Homeline vs QO

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tom baker

tom baker

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I used a lot of Sq D QO for pump Stations etc. Added a few ckts last week to a Homeline panel. What is the difference between QO and Homeline?
 
HOM's the residential line, so there's less stuff available in it (for example, no three-phase panels or three-pole breakers, not a wide variety of configurations and covers in the HOM, etc...). The QO panels are a bit nicer (shielded copper vs unshielded aluminum bus bars). There are some other differences with regard to things like PON availability.
 
What is the cost for breakers? I am assuming the guts are the same, of course homeline does noy have visi trip
 
I've read that only difference in the breakers is how they mount, and HOM doesn't have the trip window. The "guts" are the same.
 
tom baker said:
What is the cost for breakers? I am assuming the guts are the same, of course homeline does noy have visi trip
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I do not care for QO. For one they are overpriced. The breakers are twice as much as homeline, and its the same thing except for it has the red trip indicator. It annoys me they dont make homeline in 3 phase (if they did they shouldnt call it "homeline"). I do use homeline for resi almost always. For commercial I use Siemens, sometimes loadcenters but whenever possible their true panelboards.
 
The QO’s are physically smaller, so I reckon they could put the internals in the larger Homeline frame? Never took one apart to see if they are similar. I know with the Eaton CH, they will trip quicker on a fault than the BR, and the BR is actually a Westinghouse design, so I know Eaton didn’t use the same guts.
 
hillbilly1 said:
The QO’s are physically smaller, so I reckon they could put the internals in the larger Homeline frame? Never took one apart to see if they are similar. I know with the Eaton CH, they will trip quicker on a fault than the BR, and the BR is actually a Westinghouse design, so I know Eaton didn’t use the same guts.
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I am nearly certain that it has been confirmed that the homeline and qo guts are the same. IIRC that has come directly from sq D.
 
QO breakers are available in higher AIC ratings, but that generally doesn’t matter in residential. They also have more breaker options in the QO range like shunt trip, bell alarm and auxiliary contacts, etc.

I’ve been using QO in my residential projects exclusively for years, but I’m seeing that everyone else is offering AFCI and GFCI breakers in a smaller form factor, and idk why square D can’t do the same. I’ve been looking seriously at switching to the Eaton BR line for residential. The cost difference is significant.

I’ve been using a mix of Eaton and Square D on my commercial jobs, and Eaton has been much more competitive on price lately by a significant margin. My main supplier is an Eaton dealer, and that has been extremely beneficial in clutch situations.

Square D has a good history with me on standing behind their products though, so it’s hard to make that jump completely to use Eaton exclusively.


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I could’ve swore they definitely do not interchange. Homeline has a buss shaped like GE?
 
brantmacga said:
I’ve been using QO in my residential projects exclusively for years, but I’m seeing that everyone else is offering AFCI and GFCI breakers in a smaller form factor, and idk why square D can’t do the same. I’ve been looking seriously at switching to the Eaton BR line for residential. The cost difference is significant.

I’ve been using a mix of Eaton and Square D on my commercial jobs, and Eaton has been much more competitive on price lately by a significant margin. My main supplier is an Eaton dealer, and that has been extremely beneficial in clutch situations.



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The Long form factor on the AFCI's does annoy me, I have almost switched to something else for resi because of this.

I really hate BR, I would think twice about it. Not the breakers necessarily, but the loadcenters just seem so flimsy and cheap, plus the cabinets are not painted. Just seems like bottom of the line junk to me. Also some BR MB loadcenters only have 10k MB.
 
electrofelon said:
The Long form factor on the AFCI's does annoy me, I have almost switched to something else for resi because of this.

I really hate BR, I would think twice about it. Not the breakers necessarily, but the loadcenters just seem so flimsy and cheap, plus the cabinets are not painted. Just seems like bottom of the line junk to me. Also some BR MB loadcenters only have 10k MB.
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I call the Eaton BR "Zinsco II" , but then I have hated Bryant (it's original brand name) for 40 years, CH is my preferred line.
 
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