25 amp breakers on residential dryers

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manisashow

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Manassas, Va.
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Electrical Contractor
Is there any NEC Code limitation that would prevent me from using 225 amp breakers with 10 copper and 240 volt 30 amp receptacles for residential dryer outlets? For me it is a supply issue and a shortage of 230 breakers that is causing me to look at using 225 breakers on residential dryers.
 
I am not 100% sure but I do not recall the code ever requires more than a 20 A laundry circuit. As a practical matter, it might trip if it is undersized which might lead to a mad customer.

I think if you supply a 30 A rated receptacle, you have to supply a 30 A rated OCPD. I think this is somewhere in article 210.
 
Is this an electric dryer? How many watts is it? A 30 amp single receptacle is permitted on a 25 amp circuit.
 
I’m thinking most dryers run around 22-23 amps or something close to that. Enough to probably trip a 25A breaker at times.
 
Shouldn't a 25A breaker on a 240V system support a 6000 VA non-continuous load or a 4800 VA continuous load without risk of nuisance tripping? I don't think electric dryers are continuous loads. Obviously ambient temperature at the panel and breaker spatial density in the panel would affect the results, so let's exclude the extreme cases, just the 99% percentile on those factors.

Cheers, Wayne
 
Yeah, it's cutting it close though, depending on the dryer rating. A big dryer is likely 5600W for the heater elements, but you have the drum motor too, so most of the big ones are rated 24 or 25A as the load, which is why they call for a 30A breaker. True, it might not be considered "continuous" from a circuit sizing standpoint, but a little voltage drop and that's going to run that risk of tripping a 25A breaker.
 
Just out of curiosity which manufacture are you having trouble getting the 230's from? My main line for residential is SquareD. That happens to be the one breaker I have never had trouble getting in both HOM and QO.
 
I look at a lot of dryer nameplates to confirm if they're too big for battery systems. The conventional ones are pretty evenly distributed between about 22 and 28A. So if you don't know the dryer model it may just not work. And even if a 25A breaker is okay for the one that's there now, it may not be for the next one that replaces it.
 
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