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Electric Panel Capacity

 
 
Reply Sun 5 Jun, 2016 04:58 am
Hello, I just bought a home and an electrician is telling me that I need to upgrade my electrical panel because it almost half full of tandem breakers. There is also a sub-panel installed next to the main panel.

Are tandem breakers dangerous in the home? He said it would full too much power and potentially damage the entire panel.
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Type: Question • Score: 2 • Views: 1,073 • Replies: 4
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dalehileman
 
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Reply Mon 6 Jun, 2016 11:07 am
@JasonLeeMorgan,
Eng, what's a tandem breaker
My guess: a breaker whose input is from the output of another breaker

...in which case I don't see anything wrong with the practice as long as nothing gets overloaded. But the necessary calculations could be overwhelming
engineer
 
  1  
Reply Mon 6 Jun, 2016 12:36 pm
@dalehileman,
A tandem breaker is something that is made to fit into a standard breaker slot, but it has two breakers in it. If your panel is full up, you can use one to create another circuit and there is nothing inherently wrong with doing this if you follow local rules. (Read more here.) Hard to argue with an electrician who has seen the panel when I have not, but I don't think you could "pull too much power and potentially damage the entire panel" since the master house breaker would trip before you did that. You might want to have a home inspector look at your setup and tell you if you meet code for your area.
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dalehileman
 
  -1  
Reply Fri 10 Jun, 2016 11:14 am
@JasonLeeMorgan,
Jason do hear Eng, quite a remarkable fella
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costamesael
 
  0  
Reply Wed 16 Mar, 2022 02:20 am
Tandem breakers are safe and legal to use only when the panel is designed for them and only in the slots that accept tandem breakers.
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