On Thu, 31 May 2012 18:02:10 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Thu, 31 May 2012 16:36:32 -0400, John Gilmer
wrote:

On 5/28/2012 11:49 PM, Vic Smith wrote:
Last night I was in the basement on the PC, and watching TV.
Wife was asleep upstairs. Not sure if the central A/C was running,
but most the lights in the house were off.
I had a new service put in the year after I moved in, to get 240
so I could put in a new furnace and central air.

Did you upgrade your service panel or did you just only get the power
company to upgrade the "service."

If you have 200 amp "service" you CAN have a 200 amp main breaker. If
you don't have a 200 amp breaker you should get one.

It's possible that you might be able to upgrade your existing panel but
it's also possible that the basic panel isn't rated for 200 amps.

"It depends!"

Some years ago, after calling the power company I found that we had 200
amp "service" to our property. Knowing that, we could safely replace
the old fuse box with an up to date 200 amp CB panel.

If you don't have a 200 amp panel the only thing that 200 amp service
buys you it slightly less voltage drop in the service drop. But at 100
amps draw, you wouldn't notice the difference.

Here's all I know. Bought the house in '97. Hot summer.
In '98 I decided to get rid of the 2 big window A/C units and put in
central air.
They were old, one didn't work, and the other hardly worked..
The HVAC guy told me I needed a new service to get 220V. I called in
an electrician I found in the local newspaper for an estimate.
He pulled up in a Mercedes, and I got on him right away, said.
"WTF?! You're the first guy I call for an estimate, and you pull up a
shiny effing Mercedes behind my '90 Chevy Corsica? Don't seem a
smart way to come out for an estimate."
He explained it was an old one, and he got it from his MIL cheap.
Anyway, he was a hustler, young, strong, smart, and I liked him.
He wanted 11 or 12 hundred, can't remember. I knew that was in the
ballpark. Much closer to the pitcher's mound than deep left field.
That was for the permits, installing new breaker box, pipe, meter box,
ground rod, and running a 220 box to the furnace area.
Never called anybody else. He put in a new heavier pipe through the
roof, the breaker box, and a new meter box. Can't remember about the
meter itself.
He reconnected the old service wires.
What I remember him telling me is the breaker box was better than what
he usually put in, and he mentioned 200 amps.
He said he forgot to put a "normal" smaller box in the truck and asked
if I was okay with the big box he had. I said fine.
He also used a big honking pipe going through the roof. About 3".
Maybe because that's what hooked up to the box.
It's all factory look, but I like it.
You should see my computer case.
Maybe he wanted to offload that HD stuff on me. Don't know.

The box is a 30 breaker box.
I think the old box had 8 breakers plus the main. He asked if he
could have them, because they weren't made anymore but he could use
them and they were worth about 30 bucks each.
Sure. He did some "unpaid" extra work for me, running conduit, a box
and wire on a 20-amp to the back by my work benches I still haven't
opened that box, and still use extension cords to existing outlets.
He also split some circuits.
So instead of 9 total breakers, the big box has 7-15amp, 5-20 amp,
paired 30's for the HVAC, and paired 100's for the main.
That's what they say.
The next day the power company came out and ran new outside wires, and
put a meter in.
Soon after the village inspector came to look at everything.
He didn't like that the lip of the breaker box cover is right against
an overhead HVAC vent for about 4". But he passed everything.
That could be fixed in 5 minutes with a Dremel, and I thought about
it, but haven't touched it.

I had the tree guy out yesterday, and he said don't worry about the
spruce branch barely touching the wires. No problem unless they
put some weight on them, then call him if it looks like that. Says it
can't happen for 3-4 years, if ever.
Otherwise I haven't done squat else so far, and everything is working
fine.
Sounds like you got a 200 amp service panel with 100 amp breakers.
Not a problem, since what you had was LIKELY a 60 amp 120 volt panel.