SUB-Panel in Bedroom

[macmikeman]

Ok, I think we have us some regional thinking going on here. In some parts of the country, the "panel" is also the service disconnecting means and those are usually located close to the meter. In some parts of the country the service disco is located at the meter location, and the "panel" inside the house wherever it ends up is really a "subpanel". Where I live we mostly do it the second way for dwellings, and the first way for commercial jobs is common, but the second way is more common. Putting the "subpanel" near the heavy loads is in my book cheaper to wire. Putting multiple subpanels throughout the house, or facility, sometimes is even more cost effective depending on the size of the place. I try to squeeze as much money out of each job I do without wanton sacrificing quality of materials or quality of work.

 

[LarryFine]

In some parts of the country, the "panel" is also the service disconnecting means and those are usually located close to the meter. In some parts of the country the service disco is located at the meter location, and the "panel" inside the house wherever it ends up is really a "subpanel".

To me, this is a job-by-job decidion. I've done plent of services both ways on both types of occupancies.

I do agree with you about sub-panels. When properly applied, they can save money and improve the performance of the system.

 

[macmikeman]

Ya Larry, I was just trying to highlight that there are variations from the way it is usually seen in any one given area. Reading some of the other posts leads me to think that some aren't aware of this. And the original poster did say subpanel in the bedroom, not panel. Sub panels can be, but are not always located "closest to the Meter".

 

[ShockedOneinAZsun]

Subpanels

Subpanels

I just finished roughing a 5,500 sq. Ft., one story home, with no basement in the mountains of Southern California. (I took it over after the first electrical crew was fired.)

I have a 400A. main panels, and I had to design 2-100A subpanels. The first one was 35' away (just acrossed the garage), and the second one was 135' away (2/3 of the way acrossed the house which had a 30' by 30' courtyard in the center.) The previous crew had ran EVERYTHING in the house but the range, WH, heat pumps, and dryer on #14 Romex. (They had 62 circuits going to the 400A main panel).

If I had to I would have put one in a bedroom, but fortunately the one acrossed the garage got put opposite the garage wall, on the inside of a utility room, and the far one ended up in a home office.

 

[jeff43222]

macmikeman has some good points. Around these parts, the panel usually serves as the service disconnect and is thus located very close to the meter. A combo meter socket/disconnect switch costs $391.40 (plus tax) at the supply house, so that's an expense I try to avoid as much as possible. Sometimes I have no choice, though.

I just looked at a job today where I found a subpanel in a second-floor bedroom, something I very rarely encounter. The bedroom was an addition, and after seeing the whole system I understand why they did it that way. The main panel in the finished basement was in a tough spot to reach, and it was full to the point of using several tandem breakers. They needed several new circuits in the bedroom and the new kitchen underneath it, so it made sense to put a subpanel in one of those places and feed all the new circuits from it. The bedroom location was better because it was located behind the door swing.

The job I looked at involved adding lighting to several closets in the same bedroom, so having a subpanel right there will make the job much easier. There's even an AFCI breaker ready for me to use!

 

[macmikeman]

Original posted by Jeff43222

A combo meter socket/disconnect switch costs $391.40 (plus tax) at the supply house, so that's an expense I try to avoid as much as possible. Sometimes I have no choice, though.

Dude, your supply house must be run by nexstar. Go to Home Depot and pay $135 for a 200 amp combo. (breakers not included, those are another forty bucks each for two- one hundred amp 2 pole.)

 

[jeff43222]

A combo meter socket/disconnect switch costs $391.40 (plus tax) at the supply house, so that's an expense I try to avoid as much as possible. Sometimes I have no choice, though.

Dude, your supply house must be run by nexstar. Go to Home Depot and pay $135 for a 200 amp combo. (breakers not included, those are another forty bucks each for two- one hundred amp 2 pole.)

I wish. I've never seen combos available at Big Orange. This would be the same Big Orange that sells several models of 200A panels, but they don't sell the correct size wire to go with it.

Yes, $391.40 (plus tax) is way too much to pay for a combo unit. The supply house sells the exact same 200A panel for $170 that HD sells for $124.