On Sun, 06 Aug 2006 17:41:04 -0400, BIOSMonkey wrote:

I am finishing my basement, and am in the process of doing electrical.
I did a load calc and came up with 181A, but my main panel is 150A.

So I need to upgrade to a 200A main panel. When I asked an
electrician about it he implied it was a really big deal, and the
"whole house needed to be brought up to code". I don't know what he
means by that? The meter is CL200 which I believe means it is rated
for 200A service so it looks like you just need to change the panel.
What am I missing?

I know that if the buried service cables were sized only for 150A then
I am in trouble and am looking at some big bucks to change, but as I
said the meter appears to be 200A rated. Could the utility have
installed cables for 150A anyway? That seems incredibly dangerous if
they did since someone might assume the system could handle 200A!


Might have already OK service enterance cables, can you post what is
written on the jacket?

later,

tom @ www.FreelancingProjects.com