upgrade to 400A service

[emahler]

i don't know...i lost the point awhile ago. just delete these posts, they are off on a tangent from the original post.

but the last link, those are the everyday meter sockets that that POCO requires.

 

[petersonra]

100A to 400A? What size is this water heater?

I don't recall off the top of my head but it was like 50kw.

 

[George Stolz]

Looking at Bob Peterson's original post, I don't think one can define "off topic" for the thread.

I'll repost the original post here and see what happens.

On another forum, someone asked about ugrading his electric service from 100A to 400A to accomodate an electric instantaneous water heater.

I opined that this was an expenseive upgrade, probably $5k or so.

Another poster claimed this was more like $2500. he also claimed the utility would only charge $75 for such an upgrade.

Comments?

I would love to see one of these huge electric instant water heaters in action. There are so many conflicting specs on these, it's no small wonder many people just go gas. No lights dimming, no crowd of electricians scratching their heads in your basement.

 

[Davis9]

I wired a smaller one, it was in for 2 days. To much action! Lights dimming like crazy, told him he needed a bigger service. Not really but ,it was a mess. He had a 200A Service all Gas and Small A/C 1500 sq ft house. I think it was 3-8KW heaters inside th Instant Hot? 100A if I remember corectly. Rough numbers on that, please don't crucify me it's late! That's what he get's for buying online.

Tom:roll:

 

[paul32]

I noticed the Milbank meter sockets were 125, 200, and 320 amps continuous a while back. Does anyone ever install a 250A service? I guess you could use the 200A meter socket for that.

Does anyone use a 'heavy duty lever bypass' on a typical service?

Our local power company started requiring at least 200A lever bypass sockets last year. They said they were one of the last to do so. At the time I needed to get one, the only one I could find was in the "heavy duty lever bypass" catalog (the U4801). A little overkill for a 100A service. :smile:

 

[macmikeman]

What I find sometimes difficult is trying to convince a customer that gas is the way to go for instant on water heaters when the "expert" at the big box store has already talked them into the purchase and now it sits on the garage floor. It would be great if this thread turned into an 80 page pro/con tirade about those heaters so I could print it out and show the victim the bad news.