Location Of Main Circuit And Feeders

72chevy4x4

Hello guys. First off, I'm not an electrician...but have a question regarding circuits. When running a service line, I've always seen the line located at the exterior wall closest to the pole (at least on the same side of the house). Is there any reason not to locate the main circuit box in/near the middle of the basement-if there is room to easily locate the box there? If the kitchen is located in a central to the house (instead of the far side of the house) it may seem like there would be less cable to pull. Would it make sense to locate the circuit box nearer to the kitchen as it (might?) have more electrical circuits to run?

Another question along the same direction, does it make any sense to run a 100A feeder circuit (correct terminology?) from a basement to a 2nd floor and then distribute the 2nd floor circuits from that box?

it occured to me with the rising cost of copper, avenues to shorten the length of wire runs would save money-but would it save time too?

thom

You raised several issues.

If the main panel is not a part of (combination panel) or directly oposite (inside the same wall same location) a separate shut off would need to be provided at the meter location. This becomes the main panel, beyond this is a sub-panel (though it looks and acts like a main panel) You won't find romex to feed this 200amp panel, so you will need to run big conduit and pull big cable through it. This is labor intensive and the conduit and wire aren't cheap either. It will most likely cost more. It works fine, did it in my own house, but it certainly isn't a cost saver.

If you have overhead service, better not to cross it over a roof if it can be avoided. That would be an accident waiting to happen.

Whether underground or overhead, the service must be on an outside wall where the meter can be read and the power can be shut off from the outside in an emergency.

As for putting a sub panel upstairs, probably doesn't save anything. Again, you must run power to the panel. We've done it in really large houses, generally 60A panels so we can run #6 romes, but it really doesn't save any significant amount on materials.

Speedy Petey

Your idea is not a bad one, but may not be worth the trouble. Yes, there is a good chance you will save on home runs, but this will be far offset by the required outside disconnect you will need.
If you do go this route typically SER cable is run from the disc to the panel, OR conduit and conductors. NOT cable in conduit, unless it is just a short sleeve.

On that note, Thom mentioned needing an outside disconnect so power can be shut off in an emergency. This is NOT in the NEC (under normal conditions). It is however a local code in some areas.

About the sub-panel, this can be a great idea depending on the house. If there are quite a few home runs coming from a far part of the house a sub will definitely save a great deal of labor in pulling the home runs. It will also help with voltage drop since you are not running smaller wire for great distances.

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Sparky Joe

What about when they come to read the meter? Just making a joke

Where have you been Pete, rarely see you anymore, busy times?

Speedy Petey

Yup, very busy. Also into some other forums lately.

At the risk of ridicule, I am getting back into CB radio a bit. I always had one around and have had them in the truck for years but just getting a bit more serious as of late.

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Sparky Joe

"breaker-breaker 19"
"go ahead breaker"
"this is ______ on the radio....."

So what's your handle? (to really run the risk of embarassment)

When I was a "kid" I had an nice midland from my dad with a car antenna mounted outside my window. Used to talk to my buddy a mile away who had 15' mast attached to the side of his parents house. Pretty fun stuff, though i still don't understand why every time I keyed up it could be heard through every stereo in the house whether it was on radio or playing a cd, something about the speaker wire acting as an antenna I guess.