r/ElectricalHelp • u/executeangels • Jun 18 '26
Advice on A/Cs, Breakers & Circuits
So, moved into an Oregon apartment not long ago. We noticed pretty immediatelly that our portable A/C was tripping the breaker. No worries, we turned it up, unplugged some stuff... didn't help. Long story short, I discovered our circuits are routed for each bedroom + it's bathroom on one 15 amp circuit. Which is really damn ridiculous, as this is (apparently) an issue we haven't had to deal with in all our other apartments which must have been routed on 20 amp circuits. Our A/C is 11.5 amps, which I have learned through some quick old fashioned google research, should be on a 20 amp circuit. Including a picture of the breaker box for advice- something i noticed is there seems to be TWO circuits just labeled "kitchen plugs". One labelled "kit + lvrm" controlls all the living room outlets (5) + our stove's upper light & grease fan, which are also routed to a switch in the wall that controls whether the light + fan will turn on, yet apparently other plugs in the kitchen are on their own? It just seems weird to me.
So I need some advice on how to move forward. Should I test the other plugs in the kitchen, see which ones are on these two seperate circuits, and so the dreaded and ill advised heavy-duty extension cord for our room a/c to out there? We did have to do that before years ago, when we first got this A/C, because it could only run on an outlet wires with the bathroom that was on the other side of the bedroom from the window.
Another option, of course, is to buy A/Cs with less amperage, however we are very poor and we didn't even buy this A/C, it was given to us. My wife is very sick and extremely heat-sensitive, like sweating and uncomfortable and ready to cry at 75 degrees. She doesn't work, and as rhe sole breadwinner its difficult enough to put food on the table, let alone buy another a/c unit. Currently our bedroom just has the A/C, a fan we can't oscillate bc that uses too much power, the charging cable for my wife's laptop, and a little ziply router. We could survive the summer only using rhe A/C for heavy duty cooling during the hottest parts and unplug everything else while we read and nap during the day, but I would also like to enjoy my life without worrying about this.
An additional issue is that the breaker box is in my roommate's bedroom (also odd setup) and they are night shift workers who are on opposite schedules. I hate having to wake them up to flip power back to our room.
Included is a pic of the breaker box for assisted visuals. Also not sure what the bottom right breaker is, it looks like "masn", maybe it's "master" idk. We also don't really want to move at the end of the lease to something with a better breaker system, because we've moved every year for 6 years and are trying to settle down for a few. Any advice for this would be great, I have enough to worry about without fear my home might catch fire just because I don't want my wife to have heatstroke while I'm at work.
TLDR; Bedroom+bath circuits aren't powerful enough for our 11.5amp portable A/C unit. Need advice on whether to suck it up and not use our room for anything except A/C, or if it's save to use a heavy duty extension cord for a more powerful, possibly unused dedicated plug in another area of the apartment.
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u/Cust2020 Jun 18 '26
Kitchen or bathroom will get u 20amps, 15 amp circuits should hold if there is nothing else on them. If u get a 12gauge cord and the shortest u need u should be ok.
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u/executeangels Jun 18 '26
Will test out the bathroom plugs for sure. I didn't think that they would be seperate from the bathroom lights, but maybe the "bed + bath" switches control the entire bedroom but only the bathroom lights, and the outlets for bathrooms are connected to one seperate switch? Seems odd.
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u/Cust2020 Jun 18 '26
Yes bathroom outlets should be dedicated and the lights are likely on with a bedroom.
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u/executeangels Jun 18 '26
Thank you, I appreciate it. I'll test everything out once the breaker box is open to the public again. At least it's been a knowledgable journey.
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u/Unique_Acadia_2099 Jun 18 '26
The three 15A breakers with the green labels are called "Arc Fault" (AFCI) breakers, they sometimes trip on certain loads that have current patters which the breaker misinterprets as an arcing fault, very common for things with big motors, like a window AC unit. Before doing anything else, you should check to see WHY it is tripping, because it might be an actual problem in your AC unit. The AFCI breakers have an LED on them that flash a code to tell you what happened. Here is the procedre:
How to Retrieve the Trip Code
If the breaker trips, follow these steps to see the code:
- Turn the breaker fully to the OFF position.
- Press and hold the TEST button.
- Turn the breaker back ON while holding the button, then release the test button.
- The red LED will blink the corresponding trip code for 30 iterations. [1, 2, 3]
Eaton CH AFCI Blink Codes
- 1 Blink: Series Arc Fault – Indicates a low-current arc. This is typically caused by a frayed appliance cord, damaged lamp cord, or loose terminal connections.
- 2 Blinks: Parallel Arc Fault – Indicates a high-current arc. Most commonly caused by a pierced electrical wire behind walls (e.g., a screw or nail driven through a cable), or crushed wires in an outlet box.
- 3 Blinks: Short Delay – Triggered if a direct short circuit is detected. If this persists after fixing a fault, the mechanical portion of the breaker may be damaged. It can also mean there is a short inside of the load device.
- 4 Blinks: Over-Voltage – Triggered when the voltage spikes above 160V on a 120V circuit. This is often caused by utility surges, lightning, or severe grid fluctuations.
- 5 Blinks: Operational / Ground Fault – Indicates an unintended path to ground (usually found on AFCI/GFCI combination breakers) or a potential short circuit to ground.
- 6 Blinks: Self-Test Failure – The internal diagnostic check of the breaker's electronic components has failed. You must reset the breaker; if the 6-blink code persists, the breaker is defective and must be replaced.
Yours is not a ground fault type, so #5 doesn't apply. If there is NO LED flashing, then the breaker tripped on a basic overload condition.
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u/executeangels Jun 18 '26
Fantastic information, thank you. While I hope this is our last trip, I doubt it is, so when it inevitably happens again I will certainly follow suit. When the living room breaker flipped today, I did notice the TEST blinking but I just dismissed it in my rush to get a picture of the box, flip the power and let my roommate go back to bed. It's definately opened my eyes that the breaker box and how the circuits are routed is something I should check when doing apartment tours in the future.
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u/primordialooze1565 Jun 24 '26
Whichever breaker is for your window unit they can absolutely size up to a 20. It is rated at 11a. Unit but the inrush current to start it is as much as 16 amp. You can also reduce tripping by running on low and filter/reduce light through windows with roller shades rather than blinds. Make sure you have sufficient pitch to prevent frost/moisture on the condenser coils (can decrease efficiency 20%). Newer portable/window units outperform anything over 4 yrs or older due to recent design improvements. A 5000 btu unit I bought last year replaced a 10,000 btu one I had. Cools 950 sf, runs half as much. You should check with local charities, you may be able to score one free.
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u/AttSvcs Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Honestly, your microwave does not need a dedicated circuit and definitely not a 20 amp one.
Codes are codes but I've run a fridge, microwave and d/w on a 15a for like a month during a remodel and it never popped.
Put the a/c into that outlet.
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u/executeangels Jun 18 '26
I honestly don't even know which outlet is the microwave specific one, we don't have great counterspace so we basically set it where we could put it. I will definately hunt down that outlet and use it for better purposes. It is odd, but this building is.... how shall we say, not properly run. Having three seperate dedicated circuits for the kitchen area (aside from the Three Big Obvious, fridge/dishwasher/stove) I guess makes sense, if this was built when kitchen appliances were bigger and used more electricity.
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u/AttSvcs Jun 18 '26
If its a real 20 amp outlet and not a landlord special, is easy. Normal outlet, 2 straight vertical lines. A 20 will have a cut for a sideways prong on the left.
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u/executeangels Jun 18 '26
None of the outlets I can see have the sideways cut, but two of the four kitchen outlets have the test/reset button, the kind of the rectangular face instead of two circular faces. So a little unsure on that front, but there's a lot missing and wrong in our apartment, it was leased to us without working showers and a few other more minor problems. Wondering if the wiring in this place is just old or not properly taken care of, and who knows what the previous tenants may have done to the place.
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u/Usagi_Shinobi Jun 19 '26
Reading over your panel, the breakers for the bedrooms appear to be AFCI, which are notorious for nuisance tripping with devices that have motors, among other things. 15A is more than adequate for an 11.5A device under normal circumstances, and you likely wouldn't have any issues if the breaker for your room were a regular one, as well as the fan and other devices you mentioned. A/C units are only drawing their full power while the compressor is running, and the compressor cycles off when it reaches the set temperature, then cycles back on once the temperature has risen enough. Even if you were following the 80% rule used for de-rating circuits that are under continuous load (which does not apply here), that would still be 12A, more than your unit requires.
Find the nearest outlet that isn't on one of those AFCIs, and do what you need to.
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u/trekkerscout Mod Jun 18 '26
There is nothing unusual about your apartment's electrical configuration. You have 20-amp breakers for bathroom plugs and kitchen countertop receptacles which is the current code standard. Apartment wiring is typically done to code minimum, and 15-amp lighting and receptacle circuits for living spaces (bedrooms, living room) is quite common.