said by nunya :

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Would something rated for 15A (PF=1) and 500W incandescent be OK to pull 523VA thru?

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No. How can it be rated for 15A and 500W ? 15A at 500W = 33 Volts.
500W at 120v = 4.17 Amps.

If it says 500W, it means 500W. Not "a little more than 500W".

said by SparkChaser :

The specs are a little suspect, to say the least

said by nunya :

Yeah, considering an incandescent load is purely resistive (for all intents and purposes).

said by TheMG :

Actually, there might yet be some logic behind that spec.

Incandescent bulbs have a very high inrush current when first turned on, which that X10 device may not be able to handle beyond 15A of inrush current. Something like that anyways.

said by Raphion :

I just checked the resistance of a 100 Watt incandescent bulb; it's 10 ohms, and 10 ohms at 120 volts is 120/10= 12 Amps! Surprising how much of a jolt those bulbs take to start up eh? It's an extremely short spike of current before the filament gets hot, but it still needs to be considered, especially with devices that use solid state electronic switches.

said by bemis :

I wish I had paid more attention in school... because what you said does not seem right.

It does not take 12A to start a 100W light bulb..... does it?

My living room has 5 100W bulbs on a single switch, so does that mean it draws 60A when I flip the switch to on?

I suppose it might be believable if the current draw is nearly instantaneous and so it occurs so quickly that there is no time for the fuses/circuit breakers to blow or the wiring to heat up...

said by batsona :

(And this violates code)

Another question: If this is un-workable, how can I run my more-than-500W-A/C, 120v via an X10 remote control?

said by batsona :

Greetings...

I was going to use an X10 Appliance module to control a window A/C unit:

said by nunya :

A proper solution is to install a dedicated circuit for each window unit. For all the confabulation and speculation with X10 stuff, you could devote that time, energy, and funding to correcting the original problem.

said by DrD :

Uphill both ways, of course!

said by batsona :

When I was able to run the modules years ago when I had HomeSeer installed, I remember the Appliance Modules made a loud *bang* when the relay would close the switch inside, so I'd say it's a mechanical contactor in there...

said by nunya :

You are correct, it's a non-issue.