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seperating a 3-apt unit at main 200amp load center

2K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  jrdplowing 
#1 ·
i have a request to identify and seperate 3-apt units that are now all in 1 200amp load center, can i remove main feed and reinstall in main disconect, and then feed to 3 seperate load centers,basicaly they want to make it easier if one or the other units trip a breaker. and they do not want to run a seperate meter for each unit,thanks for any info
 
#2 ·
Best of luck with that. It's highly unlikely, (borderline for-sure) that there will be circuits that serve more than one unit. There's generally a lot of re-wiring and re-feeding for cases like that. Figure your price for rewiring the whole building, multiply by about 75%, and that will be roughly your costs.
 
#3 ·
like md said , if one or more of the units does not share a circuit not a problem. but if it does it will be a big problem.is this a house that has been divided into 3 seperate apts?if so what md said will apply.otherwise i belive they can be seperated. who will pay the bill? this could get tricky , because there is no way to tell who uses what with out seperate metering, & then in someplace's it is not allowed.just my 2 cents.:whistling2:
 
#4 ·
Wouldn't it be smarter, if you were to go through all that trouble, to have each apartment on their own meter? + Owner's meter/panel. I know they said they didn't want that but I would make sure they haven't lost their mind, it is far easier to have the POCO to deal with the tenants haha
 
#8 ·
thanks for info,they are not worrying about who pays what and what for,they just want to make it easier to reset a tripped breaker, ie if apt 1 trips a breaker they can go to apt 1 panel and reset breaker, instead of the way it is now, all in 1 panel with umptien breakers in it, i think about 40, going to look at in the next couple of days,would my original idea still be feasible,thanks again
 
#9 ·
Well, I can understand wanting to separate the circuits to each apartment, but a tenant finding a tripped breaker in a large panel is probably the worst argument. Just look for, wait or it......the tripped breaker....

Regarding your plan, yes, that'll work. Meter to main disconnect to three subpanels.
 
#10 ·
thanks craigv, but if someone is unfamialiar with a certain load center and trying to reset there own tripped breaker,finding it in a large load center can be confusing, or mistakingly resetting a posible turned off breaker and having to still figure out the correct breaker to reset, i know i can do it blinfolded but most people cant, i believe this is all they are trying to acomplish,thanks again,JRD
 
#11 ·
I can't imagine why it would be difficult to find the tripped breaker in a large panel but somehow any easier in a smaller one. If someone can't discern off from tripped, they can't do it. Shouldn't matter how many breakers are in a row.

But there are other good reasons to separate the units' electrical systems. I agree that the problem of multiple units sharing a common circuit is going to be the biggest problem, as others have pointed out already.
 
#13 ·
I do this a lot, I add a sub panel in each unit and refeed local circuits. I deaden any feeds exiting their realm. I repeat the process in other units until all are fed. I run 60 amp sub feeders back to main disconnects or in your case , panel.
 
#14 ·
hay shockdoc i think that is a great idea,to give them their panel in there own unit,actually the customer was never even requiring that,he was just going to put separate load centers in the same basement area as the 1-common panel,basically to avoid confusion between the 3 units,but i will discus this with him when i get over there,not many people doing much yet,because of the 50 below zero temps in the area right now,thanks,JRD
 
#16 ·
The worst one I ever encountered must have been wired by someone high on the pipe in a up/down apartment house, they brought the circuit to the second floor, hit about 6 points, then dropped to the first floor, hitting another 6 points, thankfully there were only 6 circuits wired this way but it ate more wire than I estimated to refeed the first floor.
 
#18 ·
hay thanks agan,just talked to him a little more today,he does not want them to have there own panel in there unit,but realy trying to identify all circuits first,and goint to think if there is a future need for extra meters
That makes a little more sense. I'm not sure what the profit would be in separating them into unit-specific panels would be if they weren't also going to separately meter them. Seems like a ton of wasted money. BUT.... I've always supported the customer's right to want something dumb. Draw me a picture of what you want on the back of a big enough check, and we'll make it happen.
 
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