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upgrade or sub panel

1672 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  J. V.
I am buying a home with a 100amp entrance. I am putting in an electric hot water heater, but already have an electric range and dryer. Do I need a subpanel for the water heater or do I have to change the whole entrance??
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Just to clarify- in a typical residence your MAIN breaker is what determines the amount of amperage into your house. You are saying subpanel but if it comes off of the main entrance, you haven't gained any amperage. A subpanel just makes more divisions (and more control) from the main entrance.

An upgrade in your MAIN service may be necessary (to 200a possibly) but as already mentioned- a load calc needs to be done to determine if it is really necessary.
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