Ask Me Help Desk - Upgrading from 125 amp to 200 amp panel

Upgrading from 125 amp to 200 amp panel

Hello,

We are currently looking at purchasing a house that has a 125 amp panel and we would like to upgrade it to a 200 amp. There isn't a main disconnect between the meter and the breaker panel right now. Location between meter and BP is over 10 ft. so I know the disconnect needs to be located by the meter.
Here's our problem:
We will need to move in to the house as soon as we purchase it, so we can't be without power for more than a day, is it possible to upgrade this system without being without power for more than 24 hours? My feeling is it's impossible since I would have to draw a permit from the county before installing the 200 amp panel and the disconnect box and then have those items inspected again and be approved before contacting the power company to upgrade the incoming service wires for 200 amp (which might take them months to do the service wire upgrades). What can I do?

A local electrical guy said to upgrade the breaker panel and disconnect first and let the power company come back later and upgrade the service wire but I'm not thinking that's too good of an idea since it could risk overloading the main service wire and it still doesn't resolve killing the power to do the upgrades.

My thought is, that the upgrade would take at least 5 to 7 business days with no power.

What should I do?

Thanks,

Jeff

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

There isn't a main disconnect between the meter and the breaker panel right now. Location between meter and BP is over 10 ft. so I know the disconnect needs to be located by the meter.

Not necessarily. Some areas will allow 10'. Check with your local building office or POCO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

We will need to move in to the house as soon as we purchase it, so we can't be without power for more than a day, is it possible to upgrade this system without being without power for more than 24 hours? My feeling is it's impossible since I would have to draw a permit from the county before installing the 200 amp panel and the disconnect box and then have those items inspected again and be approved before contacting the power company to upgrade the incoming service wires for 200 amp (which might take them months to do the service wire upgrades). What can I do?

There are procedures to follow that avoid all this. Your POCO can tell you them.
To think you must be without power for that long due to paperwork is just silly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

A local electrical guy said to upgrade the breaker panel and disconnect first and let the power company come back later and upgrade the service wire but I'm not thinking that's too good of an idea since it could risk overloading the main service wire and it still doesn't resolve killing the power to do the upgrades.

How will it overload anything?? You are not changing the load that dramatically in that short of a time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

My thought is, that the upgrade would take at least 5 to 7 business days with no power

NO WAY! This is a 5-7 HOUR job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

What should I do?

Make some calls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stanfortyman

Not necessarily. Some areas will allow 10'. Check with your local building office or POCO.

Local code requires a disconnect at meter, if the breaker panel is more than 10 feet away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stanfortyman

How will it overload anything??? You are not changing the load that dramatically in that short of a time.

Actually, we were planning on it with a tankless water heater (elect.) and heat pump/AC. The TWH would be installed first thing and the HP/AC would come within the first 2 weeks. When we called VA power to upgrade service they gave us a range of when they might be able to do the work of... up to 3 months span. :eek:

Quote:

Originally Posted by stanfortyman

NO WAY! This is a 5-7 HOUR job.

To get a permit, schedule meter to be pulled and service feed upgraded by VA power, install disconnect and 200 amp breaker panel, schedule inspection of panel and disconnect and then have VA power come back and put meter back in... and you're telling me 5-7 hours? Wow :rolleyes:
5-7 hours I'm sure I could swap out the breaker panel with no problems but the rest of the stuff I don't see how it could be done in the same day??
I'd like to DIY everything other than the service feed and of course pulling the meter, I'll leave those to VA power.

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

To get a permit, schedule meter to be pulled and service feed upgraded by VA power,

Done ahead of time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

install disconnect and 200 amp breaker panel,

5-7 hours

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

schedule inspection of panel

Also done ahead of time. Actual inspection is done afterward.

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

disconnect and then have VA power come back and put meter back in....and you're telling me 5-7 hours?

Yup. 5-7 hours.

This is how we do it.

Sorry, but I get the impression that VA Power is not very efficient at this procedure.
Sounds like a bunch of jumping through their hoops to me.

I think that Stanfortyman has all your questions answered... now can you tell me why you want a tankless electric water heater? They use an obscene amount of energy for what you get, they are very finicky with proper water flow in order to activate them and it's unlikely you will be satisfied with the results. A well insulated tank type heater is a better way to go in many situations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Missouri Bound

I think that Stanfortyman has all your questions answered...now can you tell me why you want a tankless electric water heater? They use an obscene amount of energy for what you get, they are very finicky with proper water flow in order to activate them and it's unlikely you will be satisfied with the results. A well insulated tank type heater is a better way to go in many situations.

And on this I couldn't agree more. :cool:

Reason for the tankless system is space. Local vendors are telling me I should go with a natural gas model instead of electric but this means additional cost and with the way fuel prices are climbing, not sure I want to be locked into a gas model.

Thanks,

The gas models work very well, have installed a few. But the electric models just don't work as well, and once again they are huge energy hogs. If you must stick with electric, try to make the space for a centrally located electric tank type, Although the gas tankless is not too bad. The electric tankless ones just aren't worth the hassle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Lizard

I'd like to DIY everything other than the service feed and of course pulling the meter, I'll leave those to VA power.

Gosh, around here what we do is break the seal, pull the meter, do the work, put the meter back, and tape a note to it telling the meter reader that we had to pull the meter and please would he put a new seal on it.

It has worked every time so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldpilot

Gosh, around here what we do is break the seal, pull the meter, do the work, put the meter back, and tape a note to it telling the meter reader that we had to pull the meter and please would he put a new seal on it.

It has worked every time so far.

This is NEVER an option for a DIY!
Pulling a meter can be an easy thing of course, IF it is done correctly and with the proper safety precautions, BUT, it is usually quite illegal if done by anyone unqualified or approved.