Last updated on August 14th, 2022 at 01:28 pm
Mishaps happen as a result of a lack of adequate knowledge about basic appliances in the house. Sometimes, too many appliances whose combined amp and voltage are higher than the voltage of the circuit in the house tend to cause damages.
As a result, you might want to know how much power some of your appliances use. That said, how many amps do a hairdryer use?
A hairdryer uses between 15 amps and 20 amps for slightly older versions of hairdryers and up to 30 amps for the new ones. The ones used by most people will be within the range of 20 amps to 25 amps. Hairdryers with higher amps are not very popular as they are expensive, and there is not much difference from those with lesser amps.
Can You Run the Hairdryer on a 15 Amp Circuit?
You can run a hairdryer on a 15 amp circuit, but it would affect the functionality of other appliances in the house, and it might even trip the breaker. In some cases, you can’t run an appliance after the hairdryer has been connected. That is if the hairdryer isn’t causing any malfunctioning enough to be used in circuits of that amp.
The least amp a hairdryer uses is 15 amps, so a circuit of 15 amps can carry it. Although, it is dangerous as it poses a risk to other appliances connected to the circuit. The circuit might be unable to carry more than the hairdryer at the end.
But then, you should make sure the circuit in your house can carry 15 amp before you connect it to avoid tripping the appliances.
If it can’t and a hairdryer if 15 amp is the only thing you can lay your hands on at the moment, disconnect every other appliance in the house and switch off the light, too, so it doesn’t affect it.
How Many Amps Does a 1500 Watt Hairdryer Draw?
The number of amps a hairdryer of 1500 watts can draw depends on the circuit’s volt. A circuit with 120 volts will draw 12.5 volts, while one with 110 volts will draw 13.6 volts.
Amps drawn from watts are dependent on the volts of the given circuit, and as given by Ohm’s law of electricity, the ammeter of a given body is gotten by dividing the watt of the body by its volt.
So, a hairdryer of 1500 watts can draw an amp or amps of varying degrees depending on the voltage of such a circuit.
Can a Hairdryer Trip a Breaker?
Yes, a hairdryer can trip a breaker if the amp of the hairdryer is higher than the circuit can carry. That’s why it is always advisable to check the amount of amp the circuit in your house can carry before loading them with appliances.
Basic household appliances are still trip breakers. It all depends on the circuit of the house. Before you go into the market to get appliances for your home, make sure you understand and know the amount of amp the circuit wiring in your house can carry.
A breaker trip can cause a fire. It is very dangerous and can consume lives and properties within hours, so making sure all these are well in place before getting appliances is not only, so you don’t damage your appliances, it’s so you don’t endanger your life and that of others in the house.
Can You Plug a Hairdryer into an Extension?
You can plug a hairdryer to an extension, but it is not advisable to do so. The safest way of using your hairdryer is to plug it directly into a socket, not an extension. Why? Basic appliances like that, even refrigerators, ovens, cookers, and the likes, draw a lot of power, and extension or other power strips can not carry them.
Have you ever been to a house and seen their refrigerator, electric stove, or even iron plugged to an extension? You can be sure that the extension will get damaged within a day or two and possibly damage the appliances, too.
It can trip the circuit and affect all other appliances in the house that are connected to one electricity source or the other, so it’s a risky thing to do.
Why not call the electrician instead to install more sockets in the specific parts of your house where you need them and connect your appliances to the source directly?
It’s a good way to avoid a lot of issues. But then, make sure you know the amount of voltage your circuit has.
1. Refrigerators
Plugging a refrigerator into an extension is like signing a warrant that says, “I’m ready to blow up this appliance and if luck is on my side, blow up myself and the entire apartment.” Ridiculous, right?
I believe this can be put to the test. Although refrigerators are not supposed to be plugged into extensions, experiments happen everywhere at every point in time, and discoveries are made.
There could be an experiment regarding the nature of this, and a new theory was brought forward as to if we could use extension for refrigerators or not.
2. Pressing Iron
It is best to connect iron to an electric socket, not an extension, although people prefer the latter.
Iron, one of the most important basic appliances, has high power, so it needs a higher power to function effectively. An extension can only carry so much, there’s a limit it can get to, and when it does, appliances that have been plugged in can get damaged.
Connect your iron to a socket outlet, not an extension, so you don’t burn appliances one day.
3. Oven
Have you ever wondered why Ovens are always connected to the socket in the kitchen? Don’t you think it will save more space if an extension was introduced into the kitchen and all appliances were connected to it? A genius thought, right?
Ovens are never connected to extensions.
They would blow them up immediately. The operating power of an oven is too high for an extension, and if a house doesn’t have the adequate amount of circuit voltage, connecting it to a socket can trip the other appliances and cause a fire breakage.
All these and more are examples of basic appliances that contribute to the tripping of a breaker. Except for the amp of an appliance is very high, there’s no way only one appliance can trip a breaker.
All other appliances in the house combine to trip the breaker as a result of overload when the time comes.
Conclusion
Hairdryers come in different amps, from the oldest generation of 15 amps to the modern world of 30 amps, and the voltage of a given amp of hairdryer is dependent on the voltage of the circuit, nothing else.
Hairdryers are not safe to be connected to extensions as they will destroy the extension. They should be connected to the electric circuit always.
All in all, knowing the amp limit of the circuit in your house or organization opens your eyes to a lot of things that need to be known about to enable you to live better without unnecessary risks.