The difference in price of all the fittings, weather heads, SE connectors,
bugs,meter pans




"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. net...
In article , "HeyBub"
wrote:
A few hundred dollars? Try $65.

Here's two kits:

The 200Amp kit is $125.00 and comes with 14 breakers.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...537-296-HOMVP9
&lpage=none

Here's the corresponding 100A kit for $60.00 (with a mere 5 breakers)
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...32-296-HOMVP5&
lpage=none

Mind you, these are RETAIL prices.

Now add in the difference between 2/0 copper (or 4/0 aluminum) vs. #2
copper
(or 1/0 aluminum) service entrance conductors. Don't forget that 200A
service
requires a heavier grounding conductor, too.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Well, like Doug said, it's only a few dollars difference on the equipment.

--
Steve Barker


"CJT" wrote in message
...
Steve Barker wrote:

If you have electric Dryer, AND central a/c, AND an electric range, then
go all the way to 200. If you have only 1 or 2 of these 3 items, then
you can probably go less. But why? Just go the 200 and be done.

In other words, it's only money ...

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

Steve Barker wrote:

Well, like Doug said, it's only a few dollars difference on the equipment.

That was a very simplistic consideration of what might be involved.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

"Gerald Newton" wrote in message
...

"bubblegummom" wrote in message
oups.com...
We're thinking of upgrading our 60 amp fuse box (presently overloaded)
to a circuit breaker panel. How do I know if we should get a 125 amp
or a 200 amp panel? According to Zillow.com our house is 1,240 square
feet, in case it's figured by square feet.

Thanks!

Loretta

Always check with your utility company when doing an upgrade. If you have
been getting by with a 60 ampere service you probably do not need more
than a 100 or 125 ampere upgrade.
Per Code Section 220.83(A) for upgrading an existing service for
additional loads where air conditioning and electric heat are not added
the following is used:
First 8 KVA of load at 100 per cent
Remainder of load at 40 per cent
Where load is 3 VA/ sq.ft or for you 3 x 1240 = 3720 VA
Small appliance load = 3000 VA
Household range (usually 8000 VA)
All other appliances pemanently connected (like a boiler motor or bathroom
fan) or fastened in place (dishwasher) at nameplate ratings.
(For good measure just add 3000 VA here.)

This gives 3720+3000+8000+3000 = 17720
First 8000 VA at 100 per cent + 0.40 x (17720-8000) = 11888 VA
11888 VA / 240 volts = 99 amperes
So using this calculation a 100 ampere service would suffice.

If you are adding or have air conditioning and electric heat or are
planning to add a two car garage and a shop, etc upgrade to a 200 ampere
service.

error:
11888/240 = 49.5 amperes in place of 99 amperes.
Also, I should have added 5000 VA for the hot water heater. 17720+5000 =
22720 VA
8000 + 0.4(2272-8000) = 13888
13888/240 = 57.9 amperes

This is a beautiful illustration. keep in mind that these figures include an
electric range and dryer that may not exist.



"Gerald Newton" wrote in message
...

"Gerald Newton" wrote in message
...

"bubblegummom" wrote in message
oups.com...
We're thinking of upgrading our 60 amp fuse box (presently overloaded)
to a circuit breaker panel. How do I know if we should get a 125 amp
or a 200 amp panel? According to Zillow.com our house is 1,240 square
feet, in case it's figured by square feet.

Thanks!

Loretta

Always check with your utility company when doing an upgrade. If you
have been getting by with a 60 ampere service you probably do not need
more than a 100 or 125 ampere upgrade.
Per Code Section 220.83(A) for upgrading an existing service for
additional loads where air conditioning and electric heat are not added
the following is used:
First 8 KVA of load at 100 per cent
Remainder of load at 40 per cent
Where load is 3 VA/ sq.ft or for you 3 x 1240 = 3720 VA
Small appliance load = 3000 VA
Household range (usually 8000 VA)
All other appliances pemanently connected (like a boiler motor or
bathroom fan) or fastened in place (dishwasher) at nameplate ratings.
(For good measure just add 3000 VA here.)

This gives 3720+3000+8000+3000 = 17720
First 8000 VA at 100 per cent + 0.40 x (17720-8000) = 11888 VA
11888 VA / 240 volts = 99 amperes
So using this calculation a 100 ampere service would suffice.

If you are adding or have air conditioning and electric heat or are
planning to add a two car garage and a shop, etc upgrade to a 200 ampere
service.

error:
11888/240 = 49.5 amperes in place of 99 amperes.
Also, I should have added 5000 VA for the hot water heater. 17720+5000 =
22720 VA
8000 + 0.4(2272-8000) = 13888
13888/240 = 57.9 amperes

On 2 Feb 2007 12:29:02 -0800, "bubblegummom"
wrote:

We're thinking of upgrading our 60 amp fuse box (presently overloaded)
to a circuit breaker panel. How do I know if we should get a 125 amp
or a 200 amp panel? According to Zillow.com our house is 1,240 square
feet, in case it's figured by square feet.

Thanks!

Loretta


You can ask for a service calc. This will take in square footage, and
electric usage from major appliances.

Now the knee jerk reaction is to get the 'biggest' but the trend is
toward more energy efficient applicances, and with a limited square
footage, it might be most cost effective to get what you need.

Just thinking out loud....

tom @ www.Consolidated-Loans.info

Nate
is that garage attached or detached. IOW is it part of the house or a
separate free standing building.
Tom Horne

Well we aren't no thin blue heroes and yet we aren't no blackguards to.
We're just working men and woman most remarkable like you.

Nate Nagel wrote:

I'm digressing a bit, but sort of on the same topic, I have a question regarding the wiring between my house and my garage. The house's breaker panel has a 100A 2-pole breaker in it, which feeds the subpanel in the garage. The other end of that wire connects to a 100A 2-pole breaker in the sub-panel. That just seems weird and redundant to me. Is this common practice, and what is the reason for it? Or did someone improvise "on the fly" and what would be the right way to do it?

nate

Nate
The breaker in the garage panel should be anchored into the panel by
using a main breaker kit. That breaker is serving as the code required
Building Disconnecting Means.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison

Nate Nagel wrote:
The garage is detached; the subpanel doesn't have a main breaker, it's just fed through a regular 100A breaker. The home inspector didn't seem to think it was weird, except for the fact that the ground terminal strip was mounted too close to the front of the panel.

nate

RBM wrote:
The breaker in the main panel protects the wiring to the garage. If the garage is detached, it's required to have a disconnect in it. If it's attached, the electrician probably got a good deal on a panel with a main breaker



"Nate Nagel" wrote in message ...

My bedrooms are all on the same circuit, and the only other room on that circuit is the bathroom. I would like to split that off anyway so in my case I really don't care. At the same time I do that I will probably pull another homerun from the 2nd floor back to the breaker panel so that I can split the bedrooms into two circuits (yes I have another AFCI standing by.)

I actually have a 40 ckt. 200A panel in my house, but it only has 20 full sized breaker spaces, so there's lots of half height breakers in there (now.) If *I* were the guy doing the upgrade, I would have spec'd a larger panel, but that's water under the bridge.

I'm digressing a bit, but sort of on the same topic, I have a question regarding the wiring between my house and my garage. The house's breaker panel has a 100A 2-pole breaker in it, which feeds the subpanel in the garage. The other end of that wire connects to a 100A 2-pole breaker in the sub-panel. That just seems weird and redundant to me. Is this common practice, and what is the reason for it? Or did someone improvise "on the fly" and what would be the right way to do it?

nate

Doug Miller wrote:
In article .com, "bubblegummom" wrote:
We're thinking of upgrading our 60 amp fuse box (presently overloaded)
to a circuit breaker panel. How do I know if we should get a 125 amp
or a 200 amp panel? According to Zillow.com our house is 1,240 square
feet, in case it's figured by square feet.

For a house that small, you should be able to easily get by with 125A
service, even it's total-electric with central A/C. However, 200A would be a
nice feature to have when you eventually sell the house. The *labor* cost of
installation should be almost exactly the same, so the cost difference should
be pretty much just the difference in the cost of the panels. Add another five
or ten bucks, maybe, to account for needing to use heavier service entrance
conductors for the 200A service.


Depending on the state and the locality you may be required to have a
larger service than the national minimum. Some of the counties I work
in require a 150 ampere minimum service to detached dwellings. It is
worth your time to check with the local electrical inspectors office.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison