> If I run a 15A appliance on a 10A breaker, a normal person without training would expect the breaker to trip.
Would the breaker trip in this case? I thought in this case it'd be more likely to start a fire.
Edit: thinking about this more, I think I'm wrong. A fire would start if your wires were too thin for a given amperage. Breakers detect current flowing.
Yeah, you were wrong: 15A on thin wires would heat them up too much and could cause a fire after prolonged runtime.
A 10A breaker breaks the circuit much faster than it takes for the wires to heat up, thus stopping the current flow.