Re: subpanel for the shop

[Tim]

Trimmed for brevity....

>>I just so happen to have a 100 amp panel. It looks a little different >>from the other subpanel I had though. It looks like it's meant to be >>the only panel in the house. My old one didn't have a 60amp breaker in >>it. It relied on the breaker in the main panel, with the feed wires >>going into screw terminals on the bus bar. This one has a 100 amp >>breaker in it. It looks like I can't remove it. Am I missing >>something? > > What you're missing is the notion that this is *exactly* the kind of panel > you > want for a subpanel in your shop - in an emergency, if you want to kill > all > the power in the shop RIGHT NOW, you have the disconnect right there at > the > subpanel. You don't have to go back to the main. >

Sounds good, except if the lights are fed from the subpanel.....

Even with a main lug subpanel w/o the breaker on the incoming feed you can quickly kill all (or some) of the power by hitting the breakers.

I have a 60 amp main lug subpanel with 8 slots, 4 filled. I could kill all the power only marginally faster if I had a main breaker. Regardless of the setup, you have to recognize a problem, realize you need to kill the power, run over to the panel, open the cover and reach up and switch the breaker(s). I also have the option of just switching the circuits feeding the receptacles and leaving the lights up or vice-versa (though I do have a light on a separate circuit run directly from the main panel that I always turn on).

My 2 cents....

Tim

[Lew Hodgett]

RE: Subject

Go to your local DIY and buy a 125A, main lug only 12/24 panel.

Add a 2P-60A main c'bkr kit and an insulated earth ground bus bar kit.

Use 1P-20 for receptacles and lighting circuits.

Use 2P-40 for a 5 HP air compressor and a 2P-30 for your table saw.

Other loads as req'd.

Lew

[Swingman]

60A makes much more sense all the way around.

Follow the advice in Lew's post in this thread and you won't go wrong.

[Art Greenberg]

How's that? I have a 100A subpanel, fed from a 100A breaker in the main panel.

[PDQ]

Not too sure where you're coming from, Bob, as my shop is fed from a =

100A breakered service that is itself a drop from my 100A main service. = The feed wire is about 1" thick (I think #1). The electrician who = installed it had no problem doing so.

The setup allows me to isolate the shop service such that I can supply = emergency power to my furnace and/or air conditioner whenever the hydro = is out. It tends to piss the neighbours a tad when I have the only = lights in town.

I currently have 3 15A 110 drops from it and 1 20A 220 for my = compressor. As this panel used to be my main (until I upgraded to = breakers) there is lots of room for expansion.

There seems to me to be no reason not to go for more capacity when it is = available.

--=20 PDQ