|
Overloading the main panel?
Possibly, but I doubt it.
If you did overload the
panel, the main breaker would trip. I have NEVER seen a main
breaker trip.
It's not the number of
circuit breakers, or the number of sub-panels, that overloads
a system. It's the electrical devices you use. If you
installed a big central air conditioner, an extra electric
water heater, an extra electric stove, a big air compressor,
and a welder, and then used them all at once, you MIGHT be
able to trip the main breaker.
I once lived in a house that
had a 100 Amp main breaker. In that panel was a 100 Amp
breaker that fed a sub-panel, and two 50 Amp breakers each
feeding sub-panels, plus a 20 Amp breaker for the well pump.
Never had a problem. I can't say that all the wiring was code
approved. The 100 Amp sub-panel was, as far as I could tell, a
way to "extend" the physical size of the main panel.
I don't know if the installer was an electrician or not.
In my first house I had a 100
Amp main panel and I installed a 50 Amp sub-panel, permitted
and inspected. The inspector had no problems with the
arrangement. He did comment that my approach was good because
the main panel was quite far from the kitchen, and my
sub-panel was right below the new kitchen addition, so the
runs of cable were kept short.
Of course, you SHOULD get a
permit for a sub-panel, if your state allows you to do your
own wiring. (To the governments of those states that don't
allow homeowners to do their own wiring... you people are
fascists!)
It sounds like you are on the
right track, but I encourage you to do more research. I've
been recommending books published by Taunton
Press, because they are aimed at professionals and are
generally very good books.
Bruce W. Maki, Editor.
|
