60 amp fuse box to 100 amp breaker box
Hi, We are getting estimates to have a service change (60 amp fuse box to 100 amp breaker box. Our house was built in the 1950's and seems to have alot on 1 fuse. Our entire living room (5 outlets, front porch light, foyer light switch, which controls landscape lights and one outlet in the living room, dining room ceiling light, 2 outlets in the dining room, and the ceiling light in the kitchen. In the living room we have our entertainment center which has a stereo, tv, vcr, cable box, tape rewinder, on 1 outlet and on the other outlets we have lamps. There is only 1 free outlet. There is nothing plugged in the dining room and the porch light is rarely on, however the switch that controls landscape lights and the one outlet in the living room is always on. My question is should we have another circuit installed to handle all of the entertainment center or would an extension cord with a surge protector be sufficient. Both of those options have been recommended by different contractors so I don't know who is right. I am also wondering if just increasing from 60 amps to 100 would fix the problem of blowing fuses occasionally? Are you blowing the main cartridge fuses 60 amp rated, or 15 and 20 amp branch circuit fuses. If you are blowing the main 60 amp fuses then yes a main service upgrade in size would help your problem. If you are blowing the 15 and 20 amp branch circuit fuses, then you would be wasting your money. You could upgrade to a 1000 amp service and you would still be blowing those 15 and 20 amp branch circuit fuses unless you split those branch circuit loads thus lightening those loads on those branch circuits causing you the problem. Really don't know why so many electricians and home owners look at upgrading a main service size would solve a branch circuit that is overloaded causing a problem in blowing their fuses or breaker. Simple deduction should center the problem down to that branch circuit not that main service. Really don't know why everyone is convinced that fuses are better than breakers, either. Other than conveniance of resetting the breaker instead of buying another fuse, both do that same job equally. As for splitting the circuit that you listed, it depends on the total load on that circuit. You actually could run 20 - 100 watt bulbs on a circuit before you even approach the capacity of a 20 amp circuit. 15 - 100 watt bulbs on a 15 amp circuit would be just approaching the maximum capacity of that circuit. Your entertainment equipment as you mentioned in your list would pull about 7 amps on a 15 amp circuit being only half loaded considering the 15 amp capacity. A 15 amp circuit can carry on a continuous basis approximately 12 amps. If you deducted the approximate 7 amps from that 15 amps you would still have 5 amps to carry general lighting. The general lighting using 100 watt bulbs each would take approximately 5 bulbs on that circuit before you would approach the maximum of that circuit. The above paragraph should show you the problem seems to be in that circuit. Just split it in half onto two different circuits, the one existing and one added circuit to carry the other half of that circuit. I really doubt that upgrading to a 100 amp service would be much cheaper than upgrading to a 200 amp service. If it were me and I decided to upgrade my service, I would at least upgrade to a 200 amp service and pay the extra $50. 60 to a 100 amp service would gain you 4 20 amp circuits, not worth the effort in my opinion, I would go to the 200 amp service if I decided to upgrade. Hope this helps Wg Thanks for the reply. Yes we are blowing 15 amp fuses. Your response kind of confused me. Is it your opinion that the circuit should be definitely be split? Would splitting the circuit be something that my husband could do after we have the service change, or is it a difficult task? The electrician said he would cut the hole at the breaker box so that the wire could be run at a later time. As far as upgrading to 200 amps we asked about that and our electric company only has a 100 amp lines in this area and won't come out and replace it with a 200 amp line without a major charge and a long wait. What makes you convinced that you need to upgrade your service. Has anyone performed a demand load calculation or have you obtained a print out of your demand load from your Utility Company? Are you telling me that the Utility company is forbidding you from installing a 200 amp service? Please confirm these questions for me. Especially call you Utility Company and ask them if they are telling you that you can not install a 200 amp service. As for your branch circuit being done by your husband, with the people in this forum he could do both your service and your branch circuit. Running a branch circuit is not safer than upgrading a new main service. You will have to contact your local electrical inspector to confirm if your husband is allowed to perform electrical work and what type. Waiting for the further info on those questions Wg I have not received a load calculation or a print out from my utility company. When we bought the house 2 years ago our home inspector told us that one thing we should do would be to upgrade to 100 amps. He said that it wasn't necessary for code but that the new houses are being built with 200 amp service it would be a good idea. My electric company did not forbid an upgrade to 200 amps they only said that the electric line from the ploe was only 100 amps. One electrician that gave an estimate, and lives in our neighborhood, told my husband that upgrading to 150 or 200 amps would be an additional $200.00 and wouldn't do us any good because of the limitation on the utility company's lines. He said that he tried to have the utility company come out and upgrade his line and they told him that there would be a long wait and a high fee. That is why were going to stay with the 100 amp. Another question....Our fuse box is located in our basement bathroom in a closet so it needs to be moved out of the bathroom and onto the other side of the wall. Code here is at least 3 feet clearance in front of the box, and not near a water source. This box is above the sink and toilet. Our estimate for a service change is $700.00. Does this sound reasonable. The cost you mentioned sounds reasonable, maybe even inexpensive compared to some. YOu are right about the panel not being allowed in the bathroom or a clothes closet. Moving to the other side of the wall is fine if the required clearances are present. NEC requires 30 dedicated width and 30 clear approach in existing dwellings. Now as for you Utility company wire size. You shouldn't care what their wire size is. They will resize the wire outside by calculating your present load not future load. In my opinion you would be wasting money to upgrade from a 60 to a 100. All you gain is two twenty amp loads. For a small increase in cost you could install the 200 amp panel and not have to be redoing it again in the near future. Just think when you were a kid most houses just had 2 fuses, when you were a young adult a 60 seemed normal, 10 years later a 100 amp is considered as minimum being normal, now 200 amp is considered as normal. In my opinion if you install a 100 amp panel then in the near future considering history of electrical usage increase of use you will probably be thinking that 200 amp may just be enough as normal. I would do it just once then not have to pay to do it all over again in the future. If you grow in electrical usage the Utility company then would increase your wire size to suit their needs not yours. If you already have the 200 then you have room for growth. Let the power company worry about their wire. Your concern is your panel size only unless you have dimming of lights etc. thus causing a complaint to the power company that is required to serve you with enough power to meet only your current demand. Ignore what the power company wire size is, just take care of your self. Remember open air wiring is allowed to carry much more than wire in you riser's conduit. It is normal for open air or underground wiring owned by the Utility company to be as much as 1/2 the size of you house feeders found in your house. Their wire is not inside where you sleep. If I were you I would obtain at least three comptitve bids making sure the bids are bidding apples for apples. If it were me I would ask for three bids for a 200 amp service ignoring what the Utility company does, Then I would check out the track record and proven tested qualifications of the electrical contractor and if proven to be skilled and fair hire him to do the job. That way you should feel you know what the going rate should be. Estimates and bids are usually provided at no charge. Hope this helps Wg
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