Main Breaker upgrade question

[crooklyn]

On night shift again, rewording the question

Current setup 100 Amp Service
House = 100 Amp Panel
*Panel is full no room left so I'm going to upgrade the panel but DO NOT want to upgrade the service yet

House Panel will have a 60 Amp breaker that will feed into my Garage's 100 Amp panel.

Is there a panel out there that will allow me to change the MAIN breaker on the House panel to 200 Amp WHEN/IF i upgrade my service?

Thanks

 

[Norcal]

No, set your new panel next to the old one & make the existing one a subpanel, it would be wise to keep the two the same make & type, the neutrals & grounding conductors will have to be separated if that is done & the bond screw on the neutral bar removed, another option but doubt any inspector would buy it is to install a 200A main breaker panel & install a 100A 2-pole breaker w/ the required hold down bracket as a backfed main, I don't care for the idea though even if marked well could still be confusing to some folks as what shuts off what.


Edit: I made the mistake of not looking where the OP is from, Canadian panels require the main in a separate compartment from the distribution section, so the above does not apply. Not versed in CEC requirements.

 

[GYPSY400]

On night shift again, rewording the question



Current setup 100 Amp Service

House = 100 Amp Panel

*Panel is full no room left so I'm going to upgrade the panel but DO NOT want to upgrade the service yet



House Panel will have a 60 Amp breaker that will feed into my Garage's 100 Amp panel.



Is there a panel out there that will allow me to change the MAIN breaker on the House panel to 200 Amp WHEN/IF i upgrade my service?

Thanks

This is exactly how I wired up my garage. The garage is wired as if it's a 100A service, but it's only a 60A breaker running from the main house panel. No issues yet, and it was inspected ( the garage, not the house panel). If I ever run into an issue that I need more power to the garage ( I haven't bought the welder yet) I feel I have 2 options:
1) upgrade the house to 200A, then change the garage breaker to 100A.. I will have to upgrade the wiring from the pole and change to a larger stack
2) replace the stove and dryer with natural gas units.. This I'm sure the wife wife would not mind!


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[Norcal]

If it was between 125A, & 200A, it would be easy, buy a 200A MB panel & put a 125A main in it's place, but no way to go down to 100A, as I doubt they oversized the wiring a bit to allow a 125A breaker. Best bet is save for a complete service change.

 

[ilovevocs]

Any reason why you can't lug to the main panel and pull 100 amps to the garage now?

 

[crooklyn]

Any reason why you can't lug to the main panel and pull 100 amps to the garage now?

Cost right now as I have to dig up my front yard and driveway to upgrade to a 200Amp service right now and with the cost of the shop I can't afford it this year.
I want the shop done

 

[crooklyn]

What size of Tech cable is required for 100 Amp service?

Im thinking of running 3wire/6gauge tech for 60 amps.

I'm thinking I might not really need 100amp service as i'm heating with NG
What do you guys think?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Well its hard to tell how much juice u need when u havent told us about your loads!

So, what loads do u have? Compressor, AC, welder, electric heat, water or ???

 

[landyacht]

To answer your initial question. If you get a homeline (Schneider) 200amp panel you can purchase a replacement 100amp breaker (the same as what is in their 100amp panels) and swap it out. When you upgrade your service, swap it back to 200. 100amps will need 2/3 (ACWU if the garage is detached)

 

[GYPSY400]

What size of Tech cable is required for 100 Amp service?



Im thinking of running 3wire/6gauge tech for 60 amps.



I'm thinking I might not really need 100amp service as i'm heating with NG

What do you guys think?

My garage has 3awg wire running to it .. This is the wire for 100A service.. It would be better to run this size now, so if you do upgrade the house service, you don't have to rework ( scrap the wire) anything for the garage. There is no harm in running only 60A through this wire in the meantime


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[Slowgsr]

Op. No you can't swap out main breakers to do that, at least not here in ontario.

To be perfectly honest, 100A is sufficient for most people unless they have a large house, multiple kitchens, etc.

Run 3/3 teck cable to your shop, and don't get a homelite panel. They're garbage, I'd go Siemens, their push in stuff is good, or square d. I'm an electrician and when I did exactly what you did, house panel change from fuses to breakers but keeping my 100a main. I went square d 40cct then 3/3 teck to my shop that has a 32cct sqd panel.

My only major house loads are my electric dryer and my spa. Everything else is gas, and my shop. Well it's just me so the most power I'll use is when my mig is cranked up and all of my 48 f54t5ho lamps are on!

Run #3 to your shop, not much of a cost difference vs #6 and it's mainly for voltage drop. Not so much about 'needing' 100a.

I remember the time I hooked up a 2hp 120v motor for a blower which starts and immediately runs at nameplate fla. (I didn't supply it the hvac guy did). It was 550' from the source in a warehouse. Considering there was 600v 20ft from IT, but anyways.

22a fla it needed #6 due to the voltage drop with inrush at startup, that's a different story.

 

[tfi racing]

I like Slowgsr's advice,the only recommendation I have is to use 2/3c ACWU,(may have to bump up a size if any distance- approx.$7-9/m)the price of copper #3 Teck will knock you on your ***(about $30/m...)What kind of panel do you have,you may be able to use some tandem breakers to squeeze in a 60 or 100A breaker for the garage.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Is there a panel out there that will allow me to change the MAIN breaker on the House panel to 200 Amp WHEN/IF i upgrade my service?

Yes, such load center DO exist. They might cost a bit more.

FYI, you can only upgrade the breaker going to the garage IF the wire between your house and the garage is sized to handle it.

60A for a garage is usually adequate for a 1 man operation.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Yes, such load center DO exist. They might cost a bit more.

FYI, you can only upgrade the breaker going to the garage IF the wire between your house and the garage is sized to handle it.

60A for a garage is usually adequate for a 1 man operation.

Canada has different requirement for panels including the main feed and breaker being in a separate compartment, as Norcal already pointed out. keeping that in mind, who knows if they have a panel that has a breaker that can easily be swapped to another size breaker!