Can i replace a 100 amp breaker for a 200 amp breaker?

Question

i have a 100 amp breaker box would like to hardwire a few baseboard heaters for my house about 5 1500 watts heaters ,i know how to do that and i have 3 empty slots where to put 20 amp breakers, my question is can i replace the 100 amp breaker for a 200 amp or do i have to replace the breaker box or the feeder cable how much can it take. feeder cable looks like a 4/3 awg
thanks for any advice

Answer 1

To answer your question, no you cannot replace the 100A main with a 200A main. Your panel is wired with #4 which is...to keep this simple...100A wire. Plus the panel/busbars are only rated at 100A.

You can go with either of the other answers-install a small sub panel to get more breaker spaces and hope that your 100A service can handle the load, or upgrade to a 200A service as the other fella stated.

You can also use some piggy-back breakers to gain space in your panel. From personal experience I do not recommend this. I'm not a big fan of piggy-backs, but it is the cheapest/easiest fix to your problem if the 100A main will hold.
I wish ya luck.

Answer 2

You have two options here, you can either change out the cable or the breaker. The golden rule is that the cable needs to be rated higher then the breaker. If you expect to use up all 150 Amps in your home then you obviously need to upgrade the cable. 150Amps is a very large amount for a normal house (probably double what you'd actually need [if you live in Australia]). If the cable coming in from the mains power supply is underground it will take some time for a qualified electrician to dig it up and bury a new one. If the cable is overhead then it will take less time. You would be looking at the cost of the new cable + the labour. I'm not sure where you live but in Australia the average going rate for an electrician is about $120 per hour. If the cable is underground you'd be looking at half a day to a full day, minimum. If it was overhead you'd be looking at maybe less than half a day IF they have the right equipment. I really don't know if you'd get much change out of $1500 to tell the truth. Alternately you could look at changing out just the breaker. This should take no longer than about one to two hours max and the breaker itself should cost no more than $100 depending on what brand you choose. You might get away with doing it for less than $500. Hope this helps. By the way I'm a qualified electrician also.

Answer 3

Replacing the 100 amp breaker with a 200 amp breaker won't give you twice as much power. You will need to contact the power company and have the service to your home increased. You may also need to replace the service panel if it's not rated for the increased amperage.

Answer 4

You get an electrician to install a 200 amp panel and they'll make a new run from the meter to your panel. (You will likely need a permit from your town/city.) Your electrician will notify the power company who will most likely make a new run from the pole to the meter box, might upgrade meter box and new 200 amp meter. Should be no charge for the power company activity - they'll get it back with your increased usage!

In NJ I recently paid $900 which included new grounds, large panel box and he arranged for the permit.

Answer 5

you can put a small sub panel along side of your panel then run your heaters of the new panel

install a 2 pole 60 A breaker in main panel that supplies your sub panel use # 6 copper wire a nipple between boxes.

run 2 power a ground and a netural keep the grounds and neturals seperate in the sub panel

Answer 6

That all depends on the in feed wiring and the current set up; with out seeing it I can not tell.

Answer 7

Lindner 7 has the best answer

Answer 8

call an electrician before you burn your house down or get electrocuted and die