"Bob" wrote in message
. ..
Can someone explain what the amp ratting on electric breaker box means. I
think mine is 100 AMP. Is that a limitation of the box or the power
coming in to my box? What does it take to upgrade to get more ampage? My
house is full of electronics including 2 fridges, 1 freezer, 2 AC units,
plus tons of DJ / computer equipment. I am always seeing voltage drops
and I am afraid its just the entire power system is inadequate. What is
involved in upgrading my system?

The limit is set by the size of the wire feeding your house, and the main
circuit breaker. For most houses, 100A is adequate and has been for many
years. Central Air being one of the larger uses, followed by an electric
range, then a dryer.

There are other limitations of the system though. You can have 200A or 600A
coming into the main box, but if the distribution is a bottleneck, you will
still get voltage drops on a given line. I have about the same number of
"stuff" as you have, but add a wine cooler too, plus 3 AC units total. .
The motor driven appliance take a lot of power compared to the electronics.
When the AC compressor kicks in, I do see a slight dimming of the lights ON
THAT circuit for a second.

You really need to check out how many breakers you have, what is on a given
circuit, and, what is the real voltage coming in from the street. I get a
full 120v most of hte time, but if you are some distance from a sub-station,
you may be getting less, especially in the summer. That adds to the
dimming.

You can buy a volt meter fairly cheap. That would be my first step. Voltage
can and will vary in many places.
Then I'd look at the distribution to wee what is on each circuit. In older
houses, it was common to have three for an entire house, where 12 - 16 is
not uncommon now. If a new box was installed in an older home, it may have
been difficult or impossible to break down the lines to multiple circuits.