How To Tell What Amp Service Is In Your House
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- In this video we talk about how to tell what amp service is in your house. it can be sometimes difficult to identify to we will help with a few examples. We talk about pipe size of the service and how to tell what amperage it is.
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Loved how you explained everything, very well explained and demonstrated. Thanks!
Here in the U.S.A we have a fairly standard practice for determining service size. We typically start by looking at the meter base, since the old round bases were typically 60 to 100 amps max. Square or rectangle bases are used with 100 amp or larger. We try to verify the size of the service wires going to the first disconnect. Then we look at the panel rating, and the rating of the main disconnect. Out of these 4, the lowest rating determines the ampacity. On an overhead service, we like to count the number of wires connected to the service drop. 3 wires is present in almost all cases, indicating 120/240V service. 2 wires connected, sometimes with the 3rd wire folded back, indicates a 120 volt service sometimes found in smaller pre-WWII era homes that have the original service, typically 30 amps, sometimes 60. 4 wires connected indicates a 3 phase service, either 120/208V or 120/240V with a high leg. This may be found on a very large luxury home with extreme electrical demands; some utility companies require a service larger than a certain size, typically 600 amps, to be a three phase service. Some older homes may have remnants of a 3 phase service if the home had a 5 ton central air conditioner in the 1950s or '60s, as some of the condensers hitting the market at the time were unavailable in single phase.
I’m a solar guy starting to close and this really helped me thank you so much
Thank you for the info. 👍 I feel a little bit smarter. 😊
Clear and concise, thank you!
nice explanation, thanks for posting!
My panel has 2 - 100 cuff off switchs but the panel is very old. Does it mean i have a 200amp pa el?
Is conduit really a good way to decide if it’s 100 amp or 200 amp panel. An installer could have a bunch of 2” and that’s just what he runs for everything. Which is what I have. My panel has no main breaker. What would I look at in that situation to see what it is. The feed from the transformer to the meter can is #4 copper now but at one point was like 1/o aluminum l, I believe on a 75’ pull length. Any ideas.
Exactly what I said
Great video. Interesting stuff
Thank you for the useful video! Too easy!
QUESTION: So my meter base is about 2X what you show there. The Power Company METER says CL320 on it. I watched the video really close to see, but the face of the meter was never shown with enough detail to see. CL200 would be a maximum "continuous" service of 200 Amp. A CL320 is rated for "continuous" 320 Amp. Off the back of my meter base are TWO (appears to be 2" conduits) which feed TWO independent 100 AMP circuit breaker boxes. Everything I have seen and read says there should be a PRIMARY circuit breaker box and then other boxes can come off that. So I asked an electrician about my setup and he agreed it is different and told me the next step up would be 320 but the socket for the meter (apparently I have to pay for that) is really expensive to start with. Since then I've discovered I already have that. My house is all electrical, two electric furnaces, hot water heater, stoves, washer dryer - everything is electric - no other fuel source. So what I was asking him, can I add a third 100Amp panel? I would want that dedicated to the garage for electric car and welder power. So is half my problem solved, I already should have 320 or 300Amp service?
great vid., thank you for taking the time!
Well done ! Thanks
Thank You For Your Knowledge Great Info😉👍🏽⚡️
THANKS
COOP
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Thank you. Answered my question .
Good job ...great explanation. Thank you sir
What if the main has two 125amp breakers?
thanks boss. good explanation.
My service has zero writing ANYWHERE, not even a visible model number on the breaker box. My house, in the US/Texas, was built in the late 70's/early 80's. It does have a square box under the meter and the input conduit is 2.25" OD. It goes into the breaker box next to it that has no main breaker/cut off. It has 6- 208 breakers in the top which provide power to Electrical Heat, A/C, Water Heater, Clothes Dryer, Range, and 1 60 amp breaker that feeds a second row of breakers in the bottom of box for 120V service to the house. I would like to put a 100 AMP subpanel in my garage to run a couple of 208V woodworking machines. The clothes dryer and water heater are in the garage area which is about a 60 foot run from the main panel. I was thinking about pulling back the wiring for the water heater and Clothes dryer and put those 30 breakers in the subpanel and that would free up space in the main panel to put a 100 amp breaker to feed my subpanel. In theory it will work but I heard people talk about tab current capacity. How can I tell if the tabs in the main panel will be OK with the 100 amp service to the subpanel? Second what size wire would I run to the subpanel do I need #2 copper and #4 for ground? Finally, I know I don't need another main breaker in the subpanel, but I assume it is OK to install a disconnect, perhaps something like the one on the outside of the house by the AC unit. If you can give me a warm fuzzy that I am headed in the right direction, I'll be very appreciative. I also assume I need to run conduit all the way from the main panel to the subpanel - in a very cramped attic! Sigh! Finally, what are the ramifications of asking the power company to pull the meter. Since there is no main cutoff in the panel and the main feed lugs are wide open, I'm a bit nervous of trying to pull #2 wires in a hot box. Comments? Thanks for the video.
Thx bud. Very helpful!!!!
great video thank you
I have been looking for this video, for so long. A lot of panels in Fl do not have a main breaker to refer to. Thanks.
Yes, some older panels do not have a main breaker. This type is a split buss panel, and were fairly common in the 1950s until the 1970s, before being banned by the 1981 NEC. These older panels have two sets of bus bars, the upper buss was allowed to house up to 5 two pole breakers, plus the breaker feeding the lower buss, usually marked MAIN or SUB-MAIN, and required up to six breakers to be thrown to disconnect all the power. Beginning in 1978, the last code cycle that allowed these panels, single pole breakers were allowed on the upper buss, as long as the total number of handle throws to disconnect all power didn't exceed six. And that was one of the major problems with these old panels because they were originally used when homes were smaller than the average home today, and didn't require as many circuits in a given size home as we do in the 21st century.
Very nice, thank you, - I have a 100Amp breaker in my house. - Is it feasible to run a second breaker off the meter/main feed into the garage?
Got my own answer, yes, parallel service is plausible.
Thank you very much!
Thank you .
What if you don’t have a pipe. I have a meter on the side but then nothing. It goes straight from the meter into the house into a breaker box. I don’t even have a main breaker either. I just have a bunch of small ones that have 2 switches with 30 on them. Then I have a double with 30 and a double with 40.
What would explain a house with NO master cutoff switch or breaker, just utility current flowing to individual breakers? Was this "up to code" in some earlier era?
I've never seen that one before unless it was metered at the pole. Some large services have a separate current transformer and loop out back to a meter from a CT cabinet, however that is usually before the branch circuit breakers.
What If Is Their Is A Double Breaker And Each One Show 100amp Is That A 200amp Breacker. TIA
I want to know this too! I don't have a *big* main switch. Our home, built in. '64, has a double 100 as the first breaker on the panel where all the other breakers live. It's not bigger than any other breaker, just two normal size ones labeled 100 connected together.
i went outside to look at mine and i have a power line coming in above then conduit down to meter. There is a small breaker box on the bottom of the meter but no main shut off that i see. There is nothing (conduit) that i see coming off the meter/breaker box. Do they sometimes go straight into the house from the meter box?
Yes, that is pretty common in homes in the southern parts of the USA like around Arizona, Texas, and Florida, particularly in older homes. In the northern states they would typically run the service drop down the side of the house, go to the top of the meter base, (or below, in conduit if it's a buried service, much more common in newer homes) and the main breaker box would be directly behind the meter base, although there is a main breaker directly below or beside the meter if the inside panel is more than a few feet away, depending on the local codes. Beginning in the 2020 NEC there must be an emergency disconnect outside, for first responders to cut all power in an emergency prior to entering the house, so brand new homes are not allowed to have the first point of disconnect inside. Existing dwellings are not required to meet this new requirement unless the service is being replaced.
thanks a lot! this helped.
What if you have 2 pipes coming out? Mine looks like the last one with a 1 1/14 pipe and a 2 inch pipe. I also have 2 electrical panels because it was upgraded to install a central air conditioner
I have a 2" pipe coming out of my meter base but the main breaker in my home is 60 amp. does that mean I have a 60 amp service?
Yes, you have a 60 amp service. There are 3 key elements that determine the service size, they are the service conductors coming from the meter, the panel rating, and the rating of the main breaker. Out of these 3, the lowest rating is your service size. If you really want to go the extra mile, you might also want to count the number of wires connected to the service entrance cable running to the meter. For residential applications this will almost always be 3, indicating your typical 120/240 single phase. 2 wires, or 3 with one tied back and not connected would indicate a 120 volt service, sometimes found in small homes built before WWII that have the original service and never been upgraded. 4 wires indicates a 3 phase service, either 120/208 wye or 120/240V 4 wire delta. This would be extremely rare in a single family dwelling, unless it was a very large custom luxury home with extreme electrical demands; some utility companies have a limit on single phase sizes and if you need more than a certain amount, say around 600 amps they will require it to be a 3 phase system.
The service to my house is 125 Amp but the main breaker in my panel is 100 Amp, how can I tell if the wire from the meter to my panel is 125 amp plus how can I tell if I can just change the main breaker in my panel from 100 to 125? Thanks
Hi, What can you tell about this, please ? New home, 200 Amp rated Meter but 2 SEU cables going inside to 2 X 200 Amps panels. Thanks a lot !
How do you tell if you have a service lateral going into a split bus panel with no main breaker?
Very helpful. Thank you!!
Question: Does the conduit size method of determining the size of the service (100 vs 200 amp service) apply in the U.S.; or is this something specific to Canada?
Although I am sure they are similar, we are in Canada and use the CEC. Always check with your local electrician if you are in the US and using the NEC. Hope this helps a little.
Thanks
This may not be the right place to ask if so redirect if needed. My moms place runs with a boiler to heat home and water. But is never adequate for running a bath or the jacuzzi so nobody uses these. I have a ecosmart 36kw unit and breakers electric tankless that could be used to support the hotwater needs for the tub and jacuzzi. The home is built 1904 has that 2in conduit input. 4 bedroom home 2 bath. This unit i read something about 300 amp service and its a 150 amp tankless could it run on the 200 or unsafe. Even if its only used maybe 2x a week?
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Very helpful, what if the main panel has 2 125amp circuit breakers?
2- 100s
@@conquerallelectrical Thanks! not 2 - 125amp? any reason/purpose to this? its a single unit property. In this case, should the sub be 100 or 125amp?
This would be main 200 and 2 separated 100s from that.
The pipe size has nothing to do with the size of your service.. it should..but don’t ..who know what kind of hack did the work ..you can’t rely on pipe size…a volt meter and wire size …
What if there are 2 - 100 amp switches on the main service panel?
This usually means that it is 200 amp and splits into 2- 100s.This is common on older homes or same dwelling. However if it is 2 dwellings this means it is only 100 amps per side. With one meter, we have seen this in the past.
thanks
@@conquerallelectrical what do you mean by 2 dwellings sorry?
@@lucascenedese8072 Two separate units like a duplex house
@@conquerallelectrical so if we got round meter old house, when I get panel upgraded do we have to go back to the utility pole/ telephone pole?
My house is 100 amps I need a new meter sockets can I buy a for 200 amps one and run 100 amps ??
Sure I'll upgrade some time down the line
Why is this important? What consequences does this have for a homeowner on the bill?
The pipe coming into mine is 3 1/2" and the switch inside the panel says 200 so I assume 200amp, not more. Everything in my house is electric including 4-ton heat pump and resistive backup heat. Do you think 200amps is enough to also add a tankless water heater?