Wiring question: how many watts are safe?

I cut the power cord off a tv someone dumped... Is it safe to run this to 5 bulbs totaling 210 watts? What impact will serial vs parallel have? Whats the maximum thats safe to use per plug?

If I were you, I'd save up all of $8 and buy a replacement power cord from your local home improvement store. And while you are at it, pick up a book on basic wiring. You do not want to wire CFL's in series.

l3ored said:

I cut the power cord off a tv someone dumped... Is it safe to run this to 5 bulbs totaling 210 watts? What impact will serial vs parallel have? Whats the maximum thats safe to use per plug?

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I would go with very heavy duty extension cord wire. It is what I use

And definitely use parallel hook up instead of series

It is really amps you need to worry about on wires not wattage

The cord from the TV is probably 18awg. This can safely carry about 275w. Run your circuit in parallel. It's likely that the circuit you're using is rated at 15 amps or about 1400w continuous load.