NEC 220.55 Electric Cooking Appliance Demand: Table 220.55, explained

Verbatim code text, the full table, Notes 1–3, worked examples, and a free in-browser calculator. Last updated 2026-08-28 (written for PanelWright v1.12).

Runs in your browser. No account, no install, data never leaves your machine. The cooking card sits below the other NEC load cards on the main page.

The rule in one sentence

For household electric ranges, wall-mounted ovens, counter-mounted cooking units, and other household cooking appliances individually rated in excess of 1¾ kW, the feeder/service load may be taken from Table 220.55 — a maximum-demand table keyed to the number of appliances (Column C), with notes that adjust it for large or unequal ratings (Notes 1/2) and an alternative factor-based method for the smaller 1¾–8¾ kW appliances (Note 3). kVA is considered equivalent to kW.

The code text (verbatim)

220.55 Electric Cooking Appliances in Dwelling Units and Household Cooking Appliances Used in Instructional Programs

Two things jump out. First, the table keys off count, not total watts — the "how many ranges" table people always look for. Second, the 3-phase, 4-wire rule: where two or more single-phase ranges are supplied by a 3-phase, 4-wire feeder or service, you don't look up the total number of ranges across all phases — you count the maximum number connected between any two phases and double it. (PanelWright's card has a dedicated field for that.)

Table 220.55 — the whole table

Column C ("to be used in all cases except as otherwise permitted in Note 3") is the base maximum demand in kW by number of appliances. Columns A and B are demand factors (percent of nameplate) used only under Note 3, for the two rating bands.

The two formula cells are merged rows — in the printed table the "15 kW + 1 kW for each range" cell physically spans the 26–40 rows and the "25 kW + ¾ kW for each range" cell spans 41 and over. That merged-cell geometry is exactly what the free web sources get wrong (next section).

The "31+ ranges" variant is wrong — and here's the proof

Several free calculators and blog tables print the high band as "31+ ranges: 25 kW + ¾ kW per range" — some of them with the per-range increment counted "over 20." Both variants are wrong against the verbatim text, and at least one is self-evidently impossible:

• The merged-cell geometry settles it. In the printed table the "15 kW + 1 kW for each range" cell physically spans the 26–40 rows and the "25 kW + ¾ kW for each range" cell spans 41 and over. The 2014 and 2020 verbatim texts — extracted at coordinate level (cell geometry, not just text) and diffed row-by-row: 0/30 mismatches — agree with each other, so the spans are the reading, not a typo in one edition.
• The "over 20" variant is non-monotonic. It gives 30 ranges (its 26–30 band): 15 + 30 = 45 kW, but 31 ranges (its 31+ band): 25 + 0.75 × (31−20) = 33.25 kW. The maximum demand would drop by 11.75 kW when you add a range. A demand table that shrinks when you add loads cannot be right.
• The verbatim seams are continuous. 25 ranges = 40 kW → 26 ranges = 41 kW → 40 ranges = 55 kW → 41 ranges = 55.75 kW → 60 = 70 kW → 61 = 70.75 kW. It only ever goes up — as it must.

PanelWright implements the verbatim bands — 26–40: 15 kW + 1 kW/range; 41+: 25 kW + ¾ kW/range — with every band seam pinned by a monotonicity test in the public suite.

Notes 1–4

Note 1 — over 12 kW, all the same rating (through 27 kW)

So 10 ranges all rated 14 kW: base Column C(10) = 25 kW; the rating exceeds 12 kW by 2 kW → +2 × 5% = +10% → 27.5 kW. A 12.1 kW rating exceeds 12 kW by 0.1 kW = one "major fraction" → +5%. Ratings of 12 kW or under: no increase. Over 27 kW: Note 1 doesn't reach — sum the per-range loads manually.

Note 2 — unequal ratings (all over 8¾ kW, none over 27 kW)

The trap: any range rated under 12 kW counts as exactly 12 kW in the average — not its nameplate. Three ranges at 10, 12, and 14.25 kW: the sum uses 12 for the 10-kW unit (12 + 12 + 14.25 = 38.25), average = 12.75 kW → one major fraction over 12 → +5% of Column C(3) = 14 kW → 14.7 kW.

Note 3 — small appliances, 1¾–8¾ kW (in lieu of Column C)

Two rating bands, two factors: Column A for appliances under 3½ kW, Column B for 3½–8¾ kW. Mixed kitchen: two 2-kW counter units (4 kW total, Column A @ 2 = 75%) + two 4-kW wall ovens (8 kW total, Column B @ 2 = 65%) → 4 × 75% + 8 × 65% = 3 + 5.2 = 8.2 kW. This is the method for the smaller wall ovens and counter units people actually install, where Column C's 8-kW floor for one appliance overstates the load.

Note 4 — branch circuits

Note 4 permits the branch-circuit load for one range to be calculated per Table 220.55, sets a single wall-mounted oven or counter unit at its nameplate rating, and lets a counter unit + up to two wall ovens on one circuit in the same room be totaled as "equivalent to one range." That's branch-circuit territory (Article 210) — out of scope for a feeder/service calculator, which is why PanelWright's 220.55 card implements Notes 1–3 only and says so.

Worked examples (all locked by the test suite)

Every number above is an assertion in the tool's public test suite (test/run_tests.js in the public repo) — 576/576 passing at the time of writing. Note 2 boundary behavior: exactly 8¾ kW is not "over 8¾ kW" (Note 2 inapplicable — use Note 3 or Column C); 27 kW is the ceiling; all-equal ratings are Note 1's job, not Note 2's.

Where 220.55 fits in a dwelling load calc

• Standard method (Article 220 Part III): the 220.55 demand is one line of the feeder/service sum — it replaces the raw nameplate total of the cooking appliances, and it feeds the 220.61(B)(1) 70% neutral reduction (the neutral load may be cut to 70% of the cooking/dryer portion because those loads were demand-calculated per Table 220.55 / 220.54 — that's the checkbox on PanelWright's 220.61 card).
• Optional method (220.82): ranges, wall ovens, and counter-mounted cooking units enter at 100% nameplate under 220.82(B)(3) — Table 220.55 does not apply on top of 220.82's own demand. If you're on the optional method, don't double-count: the cooking load rides inside the (B)(3) nameplate total. (The optional method is generally the smaller number, which is why people reach for it on single-family work.)
• kVA ≡ kW: the code says kilovolt-amperes are considered equivalent to kilowatts for this section — a 12 kW nameplate is a 12 kVA load here. PanelWright's 220.82 card even accepts the nameplate in kW directly.
• Instructional programs: Note 5 — the same table applies to household cooking appliances rated over 1¾ kW used in instructional programs (vocational schools, etc.).

Editions: 2014 / 2017 / 2020 / 2023 / 2026

• 2014: the table in the form above. Verified from the verbatim NFPA 70 2014 Article 220 text (coordinate-level extraction).
• 2017 / 2020: identical. PanelWright ran a programmatic row-by-row diff of the two verbatim editions: all 30 rows identical, including both merged formula cells. The Section-9 "edition conflict" hold that briefly blocked this feature was resolved exactly this way — the free-web conflict turned out to be free-web error, not an edition change.
• 2023: the published 2023 change analysis (Abernathy / Encore Wire) records no change to 220.55.
• 2026: the NEC renumbers load calculations out of Article 220 into the 120 area (cooking demand moves toward the 120.55 region). Verify section numbers against the edition adopted where your work is inspected.

Free NEC 220.55 calculator

Open the PanelWright 220.55 card →

Enter the appliance count and rating — or the Note 2 rating list, or the Note 3 two-column totals — and the card shows the demand in kW and VA with the rule it applied, plus the 3-phase 4-wire twice-the-max rule. The result rolls into the CSV export and the branded PDF project report. The same page also covers 220.82 (optional dwelling service load), 220.53 fixed appliances, 220.54 dryers, 220.42 lighting, 220.61 neutral, Table 310.16 conductor picks, phase balancing, and breaker sizing.

Sources & verification