Why is there more than 200 A worth of breakers inside of a 200 amp panel?!

Have you ever looked at an electrical panel and wondered how we get away with a 200 amp main breaker but theres far more than 200 amps worth of breakers inside the panel? Lets talk about it.

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I’ve had this question asked to me numerous times, why don’t we just add up all the breakers and make that our service size?

The vast majority of the time and electrical system is being underutilized. Most electrical systems barely run any loads throughout the day so there’s really no reason to calculate things at the max capacity of the system. Code allows us to derate some things to account for this.

There are two methods of coming up with service ratings, one is what we call the Standard Method and the other is the Optional Method. The National Electrical Code allows us to figure out what types of loads will be utilized and accounts for many of the other loads that are not likely to run with the rest. We’ll cover these in a later video.

#electrician #electrical #breakers

[oddfulljobs]

The fancy term that EEs use for this is “load diversification”… 😁. Great explanation! -Erik with Square-D

[nicholasrussell]

I'm paying 750$ a semester plus books to for a training program where my instructor reads off answers from the previous weeks assignments and dictates the current weeks assignments I study labs and lectures all on my own. And here I find this guy giving out exceptional descriptions of how electrical theory and application works. I'm just going to go over my assignment and refer to this YouTube channel

[markmatias]

As a Residential Electrician for 7+ years, all of your videos help me man. Thank you for what you do

[teammelita]

I'm adding a sub-panel, and this made the Sect. 220 load calcs "come to life". Appreciate you doing this video!

[neillmcdonald]

Great video, love the way you explain things. I enjoy hearing other electricians explain their understanding of why things are done the way they are, as it might give me a different perspective, or I may even learn something new. I'm from Canada, and we do things a little differently, but probably end up with pretty much the same end result for the demand load to calculate the main breaker for the service.

However, we are only allowed to derate the service entrance conductors by 5%, and this usually ends up with the wire having a capacity that is equal to or just over the size of the main breaker. The reason why is that the breaker is there to protect the wire, so even though currently there is not enough demand in the system to overload the conductors, at some point in the future, things may be added which would not require the main breaker to be upsized.

As most main breakers are rated continuous duty, this could potentially be too much load for the conductors if they are only able to handle 83% of the main breaker (I've seen plenty of 200A services where the demand calculation is definitely over 166A).

[KenPryor]

Awesome explanation. I'm not an electrician, but I work in a "national home improvement store" in the electrical department and your videos have helped me so much to understand what my customers are talking about and asking for. I absolutely don't give electrical advice and always refer DIY'ers to an electrician when they obviously don't have a clue what they're talking about. I just had a customer a few days ago asking about the need to add up all his breakers. I told him I was sure that wasn't how it worked but that it was beyond my pay grade to know the procedure. Hoping he hasn't accidentally killed himself or burned his house down so far as it was very very clear he had no business taking on the project he was working on. It's amazing how many people come to me for free advice (which I don't give) on things. They see the dude in the store as a free alternative to spending money on an electrician and I tell them I can't do that for them. It doesn't help that stores like mine pretend that their workers are "experts" when we clearly are not.

[recu]

You are so stinking helpful, i learn more through you than i ever did in the apprenticeship!
Not to take anything away from you, but after a year i found out my hours weren't being logged, so kinda tells you about my "apprenticeship"! Still, almost 20 years ago i was an electrician for about 4 years total. I have learned more through your videos than in that 4 years. Does anyone else have questions about converting old spaces? I am making an appartment in the back of an OLD commercial building. I need to break circuits up for GFCI kitchen, bath, etc. And add a few dedicated circuits. 200amp main feed 2 smaller sub panels. 1 feeds another appartment space, and 1 feeds a store front. ALL the wiring is so confusing. Pretty sure the last 70 years of remodels aren't helping. The labeling in the panels is for stuff that doesn't exist, but wiring still does...

[paulrozinski]

Very informative video, great job dealing with a confusing subject. Keep up the great work . People, please remember that no matter how much you learn from these videos, there’s no substitute for a SKILLED trades person. 👍

[damianmurphy-morris]

absolutely stoked with the direction the electrician u channel is going!

[josh]

I’m a Red Seal construction electrician in Nova Scotia Canada. Your channel is awesome to educate folks on our trade and how in depth it actually is. Most people think we just change light bulbs and put wires to point a to b.

[michaelmassetti]

I am just a home owner with a bit of knowledge trying to keep my home from fry it's self and gaining some knowledge when fixing or upgrading my home. Your channel and explanations are great... and yes i understand all the terms you use. Thats why i subscribed.

[Pseudoswede]

I’ve never been able to wrap my brain around even the most basic electrical concepts, but this channel has really helped remedy that. Thank you!

[chibireli]

This makes the most sense out of all the videos I’ve watched today. Thank you so much

[chevinbarghest]

Love this stuff. In 1986 I went to the library for 3 months to learn electric AND gas....I totally rewired my house is Da Yookay. The inspector had a 32 point checklist and my work passed 31..The other was a 20 second job to fix. Now I live in Wisconsin and its all different..but the same if you know what I mean... Love learning new concepts like this....

[lalosdope]

I greatly appreciate the knowledge and experience you share with all of us seeking it. Also. Explained so well. Thank you, Sir.

[justink]

Lighting changed a lot in 2020 code. Led eats way less of course... bra I just took my end of apprenticeship test and those load calc questions were just brutal. You never get the right answer. Thanks for all your work Dustin

[tomthinks]

I’m glad you have a calc vid coming up. It will help with my studying for the master exam

[skuttduck]

I have 100 amp service. I thought about upgrading to 150 as we have a lot of pets and heat lamps. I also have a hot tub and central air. For the heck of it I turned the hot tub on full during the summer while the central air was running as well as most all the rest of the stuff. I then clamped the mains to read the amperage draw. I got 16 amps on one and 13 on the other. So I felt a bit better knowing that.

[cbmech]

My understanding of it (I'm a heavy truck mechanic) is that a fuse/breaker is sized to protect the wire depending on gauge. Even when in use you are rarely anywhere close to the amperage of the breaker for most applications under most applications.

[Bradley-txed]

I'm glad to see a video touching load calcs. As soon as I saw the title I knew where we were going.