Electric panel feed from meter (hope this is succinct enough)
#11
Understand I live in the township and in Ohio that means there is little or no electrical code enforcement; often even by the providers. So, my last house had a 200 amp meter, and then had the proper size wire feeding the main house panel which was a 200 amp panel. Then there was a second feed from the meter going to the panel in the detached garage and it's 100 amp panel. If you're going to ask me specifics about the 2 wires feeding from the meter, don't....I have no idea since it was the electric co op that told me it was wired that way. They were calibrating the meter when they saw it. Anyway, I didn't think much of it, the builder was a local HVAC/electrical contractor and i just figured he did it on his own. Anyway, 2 weeks ago we were looking at another house, and it was wired the exact same way...200 amp meter feeding a 200 amp panel in the house and a 100 panel in the garage, same electric co op as well. The owner told me he had it wired that way when it was built 5 years ago. So, my question: is this a practice that is not that uncommon? I ask because we have bought another house and I want to build a shop there with it's own panel.....if we can put it on the meter it would be a lot easier. the supplier in this case isn't that co op, but rather a larger commercial electric utility.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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#12
Fred, in my opinion, if the panel for the garage/shop is more than a few feet ( 5 ?, I don't have a code book here ) from the meter you should install a breaker/fuse disconnect switch near the meter, and it should be labeled. This would be good for you as it would give you a means to disconnect the feed to the shop when you want to work on the sub-panel. It is also required for fire protection so that first responders would have a way to disconnect the loads when pulling the meter. I would favor two breakers, one for the house panel, ( if it's not in sight of the meter) and one for the shop panel, both labeled.
Bob
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#13
So I guess 2 feeds from the meter is OK? I'll keep the disconnect in mind as we get closer to actually doing something (which may be several months away) but feeding from the meter would be easier than running a feed from the main panel.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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#14
Fred, electrically it's OK. But most residential meter bases will only accommodate one set of cables going in and one going out. But to physically make the connection, you will probably have to install a small trough/wireway, and two circuit breaker switches to actually do the wiring. I would talk to a local commercial electrical supply house to see what they have available. I don't recall seeing anything like this at a big box store.
Bob
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#15
I would not do it. Not done here in the east. My question would be is the service large enough for 2 main panels. The probability of loading both panels to max is remote but the possibility is still there. Just seems odd at best. Good luck.
John T.
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#16
Thanks, this will be done by licensed electricians...I won't do this kind of stuff...besides they would need to break the seal to access the meter base (if it's OK to do). But it surprised me to see it more than once in my area, OTOH...there's a lot of odd things done out in the country you might see in an urban dwelling.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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#17
I would not do it this way either. I'd have the 100 amp fed by a 100 amp breaker in the 200 amp main panel. This way the 200 amp main disconnect shuts down the whole works.
WoodNET... the new safespace
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#18
In our last house I didn't see any disadvantage to having the subpanel pulled form the meter....though I'm still not sure why they did it that way. A complete shut down meant you had to throw the switches in 2 panels instead of one, and in the 22 years we lived there I don't think that was ever an issue. In the future, should this come to pass the advantage would be easier access to the power feed for the new building...just running from the meter on the side of the house would be easier (a little) than running from the house main panel. I don't see any disadvantage to it as long as it's otherwise allowed and legal.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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#19
fredhargis said:


In our last house I didn't see any disadvantage to having the subpanel pulled form the meter....though I'm still not sure why they did it that way. A complete shut down meant you had to throw the switches in 2 panels instead of one, and in the 22 years we lived there I don't think that was ever an issue. In the future, should this come to pass the advantage would be easier access to the power feed for the new building...just running from the meter on the side of the house would be easier (a little) than running from the house main panel. I don't see any disadvantage to it as long as it's otherwise allowed and legal.




Well, your feeder wire to the sub panel is not protected by a breaker in that case. Pity the errant nail that shorts that run.
WoodNET... the new safespace
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#20
fredhargis said:


In our last house I didn't see any disadvantage to having the subpanel pulled form the meter....though I'm still not sure why they did it that way. A complete shut down meant you had to throw the switches in 2 panels instead of one, and in the 22 years we lived there I don't think that was ever an issue. In the future, should this come to pass the advantage would be easier access to the power feed for the new building...just running from the meter on the side of the house would be easier (a little) than running from the house main panel. I don't see any disadvantage to it as long as it's otherwise allowed and legal.





I pointed out a disadvantage. That meter and that service wire was sized for the 200 amp panel. With your point, what is it to keep from putting another 200 amp panel on there or even a third one. I can not see how this is legal. Heck you get someone to come in and tap the meter and they steal your power. Never heard this before. All I can say is good luck. Make sure you tell us what the electrician says and also the inspector if they have them out there. Just curious.
John T.
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