I have a home with a 200A service and a 20 position panel. 10 positions are taken for the 240V services for the stove, hot water heater and HVAC system. 2 positions are single breakers and the other 8 are the (2 breakers in one) single breakers.
I know I'm not saying the latter correct but I hope you know what I mean.
My question is am I overloaded?
Are those double breakers legal?
Would I be better off putting in a new panel and replacing those double breakers?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kevin3157,

You are not overloaded. Adding up the total of each individual breaker will almost always be a number higher than your main breaker. It's a matter of the reality that all your systems are not going to be operating at peak at the same time.

Each 15a or 20a individual circuit will not be operating at full load either. As far as safety goes, each circuit will trip the breaker if it exceeds it's capacity. Same holds true for your 200a main breaker. If you have a lot of circuits running at near their levels, but not enough to trip them yet the total load is exceeding your main, you could trip the main breaker. If that's not happened, you are not running in an overloaded condition and should be fine.

quote:

Originally posted by Jaybee:
You are not overloaded. Adding up the total of each individual breaker will almost always be a number higher than your main breaker. It's a matter of the reality that all your systems are not going to be operating at peak at the same time.

Each 15a or 20a individual circuit will not be operating at full load either. As far as safety goes, each circuit will trip the breaker if it exceeds it's capacity. Same holds true for your 200a main breaker. If you have a lot of circuits running at near their levels, but not enough to trip them yet the total load is exceeding your main, you could trip the main breaker. If that's not happened, you are not running in an overloaded condition and should be fine.

One has to wonder why a 200a service has a 20 breaker space panel...

you need to look at the legend sheet on your panel to determine if the double circuit breakers are in the right place and permitted. most panels allow them. often there are 8 slots that permit them. whatever the makers use to determine these rules, they got permitted by UL. there will be some change in the artwork showing two toggles or two circles on the bus side where the dual circuit jobs are to be placed.

as for "overloaded"... and for safety's sake, don't try this yourself, find an electrician for it... charge up everything you use on an exceptional day, remove the deadfront on the panel, and use an inductive current meter (Amprobe) to check the current on the bus feeders from the meter to the main breaker. if you're under 80 percent of the rated current, it's kosher.

why an electrician? (1) stuff can happen if the deadfront comes off, like breaker fallout, pinched wires, all sorts of things that burn down houses. (2) stuff can happen, like there are probably 120 places in there you can get across line voltage and get whacked, dead, and useless. (3) there is absolutely no protection for overcurrent where you need to test, it's raw AC straight from the transformer. screw up here, it's very very bad. WAY bad. neighborhood bad.

and that's why you need a pro doing this. but it's the final answer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: swschrad,