MULTI FAMILY DWELLING

4-DOOR APARTMENT
Type of Service – 230 Volts;
2-wire Line to Ground Current System
Floor Area per unit = 80 square meter

Determine the branch circuit

protection, size of conductor wires and
the main feeder
Solution
Assume that the dwelling unit is equipped
with one 5.1kw cooking unit; one unit
laundry circuit at 1.5kw(see appliance
rating)
A. Circuit – 1 for Lighting Load (see plan)
1. By the area method, General lighting
Load of Occupancy for Dwelling Units.
2
watts
80𝑚 24 2
= 1,920 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
m
2. Total Current Load
1920 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
𝐼= = 8.45 amperes
230 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
3. Size of Conductor wire

Refer to tables. Use 2 pieces

2𝑚𝑚2 or No. 14 TW copper
wire having ampacity of
15amperes

15 amperes >8.35 amperes

(computed maximum load)
4. Size of the Conduit Pipe

Refer to table, the smallest diameter of a

conduit pipe that could accommodate up to
3 pieces of No. 14 TW conductor wire is
13mm diameter.

Thus, specify 13mm diameter conduit pipe

5. Size or Rating of the fuse protective device
From Table. For 8.35 load on 2.0𝑚𝑚2 , 𝑤𝑖𝑟𝑒
𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 use 15 amperes fuse.
B. Circuit – 2 For Convenience Outlet Load (see plan)
Solution
NEC provides that: “For each single receptacle shall be considered at no less that
180 watts rating.”

1. Total current load

From the figure, there are 6. Considering there are 2 plugs per outlet.
8 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 (2𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑡) = 16 𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠
𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
16 180 = 2,880 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑡
2. Appliance Current Load
2,880 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
𝐼= = 12.52
230 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
4. Size of the Conductor Wire

Refer to tables.
for a 12.52 amperes load, a 2𝑚𝑚2 or No.
14 TW copper wire having ampacity of
15amperes >12.52 amperes. But the
National Code limits the size of
convenience outlet wire to a minimum of
3.5 𝑚𝑚2 or No. 12 AWG copper wire. The
code must prevail.
Therefore use No. 12 AWG wire rather
than the No. 14 as computed.
5. Size of the Conduit Pipe

Refer to table, the smallest diameter of a

conduit pipe that could accommodate up to
2 pieces of No. 12 TW conductor wire is
13mm diameter.

Thus, specify 13mm diameter conduit pipe

5. Over Current Fuse Protection
From Table, under the column of Fuse/Breaker
Rating, the 20 amperes fuse can safely carry a
maximum load of 16 amperes the 80% of 20
amperes load permitted by NEC on No. 12
circuit wire.
C. Circuit – 3 for Other Loads
Solution
1. Laundry Circuit at 1,500 watts per circuit (PEC provision)
2. Current Load
𝟏, 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒔
= 𝟔. 𝟓𝟐𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔
𝟐𝟑𝟎 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒔
3. Size of the Conductor Wire

Refer from table, use 2 pieces of

3.5𝑚𝑚2 or No. 12 TW copper wire
4. Size of Conduit Pipe (if required)
Refer to table, the smallest diameter of a
conduit pipe that could accommodate up to 2
pieces of No. 12 AWG wire is 13mm diameter.

Thus, specify 13mm diameter conduit pipe

5. Over Current Fuse Protection
The fuse rating is 20 amperes. Granting
that only 80% of 15 amperes is considered the
derated value is still higher than the computed
load of 6.52amperes.

Thus, 20 amperes fuse over current protection

is accepted.
D. Circuit – 4 For Cooking Unit

1. Total Load is 5.1kw=5,100 watts

2. Refer from table Demand Load
of Household. For electric range,
apply 90% demand factor.
5,100 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 𝑥 0.80 = 4,080 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
3. Line Current Load
4,080𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
= 17.74 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠
230 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
4. Size of Conductor Wire
From the table, for 17.74 ampere
line current, use 5.5𝑚𝑚2 or No.
10 TW copper wire.
4. Size of Conduit Pipe
Refer to table, for No. 10 TW copper wire, use
20mm diameter.
E. Determine the Sub-Feeder per Dwelling
1. Total connected load per dwelling.
Lighting load 1,920 watts
Convenience Outlet Load 2,880 watts
Other Load 5.1 kw + 1.5 kw 6,600 watts
Total 11,400 watts
2. Apply 80% Demand Factor (see table)
11,400𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 80%𝑑𝑓
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 =
230 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 39.65 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠
3. Size of the Sub-Feeder and
Protection per dwelling for 39.65

Refer from table, use 8𝑚𝑚2 or No. 8

THW copper wire
4. Size of Conduit Pipe (if required)
Refer to table, for 8𝑚𝑚2 or of No. 8 wire,
specify 25 mm diameter conduit pipe.
5. Over Current Fuse Protection
From table, use 60 amperes molded circuit
breaker 2-wire 250 volts with solid bus.
F. Determine the Size of the Main
Feeder
1. Total Connected Load on 4
dwelling units at 11,400 watts
each.
11,000𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 4 = 45,600 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
2. From table, for 4 dwelling units
apply 45% demand factor.
45,000 45% = 20,520 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
3. Line Current
20,520𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
𝐼= = 89.22 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠
230 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
4. Size of Conductor Wire
From the table, for 89.92 ampere
line current, use 2 –
50𝑚𝑚2 TW copper wire or 2 –
38𝑚𝑚2 THW copper wire
5. Size of Conduit Pipe
Refer to table, use 38mm diameter RSC or IMT
pipe.
6. Over Current Fuse Protection
From table, use 125 amperes safety switch,
250 volts, 2 pole.
ONE LINE
DIAGRAM
 Total 49.56
11,400𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
Current Load per Dwelling = (80%𝑑𝑓) = 39.65 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠
230𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
Therefore: Use 8𝑚𝑚2 copper wire on a 20 mm RSC, 60 amp molded circuit breaker, 2
wire 250 volts with 5 branch circuit
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 (45%) 4,500 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 (45%)
For Main Feeder: = = 89.22
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 230 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
Therefore: Use 2 – 38𝑚𝑚2 𝑇𝑊 𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑟 2 − 30𝑚𝑚2 THW copper wire