Upgrading electrical service panel from 100amps to 200amps?

Question

I am buying a home which has 200amp service however the home inspector stated that the "feed line" and meter are only 100amps. I have been told by an electrician that the meter can handle 200amps, however I am still concerned about the line from the meter to the service panel and the "feed line." Is there a way to tell if the meter and line can handle 200amps. The previous home owner seemed to have no problems running major appliances together. Any info would be great.

Answer 1

100 amp service is sufficient for almost all homes and standard appliances. Where you get into problems is if your hobbies include MIG or TIG welding at home, or other similar heavy draw , non "household" appliances. large electric heaters, commercial air compressors, etc.

I have a 100 amp service, I have an inground pool with accessories, a 10 person hot tub, electric range and separate oven, microwave, etc... and have never had a problem with the overall service line power.

Answer 2

Didn't the electrician say the cables were 200A? I doubt an electrician would install the 200A service without the proper wires. I don't know how a "home inspector" would know what the meter is rated for anyway. A call to the city electrical inspector should verify if the job was done with a permit and inspection. The city inspector would have checked the wire size. As another answer had, the UTILITY wires can be smaller and they are not under the control of the NEC.

Other wrong information in other answers: there are meter sockets rated less than 200A. A 400A socket is expensive and not used if not needed. Our utility requires 200A sockets even on 100A services, which costs extra money. I know I can get a 125A meter socket for 1/3 the price of what the utility requires. Also, the 100A wire size is not "#0" it is 4AWG. The web site he referenced is way off on the physical sizes of the wires. 4AWG is no where near 3/4 inch diameter.

Bottom line. Trust your city inspector or a licensed electrician. Don't take anything a home inspector says about the electrical service as gospel.

Answer 3

Your lender will probably not approve the loan until the inspector signs off on the inspection.

To answer your question directly.....as long you don't exceed 100 amps total load, the service line will be okay. Generally the reason the homeowner increases the current limit on the box is to add more circuits in the house. Perhaps for an addition, or remodeling where more electrical outlets and lights are installed.

Bottom line though....you will have to satisfy the inspector. I would negotiate with the seller to fix it or at least split the cost. He can't sell the house to anyone else if the inspector won't sign off, so you're not without some leverage.

Answer 4

The 200 amp service is what you your main breaker is rated for so you should theoretically be able to have 200 amps.

It seems the inspector is saying the the power company only pulled wire sized for 100 amps. Home inspectors do this all th time because they use the NEC rated amperage for wire in a raceway despite the fact that the power company probably has run it open air, it is probably aluminum, and is almost always UNDERSIZED by the standards used to run wire IN a house or from the meter can to your load panel.

The power companies do this all the time. I would not worry about it.

If he says the FEEDER wire from your meter can to your indoor load center (power panel) is TOO small for the main breaker, then you need to do something about it. What you need to do is either 1) reduce the main breaker size to be in line with the wire size. OR 2) pull a new feeder wire from the meter can to the indoor load center sized for the main breaker.

But if all he is saying is that the SERVICE feed from the pole to your meter can is undersized, I wouldn't sweat it one bit.

Good luck.

Answer 5

According to the NEC (Nat'l Electric Code), service entrance cable or feed line should be #2/0 copper wire (1-5/16" diam) for 200 A service, or #0 copper wire (3/4" diam) for 100 A service.

I am pretty sure that there is no difference between a 100 A and 200 A meter plug base. (For example, Square-D makes a single meter socket which handles up to 400 A.)

You should also have a two-pole main disconnect device (circuit breaker or pair of fuses) installed between your meter and your load panel (breaker box.) That device will trip open if the entire house's current draw exceeds the device's current limit. If the device is 100A, then that is your house's electrical capacity, regardless of the load panel capacity.

Answer 6

Call the electrician back and ask him he Knows and he probably looked at the feed comming into the panel. plus you may need an electrical inspection before the electric company will connect 200 amp service. because they want to be sure you can handle it as well.

Answer 7

check with your local electrical inspector. since you are buying the home it should cost you nothing and they can tell you if it is up to code