POLL- Prefered brand/style of panel?

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sw_ross

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Im curious to hear people's preference's for panels for residential and light commercial.

_Sq D, QO
_Sq D, Homeline
_CH, CH
_CH, BR
_Siemens
_Other?

Also am curious about opinions on plug-on neutral panels? I've installed one, Homeline, and it definitely made things cleaner and faster in the panel.
 
My first choice is QO but the plugin neutral feature is nice with more and more dwelling GFCI and AFCI circuits. For service upgrades we use GE because of the galvanized, non-painted enclosure which IMO is much better when terminating old AC cables which we have quite a lot of around here.
 
GE. The manufacturer solution to the Grand Concept of AFCI protection guides my choice, as I prefer to use a combination-type AFCI that has no ground fault sensing component. That and the fact that a 15 A / 20 A multiwire branch circuit can be protected by a handle-tied 15 & 20 Amp single pole AFCI. Obviously most of my work is in existing dwellings, but, because of the absence of ground fault sensing, I prefer GE in new residential construction, as well.
 
My preference is not necessarily what I like best, but more on price and availability.
My S/H is a major distributor for C-H. So I get the best price on that brand.
I use the BR in residential and CH in commercial unless something else is requested or specified.
 
I like Cutler Hammer

Since most of my panel installs are 100a, I typically use BR because:

1) they have a renovation panel which is only 11" wide, making in-wall swaps easier with some older panels.

2) i can turn the tray around and mount panel upside down if I need the main closer to the top for short entrance cable.

3) i can move neutral buses up closer to the top for short wires
 
Cutler Hammer CH all the way for price and for dependability. But tbh the Siemens panels are really nice for retro as they have much more room to work in because of small breakers. Only thing is that Siemens is the same as homeline, ge, br, etc and they are garbage aluminum bus panels.


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blkmagik21 said:
Cutler Hammer CH all the way for price and for dependability. But tbh the Siemens panels are really nice for retro as they have much more room to work in because of small breakers. Only thing is that Siemens is the same as homeline, ge, br, etc and they are garbage aluminum bus panels.


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I use copper buss Siemens panels. Any brand of aluminum buss panel is crap. We quickly changed using aluminum buss panels back in the 90's when suppliers started pushing them because of their cheap price back to copper buss after doing a service upgrade and then having to return in 1 year to replace again because the buss bar went to s..t due to high humidity level in a basement.
 
GE just got purchased for $2B, by ABB I think
I saw a new panel by T&B today and its very nice, AFCI and GFCI breakers have LEDs when energized.
But I have always liked Square D esp the panels, not loadcenters, with the door in door design
 
Brand is less important than how far do you have to drive to get a breaker or add a lug. If I wanted to use Siemens I'd have to drive fifty miles to get a part or wait till the delivery truck comes by at 14:00 hours. GE or SqD I can go about twelve blocks and pick up what I need and be on site by 9:00. 9:15, 9:18 if I decide stopping for a doughnut is a good idea.
 
Square-D my first choice. Most of the time Homeline for residential & QO for commercial.
 
Ignorant Brit again.......
For me a panel is an empty enclosure waiting for parts to be fitted.
You guys clearly have a different interpretation.
Speed this Scotty up........:)
 
Besoeker said:
Ignorant Brit again.......
For me a panel is an empty enclosure waiting for parts to be fitted.
You guys clearly have a different interpretation.
Speed this Scotty up........:)
Click to expand...

A panel over here has the buss bar, main breaker, etc usually factory installed.
A tub or enclosure we often refer to as not having the (guts) installed.
 
Besoeker said:
Ignorant Brit again.......
For me a panel is an empty enclosure waiting for parts to be fitted.
You guys clearly have a different interpretation.
Speed this Scotty up........:)
Click to expand...

NEC defines panelboard (in my own words) as the assembly of bus bars, circuit breakers, etc. and it gets installed in what NEC calls a cabinet.

All the North American market manufacturers have product lines that have complete assembly of cabinet and panelboard that they call "loadcenters". These are mostly targeted to residential and light commercial projects. The premium product lines sell the panelboard, options, and needed cabinet as separate part numbers and you typically need to specify all those parts to get a completed assembly, where the loadcenters are common desired options already assembled and sold as a single product.
 
kwired said:
NEC defines panelboard (in my own words) as the assembly of bus bars, circuit breakers, etc. and it gets installed in what NEC calls a cabinet.

All the North American market manufacturers have product lines that have complete assembly of cabinet and panelboard that they call "loadcenters". These are mostly targeted to residential and light commercial projects. The premium product lines sell the panelboard, options, and needed cabinet as separate part numbers and you typically need to specify all those parts to get a completed assembly, where the loadcenters are common desired options already assembled and sold as a single product.
Click to expand...

It might be the same here too for that market. My experience is in the industrial field. We bought standard enclosures and populated them with drives and controls. Mostly we used Eldon or Rittal. But we also did custom built from preferred metal bashers where non-standard had to be the way to go. Or where special colours were needed to suit the project manager's wife.............:roll:
 
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