"bud--" wrote in message
eb.com...
On 3/6/2014 10:57 AM, Robert Green wrote:
"bud--" wrote in message
b.com...

Those tandem breakers fit just fine g. I looked at the box again and
the
rails are continous without interruption or anything that looks like
special
slotting meant to accept tandems only in one spot.

Then I presume you used non-CTL tandem breakers.

I used what Home Depot had on the shelves that matched the QO designation
and it was approved by the AHJ. Dual skinnies/tandems are a pretty popular
item in this development of houses built to house the army of workers that
descended on DC at the beginning of WWII. Fortunately with CFLs and more
efficient motors the average load for such items has decreased substantially
(although the number of plug in chargers and appliances has increased
geometrically). I assume when I ultimately switch to LEDs the overall load
will be reduced again.

The difference is only in the gutter rail.

Then I don't have a CTL panel.

You can't tell that from the rail. The panel could just not allow any
tandem breakers.

Tell that to the four that are in there now! (-:

Sounds like from the date you found it is not a CTL panel and it is
kosher to use non-CTL tandem breakers.

That date's not conclusive. They could have been using the same label for
20 years. There must be some other date markings inside the box. Reading
all the details is getting to be like reading "War and Peace" - very
arduous.

I am not entirely convinced that is a problem anyway. If you have a
100A panel seems like you would only get '100A of heat' no matter how
many circuits/poles there are. You would have to watch how much load you
connect so you don't actually overload the panel.

I do. A long time ago I installed two Hall effect sensors on the incoming
feeds. For days I was calibrating them with various space heater loads
(this was the springtime and it drove my wife a little crazy having me run
space heaters with the windows open. She's a frugal New Englander). Those
sensors feed into my HomeVision home automation controller's analog inputs.
From there I can roughly gauge the total load at any one time and it very
rarely exceeds 50A, and only then when it's very cold which self-limits the
overheating panel problem to some extent.

--
Bobby G.