ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area arrangement of breakers

I cannot imagine it mattering.

I like to group my breakers according to function (supanels, HVAC, appliances, lighting, recepts) and leave empty spaces between functions.

I like to split up the heavy loads to reduce heating of the breakers.

5 or 6 amp lighting breakers???????????

I need to visit the Non US portion of this site!

Pat - Remember, the mains voltage is double over there.

Yep! You can actually get 3A breakers from some manufacturers now, intended for feeding dedicated circuits for smoke/intruder alarm systems and such like.

You're most welcome.......

hi,
i also divide my panels...top half for ckts coming in from above..bottom half for ckts coming in from bottom..if possible

makes a neat installation..

i hate a messy termination job!

mustang

What size wire do you run for a 3-amp dedicated circuit? Is it thicker than a human hair?

Just about....

Actually 1 sq. mm is the smallest permitted size here, equivalent to about a #17 AWG.

Sorry I don't know of any pictures of a split-bus panel I mentioned above. Perhaps a quick description would suffice.

Take a main lug panel (no main breaker at the top) and cut the bus bars in half after the 12th breaker. This allows only 6 double pole breakers at the top of the panel, thus conforming to the "six disconnect rule" in the US. One of those double pole breakers then feeds the lower half of the panel where all the single pole lighting and appliance circuits are. Hope this helps.



[This message has been edited by Pat@Amber (edited 10-15-2004).]

There's a picture of one here:
https://www.electrical-contractor.net/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000718.html