How to Use the Electrical Circuit & Outlet Planner

1. 1Set the project units and electrical standard profile.
2. 2Add a zone such as Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom, Laundry, Garage, or Outdoor.
3. 3Add or review the circuit groups inside the zone.
4. 4Add appliances and devices to the appropriate circuit group.
5. 5Enter manufacturer or nameplate data where the current appliance row allows voltage or wattage edits, and use manufacturer documents for items needing attention.
6. 6Review connected load, running current, planning current, startup current, breaker, conductor, voltage-drop, and protection-review results.
7. 7Review Automatic Circuit Recommendation blocks before applying a suggested split.
8. 8Check receptacle planning, the cable schedule, and the material takeoff.
9. 9Generate or copy the Project Report before relying on the estimate.

You do not need to know the final circuit layout before starting. The planner is intended to help organize loads and expose planning questions.

The selector is generated from the standard-profile registry. Placeholder profiles are not exposed. The current selectable profiles are:

A zone is a room or work area. The Add a zone panel offers Kitchen, Bedroom, Living Room, Bathroom, Laundry Room, Garage, Home Office, Dining Room, Basement, Outdoor, and Custom Zone presets. Each zone can be expanded, collapsed, duplicated, or removed.

A circuit group is the planner's working container for loads evaluated together as a possible branch-circuit planning group. It is not proof of a final installed branch circuit. The planner may identify overload, voltage mismatch, missing data, dedicated-equipment review, or another reason to split the group.

The Add appliance/device control inserts a preset with typical planning wattage, nominal voltage, appliance category, and electrical metadata where available. The row then lets you edit Watts, Qty, and Voltage, remove the load, move it to a compatible existing circuit group, or create a dedicated run.

Some motors, compressors, pumps, fans, washing machines, refrigerators, power tools, and similar loads may draw more current during startup. The planner tracks running current separately from estimated startup current and does not treat the temporary startup peak as a continuous running load.

The planner distinguishes equipment with explicit dedicated-circuit metadata from portable high-load appliances. Ovens, ranges, dryers, water heaters, HVAC equipment, pumps, and similar equipment may require manufacturer/nameplate review or a separate run when the preset or manufacturer data says so. Portable high-load appliances such as space heaters, hair dryers, kettles, air fryers, toasters, countertop microwaves, vacuums, and portable air conditioners remain shared-circuit loads unless equipment-specific data says otherwise.

If manufacturer data is missing, the report may show Professional review or Needs confirmation. If voltage is incompatible, the placement block and proposed circuit plan separate or flag the assignment as a Configuration issue. The planner should not be read as inventing final equipment-specific breaker or conductor values where the manufacturer information is unavailable.

The Automatic Circuit Recommendation block appears when the current group should be reviewed before treating it as one physical branch circuit. Reasons can include overload, mixed voltage, dedicated-equipment handling, manufacturer data review, voltage-drop review, and profile-specific grouping rules.

The block shows reasons, proposed Circuit A/B cards, connected load, current, breaker, minimum conductor, voltage-drop conductor, startup context, and actions to Apply recommended split or Dismiss recommendation. Applying a split creates replacement circuit groups and preserves appliance assignments according to the recommendation.

The Breaker value is a planning result produced from the active profile, modeled load, supported circuit rules, and any manual override. In report text, equipment review may be shown as a planning placeholder. The planner may show Review instead of a breaker when voltage is missing, voltage classes are mixed, manufacturer data is required, or the current grouping is unsupported.

AWG numbers run opposite to size: 12 AWG is larger than 14 AWG. Conductor material, terminal ratings, ambient temperature, grouping, installation method, cable family, and equipment instructions may matter. Unsupported or unknown conditions are handled as review limitations rather than hidden assumptions.

The planner uses the circuit route, modeled current, circuit voltage, conductor resistance, and a round-trip conductor path to estimate running voltage drop. In plain terms:

Long routes may cause the planner to show a larger voltage-drop conductor. The default running voltage-drop target is 3%. It is a planning target for review and conductor comparison, not a universal pass/fail code-compliance limit. Startup voltage dip is evaluated separately from running voltage drop.

Receptacle estimates help with early quantity and material planning. General rooms use usable wall perimeter, either auto-derived from length and width or manually entered. Kitchen zones add countertop length and countertop sections. Circuit groups can use Auto estimate or Manual quantity.

The current model does not fully lay out every door, opening, fireplace, fixed cabinet, exact wall segment, sink break, island, peninsula, or countertop segment. Exact placement may require wall-by-wall or countertop-segment review.

Circuit groups track Home-run from panel and In-zone branch wiring separately. Proposed circuit cards show Routed / purchase cable. Zone and project summaries show Estimated routed cable and Recommended purchase. The Cable Purchase Guide groups cable or conductor suggestions by wiring type and shows Estimated route and Suggested purchase.

Damp, wet, outdoor, underground, raceway, or unknown installation conditions can produce installation or cable-family review. Do not treat a generic indoor cable suggestion as proof of suitability for wet or underground work.

The Project Report currently produces material takeoff quantities for Standard receptacles, Dedicated appliance locations, Single-gang boxes, Device wall plates, Cable staples / supports, Wire connector allowance, and Circuit identification labels.

These are planning quantities. Cable supports and wire connectors are explicitly labeled as allowances because actual quantities depend on cable type, box layout, wiring method, support spacing, and installation conditions. Review the takeoff after resolving circuit warnings, splits, or conductor changes.

Each zone ends with a zone-level Electrical Planning Summary. The sidebar shows the active zone and project-level context.

The Project report appears after you select Generate report. Copy report and Print report use the same report data. The report is useful for reviewing assumptions, preparing a material estimate, and discussing the project with an electrician; it is not an inspection document.

Planning estimate ready does not mean permit approval, inspection approval, safe installation, or final electrical design. Needs your input is different from missing calculation output: the planner still has an estimate, but it is using typical or incomplete equipment data. Needs confirmation means a relevant requirement must be checked from additional context. Not determined means the selected profile intentionally does not evaluate that item.

When you change profiles on a project with content, the planner asks for confirmation and then shows Standard profile changes. The comparison can report recommendation changes, review-item changes, protection-review changes, rule/coverage changes, or no material recommendation changes.

1. 1Create the project and name the panel.
2. 2Select the standard profile intentionally.
3. 3Add all zones and enter dimensions.
4. 4Create initial circuit groups.
5. 5Add known appliances and devices.
6. 6Replace preset values with manufacturer or nameplate data where available.
7. 7Enter approximate home-run and in-zone cable routes.
8. 8Review each circuit group and resolve missing voltage or mixed-voltage findings first.
9. 9Review overload, dedicated equipment, manufacturer data, startup, conductor, and voltage-drop findings.
10. 10Review suggested splits before applying them.
11. 11Recheck the cable schedule and material takeoff after any split or conductor change.
12. 12Generate, copy, or print the Project Report for review and discussion.

Professional review is especially important when a project includes service or feeder changes, panel replacement, grounding and bonding work, unknown existing wiring, aluminum conductors, shared neutrals or MWBCs, conduit engineering, conductor bundling, high ambient temperatures, conductors in thermal insulation, unknown terminal ratings, outdoor/wet/underground routing, HVAC MCA/MOCP, EV charging, generators, transfer switches, solar, battery storage, equipment-specific manufacturer requirements, or state/local amendment questions.

The planner is most useful when it helps you identify these questions before materials are purchased or work begins.

AHJ

Authority having jurisdiction, such as the local inspector or code authority.

AFCI

Arc-fault circuit-interrupter protection. The planner may mark this for review; it does not perform complete jurisdiction verification.

Ampere / A

The unit of current used for running, planning, and startup current.

AWG

American Wire Gauge. A smaller AWG number is a larger conductor, so 12 AWG is larger than 14 AWG.

Branch circuit

A circuit serving outlets, lighting, or equipment after the final overcurrent device.

Breaker

The overcurrent device rating shown as a planning result or review placeholder.

Cable allowance

A percentage added to modeled routed cable for planning purchase quantity.

Cable family

The wiring or conductor family used in the planning schedule, such as an NM-B planning suggestion or a cable/conductor configuration review.

Circuit group

The planner's working container for loads evaluated together as a possible branch-circuit planning group.

Conductor

The current-carrying wire size shown in AWG for the current US planning profiles.

Connected load

The total modeled running wattage assigned to a zone, group, or proposed run.

Continuous load

A load classified by metadata as continuous. The planner does not apply continuous adjustment to every appliance.

Dedicated circuit

A run planned around one appliance or equipment load rather than a general shared outlet group.

GFCI

Ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection. The planner reports review indicators, not a final jurisdiction decision.

Jurisdiction

The state, municipality, or AHJ context that can change adopted code editions or amendments.

Manufacturer data

Appliance nameplate or installation-manual values that should override generic preset assumptions.

NEC

NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code. Adopted editions and local amendments vary.

Planning assumption

A configurable or simplified value used for early planning, not a universal code requirement.

Planning current

The current used for breaker/conductor review after supported adjustments, such as continuous-load treatment.

Receptacle

An outlet location estimate used for planning devices, boxes, plates, and cable quantities.

Review finding

A condition the planner can identify but cannot finalize without more information or a different plan.

Route length

The modeled one-way home-run plus in-zone branch wiring length used for cable and voltage-drop planning.

Rule set

A profile-resolved group of planning rules or source-backed references used by calculations.

Running current

Modeled running watts divided by nominal voltage for supported loads.

Standard profile

The selected electrical planning reference context, such as US residential planning or NEC 2023 Preview.

Startup current

Temporary current estimated for startup-capable loads such as motors, compressors, pumps, or similar devices.

Voltage drop

Estimated voltage lost along conductors from resistance under the planner's simplified single-phase model.

Watt / W

The unit of power used by appliance presets and user-edited load entries.