Electrical mystery

I'll have to see what else lives on that circuit. It's spaghetti heaven in our house.

By the way, I called the guy at PSE&G whose name was at the bottom of the notification letter about the gas line work, and he said to call an electrician and then file a claim with PSE&G if the electrician agrees that the outlet/circuit was damaged by the installation of the gas line vent.

FilmCarp said:
The two circuits in that situation must be wired to adjacent breakers in the panel, and the neutral will only carry the difference of the two loads. For example, 12 amps on one circuit and 9 amps on the other leaves a load of 3 amps on the neutral.

Thread drift: after reading through this thread, I'm eternally grateful to the engineers who designed the AC Power system in Australia. We run at a nominal 230 volts, and the corresponding current loads are only about half of what you use in the US. Most domestic circuits carry no more than 10 amps, which means that the cables and wiring can be thinner, and we don't seem to suffer the same contact/resistance issues that you do.

Now, back to the thread...