[SOLVED] How many electronics can I safely plug into one socket

[Exploding PSU]

Alright, first of all, forgive me if I posted this on the wrong section. It probably is, but I myself not even sure where the correct board for this one is.

Second, I'm a bit confused on what I want to be honest, I feel like I'm biting more than I can chew, so please bear with me.

I'll try to explain it somewhat, I just moved to a new house (finally, no more annual rent, yay!), and my bedroom is equipped with one single wall socket. The question is, how many devices can I connect to that socket that is still deemed safe. I'll try to illustrate as best as I can, as like I said before, I'm not good at wording things

   O

Legend :
O : Socket

Fig 1. the socket

You see, I have a plan, my plan is to connect a 3-way splitter to the socket, so it would be like :

   T

Legend :
T : 3-way splitter

Fig 2. the socket, now with a cool T splitter plugged in

Now, I'll plug in two devices to the splitter, my PC and the monitor. I'm not sure how much power does the monitor counsumes, but my PC runs on a 650W seasonic gold power supply. Specs includes a Ryzen 5 2600, Vega 56, and some RGB lights. The monitor is a 21 inch IPS LG monitor (it's the bargain bin, cheapest one I could find), so we'll have :

P -----T
       |
       M

Legend :
T : 3-way splitter
- / | : cables
P : PC
M : Monitor

Fig 3. the monitor and PC plugged in

And here's the tricky part. I'm sure the socket would be capable to power a PC and a monitor no problem, but I'm planning to have a 3-socket extension cord that I'd use for my bedside. It would power a small bedside lamp (it's LED), my phone charger, and my laptop charger. It would look like :

P -----T------[OOO]
       |       |||
       M       LSB

Legend :
T : 3-way splitter
- / | : cables
P : PC
[OOO] : 3-way socket
L : laptop charger
S : phone charger (S for smartphone)
B : bedside lamp
M : Monitor

Fig 4. the extension cord joins the party

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much power do any of those devices consume. The bedside lamp probably won't consume much (it's a small one, like for bedside reading). The phone charger is 15W-ish according to the manufacturer (it's a Samsung phone, the Note 7 to be precise), and I have no idea about the laptop charger, but I bet it's quite large compared to the other ones.

So, I'm looking at plugging in 5 devices to a single socket. The power mains is 230V/50Hz, the house has 4400W total of power (I swear I don't know what is it called, it's that rating the power company gave us), use the euro-type plug (the two pronged ones). So, is it safe to do this, or am I looking at severe danger? I just don't want anymore explosions, I mean just read my username, I had bad experiences with this sort of thing. I don't know anything about electricity (I'm sure it's obvious at this point), heck, I don't even know how to name the things for the life of me.

To recap, the devices are :
1 650W PC
1 monitor
1 bedside lamp
1 phone charger
1 laptop charger

Thanks for the help, and sorry if this sounds like the blabbering of a madman, I'm asking about something I don't even have any idea about

 

[OrlyP]

Assuming you live in the US, typical residential outlets can handle either 15 or 20 amps @ 120V or about 1,800W and 2,400W, max, respectively. It's best you figure out which one you have.

You can then add up all the rated Amps and/or Wattages each of the devices you plan to plug in to make certain you're not going over the max Amps and/or Watts on that circuit. It's also important to use properly-spec'd and quality extension cords, preferably with their own circuit breakers.

At face value, either a 15A or 20A outlet will handle the loads you mentioned. However, that is assuming you're the only one using that particular circuit. If that circuit spans to an adjacent room or anywhere else, with other appliances plugged into it, you must take those into account and add them to the list of loads and power computation.

 

[CountMike]

Just look at the fuse the plug is protected with.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Get a Triplite 8port ISOBAR surge protector. Plug all of your computer stuff into that and that thing into the wall

Tripp Lite ISOBAR8ULTRA Isobar 8 Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip, 12ft Cord, Right-Angle Plug, Metal Lifetime Limited Warranty & Dollar 50,000 Insurance White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000511U...abc_MK3V74QBQSJ286V4TZDB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[slintyflinty]

You can plus as many as the sockets provided. Though, make sure it has a fuse plug for protection.

 

[Paperdoc]

Working from a North American perspective is not quite so useful when OP says his house if fed with 230 V / 50 Hz power, and rated by the utility as 4400 W total. That is not a lot of power feeding into the house - it amounts to just under 20 A at 230 V, comparable to a 40 A main supply in a North American 120 V single circuit. But in fact a North American house commonly is fed with a 120 / 240 V dual-Line system with Grounded Neutral. So OP's total house feed is more comparable to a 20 A main feed in North American systems. We are more accustomed to 100 A or 220 A feeds.

Now, that ASSUMES that OP has that 4400 W figure correct as the TOTAL for the entire house, and that is what the post says.

Anyway, back to the specfic question. OP, your concern is not just the single outlet you are using in that room. In most houses, several outlets in different rooms are connected all on ONE circuit from the fuse box. The enitre circuit from that fuse is limited by the fuse capacity, and that is where yoru limit is. You can rely pretty well on the idea that, from that fuse outwards through that circuit, all of the wiring is capable of dealing the that much load safely. So, first step is to do a little detecting work. Use a small lamp or something for this. Plug that in where you plan to locate your computer system. Now find the fuse box (or breaker box) and remove the fuses (or trip the breakers) one at a time until you find the one that shuts off that outlet. Turn all the others back on. Now go around the house and find all the other outlets that are OFF at the same time. All of those are on that one circuit fed by that one fuse (or breaker). When you have that done, replace the fuse (or turn on the breaker). NOTE the rating of the fuse or breaker in Amps.

You can do the next step either using Amps of current, or Watts of power. Watts = Amps x Volts, and you have a fixed 230 V supply. If the fuse is rated as 10 A, for example, that means you can use that directly and convert any Watts rating of a connected device into Amps. OR you can do it the other way: 10 A at 230 V = 2300 W, and you can use the WATTS rating for all connected devices on that one circuit. Just add up all the connected loads. It must not exceed the limit imposed by the fuse Amp rating.

For your computer system, the 650W power supply unit can provide UP TO 650 W to the computer, but usually operates at less power. However, it is not 100% Efficient, so to do that it can consume from the wall 765 W at maximum. Add maybe 100 W for the monitor (likely less, see what its label says), laptop charger maybe another 100 W (again, read its label), phone charger and LED lamp very little power. So the max power for your computer system and small items in that one room is about 950 W, probably lower whrn you revise my guesses for monitor and laptop, and most often even less because you will NOT be using the full 765 W for the computer most of the time. NOW you need to add on all the OTHER devices from other rooms that you discovered in your search above with the fuse removed. Convert those to Watts also, if that's the total you are calculating. That is the TOTAL power draw on that circuit and fuse (or breaker), and it must be less that the fuse can allow.

Beyond that, there is the total load for your whole house, and you have been told that is 4400 W or about 20 A. You will need to consider whether all the items in your house will actually use LESS than that limit.

 

[Exploding PSU]

Working from a North American perspective is not quite so useful when OP says his house if fed with 230 V / 50 Hz power, and rated by the utility as 4400 W total. That is not a lot of power feeding into the house - it amounts to just under 20 A at 230 V, comparable to a 40 A main supply in a North American 120 V single circuit. But in fact a North American house commonly is fed with a 120 / 240 V dual-Line system with Grounded Neutral. So OP's total house feed is more comparable to a 20 A main feed in North American systems. We are more accustomed to 100 A or 220 A feeds.

Now, that ASSUMES that OP has that 4400 W figure correct as the TOTAL for the entire house, and that is what the post says.

Anyway, back to the specfic question. OP, your concern is not just the single outlet you are using in that room. In most houses, several outlets in different rooms are connected all on ONE circuit from the fuse box. The enitre circuit from that fuse is limited by the fuse capacity, and that is where yoru limit is. You can rely pretty well on the idea that, from that fuse outwards through that circuit, all of the wiring is capable of dealing the that much load safely. So, first step is to do a little detecting work. Use a small lamp or something for this. Plug that in where you plan to locate your computer system. Now find the fuse box (or breaker box) and remove the fuses (or trip the breakers) one at a time until you find the one that shuts off that outlet. Turn all the others back on. Now go around the house and find all the other outlets that are OFF at the same time. All of those are on that one circuit fed by that one fuse (or breaker). When you have that done, replace the fuse (or turn on the breaker). NOTE the rating of the fuse or breaker in Amps.

You can do the next step either using Amps of current, or Watts of power. Watts = Amps x Volts, and you have a fixed 230 V supply. If the fuse is rated as 10 A, for example, that means you can use that directly and convert any Watts rating of a connected device into Amps. OR you can do it the other way: 10 A at 230 V = 2300 W, and you can use the WATTS rating for all connected devices on that one circuit. Just add up all the connected loads. It must not exceed the limit imposed by the fuse Amp rating.

For your computer system, the 650W power supply unit can provide UP TO 650 W to the computer, but usually operates at less power. However, it is not 100% Efficient, so to do that it can consume from the wall 765 W at maximum. Add maybe 100 W for the monitor (likely less, see what its label says), laptop charger maybe another 100 W (again, read its label), phone charger and LED lamp very little power. So the max power for your computer system and small items in that one room is about 950 W, probably lower whrn you revise my guesses for monitor and laptop, and most often even less because you will NOT be using the full 765 W for the computer most of the time. NOW you need to add on all the OTHER devices from other rooms that you discovered in your search above with the fuse removed. Convert those to Watts also, if that's the total you are calculating. That is the TOTAL power draw on that circuit and fuse (or breaker), and it must be less that the fuse can allow.

Beyond that, there is the total load for your whole house, and you have been told that is 4400 W or about 20 A. You will need to consider whether all the items in your house will actually use LESS than that limit.

Alright, thanks for the detailed answer. So, I've done the 'detective' work, and here's what I found :

I found the breaker box, and it has four different breakers. it says :

Breaker 1 : 20A, 20A at 220V = 4400W
Breaker 2 : 10A, 10A at 220V = 2200W
Breaker 3 : 6A, 6A at 220V = 1320W
Breaker 4 : 6A. 6A at 220V = 1320W

Also, I made a grave mistake. The mains is actually running at 220V, not 230V. Error on my part, sorry.
After switching them on and off, this is my findings :

Breaker 1 : shuts off the entire house when tripped
Breaker 2 : Bedroom, kitchen, dining room, the outside lights
Breaker 3 : Guest bedroom and living room (both are upstairs)
Breaker 4 : The water pumps, stairs, the indoor lights including the bathroom

So, I should be concerned about Breaker 2, right? I calculated the wattage of all appliances on the rooms connected to Breaker 2 :

• For the PC we got something like 500W (I got this figure after reading some power usage numbers from Tom's, Anand, and several other sites. Vega 56 uses around 300W-ish, Ryzen 5 2600 runs 100W-ish. That's around 400W. Put in a good 100W just to be safe and the 80+ efficiency measurement and we're looking at 625W for the PC, better safe than sorry.
• The monitor, if I were to believe it, uses 25W. The label says 19V at 1.3A, rounded a bit. The website also says the same number. I'm a bit concerned because it's much lower than the 100W you've posted.
• Laptop charger runs at 135W, says in the label
• I don't know about phone charger and the LED lights, but let's just say 50W in total. I mean, it shouldn't be far off.

So, for my bedroom, we're looking at 835W of power. Then I did the same for the kitchen appliances, dining room, other things connected to Breaker 2 circuit, and it totaled about 1900W. Well below the 2200W limit, so I guess we're good to go?

Then, to address that last paragraph of your post, I powered everything up including AC, the TV, water pump, water heater, microwave, all the heavyweights and see how much power we use. Using the meter in front of the house (I don't know what it's called), it sat at 18A, so around 3960W of power.
Please note this includes unrealistic scenario, e.g. I don't think we'll ever fire up all the AC at once while using the water heater, or turning on all the lights in the house (lights only takes up about 80W though), or using both the microwave and the rice cooker at the same time. The typical usage would be much lower of course.

So, after all this : I guess we're good to go?

Get a Triplite 8port ISOBAR surge protector. Plug all of your computer stuff into that and that thing into the wall

Tripp Lite ISOBAR8ULTRA Isobar 8 Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip, 12ft Cord, Right-Angle Plug, Metal Lifetime Limited Warranty & Dollar 50,000 Insurance White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000511U...abc_MK3V74QBQSJ286V4TZDB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

You can plus as many as the sockets provided. Though, make sure it has a fuse plug for protection.

I already have one of those, it's the best one I could find. I jumped the gun and bought the surge protector before I thought about whether the sockets could actually power it.

Assuming you live in the US, typical residential outlets can handle either 15 or 20 amps @ 120V or about 1,800W and 2,400W, max, respectively. It's best you figure out which one you have.

You can then add up all the rated Amps and/or Wattages each of the devices you plan to plug in to make certain you're not going over the max Amps and/or Watts on that circuit. It's also important to use properly-spec'd and quality extension cords, preferably with their own circuit breakers.

At face value, either a 15A or 20A outlet will handle the loads you mentioned. However, that is assuming you're the only one using that particular circuit. If that circuit spans to an adjacent room or anywhere else, with other appliances plugged into it, you must take those into account and add them to the list of loads and power computation.

Well, am not in the US, but I've calculated this bit, hope I'm not wrong in my calculations.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

does it all work good now? if so you should be good. glad to know you use ISOBARs, they ARE the best in the world.

 

[Paperdoc]

Your work looks very good to me, and I agree there are no big problems. the 230 V vs 220 V makes very little difference. The breaker ratings make sense. There's a master breaker to protect the entire house electrical system on the input side, then three breakers for different areas of the house. Note that their total is just slightly larger than the main one - that is normal because nobody expects to run every circuit at max load simultaneously. The consumption label on your monitor is surely right - I just overestimated that badly, so do not worry. You finished by creating an unrealistic max load and verified that even then it works well. Congratulations.

 

[Exploding PSU]

Your work looks very good to me, and I agree there are no big problems. the 230 V vs 220 V makes very little difference. The breaker ratings make sense. There's a master breaker to protect the entire house electrical system on the input side, then three breakers for different areas of the house. Note that their total is just slightly larger than the main one - that is normal because nobody expects to run every circuit at max load simultaneously. The consumption label on your monitor is surely right - I just overestimated that badly, so do not worry. You finished by creating an unrealistic max load and verified that even then it works well. Congratulations.

Alright then, thanks a lot for your guidance, I seriously feel I actually learned something, it's been an interesting ride

 

[Paperdoc]

You're welcome, and thanks for Best Solution.