badbluesplayer Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 After 25 years of running my shop off a 60 amp circuit from the house, I finally hooked up a new separate 200 amp service. The power guys put in all new poles, a new transformer and redid the service to the house too. Nice job boys. 125 volts of fresh and clean TVA power. The first 22 kwh has been intoxicating... 3 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Nice Fluke meter. I got a few. I think I have one of those models too. I keep a 77AN in my car at all times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 2 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: I keep a 77AN in my car at all times. 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepdog1969 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 An electrician friend of mine recently told me something interesting as we were discussing upgrading my old home's 60 amp service to 200 amp service, installing new Service entry wire from the meter to the new panel, (and having Comed do the Service entry wire upgrade from the "pole" to the meter, which will be required). Over the last year, he and I have been upgrading the interior wiring, a circuit at a time, to prep for this upgrade, to better distribute power/minimize circuit load, and for safety. Based on his experience, he said that after I upgrade to 200 amp service, I may actually see a reduction in my electric bill each month, (assuming the price per Kw/h does not increase), even if I use the same amount of power each month that I used before the upgrade. He said it had to do with "draw load", I think. He explained it by comparing 60 amp service to a small diameter hose, and 200 amp service to a much larger diameter hose. The same amount of power required at your home, when run through 60 amp service, is less efficient as it runs through the meter than it is when run through homes with 200 amp service. He said that Kw/hr metering in 60 amp service properties tends to be skewed upwards vs. properties with 200 amp service, even if both properties actually use the same about of power. Sargent Pepper could better explain this and/or confirm/refute this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 (edited) 9 hours ago, Sheepdog1969 said: An electrician friend of mine recently told me something interesting as we were discussing upgrading my old home's 60 amp service to 200 amp service, installing new Service entry wire from the meter to the new panel, (and having Comed do the Service entry wire upgrade from the "pole" to the meter, which will be required). Over the last year, he and I have been upgrading the interior wiring, a circuit at a time, to prep for this upgrade, to better distribute power/minimize circuit load, and for safety. Based on his experience, he said that after I upgrade to 200 amp service, I may actually see a reduction in my electric bill each month, (assuming the price per Kw/h does not increase), even if I use the same amount of power each month that I used before the upgrade. He said it had to do with "draw load", I think. He explained it by comparing 60 amp service to a small diameter hose, and 200 amp service to a much larger diameter hose. The same amount of power required at your home, when run through 60 amp service, is less efficient as it runs through the meter than it is when run through homes with 200 amp service. He said that Kw/hr metering in 60 amp service properties tends to be skewed upwards vs. properties with 200 amp service, even if both properties actually use the same about of power. Sargent Pepper could better explain this and/or confirm/refute this. Larger wire has more surface and cross sectional area, so more current can flow. Now all I’m aware of as far as paying for your bill is your charged for however many kilowatt hours you use. I don’t know if it makes a difference with a 200 amp service or a 60 amp service but you’re only charged on what you use. Remember just because you now have a 200 amp service does not mean you will be anywhere near 200 A on any given day. Think about what’s really on in your house all the time, one is your fridge, AC, heat, and the water heater cycle on and off depending if it’s run by electricity. The next big loads you have in your house are only used at certain times of the day like your dryer and your oven. All the TVs and electronic gadgets we have now draw, barely anything. Edited February 24 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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