Load Balancing

[ElectDesigner]

Just a quick load balancing question, say I have a panel and decide to put all my loads on the right side - and say i balanced loads on each phase. How is this different to putting loads on both sides and then balancing?

This one electrician told me to always put loads on both sides, I just dont see how this is different to putting loads on one side equally across three phases?

 

[zbang]

What's the difference? All the empty space is on the side instead of at the bottom.

 

[hurk27]

This train of thought came from back in the old days of fuse panels and some early breaker panels where one leg served one side of the panel and the other leg served the other side of the panel, it is no longer true today as all panels alternate each breaker space from one leg to the other so that when two breakers are placed side by side they are on opposite legs or phases, this is true for 3-phase panels also.

So it does not really matter any more as long as you balance each leg as close as you can get.

 

[ElectDesigner]

This train of thought came from back in the old days of fuse panels and some early breaker panels where one leg served one side of the panel and the other leg served the other side of the panel, it is no longer true today as all panels alternate each breaker space from one leg to the other so that when two breakers are placed side by side they are on opposite legs or phases, this is true for 3-phase panels also.

So it does not really matter any more as long as you balance each leg as close as you can get.

Thanks, I never understood why they thought that way till now.

 

[charlie b]

I tend to put receptacle and power loads on one side, and lighting on the other, unless the building is large enough to warrant separate lighting panels. There is no really good reason for it, just my sense of aesthetics. Depending on the location of the main breaker and a few other factors, there may be an advantage in filling the panel from the top down, or from the bottom up, in an effort to simplify future additions. But there is certainly no code issue involved here.