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I need to increase my service size. I think.

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Schmoke

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Joined
Nov 20, 2015
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17
Location
Richmond VA (formerly of Pittsburgh PA)
Hello all, I moved here 13 years ago. The house is currently its original 200a service.

Since then, I've added a LOT of stuff. I don't know that listing everything will be helpful.

Bottom line: A breaker trips, maybe once per year. And it's always a different breaker, in other words there isn't one particular problem spot. Because my breakers don't trip, does that fact alone tell me that I'm doing just fine with my current 200a service?
 
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dougf

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Feb 22, 2013
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Location
Missouri
That's about how often we trip breakers in our house, haven't thought much about it since its not really a problem, but out of curiosity...

Are there any other commonalities when the breaker trips? Is it always in the winter when a heater is plugged in, or in the summer when everyone's watching TV with the ceiling fans on, only in bedrooms/bathrooms, etc...

How is your panel laid out and are there any homeowner hacks such as branching off a circuit in a crawl space to power a dehumidifier?
 
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Innovate1

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Jul 28, 2014
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Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri
Are the breakers that trip simple breakers or GFCI or arc fault? Since your main breaker isn't tripping it's likely your 200A service is fine. What kind of "stuff" have you added? Big stuff like large machines or hot tubs or lots of small stuff? You should keep track of which ones trip. I am guessing you may have a couple circuits with issues but not all of them. Might be some wires nearly touching somewhere or damaged insulation that shorts out infrequently. If it was mine once I had a breaker trip I would be looking at that circuit - look at all the boxes and wire runs to try and see why. It may be a case of the circuit being overloaded by plugging in a heater or blow drier - in which case the breakers are working exactly as they should. Or it might be old breakers that are overly sensitive and tripping when they shouldn't. What brand of breakers?
 
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wyliesdiesels

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Aug 14, 2012
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Location
Modesto, CA
Doubt you need a service upgrade

Regular breakers can trip for 1 of 3 reasons- overcurrent, ground fault or line fault.

Unless you have an ungrounded conductor touching either a grounded object or a grounded or ungrounded conductor, it wouldnt be a ground fault or line fault

So it would be an overcurrent.

But that doesnt mean your service is maxed out. Only way to tell if thats the case is by doing a load calc....
 
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Schmoke

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Nov 20, 2015
Messages
17
Location
Richmond VA (formerly of Pittsburgh PA)
The 200a breaker has never tripped.

The big stuff I added (well, pros did it all, I'm only good for adding outlets and replacing lights): Five subpanels, three outbuildings, an Endless Pool, four food freezers, a second dishwasher, an EV charger, and a 4-room addition to the house with its own HVAC.

As I recall, the popped breakers were almost always the regular 15- or 20 amp. Occasionally a GFCI. Completely random, I never figured out why they happened. I would just flip it back on and all would be well again.

No homeowner hacks.
 
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rattle_snake

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Jun 25, 2015
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Location
Chandler, AZ
No need. carry on.

I run an entire shop full of equipment on 40 amp service.
Fully electric home and shop on 200A, nothing ever trips. 4 AC units in AZ, hot tub, and so on.
 
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428PI

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Jul 14, 2018
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Location
Peabody, KS
My whole place with 3 outbuildings only has a 200 amp main and house only has a 100 amp. Only tripped one breaker when a stove breaker went bad.
 
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vavet

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Mar 6, 2012
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5,323
Location
Ashland, VA
Are we just ignoring the obvious double entendre/innuendo of the subject ?
No one is going to say "increase your service size? That's what she said!"

C'mon GJ...you're slipping.

But please...no pics. :lol_hitti
 
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WillyBoy

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Nov 10, 2021
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637
Location
Genesee valley area of New York state
Approaching this from a slightly different viewpoint.
How many of you are there?
How many machines, tools, devises do you operate at the same time?

If you're running a two or three man shop, then the load on your system will be higher.

Here, it's just me and my wife. I don't need to turn on every machine or tool I own at the same time. And I have a LOT of things that I could run simultaneously.

She doesn't run her hair dryer, mixer, oven or other appliances at the same time.
 
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nadogail

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Jan 23, 2009
Messages
31,958
Location
Coronado, CA
Zinsco and FPE circuit breakers are infamous. Most experienced Electricians don’t refer to them without appending the F word to their name.
 
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sparky 1971

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Oct 9, 2018
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Central Iowa
Increasing the size of the service will in no way, shape, or form stop individual branch circuit breakers from tripping. If the house is old enough, there are probably too many items per circuit and occasionally, the circuit(s) get over loaded. It's possible, but not probable that the breakers in question ate worn out. Doubtful since they don't trip very often.
 
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Lassen Forge

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Apr 26, 2014
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The romantic hills of central Umbria, Italy,
We've been popping the main breaker here prety regularly, and it takes shutting down 3 circuits, energizing the main, and turning the 3 subs on in a specific order... otherwise the main pops again. Then I actually LOOKED at the main - its a GFI breaker, and rated at a roaring 25 amps (= to 50 amps back there). We couldn't run the electric oven and washing machine at the same time.

We're having an electrician go through the building. checking the wiring, fixing problems, and upgrading the system to something not quite out of the 1970's...

Stuff said:
Is it a Zinsco or Federal Pacific? If not, at least get some exercise it by tearing it out and replacing it
Click to expand...

Fixed it for you. You also forgot Sylvania. We had Zinsco and Sylvania panels in our old house - they were fine until they weren't. Effing garbage...
 
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Norcal

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Mar 16, 2008
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13,754
Lassen Forge said:
We've been popping the main breaker here prety regularly, and it takes shutting down 3 circuits, energizing the main, and turning the 3 subs on in a specific order... otherwise the main pops again. Then I actually LOOKED at the main - its a GFI breaker, and rated at a roaring 25 amps (= to 50 amps back there). We couldn't run the electric oven and washing machine at the same time.

We're having an electrician go through the building. checking the wiring, fixing problems, and upgrading the system to something not quite out of the 1970's...



Fixed it for you. You also forgot Sylvania. We had Zinsco and Sylvania panels in our old house - they were fine until they weren't. Effing garbage...
Click to expand...
Sylvania was Zinsco. GTE, Sylvania's parent company bought Zinsco Electrical Products in 1973.
 
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Lassen Forge

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The romantic hills of central Umbria, Italy,
wyliesdiesels said:
Your entire house is fed from a 25a GFCI breaker? :shocking:

What brand is this breaker?
Click to expand...

Made by Sace/ABB. No capacity for expansion, we had exactly ONE slot in our panel with which we could install our AC system... it was fine in the 1970's/80's, when the main thing was (-oooooh-) lighting... Air Conditioning? Who needs that? Normal sized fridge? Are you serious? CLOTHES DRYER? YOU must be AMERICAN.... Good help us when I get my shop built... :twak:

I've done some basic rewiring and circuit work back in the states, but this stuff here is, well... let's just call it interesting. All flex tube conduit, Each floor has its own separate junction box (as well as the one that feeds the breaker box), I'm guessing that were I raised in it it would be simple, but coming from the land of Romex, it's freaking perplexing. Add to that this 25 amp feed TOTAL, EVERYTHING on GFI, and NOTHING electrical in the house is any newer than y2k... most of it 20 years before that.

I don't mind wiring in a new ceiling light, or changing out a fubarred light switch... but this is a whole different ball of fish. When the electricians show up with 50m long fish tapes, all different colored, and spend half their time chasing what goes where to who... just to add one circuit (which they did for our heat pump split system) which, BTW, took the last remaining slot in our breaker box... AND I STILL need to run a leg for the shop, AND the whole solar panel system, and and and....
 
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Viper98912

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Oct 20, 2012
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Location
GA
Schmoke said:
The big stuff I added: Five subpanels, three outbuildings, an Endless Pool, four food freezers, a second dishwasher, an EV charger, and a 4-room addition to the house with its own HVAC.
Click to expand...
I guess everyone missed this? This list is pretty impressive, all of them in their own way. (Regardless of this thread's topic)
 
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reader2580

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Dec 31, 2014
Messages
14,537
Location
Minneapolis, MN
I can't imagine the electric bill for running all that. My electric bill would probably be around $80 on budget plan if I didn't have solar. (This is why my solar payback is a good ten years.)
 
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