Are 15A receptacles safe on 20A circuits?

Question

I recently got a circuit added to my spare room to grow some tomatos, the lighting I am going to be using is 8amp on each plug, I noticed the electrician didnt install a 20A rated receptacle with the side blade but installed a 15amp instead. I am wondering if this is safe, it is the only receptacle on the line. Pretty simple fix to swap it out if need be

Answer 1

That is fine. If there was only a single receptacle then it would have to match the 20A circuit. With a duplex, 15A is fine on 20A circuit. It matches your usage perfectly as each receptacle will use less than 15a and together more than 15 but less than 20.

Answer 2

Yes, that is fine.

Normally, the rule is that the socket size must match the breaker size. However there are two exceptions:

• 15A receptacles are allowed on 20A circuits, as long as there are at least 2 sockets on the circuit. This is supported by a UL rule that requires the internal wiring of all 15A sockets certify for 20A passthru.
• 50A receptacles are allowed on 40A circuits because nobody makes a 40A receptacle.