BRINGING 100A SERVICE INTO THE 20TH CENTURY: 200A Service Upgrade Part TWO | Cranford, NJ.

[@johnmazzocchi7116]

Hey Ron, nice job as always I like what you did with the 200 amp meter installed with Azek to cover the siding. Awesome work!!

[@Pembroke1]

It's nice to watch a true craftsmanship at work

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

@@Pembroke1 thank you.

[@andreajones8995]

Awesome install Ron!! It’s interesting because I was wondering why you put the hole for the service entrance wires where you did in the panel because up here in Ontario we wouldn’t be allowed to do that! Basically our wires have to be enclosed with a little cover on the inside of the panel to enclose the entire area where the wires come in above the main breaker, and we can’t bring in any branch circuit wires to that area either. Basically the top of the nuetral lug and up above the main breaker would be entirely only for the main service wires, which definitely makes installs tricky sometimes! It’s interesting how a lot of our code rules are similar with a few differences! still thanks I learned some great tips from this upgrade you did!! 😊

[@Ygggdrasill]

Hello I am Canadian. What incredible dexterity. All the gestures are precise, the working methodology is perfect. A true master craftsman. Félicitations! Bravo!

[@johnnyrayellison2724]

Great video, Ron! However, as an Occupational Medicine doctor, I can't help myself when I say you should really wear some eye protection, especially when drilling in metal. I can't remember how many times I've removed metal slivers from a workers eye. Keep up the great videos, and be safe!

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

One time in 1995 while doing a service upgrade I bumped into an open can of PVC glue and got it in both eyes. I was on disability for 6 weeks!

[@blackpepe]

if your a real doctor then what are these bleeding nodules on my scrotum

[@garbo8962]

Worse part during my 50 enjoyable years as an electrician most companies will give you a cheap pair of safety glasses then when they get scratched never have any replacements in stock. While working in a large maintenance shop we had to wear eye protection in the shop even if we were on break or doing paper work. They paid for prescription eyeglasses every two years with the little metal screens on side of frames.

[@randycarter2001]

Those little loops are to assist in manipulating the wires. They give you slack to move things around so you don't have to fight the rest of the wire in the conduit. On this gauge they're not that big a deal but on really thick wires it's a godsend. They could have been left in due to habit.

[@alphasaiyan5760]

Great video Ron 👍🏼. About the loops on the feeders in the meter. Back when I first started in the trade I was told by an old journeyman that you were supposed to leave loops so that if the wire ever heats up or burns up at the lugs then you have extra wire to remake the connection. I’ve seen it come into play before when I’ve had the extra loop of wire to remake some connections before so it made sense. Also about GE stuff. It’s not my first choice. My first choice is square D. Hom for residential and QO for commercial. Second choice would be Siemens. They provide good tight connections to the buss bar . Third would be GE. Fourth would be Eaton. The reason I like GE better than Eaton is because I replace more Eaton breakers than any other brand of breaker. Plus around here , for some reason , back in the 70s-80s when a lot of the houses in the area were built they installed GE load centers , main and sub panels in every house and they’ve been installed and working for the past 40 plus years with no problems lol. I use GE However , I get more service calls on newer homes for breaker failures because of the Eaton , or CH, breaker failures. Mostly the gen 2 CH CAF breakers. As well as some of their DF breakers as well. The newer gen 6 CH CAF breakers are better. The Eaton BR style are alright. Especially the newer stuff. I’ve just had more issues with CH/Eaton breakers than any other breaker. Just in my experience 👍🏼

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Not me. GE and Homeline have been a lot of service calls. Poor workmanship and installation standards are a big reason why things fail.

[@alphasaiyan5760]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey yes sir. Especially with AF/GF breakers , or circuits , when people don’t take care when they strip out romex or whatever and they cause a fault because of , like you said , poor workmanship.

[@tommee10533]

Im a industrial guy, I usually put loops in just in case one of the legs get hot down the road, there is enough lead left to cut the burnt off and install fresh. Great vid BTW

[@markstalter8360]

Was waiting for you to fill that oversized hole in the concrete block, and you just covered it up. I know it’s just a garage…. I was just expecting the hole to be filled

[@stevecampbell7620]

I am a Utility Meter Tech I lost count of how many A base meters I have gotton out of service. That is a General Electric A Base made in New York at the old Edison Electric Works. and it is acually rated for 60 amps on a 100 amp service. They have become desk decorations and novelty lamps now. The best ones were the Westinghouse Meters, the gears were Gold electroplated. State of Art back in the day. Nice to see a Real Tradesman at work. You know your Craft.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Thank you and thank you for that little history lesson on the origin of the meter base! I will be on the lookout for the Westinghouse meter base in the future!

[@ed6837]

Old "A" base meter. I had one once where the boiler wouldn't run. It would start and stop. We thought the burner had a bad control after changing it the problem persisted and I heard arcing in the old meter socket. It was an old A base meter (one of two it was a two-family house) with an underground service. We moved the burner circuit to the "good leg" so they would have heat for the night. Burned lug in meter socket. So they got through the night they later admitted having blinking lights etc. I went back the next day with a new meter socket. Had to pull the duct box off the wall where the service came in and cut the wires off live then put a new meter socket in and new wires into the duct box and hook it up live. Pretty scary. Jumped the new meter socket. Emergency call. Called the POCO got a permit had it inspected all ok. Didn't like doing that, I was a bit scary.

[@Bob.W.]

Thanks Ron.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Glad you like the videos.

[@lindseyyah1]

Always outstanding informative post and I enjoy watching from Michigan

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Thank you!

[@matthewboatman705]

I agree with you on the GE panels and breakers. I have to upgrade/replace my main panel in my house. Currently it is a 1986 installed GE 200 amp, 40 space panel. I am going with a Square D Homeline 40 space panel. The old GE panel does not allow for the tandem placement of breakers, meaning the single and double pole breakers cannot always be installed next to each other. They have to go in specific slots. Also, GE uses the extra thin breakers that go in extra thin slots. So that, plus the lack of tandem placement makes it impossible to install the thicker (2 space) AFC and GFCI breakers required per code. So, it is impossible to bring the panel as a whole up to code. The breakers are really loose just like you said as well. They seem to need adjacent breakers to help keep them firmly wedged in place.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Homeliness ok but I’d prefer Cutler Hammer BR.

[@aaron74]

I was wondering how you were gonna cleanup the break in the siding where the old riser was. Then you got the Azec and I thought you were gonna have to trim the siding around it... never even thought of cover it, that definitely looks the best and unless the owner needed to get a siding guy to coordinate with you it looks just perfect the way you did it. New meter looks like it's always been there. Excellent work as always.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Getting a siding guy to a small task like this would be nearly impossible.

[@aaron74]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey Yeah for sure, it would be handyman who'd need to patch that up as a short gig.

[@ProleDaddy]

I would have done the j channel around it and actually finished the job nicely. It's not rocket science.

[@aaron74]

@@ProleDaddy That would be outside the scope of an electrician, though. You do realize that.

[@sherwinalvarez7365]

Thanks for all the trouble you are going through to share with us. It is appreciated

[@thomasdunham5427]

nice job,the loops in the ent. cable cause upward pressure on the wire.

[@carlcaruana6351]

Man, I wish you were in Long Island. Another great job Ron.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

My family's from Garden City!

[@jpond89]

Randomly found your video. My dad was from Bay Head. Small world.

[@Eddy63]

Nice little vid Ron ... Thx

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Thank you.

[@Dezeberbro]

You do some good work. I learn a lot of different solutions to situations I may run into in the future watching your videos

[@mackfisher4487]

Nice job Ron, That may be the first old fuse box I've seen where they don't have 30 amp fuses on 14 wire.

[@ed6837]

I was just reading a POCO install booklet from National Grid. They say in the book that you can't mount a meter socket on siding because of the irregularities in the siding. They claim when you screw the socket to the siding it can torque the socket and stress it. They wanted it mounted on a smooth board like you did but they want the siding cut to fit around the new mounting board. This is the first I have herd of this. But since I am retired and only do an occasional job maybe I am not up to date. I would like to know if anyone else has herd of this requirement. Nice job by the way Ron.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Sounds like nonsense to me. This work was PSEG area.

[@ed6837]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey I agree nonsense. I have a service change to do for my nephew and haven't done one in a while, so I downloaded the POCO book just to brush up and was surprised to read that. Don't know if is being enforced. Will have to look around. When I wired new houses back in the 80s (before PVC trim) we used to cut some 2" pressure treated and put a block of that on the wood sheathing to mount the meter socket on and the siding guys would trim around it when they did the siding. Worked OK

[@teslamac5348]

Love the pride you have for your work. Great job!

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Absolutely and I can still do better!

[@chuckquinn8026]

Beautiful work with impeccable attention to detail as only a woodworker would have! Thanks for all your hard work on making these videos for the rest of us 👍👍🏆🏆

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Thank you very much!

[@julianrichards1585]

The loops in the wires are strain relief to stop the condctors 'waliking' in the connectors

[@Progrocker70]

Nice work. In Chicago, everything inside has to be in EMT conduit. Outside service drop rigid.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

That’s because Chicago allowed unions to run their lives and make it almost impossible for people to do electrical work on THEIR. OWN. HOMES.

[@Progrocker70]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey Very true. BX or MC can be used in concealed spaces only but they don't want any more than about 18" exposed before it reaches a J box. Romex only for temp wiring.

[@japmlp09]

Romex is just fine..

[@where578]

Loops are for heat related issues. The wire can move without pulling or pushing on the terminal.

[@du5tyl]

what did you do for insulation around the 2 inch pipe that penetrates the garage? Did you do anything for weather sealing the top of the board you used for the meter mount?

[@mlj6419]

Nice work and great ideas.

[@tedlahm5740]

All houses will have stage 2 charging stations? in the future.

[@erikgutierrez6806]

Man I never had a bad experience with GE, to each his own.

[@nmopzzz]

We did not have central air in our house when I was young and it was built around 1968. Many of the houses during that time and after in our neigborhood did not have it.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Today, you wouldn’t dare build a house without an air conditioning system!

[@monsooncaps6741]

Appreciate ya Ron.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Thank you! 🫵

[@larrynash7940]

Hey Ron- should the conduit connections be glued?

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Of course!

[@cosmicinsane516]

Just working on upgrading a pile of crap house myself. We had to pay the same for the permit as the entire material bill for a new meter, main panel, and all wiring/outlets/switches. Can’t imagine how much it would have cost to hire an electrician, probably more than the entire house

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Are you in San Francisco?

[@cosmicinsane516]

No, Michigan. Usually it’s not bad around here but this particular city decided they needed more revenue and scamming people for permits sounded like a great idea. In reality the net effect is lots of houses falling into disrepair and lots of shoddy work done by people who don’t pull permits. Even though I have the skills, I hired an electrician to do the service upgrade on my own house, it was totally worth the convenience. This house is a wreck my friend bought, entire house was less than 10k. Hard to justify contractors when the house is that cheap. Inspector comes tomorrow, hopefully we didn’t miss anything too bad.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

@@cosmicinsane516 just an FYI: I endorse state licensing and the permit process. It’s rarely ever perfect but I strongly believe in the process.

[@cosmicinsane516]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey Yeah for sure. When it’s implemented effectively it’s definitely better for everyone. Thankfully I live somewhere that homeowners are allowed to do most work yourself without having to be licensed. Unfortunately I’ve also had the opposite, licensed contractors that do terrible and unsafe work. It’s a crap shoot either way. At the end of the day the goal is to have electrical and mechanical systems that work safely and effectively.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

@@cosmicinsane516 here in NJ homeowners can do their own work as long as they have a permit.

[@Wintersky136]

4:09 nope… the reason they are looped is just for serviceability only!

[@taotaomotna5395]

Do you have a parts. t for the box and switches brand type prefer or recommend tks

[@Truckguy1970]

My house had a GE originally and I upgraded to Square D QO

[@philiplarson8228]

Ron, nice job. Yes I am the same way GE is like a Third World supplier. Their product is really is junk. I also have personal experience with us too.

[@workingshlub8861]

no expansion joint on the 2 inch riser??

[@ed6837]

They make hollow block anchors. They are a little hard to find but I like them better than lag shields because you can use bolts with a machine thread or threaded rod and they hod really well in block walls. Sometimes I would run 2 x 4s down from the joist overhead nail or screw the 2 x to the floor joists and mount the plywood on that and also put an anchor or two in the bottom as well. Look up Hilti #HDIPT

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

I've seen that technique used before (with the joists and 2x4's hanging down from there) but it didn't look very sturdy - or as sturdy as attaching PT 2x4 directly to the wall. Lags and shields to me are the best I have found to do this.

[@ed6837]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey That works for you then that is the way to go. I can't believe all the snarky comments from others who are super picky. Just wonder how their jobs look if they even do any work. You do a nice job and work really hard. One piece of advice. Take care of yourself. I retired at 66 5 years ago. I will be 71 this month and don't work much at all (but would like to work a little). Had my masters in CT, MA and VT. Let them all go and just kept my MA journeymen license. (I can pull permits with that in MA.). The job takes a toll on your body. I used to work all the time long hours and never (hardly) turned down any overtime. Now I am paying the price. When I was 66 and still working, I could waste most of my 30- and 40-year-old co-workers. Then stuff starts to happen. You never think it will happen to you. Take care.

[@danthony7531]

does the line in feed not have to be upgraded for 200 amp panel ,,,i have amid 90s subdivision house the builder sold as 200 amp but only provided 100 amp .now its 2 storey 2200 sq ft with finished basement that is out of space ,,ac is on pony panel .there are breaker knockouts for many unused positions but buss bar doesnt extend full panel width ?

[@norsk54472]

sweet - always beautiful work. Have you discussed what you do when the old home run wire is too short and/or damaged?

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Either extend the circuit in a junction box or extend it inside the panel.

[@linehandibew6205]

I hat the bell upside down also. I cut a piece of over the size of depth of nipple in hub plus the depth of the bell on my stick. Glue that short piece into connector in hub the glue my first stick bell side down. Basically the the bell sits right on top of the hub connector. I think it looks better plus is sheds the water way from the connector at the hub

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Someone else here in the comments suggested that too. I’m def gonna do this next time.

[@linehandibew6205]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey just noticed all my messed up spelling but you get the idea

[@zacherykunc1855]

Do you every torque the lungs in the meter? Also why not drill a new hole coming into the house rather than using pre existing hole?

[@tedlahm5740]

Why did the customer need the upgrade? thank you

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Because she had $4000 burning a hole in her pocket

[@eTeC1210]

Great Video looking to upgrade my panel soon

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

I hope the video helps.

[@5eyes1294]

No J-Trim? Water will run right behind that Azek you slammed over the vinyl siding.

[@DiyintheGhetto]

My old house was like that with the loop in the wires. But that was back in the 90s. I don't know how common it was to have an amp meter. Might of been costly back then to have a amp meter. Edit: One other question that backboard outside holding that meter. Are you going to seal behind it, Doesn't water get in behind there?

[@ellenpecina983]

Ronnie you are a genius! ❤❤

[@Quadrille763]

Great work

[@usa5439]

When you cut the service lines it can't shock you?

[@skiprope536]

Great video. Craftsman your are. I miss the old days at the lobster shanty.

[@robertrgld9177]

What kind of boots do you use?

[@NekoIan66]

How many hours did this entire job take?

[@michaelmounts1269]

good video! biggest scam in Chicago now are “flippers who put in a 200amp box…but never put in a new service or meter-and leave the old 100-150 service in place😮

[@soundman1402]

I had to deal with this, though not in Chicago... Previous homeowner put in a 200A panel on the 100A service, with a 60A meter base. #2 copper. Mast was improperly guyed. I had to put in a 100A double-pole breaker to pass inspection when I got a new furnace. I'm now working on putting in an all-new service.

[@leftylou6070]

Instead of using two-hole straps for the service riser you might like to use clicks. Mounting the meter hub to the right depth will give you a straight shot up the wall without having to bend an offset in the pipe. They aren't all that expensive, actually they are fairly cheap. Thanks for the Vid!

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

No offset in the riser.

[@leftylou6070]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey I was just giving you the benefit of the doubt and an option to keep the conduit parallel to the wall. Good luck!

[@moodyga40]

i take it it is 2 actives and one natural coming in @ 200 amps 240 volts and 2 x 110 volts were 250 volts 50 cycles 2400 VA in Australia

[@streetscapes]

Do not understand why you don't need to install a emergency disconnect in this configuration. This looks to me like a total upgrade, not a rehab. Could you explain

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

NJ Rehab sub code.

[@bizzfo]

Wouldn’t water get behind that white board?

[@DTzant]

Have you done much outdoor panels? I’m thinking of moving my house panel which is in my daughter’s closet to the outside. I’m a JE btw

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

I worked on one years ago. I'm not a big fan. It could be a blizzard and an overloaded kitchen circuit trips and you have to you outside to reset the breaker. No thanks. However, and NEMA 3R panel outdoors is big improvement if it's in a clothes closet now.

[@TKomoski]

Theres enough circuits in that panel for the nieghboor to tie into. Why so many circuits Ron?

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Capacity. You could have only (4) circuits and over load a 100A main breaker. There’s literally nothing that’s been done to the house so any future kitchen or bathroom remodel will warrant the additional circuit breaker openings.

[@TKomoski]

@@cengeb I bought GE stock at $9.30 a share when they where strugling now i'm laughing

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

GE electric panels are J U N K

[@jckohler]

Do you ever have an issue with the bend radius of the cable. I think I've seen you use 4/0 Aluminum SEU cable in other videos to go from outside to inside. The minimum bending radius is 3.6" (for Southwire SEU 4/0 Al) which means it could not make a 90 degree bend in a 3.5" deep stud cavity. Is the only solution to use THHN 4/0 Al conductors instead of an SEU cable?

[@steven7650]

That wall is destroyed or rather will be by water in the coming years. Should have used an edpm gasket around the wall penetration and water shedding behind the pvc plank that should have been trimmed out to the edges of the vinyl.

[@schsch2390]

Agree that the lack of any water flashing/gasketing around the external board and entrance will eventually cause a problem, the presence of closed cell foam board under the vinyl helps a bit. It will be someone else's problem, most likely two owners into the future.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Are you a wall expert? Or just a keyboard home inspector?

[@JasonEDragon]

They do make really comfortable safety glasses these days. It is harder to make money if you become blind.

[@impsquared]

3:30 lol was just going to comment this

[@CCxKiller13]

thank you sir. ballpark price on this job?

[@tedlahm5740]

No outside the house service Cut Off needed in 2023 New Jersey?

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

In the description there's a link to the NJ Rehab Sub Code.

[@bobrub]

Hey Ron, Been sub'd to you about a year now and especially love all your panel change out vids. This one ended too soon for me as I was hoping to see your methods of working in all the old "too short" home runs to this much larger/longer main panel. How do you lengthen those in a neat way? Were there any un-grounded circuits in this old house? Also, the old meter can't be used outside in the new meter box, so how was that handled? Cheater jumpers there for temporary power? Is there going to be a part 3 that will answer some of these questions? Thanks much, Bob R.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Well, the first thing I do is find the shortest conductor and hook those up first.

[@auser1922]

13:52 When you lose your mark, lol. Great end result though!

[@larryestrada5418]

Davinci is supposed to be a easy format to learn. I 'm looking into that for myself.Great job as always.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Yes! Thank you!

[@greenspiraldragon]

I wish I had 100 amp service. Can you upgrade my service from 60 amp?

[@moisesfuentes3393]

What was the price for that proyect sr

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

$4000

[@jeffreywaters4778]

Do you work in Trenton area at all

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Unfortunately no.

[@jeffreywaters4778]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey well that sucks I am looking for a good electrician

[@southhillfarm2795]

What makes this a 200 amp vs a 100 amp. Just the size of the box?

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Size of the main breaker.

[@Youcanthandleme319]

Why did you cut meter can like that?

[@tedlahm5740]

Noticed that. no explanation.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Because it was locked and I did not know it until I started working. Normally a call to the utility is what unlocks the meter but that could days or weeks before it's unlocked. This job recently passed inspection so it did have a permit issued.

[@kennylavay8492]

You forgot to finish showing the weather head hook up and the wiring of the breakers in side the box.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

My bad.

[@mikewhittaker5984]

Love your videos Ron but your pushing your luck with those Eyes

[@manitoesgambrills7481]

Wish u we’re near me. Maryland

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

I was just in Laurel this afternoon!

[@manitoesgambrills7481]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey next time u in md let me know. I need to upgrade my

[@thatguy4320]

Yeah I’m not a huge fan of GE either, whenever i do a panel change out i usually go with Eaton or Square D, and Siemens if i have no other choice

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

GE is brutally bad IMO.

[@stevencole7331]

I have seen more problems with ge panels than zinsco . Now my residence has a 35 year old original ge panel that I believe is all original . It is the better style and your typical push in style breaker of today . Now I have gas appliances so no big loads except AC which I don't use a whole lot which does help with longevity of breakers . I also clean out once a year and check breakers and connections which al.ost all home owners don't do.

[@taotaomotna5395]

How much would you charge to. Do a job like this w/a generator outlet 50a hook up and w/out a box

[@adamhoward3627]

As a licensed Optician, I found the lack of eye protection a little strange. Great vid though !

[@pinkiepie1656]

I can tell you from experience; Safety sounds good in theory, but it's a pain in the ass in practice:)

[@shirriej1]

Did she knows meter inside a house that means one time it was on the old flat rate system going back without to the early days and it came along later and they put the box and they put in the line and ran it into the meter an owl on the meter into a fuss box date of black rated just ran straight off the service right into a fuse panel main breaker and broke the house

[@markfen88]

forgot to spray foam the hole you made, introducing bugs and weather in the house.

[@Demy26]

The GE9X is the largest and most powerful aircraft engine in the commercial aviation market.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

If it’s made by GE it’s probably garbage.

[@gomerhondo7249]

GE appliances are no longer made by General Electric Co.

[@Deafjustin]

Very old fusebox from 1930's

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

This house is listed on Zillow as being built in 1952.

[@tedlahm5740]

@@electricianron_New_Jersey Service replaced one time before? Fuse panel not replaced then?

[@garbo8962]

You are so correct with POS garbage ge.Their service , parts & tech support a joke. We had them spend an entire day cleaning & calibrating 13,200 vo!t dual service tie breaker. Promised that we wou!d not have trouble with it for years. That night some drunk took out a po!e and it never transferred. Got 4 hours OT for transferring power .

[@alecplasencia7667]

I agree on the circuit breakers ,panels ,switches and outlets that are made by ge is junk not good quality products

[@MrWirebrain]

Why would anybody pay for a 200 amp service here, one hundred amp would’ve been more than enough. I don’t see an electric range service. I don’t see electric water heater. I don’t see air conditioner of any size. I don’t see electric dryer. So what’s the point? Did you not include some information in your video?

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Because when the new people buy the house and want an EV charger and a new AC system they won’t need to upgrade the service!

[@pinkiepie1656]

Indeed. I just installed an adjustable EV charger so I could lower than amps to 24 since the old one could burn through half of the home's available power. And there are even more powerful ones than that. Then you have the wild card circuits, such as the water heater, which can add another dozen or so amps at any time.

[@jacobj6741]

Sqaure d qo is one better ones

[@DanT271]

Square D qo for me

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Ok

[@twenty3_v777]

GE sucks it’s very cheaply made I do preventative maintenance on the panels in the hospital and the GE panels seem to be the most dangerous the dead front always wants to spring out at you. The plastic they use in their panels is very cheaply made there’s been occasions where the neutral bar would break loose and hit the panel cover and shut the whole panel down. That was the hospitals worst investment in my opinion.

[@ed6837]

I can't believe all the SNARKY comments. The people that post those probably never worked at all. Criticism should be constructive or not at all.

[@joelrosenwinkel5467]

Yes, GE is garbage.

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Thank you. I just came from a service call with a POS 15A sp breaker that mechanically failed. No fault, just junk, but it was 43 years old.

[@stevegorkowski3246]

The blanket conversion to 200A service I will never understand and adds extra expense to many installations. Much like having a lighting circuit for each room isn't needed. The circuit loads are very low due to LED lights, low power consumption refrigerators, chest freezers, heat pumps and heat pump hot water heaters. As the cost of electric power goes up people are investing in highly efficient appliances in the 21 century and installing solar systems that cost less if loads are lower. I think 125A service is the smallest you can install and that is overkill for my house. My consumption in a day is 5 kwh. To illustrate how much overkill it is I placed a current meter over the mains, I can hardly get the clamp-on current meter to read because it's under 1 amp . The oven has a 15 amp max draw and it is used once a month. If you really want to invest into your electrical, invest in a high grade surge protector for your circuit breaker box to protect all the expensive electronics in your home.

[@jparagallo]

Whole house under an amp? Ok…… 10 LED hi hats will get you to an amp. Maybe you don’t need electricity at all.

[@stevegorkowski3246]

@@jparagallo If you do the math using ohms law. V x I = W 120v 1 amp is 120w Nine led lights in the house at 10 watts or less is 90 watts and maybe 2-3 lights on at a time = 30 watts at .25 amps draw. LED hat lets say is 5v at 5watt = 1 amp X 10 (hats) = 10 amps. The lower the voltage the higher the current at the same wattage. The point is the code is based on consumption when incandescent light bulbs were giving light and resistance heat elements. We now have LED lights that draw a fraction of the power. Heat pumps for heating and cooling your house, heat pump hot water heaters that draw a fraction of resistance heat elements. All of this will drop the current draw from the grid. I decided to pass on the 200 amp service because I use 4-5 kwh a day so I went with 125 amp service.

[@Quadrille763]

Use a penny