[onlybridget]

I've recently had some problems with the power in my apt. I have 2 window a/c's (one in the bedroom and one in the living room) and I've been able to run them simultaneously at any time for over a month. Then last week in the afternoon on a rather hot day, the breaker tripped when I was running both air conditioners (at about 2pm). I called my landlord and he had an electrician come in (a week later). I noticed that I can still run both a/c's in the morning and late at night when it's not too hot (or when my neighbors aren't around) but in the afternoon I cannot run both. The electrician came and first said that I was simply trying to run too many things but then when I showed him what happened and he check out the breaker box he said he wasn't sure and needed to talk to the property manager. Then the property manager told me that the electrician said the problem was simply that I was trying to run 19 amps on a 15 amp circuit.

So I have a couple questions - if that was the case then why am I able to use both air conditioners some of the time and it wasn't a problem at all for over a month? Also, when the breaker trips from running both air conditioners, the power goes out in the entire apartment with the exception of the kitchen (total power lost in the living room, 2 bedrooms, bathroom and dining room). How can all of those rooms be on ONE 15 amp circuit? And if it was, then how would it even be possible to get 19 amps out of a 15 amp circuit continuously? I'm not an expert by any means but I assumed that would be impossible.

My breaker has 4 circuit switches - three are 20 amp and one is 15. I suppose one of the 20 amps is for the kitchen, so what are the other 2 for then? Also, why is it possible for my neighbors to run their living room air conditioner AND all of the instruments and equipment for their band practice but I can't run 2 air conditioners and nothing else? I know one of my a/c's is 5,000 BTU (the bedroom one) and the living room is 12,000 BTU.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you :)

[ballengerb1]

"My breaker has 4 circuit switches " that's not your breaker its you panel, those swicthes are your breakers. When an AC unit kicks in it will draw more amps for a moment and then settle down a bit. If both units kick in at exactly the same time their combined draw could be overloading the circuit. Next time the AC units shut down (breaker pops) test to see if you have other recpetacles that are still hot and might be able to power one of you units.