How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

Ignoramus25700 wrote:

My question is, how do I know if my panel is adequate and that I do not
exceed the amp limitations? What is the relevant part of the NEC that
Ishould study?

Ain;t the max for residential 200A? For what it's worth, I've been running
100A with a spa as well without problems.

Anyway, there's some limit as to how much you can potentially overload (ie,
if you ran around and turned every circuit on at peak capacity), but I do
not know it. Maybe someone else does. I would not worry about it.

--
gabriel

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

Ignoramus25700 wrote:

Since this 160A total is comfortably below 200A, I can safely add a
50A hot tub, right?

I would certainly think so... Again, there are some rules/laws about this,
but you should be fine.

If you overload the whole thing the main breaker will trip, right?

--
gabriel

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

gabriel wrote:

Ignoramus25700 wrote:


My question is, how do I know if my panel is adequate and that I do not
exceed the amp limitations? What is the relevant part of the NEC that
Ishould study?


Ain;t the max for residential 200A? For what it's worth, I've been running
100A with a spa as well without problems.

Anyway, there's some limit as to how much you can potentially overload (ie,
if you ran around and turned every circuit on at peak capacity), but I do
not know it. Maybe someone else does. I would not worry about it.


Gabriel
In US practice there is no Maximum for a home and I have worked on homes
that had four hundred ampere services.
--
Tom H

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

Tom Horne wrote:

In US practice there is no Maximum for a home and I have worked on
homes that had four hundred ampere services.

Then I stand corrected. I was under that impression sbecause the
electrician who installed a sub-panel for me said somethign to that
effect...

--
gabriel

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

gabriel wrote:

Tom Horne wrote:


In US practice there is no Maximum for a home and I have worked on
homes that had four hundred ampere services.


Then I stand corrected. I was under that impression sbecause the
electrician who installed a sub-panel for me said somethign to that
effect...


Except in Min/Max states there is a possibility of some local amendment
containing such a limitation.
--
Tom

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

Ignoramus25700 wrote:
Ihave a 200 amp electrical panel. I am thinking about upgrading my hot
tub/spa, by replacing the old guts of it with a new control center and
new heater, pump, etc etc. The only thing that will remain is shell
and plumbing.

My current equipment is 110v based and I want to put in 220v
equipment. Obviously it will run higher amps due to the much more
powerful heater.

It can have a 50% increase in capacity and will only need 75% of the
current equipment.


My question is, how do I know if my panel is adequate and that I do
not exceed the amp limitations? What is the relevant part of the NEC
that Ishould study?

thanks.

i

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

Ignoramus25700 wrote:
Ihave a 200 amp electrical panel. I am thinking about upgrading my hot
tub/spa, by replacing the old guts of it with a new control center and
new heater, pump, etc etc. The only thing that will remain is shell
and plumbing.

My current equipment is 110v based and I want to put in 220v
equipment. Obviously it will run higher amps due to the much more
powerful heater.

My question is, how do I know if my panel is adequate and that I do not
exceed the amp limitations? What is the relevant part of the NEC that
Ishould study?

thanks.

i


A 200A panel should be fine, unless it's a Federal Pacific.

HTH :-)

Bob

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

From: zxcvbob


Ignoramus25700 wrote:
Ihave a 200 amp electrical panel. I am thinking about upgrading my hot
tub/spa, by replacing the old guts of it with a new control center and
new heater, pump, etc etc. The only thing that will remain is shell
and plumbing.

My current equipment is 110v based and I want to put in 220v
equipment. Obviously it will run higher amps due to the much more
powerful heater.

My question is, how do I know if my panel is adequate and that I do not
exceed the amp limitations? What is the relevant part of the NEC that
Ishould study?

thanks.

i


A 200A panel should be fine, unless it's a Federal Pacific.

HTH :-)

Bob


Are you kidding? A 60a Federal breaker will hold the entire load just fine ;-)

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

Ignoramus25700 wrote:
In article , Joseph Meehan
wrote:
Ignoramus25700 wrote:
Ihave a 200 amp electrical panel. I am thinking about upgrading my
hot tub/spa, by replacing the old guts of it with a new control
center and new heater, pump, etc etc. The only thing that will
remain is shell and plumbing.

My current equipment is 110v based and I want to put in 220v
equipment. Obviously it will run higher amps due to the much more
powerful heater.

It can have a 50% increase in capacity and will only need 75% of
the current equipment.

I am sorry, I do not understand what you are saying.


If you use 50 amps at 110V and the new system is 50% higher demand (75
amps at 110V) and you switch to 220V that 75 amps drops to 37.5 amps.

37.5 amps at 220v = 8250 watts
75.0 amps at 110v = 8250 watts.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

Actually, 220v equipment is typically lower amperage. Power level (watts)
is volts * amps, so at a given level if you double the volts, you halve the
amps. One advantage of 220v equipment is that you can use smaller wires, or
get less voltage drop on the same size wires as used in 110 circuits.

Also, in your other post you listed the current loads of some of your
appliances. Those are going to be peak loads and not constant, and probably
have a safety margin built in. The "fudge" (fridge?) is only going to hit
it's max for a second or two at startup, and probably isn't going to pull
30A even then. Your stove's not going to be using 30A, unless you're
running all the burners and oven on high at the same time..

There's web sites around that have info on calculating your load, but 200A
is probably enough unless you have a bunch of high power stuff (welder,
etc.)

Just my $1.23 (2 cents adjusted for inflation...)

Mike O.

"Ignoramus25700" wrote in message
...
Ihave a 200 amp electrical panel. I am thinking about upgrading my hot
tub/spa, by replacing the old guts of it with a new control center and
new heater, pump, etc etc. The only thing that will remain is shell
and plumbing.

My current equipment is 110v based and I want to put in 220v
equipment. Obviously it will run higher amps due to the much more
powerful heater.

My question is, how do I know if my panel is adequate and that I do not
exceed the amp limitations? What is the relevant part of the NEC that
Ishould study?

thanks.

i

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

"Ignoramus25700" wrote in message
...
Ihave a 200 amp electrical panel. I am thinking about upgrading my hot
tub/spa, by replacing the old guts of it with a new control center and
new heater, pump, etc etc. The only thing that will remain is shell
and plumbing.

My current equipment is 110v based and I want to put in 220v
equipment. Obviously it will run higher amps due to the much more
powerful heater.

My question is, how do I know if my panel is adequate and that I do not
exceed the amp limitations? What is the relevant part of the NEC that
Ishould study?


From the equipment you've listed, I think you have plenty of power. A 200A service can meet just
about anyone's needs unless they have a mansion or electric heat. If your hot tub is 50A now (at
120V), I don't believe it will be much more later. I've never seen a hot tub that required anything
larger than a 60A double pole (240V) breaker, although I'm sure they exist.

You can go here to learn how to do a full up load calculation, but it is rather complicated. Greg
posted the easier method, but even it confuses people.

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/hom...DmdCalc02.html

--
Mark
Kent, WA

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

How old is the existing electrical panel?
If it's old enough it might be worth upgrading because 40 year old
breakers aren't particularly reliable anyway.

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

Ignoramus31599 wrote:

Remember though, 50A 220v is more load on the panel than 50A 110v.


Not really. 50A 220V is a balanced load. 50A 110V is unbalanced, and it
depends on what offsets it on the other phase (phase is not really the
right terminology. "Leg" perhaps? Or "tap"?).

I don't think I've ever seen a 50A one-pole breaker.

Best regards,
Bob

How to figure out if Ineed to upgrade my electrical panel
 

From: Ignoramus31599 lid

At least you can offset a 110v load with something else. You cannot do
it with a 220v load.


A 220v load offsets itself.