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Canadian electrical apprentice here. Circuit breakers are labelled for use at 80%. Nothing says you can’t use a 20A breaker labelled for 80% duty for 20A usage. You just run the chance of it failing more often than using it at its rated amperage. In my experience and according to the Canadian Electrical Code8–304: Maximum number of outlets per circuit(1) there shall not be more than twelve outlets on any 2-wire branch circuit, except as permitted by other rules of this code(2) Such outlets shall be considered to be rated at not less than 1A per outlet, except as permitted by subrule (3)(3) Where the connected load is known, the number of outlets shall be permitted to exceed 12, provided that the load current does not exceed 80% of the rating of the overcurrent device protecting the circuit.The above is referring to a 20A load, which I believe as to what you were referring to. As for a 20A receptacle, you can definitely use a 20A receptacle! It’s encouraged to use the correct receptacle for the correct amperage. In your kitchen you may notice your plugs are of the 20A variety.If not, you may have split receptacles, where both receptacles on the face are supplied by different current carrying conductors, but returned on the same “neutral” conductor in the three wire system.Hope this helped!

Who did your home inspection ? Anyone who knows anything about domestic electrical wiring will know that the fuse has to have a higher rating than the maximum draw of the devices on that circuit, especially any inductive load like a motor (as in a heat pump) which will momentarily take a lot more than 20A when it starts up. The fuse is there to protect the wiring, so it doesn’t overload/overheat and burn your house down, so the only reason for the home inspection legitimately flagging up the 30A fuse is if the wiring connecting it to the heat pump is not also 30A+ rated, and if this is the case, it’s the wiring that needs to be changed (by whoever installed underrated wiring) not the fuse.Either your building inspector doesn’t understand domestic electrical installations, or they didn’t explain that it’s the wiring that’s not up to standard, not the breaker.The only other possibility is that in fact the 20A rating of the heat pump is the peak or starting current, and only persists momentarily and that the actual running load is much lower, so the wiring may be rated for the lower current, and should be protected by a breaker at the lower current, but with a class C or D trip curve to allow for the momentary startup current. So possibly your wiring is 2.5mm^2 in conduit in an insulated wall, which will give it a nominal 26A rating, and your pump takes 20A to start up, but only 10A to run, so a 20A C or D curve breaker will protect the wiring, which a 30A one won’t.Normally, the heat pump literature will specify the correct breaker to use, or the manufacturer will tell you, but the cabling MUST be at least the same current rating, so if your inspector is correct, your contractor may have skimped on the cable sizing and needs to replace it.You need more information. Possibly just ask the inspector to clarify if the breaker rating is suitable for protecting the cabling connected to it.

No.This is a common misconception. Allow me to explain the fundamentals here.Voltage is the electromotive force and is measured in volts. It’s 240V in the UK and that’s what gets drawn from the socket.Current is an ordered directional movement of electric charge. If a Coulomb of charge passes a point in one second the current at that point is 1A.The outlet is rated for 20A. The device will draw 12A. There is no missing 8A because the ordered movement is equal only to 12A. Just because the socket can supply 20A does not mean it will if only 12A is required - it will supply only that 12A with a voltage of whatever the output is supposed to be; in the UK 240V.12A is a lot of current. Presumably something with a heater in it?