Hi All, My main panel is rated 100 amps with 6 15A breakers, 2 20A, 1 30A, 1
50A. I've mapped it all out and found that some of the 15As have over 1500 watts on them (assuming 1.5 amps for each outlet)The 50A used to power an electric stove, which has been removed. Any reason I can't remove the 50A breaker and install 3 15As and distribute the loads better? There's plenty of room in the box.
Why not add up what you actualy use before changing anything
Hi, Well, I did add it up and found that some of the 15s have too much on them. So, it would be fairly easy to add another couple breakers and redistribute the loads. Any reason why I can't add a few 15A breakers to a panel if I'm removing a 50A?
If there's "plenty of room", you can add circuits without removing the
50A breaker.BTW, there is no need to split up the old circuits if you are not tripping the breakers. There is no limit to the number of electric outlets you can have on a branch circuit -- especially the convenience outlets in the bedrooms. There is a limit to the number of lights you can have because it is assumed the lights will sometimes all be on at the same time.
Bob
This is incorrect. The NEC does not limit the number of convenience receptacles on a circuit. What the NEC requires is there be a minimum of 3 watts per sq. ft.
The 1.5 amps per, or 180 watts per, is a calculation used in commercial spaces only, not residential.
Outlets do not use any power.
If total draw on the circuit is well below 15a , and the circuit breaker is not warm to the touch, and you are not blowing fuses then you should be safe.
I'm afraid you're mistaken.
(b) Load Evenly Proportioned Among Branch Circuits. Where the load is computed on a volt-amperes/square foot (0.093 m2) basis, the wiring system up to and including the branch-circuit panelboard(s) shall be provided to serve not less than the calculated load. This load shall be evenly proportioned among multioutlet branch circuits within the panelboard(s). Branch-circuit overcurrent devices and circuits need only be installed to serve the connected load.
New one on me. Three pole stove breaker?
Figuring it's a double, You can pull the double 50 out and put in a couple single 20's, and run some 12-2, or put in a couple 15's and run some 14 gage.
Hey, it isn't really honest to just figure 1.5 amps per socket. A branch with a window AC at 9 amps (or the coffee maker at 15, toaster at 7, hair dryer at 12) might be more load than the circuit with 10 outlets. If the 10 outlets are a clock, night light, computer, and clock radio.
Works for me. Pull the double 50, and put in a couple single 15's.
Why would he pull out the 50A? He said there's plenty of room in the panel. If he pulls out the 50A, he's gotta do something with the wires. And someday someone might want to put an electric stove back in.
Just use an unused slot or two for new circuits. Leave as much alone as you can.
Bob
Or since he has space, why not leave the double 50 unused where it is and put in a few 15's as he suggested?
According to TrueWest :
_Further_, in some locales removing an existing stove circuit may be code illegal. In _most_ locales it can be a resale problem if the prospective home buyer prefers electric.
So, if you don't _have_ to pull it, don't.
You make a LOT of sense. Well said.
The reason I was thinking about pulling the 50A is that I figured you don't want too many circuits in the panel. I assumed If we sell down the road and someone re-installs an electric stove after I've put in 3 additional 15A, that's very bad. Is that not true?
I guess I don't understand what it means to be rated at 100 amps. Our breakers add up to much more than 100, but I figured that the 100A figure was probably a certain % of max. True....or do I just know enough to be dangerous?
All of the breakers in my 100 amp panel add up to 750 amps and I will be adding more breakers for a couple of basement rooms without enough receptacles. The point is you're not using very many of them at any one time and in your case the total amps used at any one time will be the same with or without the extra circuits. If the panel could sustain an electric stove before, the only thing that would prevent that with extra circuits is plugging in and using simultaneously more high amp devices than you have now.
Except that you've probably got a double-pull breaker, which blows if EITHER leg exceeds 100 amps, not if the SUM exceeds
100 amps. SO you've got 100 amps of 240V service, or 200 amps of 120V service, or any combination of the two.I wouldn't worry too much about building too many branch circuts, anyway, other than not annoying the inspector. Either the things you want to do in your house end up drawing less than 200A at any time, in which case, you're fine, or they don't, in which case you need to upgrade the panel and service drop anyway. By the time I'm done with my house, I expect to have 4 separate electric stove runs, a dryer, an arc-welder circut, and electric hot water. But I don't expect to be running more than the water heater and any two of the others at the same time.
--Goedjn
default posted for all of us....
No you don't
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