this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2025
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Look man I sort of get what you're saying but I was an electrician for a decade and I'm telling you nobody would consider a gaming computer a continuous load, like ever. UNLESS it was a business that sold time on a gaming computer, as I originally stated.
If a homeowner hired me and for some reason was adamant that I apply the 80% rule to a convenience circuit I'd probably walk away from the job because that customer is likely to be more trouble than they're worth because they think they understand the (extremely complicated and nuanced) code that I work with on a daily basis. It's not a threat to my license to do this install at all, just my sanity to deal with engineers that think they know better than tradesmen.
If I did take the job it would be unnecessarily expensive in terms of materials.
A normal 20A breaker will trip if you're overloading it - that can be either instantaneous current draw (say 23 or 24A at one time) or it can be because you're at 18A for a couple hours straight. That's how they're designed (does depend on the breaker but what I'm talking about is fairly standard). So there's literally no reason to do what you're suggesting. A properly installed, inspected, code compliant 15 or 20A circuit is plenty for current gaming computers. IF you start to go overboard pop and you unplug some other stuff and carry on, because that's how the system is designed.
I do not recommend homeowners do circuit upgrades themselves, because you can't just throw a higher amperage breaker on a circuit and call it a day, that's how you get fires. I agree that people in old homes, or even newer homes that they buy, should have a licensed electrician inspect their homes. A lot of what I've been saying about the reliability and capacity of circuits doesn't stand when you get back past the early 90s. NEC is updated every three years and the code is written in ashes and blood.
But if your house was built correctly after I'd say 1990 or 95 in the USA, everything I'm saying applies. It can apply for older homes also, but yeah, get an inspection done.