load of 1vot-ampere per square foot
be added for the general-purpose receptacle outlets.
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Demand Factor
• The demand factor for a load is the measure of the part of the load that will
actually be called for any given time (averaged over a short period of time).
• It is therefore the ration of the maximum demand to be expected as
compared to the total connected load for that part of the system under
consideration.
• NEC table 220-11 shows the demand factors that are allowed for general
lighting loads according to types of occupancy.
• These demand factors can only be used in computing the load for feeders.
They cannot be used for determining the number or size of the branch
circuits for the general illumination.
• For the purpose of computing the minimum ampacity rating of a feeder, the
nominal system voltage can be used in the calculations.
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• For receptacle loads in other-than-dwelling units, the
demand factors listed in table below can be used.
• The receptacle loads for the above table are based on the
minimum of 180 volt-amperes per outlet.
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