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Upgrading house from 100A to 200A - what should I know?

Discussion in 'Garage / Workshop' started by kingston73, May 10, 2017.

  1. Jul 5, 2017 at 7:39 PM
    #41
    horstuff

    horstuff Re-member

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    Agreed. Unless it's a heat pump AC, 20 amps max for stand alone AC unit, dryer 30 amps max. And those are breaker sizes. But maybe I missed something... is AC on same 220 breaker as dryer? If so, it's either not stand alone or something is whacked. OP, get second onsite opinion/estimate.
     
  2. Jul 6, 2017 at 6:18 AM
    #42
    Toyko Joe

    Toyko Joe Here for the pictures

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    Wait am I understanding this correctly that your inspector is also an electrical contractor? Seems like a conflict of interest.

    :gossip: You could get a metal detector and a shovel and dig up the second ground rod to show the inspector that it is there.
     
  3. Jul 6, 2017 at 7:26 AM
    #43
    kingston73

    kingston73 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Exactly my thoughts. Every other town I've lived in had it's own inspector and that was his only job so that's what I thought would happen here. The "inspector" who showed up is a licensed contractor listed as an llc in the phone book. He was the original guy who looked at the issue when we first moved in and didn't think we needed to upgrade.

    Out of 4 guys who looked at it this inspector was the only one who didn't think we needed 200 amp service.

    For the other comments we have 2 separate ac units and the guy who did the upgrade tested the load and showed me the results. With both units running and the dryer running we were at 80 amps.

    I'm confident in my guy and really think the inspector is just giving me a hard time because I didn't use him for the upgrade. He has only himself to blame since I tried contacting him 4 times before I started calling other people.
     
  4. Jul 6, 2017 at 7:29 AM
    #44
    kingston73

    kingston73 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    2 different ac units and the dryer. They are central air units but even if they are only 20 wealth that's still 70 amps with just the 3 running.
     
  5. Jul 6, 2017 at 7:36 AM
    #45
    Toyko Joe

    Toyko Joe Here for the pictures

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    Sounds really fishy.
    I'd snoop around this site and maybe even call them regarding this situation. Mass. is pretty regulated I'd guess a public employee can't have a business in their field of work.
    http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/governmen...ense-type/csl/state-electrical-inspector.html
     
  6. Jul 6, 2017 at 8:54 AM
    #46
    Fire Arrow

    Fire Arrow Hanging out at work

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    I bet he captured the peak current on startup to get those numbers.
     
  7. Jul 14, 2017 at 6:07 AM
    #47
    kingston73

    kingston73 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    My next question, is there anyway that the upgrade work could have screwed something up and caused increased electrical draw? Our usage this past month, after about 2 weeks of 200 amp service we used about 300 kWh higher than anything we have used for the past 2 years.

    Our previous high was 730kwh back in Jan 16, this past month it was 998 kWh. Last summer we only used 697 kWh of the same month. The only thing different is the 200 amp service. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated, I'm not sure where to look for increased use.
     
  8. Jul 14, 2017 at 7:03 AM
    #48
    Toyko Joe

    Toyko Joe Here for the pictures

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    Hotter summer = More A/C
     
  9. Jul 14, 2017 at 7:13 AM
    #49
    kingston73

    kingston73 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Right,but when compared to the previous 2 years? How much is 300 kWh extra use equate to?
     
  10. Jul 14, 2017 at 7:23 AM
    #50
    Toyko Joe

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    Circuit breaker short
    If you weren’t able to identify any other causes of your high electric bill, there could be trouble with your home’s wiring. Sometimes shorts occur in the circuit breaker that can drain power and jack up your bill. Turn off all the individual circuits in your breaker and turn on one at a time and watch the disc spin. Do this one by one. If you see one particular circuit that has a very fast spinning disc, it needs to be addressed.

    2016 Boston
    upload_2017-7-14_9-20-25.jpg

    This year
    upload_2017-7-14_9-21-6.jpg
    Also it could be that someone adjusted your A/C to a lower temperature, or you're running more laundry etc..
     

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    scottalot and kingston73[OP] like this.

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