Electrical – Using 15 amp thermostat on a 20 amp circuit

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I've seen this question about receptacles, but what about thermostats? My house in Washington state has really old mechanical thermostats that don't have their rating specified anywhere, but judging by 12 AWG wire they are 20 amps (all wiring in the circuit is 12 AWG, too, and the breaker is 20 amps). The thermostats I want to replace them with are rated 15 amps. There are total of 3 heaters (in 3 rooms, 1 thermostat per heater) in the circuit, each draw less than 10 amps and total draw should be around 14 amps.
Can I use 15 amp thermostat in circuit with 20 amp breaker?

Best Answer

You cannot compare this question to the allowance of a 15A receptacle on a 20A circuit. This is apples to oranges.

You can have as many 15A switches, thermostats, controls, etc, on a 20A circuit, provided the load each item is controlling is within its own rating.

So you can have a 15A thermostat, controlling a 10A load, on a 20A circuit.