LESLIE: Sherry in Georgia is on the line with question about determining electrical service size for her home. What can we do for you?
SHERRY: I’m interested in knowing when should I look out to upgrade an electrical panel. A central heating and air unit was installed but this is an older house. And I was wondering if there’s anything I need to look out for as far as voltage or whatever.
TOM: Do you know what size your service is right now, Sherry?
SHERRY: No. But they did mention it. Before the install, they did mention that that would need to be replaced but they never replaced it.
TOM: That would be a different contractor. Well, here’s the thing – is your house heated by gas?
SHERRY: Yes.
TOM: The only appliance in your house that’s really going to be pulling a lot of power is going to be that central air-conditioning compressor. And I don’t know if you have an electric range or an electric dryer but you’d be surprised that most people would think you need a much bigger service than you actually need. If you had a 100-amp service, that would probably be big enough.
But I can’t really tell you specifically how to go about determining electrical service size because I don’t know what you have and you’re not aware of what you have. I think that maybe that’s a question that you could raise with an electrician but you don’t need a 200-amp service when you only have one air-conditioning compressor. A 16-amp even service itself, if it’s wired correctly, might be big enough.
Now, if this system was installed properly, which by that I mean has the right size breakers or fuses on the compressor itself and every other wire that’s in that panel then – and you’re not having any issues, you’re not blowing circuits right and left, you’re probably OK. But I would want to find that out from an electrician to go about determining electrical service size, not just the HVAC contractor that was trying to sell you the system.
Alright, Sherry?
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