I always pafer 200 amps as it can accommodate future projects. Very informative thanks 🙏 I’d use 100 amps for a small weekend dwelling place out in the country.
As a fellow electrician, but one who’s done mostly industrial and heavy commercial work, I’d like to reiterate a point you made briefly. If you are going to replace a panel or do a service upgrade, bring in the most power that would make sense for your location. The cost difference between upgrading to 100, 200, or 400A is negligible. You’re paying for the electrician’s labor and material costs, but the material costs between upgrading from 60A to 100A or 100A to 400A are pennies on the dollar. So bring in all the power you can.
Hi Dick, i agree! However, I will say the cost difference between 200amp and 400amp services is pretty significant. The difference between a 100amp and 200amp is very slim though! For most people, a 200amp is all you will ever need.
That's correct! For states that are following our 2020 code, the addition of emergency disconnects and whole house surge protectors increased service upgrades by ~ $400 alone. Then throw on the increased cost of materials!!
I agree with the 200 amp specially at my house between the cooking in the laundry and the kids have their own gaming computers always running at full power...my garage to run my tools and possibly in the near future electric charging station for an E-car so yeah I guess just have to think very far ahead 👍
I upgraded from 100 amp to 200 amp a few years ago even though I have a small house. Since my big users were gas, I didn't need increased amperage but after having central air installed, I had almost run out of space for expansion on the old panel. My house is about 90 years old and doesn't have all the separate circuits that would be required today. I went from about 20 slots on the old panel to 40 on the new panel. I was now able to have more circuits.
I would absolutely love to see a video about demand factor. But I'm a bit of an oddball. I love learning and engineering and math. So it's right up my alley. To mention it and not explain it is like a teaser for me lol. That's alright though, I have many resources on electrical engineering I can consult, and even though your explanations are terrific, any written explanation is going to be able to go more in depth into technical details than a lecture type format. Thanks for pointing me down what will no doubt be a fun rabbit hole.
@@VoidHalo If you google 'how to size an apartment building service' you can explore different numbers of units, square footages of each unit how much 'house power' is required and add appliances and heating/cooling equipment expected. Demand factors are explained in detail. You may do well to check your local codes as things can vary from place to place.
I'm about to upgrade my 60a service on a 120yo house. I'll probably end up doing 200a even tho it's overkill for my needs. I'm doing all the work myself, but will need to hire someone certified in order to get thru the permitting and inspection process mainly to help things go smoothly with the electric company. The only technical issue I'm facing is getting the SE cable from the meter to the location of the panel as the old stuff is NM and runs under part of the building with about 8" of space. Oh the joy of having a beautiful old building. The irony of sizing is that with all the LED lighting, and higher efficiency appliances, there's less need for having 200a service.
Interesting! More and more things in your home will become electric over the coming decade. EV chargers, ovens, heating systems, water heaters etc. It seems like everything will eventually be electric so the need for large services is growing. 200amp was once the end all be all for single families, we are now seeing a huge increase in demand for 400amp services.
@@kuhlmanelectric I can argue (mostly with myself) on both sides. E.g. All my lightbulbs are LED now. My ex just put in 36000 BTU of Mitsubishi mini-split heat/cool 220v with a 30a breaker. OTOH, I agree with you esp. when you add in conv. form nat. gas to elec. water, stoves, etc. Plus EV.
I remember a new home owner that bought a house with 60 amp service (obviously very old), and he wanted to add a 50 amp hot tub, but said he could not afford to upgrade the electrical service.
Nice explanation. One question, when upgrading 100A panel to 200A panel means also upgrading wires from meter to panel? I have 100A panel and my electric meter is 1-200A .
Hi Adnan, thanks for the question! In your case yes the wiring between the meter and panel will need to be increased. You need to also look at the wiring BEFORE The meter, whether it's overhead or underground.. It will need to be 200amp rated as well, if it's not it will need to be increased.
Question - how do I determine what my service amperage is? My main panel box (box under the meter) is attached to the brick of the house outside. I cant measure the outgoing conduit b/c there is none. The cable goes straight through the brick and into the walls of the house. What is another way for me to determine what my amperage service is ?
Hey Thanks for the comment - you should have service disconnect (circuit breaker) outside in your meter socket or in your panel above the rest of the circuits. This will be a larger circuit breaker and have a number stamped on it. That number should be your overall service size - to further confirm it, have an electrician check the wiring size coming into the meter and into the panel.
I have a 100 amp fuse panel main upstairs that I was wanting to upgrade. If I went with a 125 amp circuit panel, would I have to upgrade my outside service wire? My basement already has a circuit breaker that my water heater and washer/dryer runs off of. I kinda wanted to go up some in amps on my main but if it's not needing since my downstairs is on a separate panel, I'll stick to just a 100amp circuit breaker upgrade.
Okay so I just bought my first home built in 1943 it has the old black Braid lookin romex..it has a 100a sub panel inside meter can outside... I have found out all recepticals and lights are on one 20a circuit except one for deep freezer and one regular refrigerator do I need to upgrade to 200amps its 900 sq fr 1 stove 1 dishwasher. 1 washing machine 1 dryer 1 water heater 1 well pump and 3 space heaters winter 3 window ac units n summertime this is a fixer to flip her live in restore and I've went crazy on plumbing siding roof.n flooring what not .. I'm using 12/2romex for recepts 2 dedicated gfci circuits in kitchen 1 gfci circuits restroom 1 outdoor gfci circuit ...each room dedicated lighting.. 2 ceiling fans 12 can lights. Thanks for any info or replays
If you have an average size house with all natural gas ( heating, cooking, water heater & gas dryer ) and never going with an EV 100 amp service is more then adequate. In my mom's area people electric range,oil heat and gas for water heater & dryer that for last 70 years only had a 60 amp service that never blew the 60 amp main fuse. I was always amazed about that. I would always remove the two 60 amp fuses and all but one had the original cheapest fuse still in use.
Hey John, i completely agree. We have customers all the time that have similar setups and call to upgrade to 200amps. We ask them why? They say because they need 200amps.. We ask why? They say cause someone told them... LOL We explain to them they have more than enough capacity now. It may only be an issue down the road if they add central air, EV charger etc. We definitely lose some sales from being informative, but it's the right thing to do.
New house...200 amp...period. It's a resale item because most homeowner don't know the house only needs 100 amps. Some existing 100 amp panels in a condo don't have enough spaces, so a slightly larger 100 panel will allow for a few extra circuits for finished basements. With the new code requiring the main disconnect at the meter, it's easier to switch out panels without pulling the meter. Condos around here with 100 amp panels already have the main at the meter socket making the inside panel a subpanel.
Hey thanks for the comment! I agree with the resale part - 200amp services go a long way when selling the property, everyone loves to hear a house has a 200amp service!
Hi Greg, typically (at least here in Massachusetts) the power companies existing wires from the street are capable of handling the 200amp service. When we do 400amp services they will sometimes replace the wiring from the street. In the rare instances where they do replace the wiring from the street, it's often for free, or a minor charge ($500). This is for overhead services. Underground ones can be a different ballgame
I have a 100A service for a small 1000 sq ft house. My concern is that I have a 15A fridge, 40A range, 30A water heater, and a 10A microwave as my big draw items. It my service enough? Could it also handle an electric washer/dryer combo? Thanks for your help in advance :-)
@@kuhlmanelectric thanks for this explanation. My electrician just replace our 100 amp service panel with a 100-amp service panel but we have a very small house similar to this with a gas water heater and gas dryer
im doing a 16x44 small home right now, i have a 100 amp panel i want a dryer, stove, a ductless ac unit, and a on demand small form factor water heater that mount on the wall... you think im good?
I'm currently in the process of building a 900 ft² 2 bed 1 bath ranch home resembling built in the 40s to 60s, gas water heater/furnace, gas dryer and gas range for myself and soon to be wife (in south carolina gas heating is cheaper than electric) biggest load will be the central air conditioner, and slapping a 200 amp service by default, even though 100 amps is a bit overkill, mainly for resale purposes in case I'm forced to sell and relocate for job loss and relocation or other unforeseen circumstances. It's kind of like a new 2.3L ecoboost mustang vs a GT with the 5.0L V8, unless you plan on taking it to the racetrack today's 4 cylinder engines have more than enough power for your everyday commute, yet having a car with a naturally aspirated larger displacement V8 RWD car is viewed by some as American as baseball and apple pie with no plans to test it's limits. (I was one of those, had posters of vettes, mustangs, cameros , Monte Carlos what have you, covering my bedroom walls as a teenager much to my parents annoyance 😅, and felt the same about the 1993 Caprice Classic with the 350 I brought shortly after college, sometimes I still wish I had that car😅)
@@Sparky-ww5re In Toronto the puc would not allow you a 200a service with your load calculation. They have to provide infrastructure to accomodate the 200a service. Minimim is 100a for a single family dwelling.
@@rickhawkins218 same here. 100 amp, 120/240V 3w 1ph minimum for one family dwelling, provided the load calculation allows it. Next up from that is 150, 200, 400 amp service and so on. There are some 300 amp services, consisting of one 200A and one 100A panel, or two 150A panels, but those are rare, only seen a 300A service once, in a 5500 square foot McMansion built in the 1990s, sold as a foreclosure sale in 2012.
idk. I've had multiple quotes recently. With current code, upgrading from 100 to 200 is much more $... Your talking about replacing the meter box and adding a disconnect outside. With 100, you just replace the panel.
Just curious, my home has a 100 amp panel that is over 30 years old. A solar company installed 30 360 watt solar panels and our panel seems very hot! We asked about upgrading our panel but they said no. Should they have upgraded our panel?
Hey thanks for the reply. That is a good question. I don't work with solar very often if ever so i can't comment on the requirement of upgrading related to the solar system size. The entire electrical panel is hot? Sometimes they back feed the panel from the solar system with a circuit breaker - is it possible that is what is hot? I would be looking for a bad connection anytime there is excessive heat.
We have a 100 amp breaker box. We have noticed that in our 800 sqft home, we have 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, hallway and lighting for stairs connected to one 20 amp. When we have our a/c window unit we get a surge or when contractor uses his equipment we get the same. When we plug our electric grill into kitchen outlet we lose power in kitchen unless we unplug a/c unit. Here is the list of what’s connected: Stove -double 30 amp Furnace - 20 amp Basement lighting/outlets - 20 amp Dryer - double 20 amps Sump pumps - double 20 amps Living Room - 20 amps Bedrooms, bathroom, hallway and stairs lighting- 20 amps Kitchen - 20 amps Unknown - 20 amps Question: is the 100 enough to handle all this? Is the reason for power surge due to having multiple areas connected to one breaker? If 100 is not enough then what should we have? We use multiple laptops, fridge, freezer, 3 a/c units, electric stove, multiple TVs, electric fireplace, game system, 3 ceiling fans, 2 sound bars, microwave, hood vent, and other typical items. We are planning on adding dishwasher and at some point central air.
100amp might be fine, i would need more specific amperages to calculate it. It sounds like what you are describing is individual circuits tripping. This means the circuit it overloaded, not the entire system. If the existing 100amp service was being overloaded you would trip the 100amp main breaker, not the individual breaker powering the kitchen for example.
I'm planning a tiny house build 500 sqft. 1. Well pump 2. 120v 2000w 20 gallon water heater 3. Electric range 4. Combo electric washer dryer 5, Single Mini Split 6. Microwave 7. Refrigerator Could I get by with 100 amp service? Thanks
just count how many watts total they would take, check their watts rating on their labels etc. and count how many you're gonna use usually. 15A 120V = 1800W 20A 120V = 2400W 30A 120V = 3600W (7200W if 240V) 50A 120-240V = 6000-12000W 100A service is 12000W max, if it's not enough (depends on what you're gonna use usually) get 200A which is 24000W. (you'd need to get the pole transformer connected to your house upgraded as well, make sure it says a big "25" on it which means 25000W. if not, maybe "15" for 15000W which is enough for 12000W. for a washer dryer and electric range, depends on how many watts they have, you'd need at least 30-50A socket.
It would be helpful to know the wattage of the minisplit, but i suspect it will be low.. I would say you should be fine with a 100amp service with those loads.
@@jackdempsey9346 A treadmill is usually around 800 watts which is less than a microwave oven. You didn't give enough information to answer that question. Is it a 15 or 20 amp circuit? How many appliances are on that circuit and are on at the same time? Is your home a high power consumer in general? How old is the home? etc. etc.
Hello, I'm looking to install a ductless mini-split system. My house is 1200 sq ft with a 100 amp panel, the required power supply for the heat pump unit is 208/230 V 1-Phase. I use a gas stove, gas tankless water heater, and gas dryer. My wife drives an EV, for which we've installed an electric charger. I've done the load calculations for our home and have a total of 80 amps. Do you think I'm OK with the 100A panel? Cheers
Hey, you did the load calculation including the heat pump and got 80amps? If the load calc is indeed 80amps with everything, then no reason to upgrade it at this point. If you add more electrical load down the road i'd certainly consider upping the service to a 200amp.
Trusted my electrician and paid 1500$ for a new 100 Amp panel :(. I have a 920 square foot house. Looking to put in a central air system some heat pump guys say I need to update my panel to 200amps. What do you think?
We all know there has to be that one person out there that does exactly what he said no one is going to do!! 😂 just imagine them running everything all at once lol😂
is 100 home ok for a tesla wall charger which requires a 60 amp breaker with max draw of 48 amps , my house is all gas stuff , only lights and ac and fridge is electric
@@surferdude642 lol that dosent help that's like putting a power strip to run the toaster and fridge with the coffee maker if you where thinking of adding another service to the garage tht wld cost more your paying for two meters plus minimum supply charge fees
Hey great question. In our area, those lines are the responsibility of the power company. In most cases they leave the same lines when upgrading from 100 to 200amps, as the lines can support 200amps no problem. When upgrading to 400amps, the power company may replace them, at no cost to the home owner.
I work in the Power Grid field and 200 amp to 400 amp is the same procedure with pennies spent. Just remember sizing small will bite you in the wallet later in life, going bigger will save you a divorce. Adding breakers is easier than redoing your panel.. 😆
Electric vehicles usually recharge overnight, though, when most appliances are turned off. I don't know, but electric vehicles will be in every garage eventually. I think "fast chargers" use 3-phase power. The question I have is: what is involved in getting 3-phase power to your garage?
@@scotth6814 Chance of that is slim to none. Especially if you live in less urban areas. Utilities typically branch off three phase and run single phase through residential areas.
For most homes with a single EV charger, a 200amp service is fine. Some homes can squeeze two EV chargers at full speed given the rest of the electrical loads are lower. There are load shedding options available now as well for these scenarios.
Excellent explanation ! 1200 square feet home Central AC Clothes Dryer Clothes washer Dishwasher Plus all common appliances and electronics… Wife wants an Electric oven/microwave combo be installed … is enough 100 amps ??? main switch outside, separate from the indoors panel located in the garage Help please my marriage is at risk !😡
Hey Arjeguz. I can't help with the marriage but i can with the load calc :) What is the amperage or wattage of the central air? Is your dryer electric or gas ?
Hey Rick, that is possibly true. The national electrical code does use "load calculations" to determine it, instead of waiting for a main breaker to trip.
@@kuhlmanelectric If your main breaker were 100a and you told me you had never had the main trip i would not try to sell you a 200a service as a practical matter. Load calculations take demand factors into consideration. What better way to take actual demand factors into consideration than not having that main trip? When i wrote my masters test in the 90's there was always an apartment service calculation on the test but real life works better.
I really need some help I was homeless for 6 months I pulled myself up for my boots drafts I was able to increase my credit score and I bought a house. It has a really newer looking hundred amp service which I don't understand because I would have gone with a 200 amp just for future needs but at any rate it has a hundred amp service the sub panels full except for one spot that would hold a 240 breaker a double pole breaker. I need to put a subpanel into my attached garage badly in order to run my machines and make some money to keep myself afloat so I don't end up in a bad situation again I'm disabled but I'm able to do some craft work to make a couple extra dollars. What size breaker would be appropriate to run off of a hundred amp service when I need at least 30 amps in the garage to run one of my machines? Could I run a 50 amp breaker to feed a small sub panel and a few more wall outlets and one 240 volt plug for one of my machines? Would that be acceptable do you think?
I have a small house and it had a 200 amp service. It was totally inadequate. It tripped constantly, was single phase so had to have motor generators or phase converters running constantly to get 3 phase power for motors. Just think how much power a heat treating furnace takes that is a load that’s running all the time. Add in your machines and your up around 500 amps just in the shop. It’s criminal to build a house without at least a 800 amp 3 phase service in my opinion.
I always pafer 200 amps as it can accommodate future projects. Very informative thanks 🙏 I’d use 100 amps for a small weekend dwelling place out in the country.
I did have all running at the same time one summer blew a leg ,did a 200 amp upgrade .
As a fellow electrician, but one who’s done mostly industrial and heavy commercial work, I’d like to reiterate a point you made briefly. If you are going to replace a panel or do a service upgrade, bring in the most power that would make sense for your location. The cost difference between upgrading to 100, 200, or 400A is negligible. You’re paying for the electrician’s labor and material costs, but the material costs between upgrading from 60A to 100A or 100A to 400A are pennies on the dollar. So bring in all the power you can.
From a fellow industrial electrician, you are correct. 480 volt 3phase guy here. Go bigger.
Hi Dick, i agree! However, I will say the cost difference between 200amp and 400amp services is pretty significant. The difference between a 100amp and 200amp is very slim though! For most people, a 200amp is all you will ever need.
@@kuhlmanelectric It’s a lot more significant now than it was two years ago, that’s for sure!
That's correct! For states that are following our 2020 code, the addition of emergency disconnects and whole house surge protectors increased service upgrades by ~ $400 alone. Then throw on the increased cost of materials!!
@@kuhlmanelectric is 200 amps enough for 5000 sqft house? 2 kitchens also
Thank you for sharing....
Thanks for watching!
I agree with the 200 amp specially at my house between the cooking in the laundry and the kids have their own gaming computers always running at full power...my garage to run my tools and possibly in the near future electric charging station for an E-car so yeah I guess just have to think very far ahead 👍
I upgraded from 100 amp to 200 amp a few years ago even though I have a small house.
Since my big users were gas, I didn't need increased amperage but after having central air installed, I had almost run out of space for expansion on the old panel.
My house is about 90 years old and doesn't have all the separate circuits that would be required
today. I went from about 20 slots on the old panel to 40 on the new panel. I was now able to have more circuits.
Very cool, thanks for sharing!
What state do you live in? I live in Ohio and I was told that I couldnt install central air because I have a 100 Amp panel
I would absolutely love to see a video about demand factor. But I'm a bit of an oddball. I love learning and engineering and math. So it's right up my alley. To mention it and not explain it is like a teaser for me lol. That's alright though, I have many resources on electrical engineering I can consult, and even though your explanations are terrific, any written explanation is going to be able to go more in depth into technical details than a lecture type format. Thanks for pointing me down what will no doubt be a fun rabbit hole.
I was thinking of doing this in the future! Stay tuned
@@VoidHalo If you google 'how to size an apartment building service' you can explore different numbers of units, square footages of each unit how much 'house power' is required and add appliances and heating/cooling equipment expected. Demand factors are explained in detail. You may do well to check your local codes as things can vary from place to place.
Usually 100 amp breaker panels were installed when they had a fuse panel but a reusable service mast and meter base rated for 100 amps.
Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
I'm about to upgrade my 60a service on a 120yo house. I'll probably end up doing 200a even tho it's overkill for my needs. I'm doing all the work myself, but will need to hire someone certified in order to get thru the permitting and inspection process mainly to help things go smoothly with the electric company. The only technical issue I'm facing is getting the SE cable from the meter to the location of the panel as the old stuff is NM and runs under part of the building with about 8" of space. Oh the joy of having a beautiful old building.
The irony of sizing is that with all the LED lighting, and higher efficiency appliances, there's less need for having 200a service.
Interesting! More and more things in your home will become electric over the coming decade. EV chargers, ovens, heating systems, water heaters etc. It seems like everything will eventually be electric so the need for large services is growing. 200amp was once the end all be all for single families, we are now seeing a huge increase in demand for 400amp services.
@@kuhlmanelectric I can argue (mostly with myself) on both sides.
E.g. All my lightbulbs are LED now. My ex just put in 36000 BTU of Mitsubishi mini-split heat/cool 220v with a 30a breaker.
OTOH, I agree with you esp. when you add in conv. form nat. gas to elec. water, stoves, etc. Plus EV.
60amp? 😭💀. And i thought my crap was outdated with the 100.
I remember a new home owner that bought a house with 60 amp service (obviously very old), and he wanted to add a 50 amp hot tub, but said he could not afford to upgrade the electrical service.
Lol. Priorities, ha ha.
But he could afford the hot tub. LOL
Nice explanation. One question, when upgrading 100A panel to 200A panel means also upgrading wires from meter to panel? I have 100A panel and my electric meter is 1-200A .
Hi Adnan, thanks for the question! In your case yes the wiring between the meter and panel will need to be increased. You need to also look at the wiring BEFORE The meter, whether it's overhead or underground.. It will need to be 200amp rated as well, if it's not it will need to be increased.
If you have a 100 amp and fixing to upgrade just go with the 200 amp. Most utilities require it anyway should be no question on it.
Question - how do I determine what my service amperage is? My main panel box (box under the meter) is attached to the brick of the house outside. I cant measure the outgoing conduit b/c there is none. The cable goes straight through the brick and into the walls of the house. What is another way for me to determine what my amperage service is ?
Hey Thanks for the comment - you should have service disconnect (circuit breaker) outside in your meter socket or in your panel above the rest of the circuits. This will be a larger circuit breaker and have a number stamped on it. That number should be your overall service size - to further confirm it, have an electrician check the wiring size coming into the meter and into the panel.
I have a 100 amp fuse panel main upstairs that I was wanting to upgrade. If I went with a 125 amp circuit panel, would I have to upgrade my outside service wire? My basement already has a circuit breaker that my water heater and washer/dryer runs off of. I kinda wanted to go up some in amps on my main but if it's not needing since my downstairs is on a separate panel, I'll stick to just a 100amp circuit breaker upgrade.
Hey QJ, sorry for the late reply. Yes if the wire feeding that panel is rated to 100amps, then it will need to upgraded to a wire rated to 125amp.
Okay so I just bought my first home built in 1943 it has the old black
Braid lookin romex..it has a 100a sub panel inside meter can outside... I have found out all recepticals and lights are on one 20a circuit except one for deep freezer and one regular refrigerator do I need to upgrade to 200amps its 900 sq fr 1 stove 1 dishwasher. 1 washing machine 1 dryer 1 water heater 1 well pump and 3 space heaters winter 3 window ac units n summertime this is a fixer to flip her live in restore and I've went crazy on plumbing siding roof.n flooring what not .. I'm using 12/2romex for recepts 2 dedicated gfci circuits in kitchen 1 gfci circuits restroom 1 outdoor gfci circuit ...each room dedicated lighting.. 2 ceiling fans 12 can lights. Thanks for any info or replays
Hey Justin, sorry for the late reply. You didn't list out too many electrical items - i would say 100amps would be fine for you situation.
If you have an average size house with all natural gas ( heating, cooking, water heater & gas dryer ) and never going with an EV 100 amp service is more then adequate. In my mom's area people electric range,oil heat and gas for water heater & dryer that for last 70 years only had a 60 amp service that never blew the 60 amp main fuse. I was always amazed about that. I would always remove the two 60 amp fuses and all but one had the original cheapest fuse still in use.
Hey John, i completely agree. We have customers all the time that have similar setups and call to upgrade to 200amps. We ask them why? They say because they need 200amps.. We ask why? They say cause someone told them... LOL
We explain to them they have more than enough capacity now. It may only be an issue down the road if they add central air, EV charger etc.
We definitely lose some sales from being informative, but it's the right thing to do.
The biggest factor is where the house is located. A Northern Minnesota mid sized house with electric heat will not be 100 amp.
Hey Kevin, yeah it will depend on the electrical loads. Doing the load calc is the best way to determine the proper size.
@@kuhlmanelectric I did thousands in my career from 1983-2018.
New house...200 amp...period. It's a resale item because most homeowner don't know the house only needs 100 amps. Some existing 100 amp panels in a condo don't have enough spaces, so a slightly larger 100 panel will allow for a few extra circuits for finished basements. With the new code requiring the main disconnect at the meter, it's easier to switch out panels without pulling the meter. Condos around here with 100 amp panels already have the main at the meter socket making the inside panel a subpanel.
Hey thanks for the comment! I agree with the resale part - 200amp services go a long way when selling the property, everyone loves to hear a house has a 200amp service!
What about utility company wire size upgrade cost? 100-200. Good advice
Hi Greg, typically (at least here in Massachusetts) the power companies existing wires from the street are capable of handling the 200amp service. When we do 400amp services they will sometimes replace the wiring from the street. In the rare instances where they do replace the wiring from the street, it's often for free, or a minor charge ($500). This is for overhead services. Underground ones can be a different ballgame
I have a 100A service for a small 1000 sq ft house. My concern is that I have a 15A fridge, 40A range, 30A water heater, and a 10A microwave as my big draw items. It my service enough? Could it also handle an electric washer/dryer combo? Thanks for your help in advance :-)
Looks like you are good! If you add the dryer in, you will be at roughly 75amps.
@@kuhlmanelectric thanks for this explanation. My electrician just replace our 100 amp service panel with a 100-amp service panel but we have a very small house similar to this with a gas water heater and gas dryer
im doing a 16x44 small home right now, i have a 100 amp panel i want a dryer, stove, a ductless ac unit, and a on demand small form factor water heater that mount on the wall... you think im good?
Hi Ready,
It's hard to say without having the specs of the appliances. Is the on demand water heater going to be gas / propane?
I'm currently in the process of building a 900 ft² 2 bed 1 bath ranch home resembling built in the 40s to 60s, gas water heater/furnace, gas dryer and gas range for myself and soon to be wife (in south carolina gas heating is cheaper than electric) biggest load will be the central air conditioner, and slapping a 200 amp service by default, even though 100 amps is a bit overkill, mainly for resale purposes in case I'm forced to sell and relocate for job loss and relocation or other unforeseen circumstances. It's kind of like a new 2.3L ecoboost mustang vs a GT with the 5.0L V8, unless you plan on taking it to the racetrack today's 4 cylinder engines have more than enough power for your everyday commute, yet having a car with a naturally aspirated larger displacement V8 RWD car is viewed by some as American as baseball and apple pie with no plans to test it's limits.
(I was one of those, had posters of vettes, mustangs, cameros , Monte Carlos what have you, covering my bedroom walls as a teenager much to my parents annoyance 😅, and felt the same about the 1993 Caprice Classic with the 350 I brought shortly after college, sometimes I still wish I had that car😅)
Makes sense! On a side note, i have a 5.0L coyote mustang with a whipple i race at the drag track, great car!
@@Sparky-ww5re In Toronto the puc would not allow you a 200a service with your load calculation. They have to provide infrastructure to accomodate the 200a service. Minimim is 100a for a single family dwelling.
@@rickhawkins218 same here. 100 amp, 120/240V 3w 1ph minimum for one family dwelling, provided the load calculation allows it. Next up from that is 150, 200, 400 amp service and so on. There are some 300 amp services, consisting of one 200A and one 100A panel, or two 150A panels, but those are rare, only seen a 300A service once, in a 5500 square foot McMansion built in the 1990s, sold as a foreclosure sale in 2012.
@@Sparky-ww5re 60/100/200/400 here
That sounds like every Saturday for me. Everything is on lol
idk. I've had multiple quotes recently. With current code, upgrading from 100 to 200 is much more $... Your talking about replacing the meter box and adding a disconnect outside. With 100, you just replace the panel.
Just curious, my home has a 100 amp panel that is over 30 years old. A solar company installed 30 360 watt solar panels and our panel seems very hot! We asked about upgrading our panel but they said no. Should they have upgraded our panel?
Hey thanks for the reply. That is a good question. I don't work with solar very often if ever so i can't comment on the requirement of upgrading related to the solar system size.
The entire electrical panel is hot? Sometimes they back feed the panel from the solar system with a circuit breaker - is it possible that is what is hot? I would be looking for a bad connection anytime there is excessive heat.
We have a 100 amp breaker box. We have noticed that in our 800 sqft home, we have 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, hallway and lighting for stairs connected to one 20 amp. When we have our a/c window unit we get a surge or when contractor uses his equipment we get the same. When we plug our electric grill into kitchen outlet we lose power in kitchen unless we unplug a/c unit. Here is the list of what’s connected:
Stove -double 30 amp
Furnace - 20 amp
Basement lighting/outlets - 20 amp
Dryer - double 20 amps
Sump pumps - double 20 amps
Living Room - 20 amps
Bedrooms, bathroom, hallway and stairs lighting- 20 amps
Kitchen - 20 amps
Unknown - 20 amps
Question: is the 100 enough to handle all this? Is the reason for power surge due to having multiple areas connected to one breaker? If 100 is not enough then what should we have?
We use multiple laptops, fridge, freezer, 3 a/c units, electric stove, multiple TVs, electric fireplace, game system, 3 ceiling fans, 2 sound bars, microwave, hood vent, and other typical items. We are planning on adding dishwasher and at some point central air.
yeah you need an upgrade. 200A.
Ditto
100amp might be fine, i would need more specific amperages to calculate it. It sounds like what you are describing is individual circuits tripping. This means the circuit it overloaded, not the entire system. If the existing 100amp service was being overloaded you would trip the 100amp main breaker, not the individual breaker powering the kitchen for example.
You might be ok but just need more circuits to spread the loads out.
I'm planning a tiny house build 500 sqft.
1. Well pump
2. 120v 2000w 20 gallon water heater
3. Electric range
4. Combo electric washer dryer
5, Single Mini Split
6. Microwave
7. Refrigerator
Could I get by with 100 amp service? Thanks
just count how many watts total they would take, check their watts rating on their labels etc. and count how many you're gonna use usually.
15A 120V = 1800W
20A 120V = 2400W
30A 120V = 3600W (7200W if 240V)
50A 120-240V = 6000-12000W
100A service is 12000W max, if it's not enough (depends on what you're gonna use usually)
get 200A which is 24000W. (you'd need to get the pole transformer connected to your house upgraded as well, make sure it says a big "25" on it which means 25000W. if not, maybe "15" for 15000W which is enough for 12000W.
for a washer dryer and electric range, depends on how many watts they have, you'd need at least 30-50A socket.
It would be helpful to know the wattage of the minisplit, but i suspect it will be low.. I would say you should be fine with a 100amp service with those loads.
if you have gas heat and hot water and range 100 amp is fine.....200 is ideal for future needs but 100 will be fine.
is 100 amp sufficient to run home surround sound with receiver and multiple tvs and computer?
yes
Yeah no doubt. Those loads are all very minor!
@@kuhlmanelectric my treadmill keeps tripping the breaker and shutting off. I current have a 100 amp, Would a 200 fix this problem?
@@jackdempsey9346 A treadmill is usually around 800 watts which is less than a microwave oven. You didn't give enough information to answer that question. Is it a 15 or 20 amp circuit? How many appliances are on that circuit and are on at the same time? Is your home a high power consumer in general? How old is the home? etc. etc.
@@jackdempsey9346 sounds like old circuits, may need newer panel, not more amps.
Hello, I'm looking to install a ductless mini-split system. My house is 1200 sq ft with a 100 amp panel, the required power supply for the heat pump unit is 208/230 V 1-Phase. I use a gas stove, gas tankless water heater, and gas dryer. My wife drives an EV, for which we've installed an electric charger. I've done the load calculations for our home and have a total of 80 amps. Do you think I'm OK with the 100A panel? Cheers
Hey, you did the load calculation including the heat pump and got 80amps? If the load calc is indeed 80amps with everything, then no reason to upgrade it at this point. If you add more electrical load down the road i'd certainly consider upping the service to a 200amp.
Trusted my electrician and paid 1500$ for a new 100 Amp panel :(. I have a 920 square foot house. Looking to put in a central air system some heat pump guys say I need to update my panel to 200amps. What do you think?
I have a 100 amp service. My house is 1200 square feet. I have zero issues as far as electrical goes.
The 100amp service might be fine! I would need more details to say for sure. What electrical loads do you have now? How big of a heat pump / AC?
We all know there has to be that one person out there that does exactly what he said no one is going to do!! 😂 just imagine them running everything all at once lol😂
is 100 home ok for a tesla wall charger which requires a 60 amp breaker with max draw of 48 amps , my house is all gas stuff , only lights and ac and fridge is electric
It might be OK. What is the square footage of the house? Do you have a disposal, dishwasher, micro etc?
You may want to consider a 100 amp sub panel to be located in the garage.
@@surferdude642 lol that dosent help that's like putting a power strip to run the toaster and fridge with the coffee maker if you where thinking of adding another service to the garage tht wld cost more your paying for two meters plus minimum supply charge fees
Charge the car late at night when nothing else is drawing current.
Yeah what about wires from street to meter is only rated for 100amp whose responsible for that run homeowner or city
Hey great question. In our area, those lines are the responsibility of the power company. In most cases they leave the same lines when upgrading from 100 to 200amps, as the lines can support 200amps no problem. When upgrading to 400amps, the power company may replace them, at no cost to the home owner.
I work in the Power Grid field and 200 amp to 400 amp is the same procedure with pennies spent. Just remember sizing small will bite you in the wallet later in life, going bigger will save you a divorce. Adding breakers is easier than redoing your panel.. 😆
If you want to have e/v vehicles I wld look into 400amp services
Electric vehicles usually recharge overnight, though, when most appliances are turned off. I don't know, but electric vehicles will be in every garage eventually.
I think "fast chargers" use 3-phase power. The question I have is: what is involved in getting 3-phase power to your garage?
@@scotth6814 Chance of that is slim to none. Especially if you live in less urban areas. Utilities typically branch off three phase and run single phase through residential areas.
For most homes with a single EV charger, a 200amp service is fine. Some homes can squeeze two EV chargers at full speed given the rest of the electrical loads are lower. There are load shedding options available now as well for these scenarios.
100amp for garage good enough?
Most likely! It will depend on what you are putting in the garage for heavy electric loads.
@@kuhlmanelectric What about a welding machine?
Excellent explanation !
1200 square feet home
Central AC
Clothes Dryer
Clothes washer
Dishwasher
Plus all common appliances and electronics…
Wife wants an Electric oven/microwave combo be installed
… is enough 100 amps ??? main switch outside, separate from the indoors panel located in the garage
Help please my marriage is at risk !😡
Hey Arjeguz. I can't help with the marriage but i can with the load calc :) What is the amperage or wattage of the central air? Is your dryer electric or gas ?
If you have a 100a service and you have not had the main breaker trip you are probably ok.
Hey Rick, that is possibly true. The national electrical code does use "load calculations" to determine it, instead of waiting for a main breaker to trip.
@@kuhlmanelectric If your main breaker were 100a and you told me you had never had the main trip i would not try to sell you a 200a service as a practical matter. Load calculations take demand factors into consideration. What better way to take actual demand factors into consideration than not having that main trip? When i wrote my masters test in the 90's there was always an apartment service calculation on the test but real life works better.
I really need some help I was homeless for 6 months I pulled myself up for my boots drafts I was able to increase my credit score and I bought a house. It has a really newer looking hundred amp service which I don't understand because I would have gone with a 200 amp just for future needs but at any rate it has a hundred amp service the sub panels full except for one spot that would hold a 240 breaker a double pole breaker. I need to put a subpanel into my attached garage badly in order to run my machines and make some money to keep myself afloat so I don't end up in a bad situation again I'm disabled but I'm able to do some craft work to make a couple extra dollars. What size breaker would be appropriate to run off of a hundred amp service when I need at least 30 amps in the garage to run one of my machines? Could I run a 50 amp breaker to feed a small sub panel and a few more wall outlets and one 240 volt plug for one of my machines? Would that be acceptable do you think?
I have a small house and it had a 200 amp service. It was totally inadequate. It tripped constantly, was single phase so had to have motor generators or phase converters running constantly to get 3 phase power for motors. Just think how much power a heat treating furnace takes that is a load that’s running all the time. Add in your machines and your up around 500 amps just in the shop. It’s criminal to build a house without at least a 800 amp 3 phase service in my opinion.
No.
My new electric tankless water heater uses (2) 40 amp breakers and draws 75 amps…
Yeah, those tankless electric systems use a lot of power!