How Many amps Does a Miter Saw Use? (Facts 2021)

Miter saws are common tools in many homes. In the professional world, they’re also used on a daily basis by carpenters and contractors to cut wood or metal.

But how many amps does a miter saw use?

Miter saws use between 10 and 16 amps depending upon the type of the saw and motor power. There are some miter saws that require fewer amps which are usually cordless.

It’s important for homeowners to know that when using their miter saw at home, it can consume as much power as running 10 new refrigerators simultaneously! The average household will typically use approximately 1-2 kWh of energy per hour while operating a miter saw.

That may not seem like too much on its own but if you consider the fact that your family probably already has other appliances running at the same time (e.g., lights, TV), then this number becomes more significant. When using a miter saw for a long period of time, your utility bill will inevitably go up.

How Many Amps Is a Small Workshop?

How Many amps Does a Miter Saw Use?

A small workshop may have a lot of tools, but when you take away the dust and debris they create, it won’t be enough to overload an RV power outlet. A single 15A circuit can handle up to 10 amps, so if your small or portable workshop uses just 1 tool at any one time (and let’s face it, it won’t be running 10 at a time), then the circuit will be fine.

But if you have more than 1 machine that uses up to 3 amps, then it’s best to have a second 15A circuit in your workshop so you can plug in two machines and still leave room for other tasks without tripping any breakers or shocking yourself.

Statements like that make me think you are sucking up to the electrical companies. You need a 20 amp circuit for two 3 amp tools, not just because it leaves room for other tasks.

Two small tools can draw more current than the 15 amp circuit can provide. The second circuit allows running both at full amperage without tripping the breaker. It also prevents the possibility of a fire if one of the tools is defective.

How Much Power Does a Miter Saw Use?

Miter saws are used often as they are great for cutting cross-grain and mitering cuts. They can be plugged into the main power source if you have a lot of machines to run, but most people use them with dedicated circuits

When using miter saws, make sure that your circuit is rated 15 amps or more. The saw will draw a lot of electricity if it is plugged into an outlet with less than 15 amps. In a small workshop, make sure you have a 20 amp circuit so that both miter saws can work without tripping the breaker or damaging anything in the workshop.

How Many Amps Does a Dewalt Miter Saw Use?

The answer to this question is not that easy because of multiple factors. First, you need to know how much voltage provides your miter saw. It might be 115 volts like in US or 230 volts like in Europe. In addition, you have to choose the right blade for your specific model and if it’s a corded or cordless model.

When using corded miter saw, you can calculate the maximum power consumption to be around 1.7 times voltage multiplied by amps per minute (for example 115 x 1.7 = 218 Watts). If voltage is 230 and blade requires about 4500 RPM then maximum power consumption would be about 325 Watts, which is not a lot of power(for example a 60W light bulb consumes about 325 watts).

Also, note that bigger blades tend to use more power. For example, a 10-inch blade requires 3 times more power than 8-inch one. Because of this, you should always check the maximum amperage on your miter saw before plugging in a big blade.

How many amps does a miter saw use is further difficult to answer because of the amount of current required by your tools. It mainly depends on how much power your tools are consuming over the time.

If you use it for example during 1 hour, then this would be calculated as amount of current multiplied by running time (for example 220 x 60 minutes). At last, if you have more than one tool plugged into same outlet and they are using some power, that still decrease overall usage in your breaker.

To calculate the amount of power, you have to first convert it into watts and then multiply amps by voltage (for example 220 x 115 = 262 Watts).

Some specific examples might help to understand how many amps does a miter saw use. So let’s start with a Dewalt DWE7491RS model as an example. It’s a 14-inch, dual bevel sliding compound miter saw with max capacity of 1000 Watt.

To calculate power you need to multiply 3.4324 x 230 and then divide by 60 minutes (the standard value for 1 hour). The answer would be about 115 Watts.

So if we assume that blade would use the same amount of power with one pass, and you would use it for 60 minutes on a single day. Then this is going to be approximately 115 Watts x 60 minutes = 7.05KWh per day.

Does a 15 Amp Saw Draw 15 Amps?

The answer is No. But why?

As we all know that power = voltage x amperes, a 1500 watt appliance (1000 watts of power) uses 10 amps when connected to 120 volts of supply. Similarly, a 2500 watt appliance (2000 watts of power) uses 16.5 amps when connected to 220V. So if just before

plugging in the saw, the meter shows that there is 120V, and after plugging in the saw the voltage drops to 104V, it means that 16.5 amps pass through this appliance when plugged in.

In simple words a Miter Saw uses 10 to 16 amps of current while running on 220v supply. That’s why you must have a minimum 10 amp 240v circuit. If you run the saw on 120 volts, then it uses 4 amps of current and requires only 2-3 amp single pole breaker.

If one is very careful while reading this article, there’s a possibility of his/her wondering why I didn’t mention about this big formula as ‘E =I x R’ or ‘E = I2R’. The answer is, This formula comes into play only when you are dealing with resistors and not with inductors.

Miter Saw Being a DC Motor

A Miter Saw is a DC motor which uses coils as inductor (which also acts as resistor) to produce magnetic field. Every wire in such a coil has an inherent property of self inductance, and this property causes a voltage drop across the wire. The Larger the number of coils in parallel, Less will be the voltage drop hence Large current.

Miter Saw Coils and Current Usage Breakdown

In a Miter Saw setup, we use 4-5 coils for powering each DC motor [each one having its own pair of brushes] These coils are kept in magnetic fields of permanent magnets.

Each pair of brushes has a separate field coil and produces its own magnetic field, hence current induced in the coils of all the motor will add up to get the total current.

The above illustration is about a low-power (low speed) saw with 2-3 coils per motor and four motors. Because of even current distribution to every motor, a large current is drawn.

When we make a setup like above ( using 4 motors in one setup), the total number of coils = 4 x 3 = 12 coils are used and its voltage drop will be nearly equal to the total supply voltage. Hence the current required by this setup becomes quite less than the individual motor’s current or the coil’s current.

On low power (low speed) miter saws, when we use more than one motor we get less voltage drop per coil and hence draw a larger current from the supply.

In high power (high speed) miter saws, there are 6-7 coils per motor and to avoid large voltage drop per coil, the current draw is kept large.

In the case of a high-power miter saw with 6-7 coils, the drawing current will be nearly twice or maybe more than that of low-power/speed miter saws. So in this case you’ll need a larger supply circuit or at least make sure to select a breaker of 20 amps.

Can I Run a 15 Amp Saw on a 20-Amp Circuit?

The answer is Yes because the current drawn by a miter saw is 16 amps at 220v and 10 to 13 amps at 120V.

What will happen if I use a 20-amp circuit for Miter Saw?

If you draw more than 16 Amps from your supply, then the voltage across the circuit will drop to around 105 volts. To eliminate this you can use 240v (if available) or increase the amperage of your circuit.

So to Sum Up

A Miter Saw uses 16 amps when running on a 220v supply. 10 to 13 amp when running at 120v. So make sure your circuit breaker is not less than 10-amp which can be a 15-amp breaker or 20-amp breaker.

I hope this answers your question “how much amp does a miter saw use” If you want to read more about miter saws and other power saws please visit my other articles. You can also share this article with your friends and family to let me know.

Apart from that, if you are a geek like me who loves discussing electrical and electronics appliances and eager to add more information to this article you are more than welcome.

Please use the comment section for your kind suggestions I will make sure that the info is added to the article and will cite you are the provider of the info.

You May Also Want to Read – Why does my Miter Saw Kickback? (Easy Fix 2021)

And – What size Miter Saw do I Need? Ultimate Guide (2021)

Or – How to use Dewalt Miter Saw – Ultimate Guide 2021

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