[handyoldgal]

......First our (1898) house's present wiring is a hodge podge of K&T and various others. Max of two outlets per room.
......We want to rewire. We had a new circuit panel put in, by an electrician. This after we rewired the bathroom, on it's own circuit, during a complete gutting and remodel of said bathroom to accommodate a wheelchair. We ran all wiring for the bathroom down through the wall and along the top of the cellar wall to the panel. The electrician hooked it to the new panel at that time. Then we moved in.
......We want to do that to each of the other rooms in their turn. Is this feasible for each room? Or do the ceiling lights HAVE to be on a separate circuit?
......In our old rental, all ceiling lights were on one circuit, but we figured it would be safer if each ROOM had it's own circuit. (The kitchen, of course will have more).
.......Anyone have an opinion or suggestion? :confused1:

 

[jbfan]

It is not required to have separate circuits, and in this case may be easier for you to put each room on it's own circuit.
Depending on your location and code cycle you are on, the bedroom circuits need to be afci protected.

 

[handyoldgal]

Thank you very much.

 

[micromind]

Given the choice, I generally don't have receptacles and lights on the same circuit, especially in the same room. The reason being; if you overload the receptacles, and the breaker trips, the lights will go out too.

If you did each room on its own circuit, there'd likely be enough light from adjacent rooms to see well enough for a safe exit. This plan would be OK, but not my preference.

Rob

 

[handyoldgal]

Bob,

...Yours is an absolutely excellent point. I think of places we have lived where that would have been a major improvement.

...Since we are still in the planning stage, we will take that into consideration. We hope to finish our very roomy attic in the future and could easily run a separate circuit for the ceilings lights of our 6 downstairs rooms, while the attic floor joists are open. (Does that make sense?)

... But as to your second point, this is our long awaited 'much smaller home' and every room is relatively small and open to the others. Each room definitely illuminates the next.

...Thank you so much for your input. I am going to love this site. With this 'fixer upper' we will need it. New discoveries every day.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Given the choice, I generally don't have receptacles and lights on the same circuit, especially in the same room. The reason being; if you overload the receptacles, and the breaker trips, the lights will go out too.

If you did each room on its own circuit, there'd likely be enough light from adjacent rooms to see well enough for a safe exit. This plan would be OK, but not my preference.

Rob

My preference also is to have lights on a seperate circuit
We have ceiling fans in almost every room
With CFL's I have 2 lighting circuits for the house
Some additional lights are still linked into old outlet circuits

 

[rgsgww]

I would put the lights on their own circuit IF you have good space. In any new install or rewire, I would recommend it.

Could even make the option to operate some lighting with a generator and transfer switch, but lets not make this complex.

 

[handyman78]

My preference is lighting for 1 or 2 rooms on their own 15a / 14gauge wired circuit; outlets seperate on 20a/12g circuits for the reasons mentioned-- if the receptacle outlet is overloaded, the breaker that pops won't leave you in the dark! Back in the day, panels had 4-6 fuses covering the whole house! Now many have 30-42 breakers for a house. Much more control available.

 

[handyoldgal]

:confused1:I was thinking in terms of running all the ceiling lights in one line.

Like this: (main panel)--------0---------0---------0--------0------0------0

Should I have each room's light on a separate run all the way to the main panel in the basement? OR each one to a junction box , then to the main panel?

Or would it be better to put a sub-panel up there, in anticipation of the future remodel? OR my original thought but to a sub-panel?

I was also thinking of variable speed/reversible fans in a couple of rooms, as the ceilings are 9'4".

You guys are being very helpful. I start with what is (to me) a simple question, and you all do what you should and speak of the things I hadn't thought of. So much better to discover and work out these things in the planning stage, than to find these issues when I'm in the middle of the project. Been there more than I like to admit, and probably will again, I'm sure. Took me many years to admit that I can (and always do) learn from others experiences. Thank you!

 

[chris75]

I just wire, try not to think to much. :whistling2:

 

[handyoldgal]

I just thought about the darn switches. Guess I need to get my wiring books out and give this more thought, huh? Good thing I'm not in a BIG hurry!

 

[handyoldgal]

Chris 75,
Yeah me too, usually. But that's what always gets me in trouble!

 

[NolaTigaBait]

:confused1:I was thinking in terms of running all the ceiling lights in one line.

Like this: (main panel)--------0---------0---------0--------0------0------0

Should I have each room's light on a separate run all the way to the main panel in the basement? OR each one to a junction box , then to the main panel?

Or would it be better to put a sub-panel up there, in anticipation of the future remodel? OR my original thought but to a sub-panel?

I was also thinking of variable speed/reversible fans in a couple of rooms, as the ceilings are 9'4".

You guys are being very helpful. I start with what is (to me) a simple question, and you all do what you should and speak of the things I hadn't thought of. So much better to discover and work out these things in the planning stage, than to find these issues when I'm in the middle of the project. Been there more than I like to admit, and probably will again, I'm sure. Took me many years to admit that I can (and always do) learn from others experiences. Thank you!

i know you are looking to save money, and i dont blame you...but if you have to ask this question, maybe you should call an electrician

 

[handyoldgal]

:laughing:Gee, that was plan B!
Yeah, money is a consideration, but not everything.

I just thought I'd try to work out what I want, or need, first. Am really in the first stages here. Then if I don't think I can do it, I won't! Or at least I won't do it alone. I'm a true believer in getting it inspected before connecting.

My skills are more in the line of design.

I'm fairly new at the electrical stuff, although I did refit & rewire the bathroom and had my plan approved and then inspected before having an electrician hook my wiring to the panel. He seemed to think I was capable enough. He knows I won’t go ahead with anything without him checking it and doing the final hook ups. I just don’t want to take up his time with my sometimes ‘random’ thinking on the subject.

I’m sorry if you think I shouldn’t be doing anything like this if I need to bounce some ideas off someone else, or ask questions. I kind of thought that was the point of the site. It would be dangerous for me to think that I know it all, wouldn’t it? I didn’t think it was good to wait until I screw up and then write to find out how to fix it. Trying to be responsible here. :wink::yes:

 

[rgsgww]

:laughing:Gee, that was plan B!
Yeah, money is a consideration, but not everything.

I just thought I'd try to work out what I want, or need, first. Am really in the first stages here. Then if I don't think I can do it, I won't! Or at least I won't do it alone. I'm a true believer in getting it inspected before connecting.

My skills are more in the line of design.

I'm fairly new at the electrical stuff, although I did refit & rewire the bathroom and had my plan approved and then inspected before having an electrician hook my wiring to the panel. He seemed to think I was capable enough. He knows I won’t go ahead with anything without him checking it and doing the final hook ups. I just don’t want to take up his time with my sometimes ‘random’ thinking on the subject.

I’m sorry if you think I shouldn’t be doing anything like this if I need to bounce some ideas off someone else, or ask questions. I kind of thought that was the point of the site. It would be dangerous for me to think that I know it all, wouldn’t it? I didn’t think it was good to wait until I screw up and then write to find out how to fix it. Trying to be responsible here. :wink::yes:

Hey, you get it inspected. Thats a very crucial step. If you have done wiring and passed, you are capable of electrical work.

 

[micromind]

Going from the panel to the closest ceiling box, then to the next ceiling box, then the next, and so on will work just fine. You'll need a wire from the ceiling box in each room to the light switch. We call this a 'switch drop'.

I almost always use #14 wire for lights, (15 amp breaker), and #12 for receptacles (20 amp breaker).

If there's even the slightest hint that a room might someday have a ceiling fan, I'll use a 14/3 from the ceiling box to the switch. 14/2 can be used from the panel to the ceiling boxes. The reason for the 14/3 is because it's pretty easy to bust out the original single gang light switch box, and install a cut-in two gang. One switch for the lights, the other for the fan. This way, both switch legs are already installed.

If you power the ceiling boxes, and use switch drops, it's required by code to use the white wire for the hot from the ceiling box down to the switch. This is one of the very few times white can be used for a hot. The reason is because up in the ceiling box, you'll have the whites that comprise the neutral, and a black for the switched hot. Otherwise, you'd have all whites. Which one is hot? Once you actually do one to completion, it'll be obvious.

Rob

 

[Gigs]

i know you are looking to save money, and i dont blame you...but if you have to ask this question, maybe you should call an electrician

This attitude is not productive.

We all say things like this from time to time when someone is obviously out of their league, but you have said things like this in several threads now, to people who were asking legitimate questions.

This is the DIY Chatroom. DIY see... it says DIY right there. If you want to chat with electricians, head over to mikeholt.com.

 

[NolaTigaBait]

Hey, you get it inspected. Thats a very crucial step. If you have done wiring and passed, you are capable of electrical work.

no, not really....this means NOTHING! you pay em 20 bucks and you are good

 

[NolaTigaBait]

This attitude is not productive.

We all say things like this from time to time when someone is obviously out of their league, but you have said things like this in several threads now, to people who were asking legitimate questions.

This is the DIY Chatroom. DIY see... it says DIY right there. If you want to chat with electricians, head over to mikeholt.com.

gigs, this person IS out of their league..if you can't see this you are blind...i'm not tying to be rude...they will sav ethemselves money in the long run if they call an electrician... but hey if a diyer wants to start changing services and rewiring entire houses---hey go ahead diyers, this is what this site is for....IT WILL COST YOU MONEY IN THE LONG RUN DIYERS:thumbup:

 

[InPhase277]

Hey, you get it inspected. Thats a very crucial step. If you have done wiring and passed, you are capable of electrical work.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's the funniest thing I've read on this forum! :laughing: