ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Need a new 200 amp service?

Hi, My wife and I recently bought an older home that needs work. The previous owner had installed a new 200 amp panel, but left the power service at 1000 amp with the old ground. We had an electrician in and he recommended that we update the service to 200 amp and put in a new ground system to bring the ground to code.

My wife wants to know why we should spend the money to upgrade. Is it safer? Will the new ground system improve the plugs that are grounded? Will it effect the circuits that are not grounded? Does the new service require changing any of the old wires? Is the upgrade more just to add capacity to the house systems or are there other benifits? (We actually want to reduce the load in that we are getting rid of the electric stove. Would like to get a tankless propane water heater, etc.)

What would happen if we did exceed 100 amps in our current configuration?
Thanks!
David.

A new grounding system may help the circuits that are already grounded,i.e. for electronics such as computers. The only way to ground ungrounded receptacles is to rewire them with new NM that has a ground in the cable. A 200 Amp upgrade does add capacity for the house. If 100 Amps is exceeded there could be some problems with the wire getting hot. If the panel has beeen upgraded why not go ahead and upgrade the service?! Sounds like it might be a good time to update all the wiring in the house. It won't be cheap but check with insurance about any benefits to upgrading the wiring, such as reduced rates, some co's in my area will lower rates if the house has been brought up to current code.

[This message has been edited by spkjpr (edited 08-14-2002).]