How much power can I safely use from a 'shavers only' 115v socket in a bathroom?

MikeHunt79 · 16 Aug 2011 at 07:26

I was just wondering, I'm using around 10-20W right now and it seems ok, but I'm guessing that a step-down transformer is used somewhere, so I guess a big load would damage the transformer, so does anyone know what the limit is and how close I am to it? Thanks.

godinman · 16 Aug 2011 at 08:12

I would assume that different sockets will have different levels of maximum load.

Does it say on the socket what it is? How about this, is it on a seperate trip? What load is that rated at? Or, is it powered via a fuse spur? If so, what rating is the fuse?

MikeHunt79 · 16 Aug 2011 at 08:36

godinman said:
I would assume that different sockets will have different levels of maximum load.

That makes sense, I can make a rough guess and say I'm not going to be pulling more than 20W (~0.2A) from the socket, but I guess most shavers are going to pull maybe 10W which is why I wanted to be sure I'm not pulling too much current.

godinman said:
Does it say on the socket what it is? How about this, is it on a seperate trip? What load is that rated at? Or, is it powered via a fuse spur? If so, what rating is the fuse?

Unfortunately I have no idea, it's at a hotel so I doubt the girl on reception would know either, and I think it would be better not to ask really...

I would guess that it's probably using the same circuit as the lights in the bathroom, as there aren't any normal 13A sockets in there.

I did get a photo of the socket, I guess it's better than nothing:

godinman · 16 Aug 2011 at 08:45

I googled this for you 'how much power can i pull from a 115v shaver socket', unfortunately this thread is the top result. :/

Just keep plugging things in until something melts, goes pop or sets on fire.

NeverWinter · 16 Aug 2011 at 08:51

Surely it would just trip at the fuse box if it was pulling too much power?

MikeHunt79 · 16 Aug 2011 at 08:54

godinman said:
I googled this for you 'how much power can i pull from a 115v shaver socket', unfortunately this thread is the top result. :/

Just keep plugging things in until something melts, goes pop or sets on fire.

I also had a little look on google but there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer...

I've had it running for a while now and nothing has melted or tripped out so I'm going to assume it's ok, but even so, it's nice to know the limit.

I know there are a few electricians on this forum, and I'm sure they would have a better idea about this than I do, even a ballpark figure is better than nothing.

NeverWinter said:
Surely it would just trip at the fuse box if it was pulling too much power?

I'd like to think so, but I'd like to avoid tripping the fusebox really.

joemo13 · 16 Aug 2011 at 09:15

Make an adaptor to go from the 115v shaving socket to 110v 3 pin socket, stick in some powertool over 1KW and watch what happens! Seriously though I belive there is a standard amount of power probably around 20W but I'm not sure as it is not my area.

MikeHunt79 · 16 Aug 2011 at 09:22

joemo13 said:
Make an adaptor to go from the 115v shaving socket to 110v 3 pin socket, stick in some powertool over 1KW and watch what happens! Seriously though I belive there is a standard amount of power probably around 20W but I'm not sure as it is not my area.

I am actually using a travel adaptor, but you'd have to be rather brave to try shaving with a 1KW beltsander!

That said, 20W seems to be the most common rating for the sockets I've seen after a little more googling, so I think I'll assume 20W is my max which is more than what I'm using from the socket so I must be within the limit. Thanks.