"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. com...
In article , "Joe"
wrote:
I'd like to add a subpanel for a workshop and am wondering if it
absolutely
has to be wired off of a breaker in the main box or if it can be wired
from
the meter (i.e., can I have two main panels).

Not and meet Code.

I realize this is atypical,
but I have the following to deal with:
1) My meter is on the wall of my workshop, whereas my breaker box is
in
the basement on an interior wall on the other side of the house. Not only
would it be very difficult to fish but it seems inefficient to run feeder
all the way back to the workshop.

There's already a feeder going from the meter to the main panel. You could
install a new main panel in the workshop, and convert the existing main
panel
to a subpanel fed from the new main panel, using the existing feeder.

Thanks for your response Doug and thanks for helping me to think outside of
the box. This sounds like the most viable alternative.

2) My house has 150 amp service and I need 100 in my workshop.

Why 100A in the workshop? What are you running in there, that you require
such
heavy service to the shop?

My compressor draws 20 amps, my welder 30, and I'd like to install a
wall-unit AC/heater, which I'm guessing will be 20-30 amps. It is
conceivable that they might all run at once on occasion. Or maybe 100 amps
is overkill--I'd just rather have too much than too little.