Can't decide 100 amp or 200

[Rick]

I'm hoping you can help or suggest. I'm having a new house built and I
can't decide how big the service should be 100 or 200 amp.
I have
Gas furnace
Gas water heater
Gas stove
I have a small hobby woodworking shop with several small tools and an
arcwelder
we have an electric clothing dryer and central air.
Can I get away with a 100 amp service

Thanks Guys for any suggestions
Rick

 

[Joshua K Drumeller]

How many of these things are you going to be running at one time? It
wouldn't hurt to have a 200 amp if you want. it might cost more to install
though. But probably a 100 is all you need unless your going to have
everything running at once. If you want to get more precise just add up all
the power used by each lightbulb, appliance, radio, TV , etc. take into
account what will be running and when and estimate from there.

Josh

 

[Robert Monsen]

Josh -

Now is not the time for Rick to "cheap out". If he can afford to build a
new house, he can certainly afford the relatively minor differential cost
between 100 / 200 amp service because he really has no way of anticipating
what his future needs will be (baby, additions, changeover from gas to
electric, blah...blah.

Yep. Another thing to consider is to wire all the rooms with CAT 5 or CAT 6,
cable, telephone, etc. Its far more expensive and painful to do it later.

 

[Jim Large]

How many of these things are you going to be
running at one time? It wouldn't hurt to have
a 200 amp if you want. it might cost more to
install though. But probably a 100 is all you
need unless your going to have everything
running at once.

Sounds good in theory, but then there's the
electrical code to deal with. You can't get a
100A panel with more than a certain number of
breaker slots. If you want more than that
many branch circuits, then you'll have to get
a bigger (150A or 200A) panel. Doesn't matter
if the only electrical appliance you ever plan
to own is a 7 1/2 Watt night light.

Oh, and of course, there's some maximum number
of outlets per branch circuit (varies depending
on what kind of room (kitchen, bedroom, bathroom)
the circuit supplies; and there's a *MINIMUM*
number of outlets per room. This also varies
based on room type, but basically, there isn't
supposed to be anyplace you could put a lamp or
an appliance that's more than so-many feet from
the nearest outlet (e.g., six feet along a
bedroom wall, or two feet along a kitchen
countertop.)

I'd bet that a lot of McMansions under
construction today would be illegal with
anything less than 200A service.

-- Jim L.

 

[Bob Masta]

Josh -

Now is not the time for Rick to "cheap out". If he can afford to build a
new house, he can certainly afford the relatively minor differential cost
between 100 / 200 amp service because he really has no way of anticipating
what his future needs will be (baby, additions, changeover from gas to
electric, blah...blah.

Some future "needs" can be rather exorbitant power hogs, like
an electric pottery kiln, for example. I'd go with 200.


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
Shareware from Interstellar Research
www.daqarta.com

 

[Wade Hassler]

I'm hoping you can help or suggest. I'm having a new house built and I
can't decide how big the service should be 100 or 200 amp.
I have
Gas furnace
Gas water heater
Gas stove
I have a small hobby woodworking shop with several small tools and an
arcwelder
we have an electric clothing dryer and central air.
Can I get away with a 100 amp service

Thanks Guys for any suggestions
Rick

The price difference is so small: get a 200A service.
People are constantly deciding to increase their service size, never
to decrease it.
When I did this kind of work, it was necessary to give a plausible
story to the utility (PG&E) about why you needed a bigger service and
that story was usually " a heat pump to be installed later."
Wade Hassler