clifto wrote:

A bit off topic, as it has to do with house wiring. But how does power factor
affect dissipation in the conductors? I'm wondering, for example, if a 1500
watt capacity and a 30% power factor would overload #14 wire.

To put it into perspective...NEC allows #14 for up to 15 amps when used
as a conductor in a 3-core cable. The wire alone is rated for 32 amps
for open chassis wiring. I'm not sure how its rated loose in conduit
but I suspect that NEC still treats it as 15 A.
That said, I don't think NEC takes into consideration...or actually they
do in a roundabout way by derating...the power factor variance.
I'd say you are in the clear both from a practical and a 'legal'
standpoint with 1500 watts load. However, if I were doing this from
scratch I'd bump up to #12 or #10 because 14 wire could create an
undesirable voltage drop depending on distance.