Can I install central air on 60 amp electrical service?
The AC system will need at least a 30 amp 2 pole branch circuit. A 60 amp service is not worth trying to salvage. Install a new 200 amp service, meter base, panel and replace all of the readily accessible wiring. This is a major remodel but well worth the expense and the effort. It will also make the house much safer by adding the required fire alarm system, the GFCI for the outside and the AFCI for interior areas. Do some research on how to rewire a house from some of the DIY locations. If you are unsure about any of the methods to do the work, call a qualified professional electrician to do the work.
Will upgrading my electrical panel from 100 to 200 amps save money?
Everyone, so far, has given good and accurate answers. My only thing to add is.... When getting a new panel, be very careful of what you are getting. Some electricians will use the cheapest panel that they can get. Although they will have a 200 amp main breaker, it may not be very high quality. They will barely be any better than the one you have now. Avoid aluminum bus panels (demand copper). Ask about the number of breaker spaces. Demand at least 40 spaces. (Cutler-Hammer/Eaton make panels with 42 and 60 spaces). Don't be confused on this. Some will try to rate the panels by the number of circuits. Don't be fooled. Go by number of spaces. This is important if you plan to add circuits later.
Is a 100 amp electric service enough for your house?
Probably 100 amps is enough, but of course it depends on a lot of things. I see lots of houses — even with central air conditioning — that have 100 amp service and do just fine.The way to figure this out properly is to do a load calculation. This involves calculating how much electrical power you’ll need based on the size of the house (for general lighting and receptacle outlets), the fixed appliances you have (dishwasher, garbage disposer, bath fan, microwave, water heater if it’s electric), electric clothes dryer, cooking equipment, heating/cooling, etc.Not all of these loads count 100% towards your needed service size. The National Electrical Code has the formulas. You do the math and find out your minimum service size. From there you go up until you hit a standard size (100, 125, 150, 200, etc.)
What is the difference between a 100 AMP electric panel and a 200 AMP electric panel?
While the other answers accurately answer the question, I'm guessing that you are asking because you have probably seen something like "New 200 Amp panel" in a real estate listing.As Kelly Kinkade says, a 200 amp panel is usually physically larger than a 100 amp panel, allowing you to add more branch circuits. And it will handle a larger combined load (200 amps as opposed to 100 amps).However all of this is predicated on what kind of service you have. In electrical parlance, the service is what connection you have from your house to the electrical grid. This will either be undergroundor through a service entrance like this:In all cases, the size of your service will determine the maximum current you will draw. Houses built in the '40s and '50s will typically have smaller services, 60 Amp is not uncommon. In the '60s and '70s, 100 Amp was common. And since the '80s, 200 Amp is standard.Just as an aside, the main consumers of high amperage will be high-powered electric heaters. An electric stove will consume up to 50 amps, a dryer up to 40 amps, and an electric hot water heater 30 amps. So you can see that if you are having a pool party, it's not unreasonable that your load right there is 120 amps -- which is why a 200 amp service becomes necessary. If you have electric heat, you can see even higher. A few years ago when I was house-hunting I saw a house with a 400 Amp service, and my grandfather (an electrician) once put in a 600 Amp service for a big fancy estate in New Hampshire.
Just purchased a house with 60 AMP electric service and the old style twist in fuses. Should I upgrade?
Just purchased a small two-bedroom house that is a touch under 1,000 square feet. The electric system in the house is 60 AMP with an old fuse box with twist in fuses. I know very little about electrical systems, but I was told it might be smart to upgrade to either 100, 150 or 200 amps and update the box to circuit breakers. I have a pretty good amount of things in the house using electric (two big-screen LCD TV's, home theater system, directv boxes, microwave, refrigerator, computer, etc.) How will this affect my power needs? Also, what is the approximate cost to make this type of upgrade? (In Chicagoland area FYI) Thanks for your input!
What is the appropriate wire size for a 200 amp electrical service?
By NEC guidelines, 4/0 is required for three copper conductors carrying 195A in a tray or conduit at not more than 30 Deg C ambient with insulation rated for 60 deg C.For 215A or less you need to go to 250,000 circular mil wire.It changes with more wires in the tray, and different max ambient temperatures and different temperature rated insulation.Page on usawire-cable.com
Can I put a 200 amp breaker in my new 100 amp electrical panel, and then upgrade my service to 200 amp? I had a new 100 amp panel installed, but I need more power because of my heat pump.
No, you cannot![I am kind of a rebel and I probably don’t look or act like what you would think of as a typical electrician. However I am good at what I do and I have extensive experience with electrical services. I have built new, upgraded and worked on 100s of services, including residential, commercial and Industrial ones. In the city I live I upgraded over half the services and most of the panels in the grades schools, middle schools and both high schools, and I have hours worked on every school service here.]First of all a 100 amp panel should not be able to accept a 200 amp breaker, if you were able to get it in it would be unsafe because it would have been altered and could not be expected to do the job it’s designed for.Second, your service is not able to handle 200 amps so you would have a fire hazard until you upgraded the service to 200 amps.I realize that it’s expensive to upgrade a service but it would be way more expensive if you had a fire because what you would be doing would be reversing the order in which it should be done. If you can’t afford to do it all at once then the first thing that should be upgraded would be the service. Then later when it can be afforded, have a panel upgrade. Think of your service as the foundation on which every other electrical component is built and relies on. Every bit of electricity you use is carried by your service.(for non-electricians) The ‘Service’ starts at the splices closest to the weather head for overhead services so it is the wires that feed the meter, the meter base, and the wires that feed the panel, it is unfused and cannot be safely upgraded without having the utility cut the power. It’s pretty much the same for underground ones except the splices, but I’m 99% sure this question is pertaining to an overhead service.
Will a 100 amp to to 200 amp increase electrical bill? Approx. cost for NJ?
You probably just need your wiring checked. Sounds like a loose neutral connection, or something. Improving the incoming service probably won't help. Going to a 200 amp box will have no affect on your monthly usage. You probably never come close to 100 amps (that's over 20,000 watts of potential power). Best thing would be to have all the wiring between the circuit panel and the outlets checked. All it takes is a burnt wire or loose/weak connection to cause the symptoms you describe. I don't recommend you do this, but I went and tightened all the pinch screws on all the wires in my panel and replaced all my sockets with the kind that screw the wire in place. The newer, more convenient push in terminals are junk.