speedy petey

In the US, recessed lighting can be wired with #14 on a 15A circuit or #12 on a 20A circuit. It does not matter.

fasteddie

I think I asked the question wrong. I plan to wire a room with #12 wire everywhere and feed the canned lights with #12 wire so that the entire room is on a 20 amp breaker. But it occurred to me that internally the light is most likely #14 wire. In other words when I splice in the canned light to the #12 wire, I am actually attaching a #12 to a #14. Is this a problem? If it is, then why are bathrooms usually 20 amp circuits including the lights, and bathroom fan?

speedy petey

The wiring inside the can is likely #18. It does not need to be more.
You are not connecting #18 to a 20A circuit. You are connecting a fixture to a 20A circuit.
The fixture wiring is NOT part of the branch circuit. It only needs to carry the load of the fixture.

midway409

I am kinda wondering the same thing? I have a family room in the basement that was in bad shape electrically. The former owner(s) used extension cords to wire outlets and duct tape splices everywhere. The 6 can lights 75W are wired using 14/2 G. So if I place the room on a 20 amp breaker with 6 outlets and 6 can lights, is that acceptable? Does the #14 need to be switched to #12?