Quote:
Originally Posted by Always Needmore
You say you have a main panel and a sub panel? I'd be interested to know if the total connected load of the main panel plus the total connected load of the sub panel falls under the total rated capacity of your main panel?
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This is the system I inherited. Please stop insulting me, as I didn't design it.
The initial panel installed in the 1920s was 50A with twelve 15A circuits. Sometime, probably in the 1940s the home was upgraded to 100 Amp and the initial knife panel became a subpanel.
In the late 1970s the home was upgraded to 200A and the 100A panel became a subpanel. As more and more stuff was added to the home, two more 50A subpanels were added from the main box.
As circuits were added they seem to have been attached to any breaker box that was convenient.
Three 30A circuits were attached to the 200A main panel as well as a 100A subpanel and two 50A subpanel.
The 100A subpanel has three 30A circuits and a 50A circuit as well as the 50A subpanel with the knife switches.
One 50A subpanel with circuit breakers has a 50A circuit.
The other 50A subpanel with circuit breakers had two 30A circuits.
In addition
- 19 15A circuits with breakers are scattered throughout the system
- 20 20A circuits with breakers are scattered throughout the system
- 10 15A circuits with fuses and knife switches from the original box are still in use
Many of the wires are ancient and badly frayed.
It's very easy to say hire an electrician and rewire the entire house, but that would involve pulling down a dozen plaster walls and ceilings to get at the knob and tube wiring.
The one 50A subpanel with two 30A circuits began tripping off for some reason. I pulled the two 30A wires after it happened a dozen times and attached them elsewhere as they were for hot water and air conditioning.
I am also getting some outlets that seem to be failing for no apparent reason.
One 30A circuit led to a heater in the bathroom. The heater broke, but I wondered why a bathroom had such a large heater.
Another 30A circuit led to a cooktop which also broke, so I bought countertop ranges that hook to 15A or 20A circuits
Quote:
Originally Posted by Always Needmore
So, is it accurate to say that you believe the wiring in place is "suspect", and that is your motivation for wanting to replace it all (start with a fresh slate)?
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yes, that is accurate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Always Needmore
If the guy who installed the sub panel has the same respect for convention that you have, we might be getting warm here.
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The work may have been done by half a dozen people over a period of 90+ years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Always Needmore
And that you are perhaps balking at the cost of higher amperage service components? Hoping that someone will tell you that it's okay to downgrade, just so you can save a few hundred bucks?
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I'm a little worried that the homes 200A service is insufficient and it should actually be upgraded to 400A service. I believe we may be talking about tens of thousands of dollars here especially if multiple plaster ceilings are torn down to get at the knob and tube (mostly ceilings).
I thought it might be possible to replace some of the old appliances with new ones that require less amperge. There are 20A dryers now and even 20A ovens and cooktops. To the best of knowledge I am stuck with 30Amp sauna and hot water tanks.
The energy requirements of the home are very high. In the last 12 months the average electric bill has been for 2566 kWh, and in the last year the average heating oil usage was 1641 gallons for which we paid an average of $2.278/gallon. The heating oil price briefly peaked at $5.80 this year and electric rates have been going up as well.