Upgrading Electrical Service

[gram2logan]

We want to upgrade from 60 amp service to 100 amp. Our electric meter is on a pole a couple lots over from us. The park owner has told us that the wire from the pole is already 100 amp. Is that possible?

I called our provider today but didn't have my account number so was given just "general" information. They said that we would need an electrician to upgrade the internal wiring, breaker box, breakers, etc and then it would be inspected. After that, the electric company would come out and replace the wire from the pole to the home with the 100 amp service.

Next question: does the wiring inside the walls have to be replaced or just the breaker box and breakers?? I know this is an area that you guys can't really advise but I just need some general information. We've contacted a few electricians and they either aren't interested or will only come out when their schedule allows. Like we aren't important enough.

The reason we need to upgrade is because we kept tripping the main breaker every time the washer and dryer were running at the same time. We replaced that breaker since it was so weakened and now don't run the 2 appliances at the same time. So we've had no more problems, but obviously need to upgrade!

Thanks.

[Guest]

So I take it you don't have a 220v circuit installed for your dryer and are running it off of your normal house current?

[JD]

Normally you wouldn't need to replace the wire in the wall if have the typical romex. But you may have a problem upgrading if you are on an old 2 wire system, aluminum wiring or other condition that would cause a problem with any inspection. These are things your electrician could tell you.

JD

[gram2logan]

Sorry to sound so dumb, but I have to ask......when you say "old 2 wire system" do you mean when the outlets only have 2 slots and not 3?? If so, we have the 3 slots in all our outlets.

We have a friend of a friend who is a licensed electrician who is going to come look at our situation but I just wanted a little advance information!

From what I've been reading, it seems the consensus is to get 150 or 200 amp service with an upgrade instead of just 100. Do you agree? And is the cost factor much more?

As for the dryer, I have no idea....it has the big receptacle so I think it's the proper size.

Thanks again.

[Greg]

Gram, usually when you upgrade the service you are changing the breaker box to a larger box to handle the increased circuits, it sounds like the entrence cable is already larger. as long as you are changing the box, it usually does not cost a lot more to go 150 or 200 amps. Now if your main breaker outside is 100 amps you will still only have that amperage avalable to use, but a larger box does make it nice to be able to seperate the circuits in the home a little more. Greg

[Ketta]

I agree with Greg. My husband is just finishing a re-wiring job for a neighbor who bought a home next to us. She was running on only 50 amps with all aluminum wiring, and the newly installed furnace and ac unit was running through the same line as the lighting. Yikes.

I can't really offer any advice other than to agree that if you can, go up to 150 or 200 amps...and if your wiring is still aluminum, get it replaced. We are currently on 200 amps, but because we haven't started our own rewiring, we still have to watch how much we use on each breaker.

If we run the toaster oven, it's on the same switch as our computers, a floor lamp and a space heater (or air conditioner in the summer). So we have to remember to shut off the heater or we trip it and down go the computers, husband yelling and all that.

I love mobile homes!

[Mark]

Is your home 'plugged' into an outlet on the pole? Many older homes than run on 50-60amp boxes are. If so, the electric company will make you get rid of the plug and run hard wiring to your home.

In the older section of the Park that I manage, we have quite a few homes 'plugged in'. Once in awhile someone will call and ask that the box be upgraded to 100 or 200 amp. If they want that done, it's at the homeowners expense. Most homeowners think they can just plug their home back into a bigger box. Nope, the home will then need to be hardwired. Once they start adding up the costs, most forget about the idea.

Actually, code now says that any home moved into the court has to be hardwired, even if it comes with a plug.

Mark

[gram2logan]

No Mark, we are not "plugged in" to the pole. LOL The electric company put in 100 amp service from the pole to our house about 5 years ago and the cable is buried. (just found this out today from the park owner). So it looks like all we have to do is have a new panel and breakers installed with the 100 amps. The electrician is coming out Saturday to look things over. Will keep you posted.

[Dean2]

About 1 year ago I and an Electrician friend upgraded My panel from 50 to 100amp and I added an elec on-demand water heater wich required a "beefy" breaker and 6gauge wire,,does Your drier need/have heavier wire? Dedicated circuit?.. I also made sure the outlet underneath for the heat tape was on a dedicated circuit so I can power it up from the panel when I see fit.

I'm thinking of adding another dedicated circuit near the porch mainly for plugging in the vehicles come winter but it could serve many uses and be powered-up at will like the one underneath. It would be separate from the porch light too as that is currently "in with" some interior circuit I think. I could plug the engine heater in but not use it unless I thought I needed to,,either flip it on at bedtime or in the morning for an hour or two depending on weather.

It is wise to upgrade to more than is needed for future use but with 100 amp from the pole I just dunno if the extra cost is worth it,,maybe go with a 150amp panel as was suggested.

My 100amp has 255amp worth of breakers in it but I've never had enuff draw at one time to pop the main,,even when running the double-50amp water heater. Maybe I should have gone with a bigger panel but this is wayyy better than that 30yo old 50amp panel.

Dean

[mrfixit64857]

Oftimes you can run your service to a new, larger box, and keep the old one intact as a subpanel, especially if you have an older home with aluminum wiring. Any new circuits or additions would be done from the new box, and with copper, of course, and I would further suggest rewiring "Heavy Use" circuits, such as water heater, AC, dryer, etc to the new box as well. I did this by making my new box an outdoor service panel that is served from a newly-added disconnect on the exterior of my home. Since my service drop is 500 feet away thru a Black Locust Grove, I felt much more "at home" with the closer disconnect.
One thing I noticed; My power bill went DOWN. Figure your box is the electrical "heart" of your home, and the wiring is the veins; a freer-flowing circuit has less resistance, resulting in less demand, resulting in a lower bill!

[jubangy]

When getting your home rewired the only additional cost that there is going with 150-200 amp is materials such as entrance cable and breaker box/meter as there is no labor difference.
When an electrician does the initial calculations as to what a home needs power wise, it usually compensates for non-coincident loads which are loads that aren't usually ran at the same time such as when they size out wire and breaker for an electric stove as not to many times will all the burners, oven, and broiler be running at the same time.

If the "main breaker" was tripping when the washer and drier was running at the same time I would definitely be getting someone out to look at that wiring, as it sounds pretty overloaded.

One thing you may want to also do is feel your breakers with the back of your hand with the normal stuff on as usual and see if there are any breakers getting excessively warm/hot, that is usually a tell tale sign of overloaded circuits. And under the same conditions I would also check the main for excessive heat as well.

If through the years things were added to your breaker box without being balanced properly you will have issues like the main popping, such as if you have a 220v drier, I would maybe see about having someone experienced run another receptacle for the washer but put it on the other leg of the incoming 220. There is a possibility that one leg of the incoming 220v is overloaded if they are not properly balanced.

[ImaDufus]

We bought a mobile last year and the same thing was happening to us. The wife would run the washer and dryer at the same time and after a period of time the main breaker would trip. When I went to reset it, it was VERY warm to touch. I eventually replaced the main breaker and that solved the problem. These breakers become fatiqued with time and use.

You may be able to alleviate you problem just by changing out the main breaker too. But don't attempt to do this yourself. You could buy the replacement breaker and then hire someone to change it out for you.

Hope the helps.

Tim

If the "main breaker" was tripping when the washer and drier was running at the same time I would definitely be getting someone out to look at that wiring, as it sounds pretty overloaded.

One thing you may want to also do is feel your breakers with the back of your hand with the normal stuff on as usual and see if there are any breakers getting excessively warm/hot, that is usually a tell tale sign of overloaded circuits. And under the same conditions I would also check the main for excessive heat as well.

[jubangy]

We bought a mobile last year and the same thing was happening to us. The wife would run the washer and dryer at the same time and after a period of time the main breaker would trip. When I went to reset it, it was VERY warm to touch. I eventually replaced the main breaker and that solved the problem. These breakers become fatigued with time and use.

You may be able to alleviate you problem just by changing out the main breaker too. But don't attempt to do this yourself. You could buy the replacement breaker and then hire someone to change it out for you.

Hope the helps.

Tim

If the "main breaker" was tripping when the washer and drier was running at the same time I would definitely be getting someone out to look at that wiring, as it sounds pretty overloaded.

One thing you may want to also do is feel your breakers with the back of your hand with the normal stuff on as usual and see if there are any breakers getting excessively warm/hot, that is usually a tell tale sign of overloaded circuits. And under the same conditions I would also check the main for excessive heat as well.

Not saying I disagree with you but what was taught when I was in college was that the more a breaker trips the more it loses tolerance. If it is running overloaded constantly then yes it will also lose tolerance. But I have seen some pretty old breakers that worked well. Again like I said earlier, if you are killing mains enough to knock them out of tolerance or they are feeling excessively warm I would check to make sure that your panel is load balanced. have you checked to see if your new main breaker is also running warm?

[StillKavey]

Wow.. I thought I was the only one with a home that just "plugged in" to the electric. LMAO.. then again mine still has tailights

[Yanita]

Hi Folks,

I think this one has been answered well enough, so I am going to lock it off now. Should anyone need further help please start a new thread.

Yanita