residential service change over

[jojolawebb]

My friend is remodeling an older house he's living in. He currently has a new meter base and piped to a location where underground power will be able to come into a 200A dissconnect in the garage and wired to a 200A panel located in the basement. The current 200A panel in use is also located in basement on the opposite wall of the new panel about 30' away. His plan is to finish the basement for living and land those circuits in the new panel. He then wants to move into the basement gut the current living space and completely rewire the house so all the circuits will be relocated into the new panel. Meanwhile he wants power to the new panel and convert the old panel into a subpanel running out of the new panel. I'm not sure where this falls under the code. Can a 200A panel have a 200A sub? Is the proposed subpanel really just a temporary because it will eventually be eliminated. How would that be handled per code? The service wires are all pulled from the disconnect to the panels but not landed anywere. Whats the best wiring method?

 

[George Stolz]

Re: residential service change over

Sounds like a pretty solid plan. I'd leave the new panel in an unfinished portion of the basement, so that when he begins the bulk of the main floor wiring, getting into the panel is easy.

Even if the old panel were staying, it would be all right, as far as I know, provided the conductors feeding the panel were sized correctly.