On 1/29/2012 12:15 AM, Evan wrote:
On Jan 28, 7:48 pm, wrote:
On 1/28/2012 7:13 PM, wrote:









On Jan 28, 7:09 pm, Paul wrote:
On 1/28/2012 2:52 PM, HeyBub wrote:

I live in a duplex converted to a single-family residence. It is served by
two electricity drops going to two meters connected to two circuit breaker
boxes. The boxes are on the exterior wall and about eight inches apart.

Each month I write two checks. (I tried writing one check for both bills;
one account ended up with a credit and I got a disconnect notice for the
other. Go figure.). Even if I use NO power, there's still a minimum bill,
around $18/month. The power company still has to read the meter, send out a
zero bill, keep records, etc. I don't begrudge them this minimum amount, but
there might be a way to avoid it.

I'm thinking of pushing all the power through one meter and disconnecting
the service for the other side of the duplex. I did this with the natural
gas connection and saved the $17.50 minimum monthly charge.

To do this, my current scheme is a pair of 60-amp breakers in the powered
box leading to the buss on the disconnected side (plus the neutral).

Both breaker boxes are rated for 200-amp service, but the largest load are
the a/c units and they're each served by a pair of 30-amp breakers. All
other electrical items are minimal - lighting, computer, etc. Stove, dryer,
and water heater are all gas.

Comments on the plan/scheme would certainly be welcome. Thanks.

P.S.
I'd be doing the work myself, so a possible $800 charge for a licensed,
certified, and disease-free professional electrician would not enter into
the computation.

If you get your power company involved in any way, you will HAVE to have
a licensed electrician do the work and he/she will have to get local
permits which will require inspection from your local government agent.
There is no way around it.

Paul- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Says who and for where? What's allowed in TX is likely very different
from NYC. Here in NJ a homeowner is
allowed to do work on their own home that they occupy.
Perfectly legal as long as you get the necessary permit.

Scary isn't it. I feel like I'm over regulated, but when I read some of
these posts, OMG it really is scary. What really kills me is that some
of these folks really believe that we couldn't function without a
plethora of government regulators, inspectors, agents, and what have
you, following us around and wiping our noses

I am sorry, but until each homeowner who does such "work"
receives a $150,000 bill on top of whatever rebuilding costs
are involved after they burn down their house as they are going
to be making use of the fire department my property tax money
helps to fund to put out the fire that would result from improperly
done "work" which was never inspected nor correctly done, I want
those government regulators, inspectors and agents at least
verifying that the "work" that the DIY types have done won't
immediately set the house on fire... Especially if said home
is only 30 feet away from mine...

Do you think that your trade would function better without that
layer of the uninterested 3rd party (a.k.a. the wiring inspector)
protecting your business/license in the event something happens
down the line... Your word that you completed the work properly
isn't very compelling evidence if a fire or worse occurs... But
when you have the documentation that the work done passed
inspection, you would not remain the default suspected cause
of the problems, if some other cause wasn't glaringly obvious...
Not to mention that the wiring inspector is interested in having
safe work done in their jurisdiction that meets or exceeds the
code standards that the jurisdiction has accepted and operate
under...

So how close to your home would you want an amateur hour
electrical job that even a first year student in the trade wouldn't
do work that badly located to where you sleep at night putting
your life in possible danger ? Hmm, if not for wiring, as you feel
safe with idiots being allowed to risk not only their lives but others
as well, what about for gas piping or plumbing... Would your
opinion on the matter change if you were at risk of your neighbor
blowing you up in a gas explosion or having the hot water heater
they tried to "fix" by removing safety devices from the tank land
on you as you sleep in bed at night and you still feel the way
you do about "over regulation" in your own trade... LOL...

~~ Evan

I'm a big believer in self regulation. Where I live and work, it's
actually a misdemeanor to do electrical wiring without a license, which
I think is probably unconstitutional, but until someone takes it to
court, it's the law. On his property, if he wants to do any kind of
construction, plumbing, wiring, etc. it should be his business. Yes, on
occasion people do things wrong or sloppy and bad things happen. Such is
life. I think there is something about the human, or at least the
American spirit, that doesn't want to be protected from itself.
As a second generation electrician, I can tell you that having a layer
of bureaucracy between me and my work, does little to benefit me if the
work I or my employees does, causes fire or death.
Having known dozens of electrical inspectors over the years, lets just
say that they are human too and all to often very corrupted