I'm in kinda the same boat as you are Jane...

I've gotten a great 'education' reading "Wiring a House" by Rex Cauldwell.
It is one of Tauntons' "For Pros by Pros" series of books. Clearly written
and supported with excellent color pictures and drawings.

If you have no luck finding this locally or online, you are welcome to order
it from my employer, Craftsman Book Company

http://www.craftsman-book.com/cgi-bi...htm?E+cbcstore

copy and paste if necessary...

Rick

"Jane" wrote in message
...
Thanks very much for your explanation. I don't quite grasp the
mechanics though. The electrician says that a 100amp panel is really
like a 180 amp panel,(b/c of the two legs which you brought up) but I
don't understand how the circuits utilize the two legs to make an
electrican say that. It seems to fly in the face of the basic advice
of needing a circuit breaker for: garbage disposal, microwave,
desktop, etc... which all adds up to a 100amp panel very fast. If I go
by the advice in the book, I would get a 150amp panel to satisfy all
the equations of load, etc. for the house, yet he tells me the 100 amp
is like a 180 and I'll never trip it even with everything on. And he's
probably right b/c of the "two-legs."

I wish I knew of a book I could read that detailed how a service panel
works. Black and Deckers book is more about how to wire stuff up, than
the mechanics of how the service panel handles the (2) 120v lines and
how the breakers distribute it. Their explanation does not take into
account the two legs in terms of "so your 100 amp panel is really like
a 180 or 200 amp panel because of this and this and this."

Sorry to be so dense. I know you gave an explanation but as with
anyone who is new to a concept, I am missing the basic understanding
that lies at the foundation of the thing. It's something that people
(who already know it) take it for granted that someone would
understand, because it's so basic. So that if that piece were filled
in and I did a "EUREKA!" they would say, "Well DUH, of course THAT's
blah blah blah!" KWIM?

I'm going to search the Web some more for something to read that will
enlighten me. If anyone has a link to offer, I'm all ears. (eyes?)

Jane