On Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 12:02:51 PM UTC-4, JayB wrote:
This came up elsewhere and I am just curious about what the answer is.

If someone has a main service panel with a 200-amp main breaker, how many
amps of service can that panel actually service?

I am probably not wording this correctly, but I thought that I remember
something about a 200-amp main breaker actually being okay for 400 amps of
service since there are two separate circuits coming in (a 240-volt service
split into two 120-volt circuits in the panel box).
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I own a tanning salon and want to add couple more beds.. however I only have a 200 amp service. We currently have 5 tanning beds, all are running on 240v, when we checked with all the beds on the amp draw at the main was 196 amps. When I then turned our towels dryer on the amp draw was 216 amps, but it did not trip the breaker. In addition we have all the other lights and central air and curling irons turning on and off etc etc. So how far past the 200 amps can I go before it will trip? The tanning beds only run for 20 mins.. so even if all the beds are on at the same time they never are all on for longer the 20 mins at a time so being past the 200 amps is only consistant for 20 mins. So could someone please give me an idea how far past the 200 amps I can go so I know if I can add another bed or 2? Thanks!