electric meter tells me house amperage?
#1
03-02-03, 09:49 PM
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electric meter tells me house amperage?
Is the total amperage coming into my house/electric meter marked on it somewhere? Was wondering if it is on the faceplate behind the glass? I am going to have a new breaker panel installed and some other upgrades in the near future but wanted to know what i currently have.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
#3
03-03-03, 06:47 AM
Your main breaker or disconnect will have a marking on it. This will be the current service size. The main breaker will be a double pole breaker. Don't add the values together. If you have a double breaker marked 100 on each you have a 100 amp service NOT a 200 amp service.
#4
03-03-03, 05:09 PM
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This is a very old breaker panel and meter. It has no main shut-off and only 8 breakers. The old paper labels are barely visible. From what I can tell, the breakers themselves don't move when tripped. There is a red square(ish) post that pops out from the breaker.
I've been searching the web for a breakdown of what some of the numbers printed on the meter actually mean. I didn't realize the meter can say one thing and the panel be rated for something else.
When you say "determined by the wire size" are you refering to the 3 wires from the meter to the panel?
I've been searching the web for a breakdown of what some of the numbers printed on the meter actually mean. I didn't realize the meter can say one thing and the panel be rated for something else.
When you say "determined by the wire size" are you refering to the 3 wires from the meter to the panel?
#5
03-03-03, 10:11 PM
Size of service
Sometimes on the inside of the breaker panel is a manufacturers tag that will give you the amperage size of the panel. It is also possible that it might contain a catalog number and most supply house have a way to cross reference to give you amperage size. Since it only contains 8 breakers I would "guess" that the panel id probably no more than 100 amps.
#6
03-04-03, 06:40 AM
Somewhere between the meter and the breaker box there should be a disconnect to turn everything off. Are you saying the meter feeds this breaker box and there is no main disconnect with fuses or a breaker?
#7
03-04-03, 10:55 AM
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There is no disconnect. I can see the wire coming out of the back of the meter before is passes through the cement block wall and into a hole in the back (not top, side or bottom) of the breaker panel. When I looked it was a nightmare in there. On more than one occassion three wires were under the same screw in the buses. Thanks for the tip regarding the supply house route.
