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cclearly · Nov 8, 2008, 10:30 AM

I recently remodeled my Kitchen. I ended up with a 30 amp wire and dedicated circuit from a wall oven that was abandoned. Rather than loose the load, I put a subpanel in the pantry which has four 15 amp circuits running off it. Each circuit is drawing less than 8 amps. Did I do something wrong here?? The panel is connected to a 30 amp breaker at the main panel. The subpanel has no breaker, just the mini 15's for each circuit. All grounding is done correctly. Do you see any problems here?? Thanks

donf · Nov 8, 2008, 10:47 AM

You mean other than the fact that you installed the panel in a closet?

stanfortyman · Nov 8, 2008, 11:03 AM

Was this a "4-wire" feeder, ie: 10/3 cable?
Is that what you mean by the grounding was done properly?

cclearly · Nov 8, 2008, 10:12 PM

Yes, a 10/3 cable was used. Thanks for the reply. G

cclearly · Nov 8, 2008, 10:15 PM

Also, the panel is not in a closet. The pantry is an 8 foot by 10 foot walk in allowing for full clearance in front of the panel. Thanks - Gary

Ferghus · Nov 8, 2008, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by cclearly

I recently remodeled my Kitchen. I ended up with a 30 amp wire and dedicated circuit from a wall oven that was abandoned. Rather than loose the load, I put a subpanel in the pantry which has four 15 amp circuits running off of it. Each circuit is drawing less than 8 amps. Did I do something wrong here??? The panel is connected to a 30 amp breaker at the main panel. The subpanel has no breaker, just the mini 15's for each circuit. All grounding is done correctly. Do you see any problems here??? Thanks

How much below 8 amps are the four circuts drawing? Remember if say, 8 x 4 or 32 amps drew... the 30 amp breaker would pop.

The mini breakers are not a good choice. Much better would be full sized 15 amp breakers for each circuit.

But I'm just a maintaince man... no electrician.

tkrussell · Nov 9, 2008, 03:12 AM

You do not explain what the new circuits are for.

Since this is a remodeled kitchen, at least two circuits need to be a minimum of 20 amp rated for small appliances. These circuits shall be for the counter outlets and any other receptacles considered to be part of the kitchen.

The outlet for a refrigerator may be a 15 amp circuit.

What does "Rather than loose the load" mean?

There is nothing wrong with using mini or half size circuit breakers, as opposed to full size. Bigger is better is a myth, in this case.

Also explain how the grounding is done.

stanfortyman · Nov 9, 2008, 07:08 AM

Originally Posted by Ferghus

How much below 8 amps are the four circuts drawing? Remember if say, 8 x 4 or 32 amps drew... the 30 amp breaker would pop.

Not true. Breakers don't trip the instant they pass their rating. Breakers have a trip curve. They trip quicker the higher above their rating they subject to.
A 30A breaker will sit for hours at 32 amps.

Also, even if the circuits are 8 amps each, they are not on full load all the time.

Also also, they are 120v breakers. The panel is a 120/240v panel.

An 8a load @ 120v is 960 watts.
960 x 4 = 3840 watts.

A 30a 240v sub-panel is capable of supplying 7200 watts.

Four 120v breakers running at a constant 8 amps will be drawing roughly half of what that panel can provide.

cclearly · Nov 11, 2008, 11:09 PM

Thank you all for the input. I didn't use the power for the kitchen. That wiring already existed - 20 amp for micro, gfi's and a 20 amp for the refer. What I used the ciruits for was to power a heated floor for a newly added tile floor in the kitchen (8 amps) and dedicated one breaker for that system. I dedicated another breaker for my wide screen TV/surround sound system in my family room and dedicated a breaker for that unit. The third circuit was used for accesory lighting in the kitchen to add to the existing lighting. Less than 6 amps on that circuit and the fourth breaker is going to be used for heating the tile floor in my newly remodeled bathroom ( 8 amps again) and also power my pellet stove ( the stove can draw 6 amps for 6 minutes). I realize that when the pellet stove is starting up and the floor is heating I'm drawing 14 amps which is beyond the prescirbed safe limit. My other alternative is to continue to plug the pellet stove into a wall socket that services lights and plugs in the living room. It also can draw above 14 amps if most of the lights are on and the TV is running. It does sound like I'm OK with this setup from the responses and certainly not exceeding the 30 amp 240 volt panel capacity. Thanks