Other lamp technologies - choice of circuit breaker

For LED lamps, see LED lamps - choice of circuit breaker.

Fig. N72 below indicates the maximum number of lamps according to the circuit breaker rating, for C-curve circuit breakers

• for B-curve circuit breakers, the number of lamps should be reduced by 50%,
• for D-curve circuit breakers, the number of lamps should be increased by 50%.

Fig. N72 – Maximum number of lamps according to the circuit breaker rating and curve, for other technologies than LED

Products			Circuit breaker (C curve)
Type of lamp			10 A	16 A	25 A	40 A	63 A
Standard incandescent lamps, LV halogen lamps, replacement mercury vapor lamps (without ballast)
	40 W		28	46	70	140	207
	60 W		23	36	55	103	152
	75 W		29	31	46	80	121
	100 W		15	23	33	60	88
ELV 12 or 24 V halogen lamps
Ferromagnetic transformer	20 W		11	19	27	50	75
	50 W		8	12	19	33	51
	75 W		7	10	14	27	43
	100 W		5	8	10	22	33
Electronic transformer	20 W		47	74	108	220	333
	50 W		19	31	47	92	137
	75 W		15	24	34	64	94
	100 W		12	20	26	51	73
Fluorescent tubes with starter and ferromagnetic ballast
1 tube without compensation	15 W		16	26	37	85	121
	18 W		16	26	37	85	121
	20 W		16	26	37	85	121
	36 W		15	24	34	72	108
	40 W		15	24	34	72	108
	58 W		9	15	21	43	68
	65 W		9	15	21	43	68
	80 W		8	12	19	36	58
	115 W		6	9	12	24	38
1 tube with parallel compensation	15 W	5 µF	11	19	24	48	72
	18 W	5 µF	11	19	24	48	72
	20 W	5 µF	11	19	24	48	72
	36 W	5 µF	11	19	24	48	72
	40 W	5 µF	11	19	24	48	72
	58 W	7 µF	8	12	19	36	51
	65 W	7 µF	8	12	19	36	51
	80 W	7 µF	8	12	19	36	51
	115 W	16 µF	4	7	9	17	24
2 or 4 tubes with series compensation	2 x 18 W		23	36	56	96	148
	4 x 18 W		12	20	29	52	82
	2 x 36 W		12	20	29	52	82
	2 x 58 W		8	12	20	33	51
	2 x 65 W		8	12	20	33	51
	2 x 80 W		7	11	15	26	41
	2 x 115 W		5	8	12	20	31
Fluorescent tubes with electronic ballast
1 or 2 tubes	18 W		56	90	134	268	402
	36 W		28	46	70	142	213
	58 W		19	31	45	90	134
	2 x 18 W		27	44	67	134	201
	2 x 36 W		16	24	37	72	108
	2 x 58 W		9	15	23	46	70
Compact fluorescent lamps
External electronic ballast	5 W		158	251	399	810	Infrequent use
	7 W		113	181	268	578
	9 W		92	147	234	463
	11 W		79	125	196	396
	18 W		49	80	127	261
	26 W		37	60	92	181
Integral electronic ballast (replacing incandescent lamps)	5 W		121	193	278	568	859
	7 W		85	137	198	405	621
	9 W		71	113	160	322	497
	11 W		59	94	132	268	411
	18 W		36	58	83	167	257
	26 W		25	40	60	121	182
Low-pressure sodium vapor lamps with ferromagnetic ballast and external ignitor
Without compensation	35 W		4	7	11	17	29
	55 W		4	7	11	17	29
	90 W		3	4	8	11	23
	135 W		2	3	5	8	12
	180 W		1	2	4	7	10
With parallel compensation	35 W	20 µF	3	4	7	12	19
	55 W	20 µF	3	4	7	12	19
	90 W	26 µF	2	3	5	8	13
	135 W	40 µF	1	2	3	5	9
	180 W	45 µF	0	1	2	4	8
High-pressure sodium vapor lamps Metal-iodide lamps
Ferromagnetic ballast with external ignitor, without compensation	35 W		12	19	28	50	77
	70 W		7	11	15	24	38
	150 W		3	5	9	15	22
	250 W		2	3	5	10	13
	400 W		0	1	3	6	10
	1000 W		0	0	1	2	3
Ferromagnetic ballast and external ignitor, with parallel compensation	35 W	6 µF	14	17	26	43	70
	70 W	12 µF	8	9	13	23	35
	150 W	20 µF	5	6	9	14	21
	250 W	32 µF	3	4	5	10	14
	400 W	45 µF	2	3	4	7	9
	1000 W	60 µF	0	1	2	4	7
	2000 W	85 µF	0	0	1	2	3
Electronic ballast	35 W		15	24	38	82	123
	70 W		11	18	29	61	92
	150 W		6	9	14	31	48

• High-pressure sodium vapor lamps: for the 10 A and 16 A B-curve ratings, the number of lamps should be reduced by 10% to limit unwanted magnetic tripping.