home owners: question about upgrading electrical box, how much amps to get?

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
hmm, it's about $800 more for the 200A compare to 125A and we have a fairly small house, 1250 sq ft. so I'm not sure if we'll go over 125.
2 quotes we got for adding the new circuit box + grounding was $1900-$2200.

We're thinking of adding additional circuits, any suggestions on what is the 'right' # of the kitchen, living? Kitchen I'm thinking 3, garage maybe 2 and living maybe 2? Right now, we only have 2 for the kitchen, 1 for the living room, and 1-2 for the garage, not sure if the washer or dryer are split up.

Personally, I have 100a and have never run into an issue. Hell, my parents house is still on 60a and they have no issues.

I have 4 circuits in the kitchen, not including lights. Only one in the garage though, and I break the circuits every 6 months or so. The circuit handles a 5.5hp compressor, lights, garage door, and any other tools I have going, though. I usually run my table saw and shop vac at the same time and don't have an issue.

the costs of the equipment aren't a great deal different, the biggest expense in a panel upgrade will be the labor.

for example, at HomeDepot.com the following are the options:

100A Square D Value Pack Panel with main breaker and 5-20A single breakers $134
200A version is $159.

Yes, I assume the $800 extra is running the thicker wire from the pole to the house.

 

[LordSnailz]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
I guess the OP needs to tell us his current electrical situation. What items are electric?

Also, remember that a 100a circuit is at 240v, so it's 200a @ 120V.

I guess that's the other part of the questions, whether I need to add more circuits or not. Still at work, so I'm doing all this off the top of my head -

kitchen - 1 circuit (disposal+fridge+microwave)
garage - 2 circuits (dryer+wash and stove+range+oven)
all bedrooms - 1 circuit
living room - 1 circuit

Right now, everything is working fine at 100A, we rarely have everything on at the same time. We are thinking about getting a new electric stove, tv, speakers and some recess lighting. So I'm not sure how much more current the new appliances will draw.

How many seperate circuits do you guys have for the kitchen, living room, etc? So there a general rule thumb for a house of x size or a house with x outlets?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
hmm, it's about $800 more for the 200A compare to 125A and we have a fairly small house, 1250 sq ft. so I'm not sure if we'll go over 125.
2 quotes we got for adding the new circuit box + grounding was $1900-$2200.

We're thinking of adding additional circuits, any suggestions on what is the 'right' # of the kitchen, living? Kitchen I'm thinking 3, garage maybe 2 and living maybe 2? Right now, we only have 2 for the kitchen, 1 for the living room, and 1-2 for the garage, not sure if the washer or dryer are split up.

Personally, I have 100a and have never run into an issue. Hell, my parents house is still on 60a and they have no issues.

I have 4 circuits in the kitchen, not including lights. Only one in the garage though, and I break the circuits every 6 months or so. The circuit handles a 5.5hp compressor, lights, garage door, and any other tools I have going, though. I usually run my table saw and shop vac at the same time and don't have an issue.

the costs of the equipment aren't a great deal different, the biggest expense in a panel upgrade will be the labor.

for example, at HomeDepot.com the following are the options:

100A Square D Value Pack Panel with main breaker and 5-20A single breakers $134
200A version is $159.

Yes, I assume the $800 extra is running the thicker wire from the pole to the house.

that shouldn't be an issue. A panel would probably take about 6 to 8 manhours to swap out, and at $50-75/hour, thats the labor cost and markup.

*edit* missed his post about costs. I'm not sure why there is such a big difference, unless there is another issue related to upgraded to 200A for your house (such as replacing undersized wiring.