elizabeth
... 20 amp duplex on 15 amp wires NEC says no. The NEC is not the wire police. They are guides used by electricians as to what they can and cannot do since they are contractors and THEY have legal and liability concerns ... Those concerns are not a law, You cannot go to jail for using a 20 amp duplex on a 15 amp line!o, you will not go to jail. But in the US, almost all jurisdictions rely primarily on the NEC, so it will be a violation of local code to put a 20A receptacle on a 15A line. That's because the breaker would not reliably trip if the load exceeded 15A. The breaker's primary purpose is to prevent the wire in the wall from overheating.