On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:24:35 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton
wrote:

On Aug 25, 12:59*pm, "Bill" wrote:
$47..... *Now that hurts....

"GregS" wrote in message

...



In article , "Bill"
wrote:
I upgraded my house from 100A to 200A 5 years ago. I buried 3" conduit
from
the pole to the house.
I was told the 3" would support 400A.
At the time I did not have the money to install 400A, so I just thought I
could find a 400A panel later.
I do not think they make a residential 400A panel, and from what I have
seen
it uses two 200A panels.

I am still wanting to put 400A service to my house, to try to cut on my
electric bill. ($565.00 last month).

I have 150 amp service, 2.5 ton airconditioner, two refridgerators
and my last electric bill was $47 just to make you feel bad.
Running my airconditioner does no seem to make major change in my bill,
and I turn it down to 70-71 degrees at night.

Well, if we're going to have a pity party...

My last electric bill was about $240, and it's pretty much that much
year round.

Outdoor hot tub. Asthmatic husband who wheezes when it's hot and
humid, so the
thermostat is set to 70 and the air conditioner runs almost every day
that the
furnace is not on.

Obviously, if I was motivated to reduce consumption I'd insist that he
get rid of the
hot tub.

Cindy Hamilton

Well, at least you didn't say you'd get rid of him! bg

We run about $190 in the summer (no A/C) and twice that in the winter
(mostly electrical heat).

In article ,
says...
That is why I asked here.
Not the answers I thought I would get.

Is there any reason why 400A is better than 200A, or not?

Certainly. If 200A isn't enough 400A might be called for. If this
is a residential service, reducing consumption would be a better
place to start. ...unless you make global warming films.

"Tekkie®" wrote in message
. ..

snipped trailing stuff

--
Keith

I can think of one reason to go to that high a service, if you have a large
shop out back, lots of wood working tools, machine tools, ect, would be a
good reason to get that much juice

"Bill" wrote in message
.. .
I upgraded my house from 100A to 200A 5 years ago. I buried 3" conduit from
the pole to the house.
I was told the 3" would support 400A.
At the time I did not have the money to install 400A, so I just thought I
could find a 400A panel later.
I do not think they make a residential 400A panel, and from what I have
seen it uses two 200A panels.

I am still wanting to put 400A service to my house, to try to cut on my
electric bill. ($565.00 last month).

In the 3" conduit, do they use 6 wires for the 400A to a two 200A meter
pan, or use larger wires to a 400A meter pan?

I probably will get the call an electrician, but I feel as though I can do
the install, just wanted some info on how it is done.

Thanks.

Rates are based on the amount of power consumed, not the size (capacity) of
the service. Very large consumers get a lower cost per kwh, but pay a higher
customer charge and also pay a demand charge based on the largest 15 minute
amperage demand. If he increases hie service size to 400 amps, the power
company will also charge him to upgrade their facilities to be able to
provide that amount of service. Upgrading the transformer will cost him
close to $3K (in addition to what he'll pay his electrical contractor to do
the service upgrade on his equipment).

The only way to reduce the bill is to reduce the amount of power consumed.

"JR Weiss" wrote in message
. ..
"John A. Weeks III" wrote...

Is there any chance that there is a lower cost for putting in a larger
service? I remember living on farm in the 70s, and the power company
gave us a better rate when we put in new electrical service.

No, because he already has service. It is unlikely the cost of upgrade
could be recovered even if he did get some kind of rate change.

"Bill" wrote in message
.. .
I upgraded my house from 100A to 200A 5 years ago. I buried 3" conduit from
the pole to the house.
I was told the 3" would support 400A.
At the time I did not have the money to install 400A, so I just thought I
could find a 400A panel later.
I do not think they make a residential 400A panel, and from what I have
seen it uses two 200A panels.

I am still wanting to put 400A service to my house, to try to cut on my
electric bill. ($565.00 last month).

In the 3" conduit, do they use 6 wires for the 400A to a two 200A meter
pan, or use larger wires to a 400A meter pan?

I probably will get the call an electrician, but I feel as though I can do
the install, just wanted some info on how it is done.

Thanks.




Believe many have established that going to 400A service isn't going to
change your electric usage, consequently, your electric bill.

Just one caution running electrical service conduit. If, for any reason,
you have to cross 2 service conduits at approximately perpendicular to and
physically near each other, the meter may register additional power usage.
--
Dave

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:56:55 -0500, "Dioclese" NONE wrote:

Just one caution running electrical service conduit. If, for any reason,
you have to cross 2 service conduits at approximately perpendicular to and
physically near each other, the meter may register additional power usage.

Can you explain this? A cited web page, or book, would be good.

In article ,
says...
Rates are based on the amount of power consumed, not the size (capacity) of
the service. Very large consumers get a lower cost per kwh, but pay a higher
customer charge and also pay a demand charge based on the largest 15 minute
amperage demand. If he increases hie service size to 400 amps, the power
company will also charge him to upgrade their facilities to be able to
provide that amount of service. Upgrading the transformer will cost him
close to $3K (in addition to what he'll pay his electrical contractor to do
the service upgrade on his equipment).

You sound pretty confident about what *his* utility will do. They
aren't all the same, you know.

snip top poster's mess

--
Keith

Erik Dillenkofer wrote:
Rates are based on the amount of power consumed, not the size (capacity) of
the service. Very large consumers get a lower cost per kwh, but pay a higher
customer charge and also pay a demand charge based on the largest 15 minute
amperage demand. If he increases hie service size to 400 amps, the power
company will also charge him to upgrade their facilities to be able to
provide that amount of service. Upgrading the transformer will cost him
close to $3K (in addition to what he'll pay his electrical contractor to do
the service upgrade on his equipment).

The only way to reduce the bill is to reduce the amount of power consumed.

"JR Weiss" wrote in message
. ..
"John A. Weeks III" wrote...
Is there any chance that there is a lower cost for putting in a larger
service? I remember living on farm in the 70s, and the power company
gave us a better rate when we put in new electrical service.
No, because he already has service. It is unlikely the cost of upgrade
could be recovered even if he did get some kind of rate change.




The large electric utility that serves our area would ask for the
projected demand increase. If none were forecast they would simply
connect whatever was installed to the existing transformer which was
already satisfactory for the existing load.

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:
Is there any reason why 400A is better than 200A, or not?

If your house requires more than 200A but less than or equal to 400A,
then a 400A service is much better than 200A service! :-)

You can leave off the "less than or equal to 400A" part and still have a
true statement. E.g., if you require 600A, you'll probably find 400A
service much better than 200A, too. You'd find 600A service even
better, of course. :-)


--
--Tim Smith

"Steve Barker DLT" wrote:

How is more amps available gonna 'cut your electric bill'?

Many electric companies have an administrative or billing charges based on the
size of the service. Putting in 400A service on a residence that uses less than
200A is just wasting money.

I can think of one other reason you may want a 400a service...if you have
on demand water heater, them buggers can pull some real amps
"Craig M" wrote in message
...
I can think of one reason to go to that high a service, if you have a large
shop out back, lots of wood working tools, machine tools, ect, would be a
good reason to get that much juice

"Bill" wrote in message
.. .
I upgraded my house from 100A to 200A 5 years ago. I buried 3" conduit
from the pole to the house.
I was told the 3" would support 400A.
At the time I did not have the money to install 400A, so I just thought I
could find a 400A panel later.
I do not think they make a residential 400A panel, and from what I have
seen it uses two 200A panels.

I am still wanting to put 400A service to my house, to try to cut on my
electric bill. ($565.00 last month).

In the 3" conduit, do they use 6 wires for the 400A to a two 200A meter
pan, or use larger wires to a 400A meter pan?

I probably will get the call an electrician, but I feel as though I can
do the install, just wanted some info on how it is done.

Thanks.

"JR Weiss" wrote in message
...
"Bill" wrote...
A/C is another story. I have two, a 3ton (10 years old), and a 4ton
(five
years old).
I looked at replacing them, and that is on my todo list.

At what temp do you set the A/C thermostat? You can set it as high as 80F
and
still be comfortable when the A/C reduces the humidity. When I lived in
south
TX, I used 82-84 in the hottest part of the summer.

Not so much when the A/C kicks on, but when my well pump kicks on, my
lights
dim.

I wanted the second panel to balance my load requirements.

Pump was wired for 110, and it draws 12A. Hook it up to 220, and it
drops to
5A.

Less Amperage is less draw on my spinning meter.

Nope. The meter counts Watts, not Amps. 110V x 12A == 220V x 6A ==
1320Watts.

Your pump draws the same power (Watts) regardless of voltage, if it is
pumping
the same amount of water, as long as the voltage is at the minimum spec.
measuring error may account for the slight difference you see in the
current
pump usage.

Could be that the well will consume more watts at 110v because of a long run
from the meter to the pump resulting in a voltage drop and therefore the
pump will be running less efficient than it could.

I agree however that a larger service panel will do nothing to solve this
problem.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

Could be that the well will consume more watts at 110v because of a long
run
from the meter to the pump resulting in a voltage drop and therefore the
pump will be running less efficient than it could.

I agree however that a larger service panel will do nothing to solve this
problem.

--

Roger Shoaf

Pump is already 220v.
I gave up on this idea when so many more knowledgeable pointed out how
stupid I was.