On Tue, 9 Aug 2005 14:28:20 -0400, JimE
wrote:


I have read this thread with interest since I am facing a similar
situation. The wiring in my cement-walled older home was run inside the
walls when they were poured, making adding new wiring very difficult. I
have just remodeled a bedroom suite and replaced a pullman-style
one-piece stove/sink/fridge metal unit with new cabinets and a drop-in
cooktop, new frdge, etc. The problem is that there is only a 240v 3
wire outlet on that wall. This outlet is what powered the old unit,
which also had 120v outlets on it that were powered by this outlet. I
need a 120v outlet to power the new fridge and it appears that the only
reasonable option is to tap off one of the hot legs. All three outlet
wires are insulated and all the ground and neutral wires in my house
are attached to the same bus bar in the distribution panel. The outlet
is powered by a 30 amp breaker. While I understand that the codes exist
for a reason, I also know that most older homes do not meet current
codes. And don't most stoves and ovens have 120v loads supplied by
their 240v breaker? What exactly is the risk of my plan? There must be
some level of acceptable risk of non-compliance or most of the older
homes in the US would be uninhabital due to code non-compliance.

== warning non-expert rambling ==

Wouldn't the main concern be to protect the 120V outlet with a
suitably-rated breaker? As another poster pointed out, the outlets in
the range were presumably protected by 15A fuses or breakers.

Any reason you can't replace the original dual breaker with two 15A
singles? You could even break the link between the hots on the outlet,
and feed each half of the duplex socket with a different circuit that
way. Seems to me the result would be essentially equivalent to what
they specify for kitchen outlets these days. Or just put in one 15A
breaker and let the other leg be dead.

If I'm wrong I'm sure someone will let me know. :-)

-=s