[Weekend Warrior DIY]

I recently had an electrician upgrade my service panel to a 200 amp service.

I did this in preparation for my addition. I am hoping I didn't underestimate it.

The addition will have (1) electric clothes dryer - 30 amp, (4) 15 amp circuits and (3) 20 amp circuits.

So that's 150 amps taken out of a 200 amp panel. My stove in the existing house is 30 or 40 amps, plus my existing outlets and HVAC system and it makes me think I'm way over on power draw.

Can someone please explain how the calculation works? To me it seems that even if I had an additional sub panel put in, I'd be over drawn on amps.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ddawg16]

It's a common misconception to add up ALL of the loads and think your over loaded....

To get an idea of what you really need is add up the loads that would most likely be on at the same time......this would be your worse case...

So..dryer, stove, water heater (gas?) HVAC.....and maybe an iron? Everything else is low current....if your wife is a real multitasker....she might be running the iron while she is cooking and using the microwave.

I think your going to be fine.

 

[eastcoastsparky]

Thats not how you do a load calculation. You'll probably use 30-40 amps at most. You have nothing to worry about

 

[eastcoastsparky]

Residential houses usually never get bigger than a 200 amp service anyway, unless your rollin in money and have a mansion

 

[Weekend Warrior DIY]

Thanks so much, it is what I had assumed.

 

[ddawg16]

Thats not how you do a load calculation. You'll probably use 30-40 amps at most. You have nothing to worry about

So, if the dryer is going....the oven is on....HVAC is running....TV, computer....a few lights.....maybe running a hair dryer or iron.....and that's going to use 30-40 amps at most? Yea....ok

 

[kbsparky]

Clothes dryers are rated at about 5000 watts. That amounts to about 21 Amps. Not 30. You need a 30 Amp circuit to handle the load, without tripping out the breaker every time you use the appliance.

The other circuits are 120 Volt loads, and as such only connect to one of your incoming lines. Again, you are not running these at full capacity all the time, so those breakers don't trip out either.

If you did, you could not afford the electric bill.

:huh: