Chief Rick Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Was told today that when running circuits to a power distribution panel the two sides of the panel should have evenly distributed amp draws. Otherwise, a panel with uneven distribution would use more electricity than a panel with equal distribution. Can any one verify or refute this claim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Rich Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 (edited) Yep its true. Should be balanced as close as possible to keep the usage from both sides at the same time as close as possible. kR Edited December 15, 2016 by Kid Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickel City Dude Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 On all the pannels that I have worked on if you go down one collum the buss will alternate between them. So you should go all the way down one colum before you move to the next one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 On all the pannels that I have worked on if you go down one collum the buss will alternate between them. So you should go all the way down one colum before you move to the next one. they do that so you can get your 220s, range, water pump, dryer, A/C. As to which leg draws more current, that's a bit random. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 (edited) If you look at an empty UNPOWERED breaker panel you will see that every other breaker in a vertical row are on the same leg of the power feed. It is common practice to balance the printed current draw on each leg so that they are approximately the same. In actual practice the legs will always be unbalanced as you may not be using some circuits while other circuits are at near maximum. A panel with uneven current draw is the norm and you will not use more or less electricity. The meter on the outside of your home/business measures the current draw on each leg/phase separately and will read the same if you are using 50 amps on phase A only or if you are using 25 amps on phase A and 25 amps on phase B. Your bill will be exactly the same. Edited December 15, 2016 by Ace_of_Hearts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 The breakers are alternated so you can use double breakers. Otherwise you can't easily get 240V circuits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 If you look at an empty UNPOWERED breaker panel you will see that every other breaker in a vertical row are on the same leg of the power feed. It is common practice to balance the printed current draw on each leg so that they are approximately the same. In actual practice the legs will always be unbalanced as you may not be using some circuits while other circuits are at near maximum. A panel with uneven current draw is the norm and you will not use more or less electricity. The meter on the outside of your home/business measures the current draw on each leg/phase separately and will read the same if you are using 50 amps on phase A only or if you are using 25 amps on phase A and 25 amps on phase B. Your bill will be exactly the same. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 When drawing power form the utility grid, balancing is only required with large 3 phase loads. Balancing the voltage supplied to each leg of a 3 phase motor will make it run more efficiently which means it will use less total power. 99.99% of residential service in the US does not have 3 phase power. Only ones I have ever seen were large farms and the 3 phase was to support the farm and not the house. Your meter reads actual usage as a sum total of the power drawn. The meter doesn't care if one leg draws more than another. If you are running a 3 phase generator there is benefit to having reasonably balanced loading but that is a completely different situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kajun Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 (edited) Power consumed is the same irregardless which leg of the 240v 3 wire service it comes from. And as has been stated the electric meter used by power companies, including the one I work for, will aggregate the power running through the meter regardless of which leg it comes from. This is for single phase service. As has also been stated, this would be the same for a three phase service as well. And yes, three phase devices, particularly motors and control circuits are a little more efficient when the voltages are the same all all three legs but they will normally run well unless there is an extreme difference between phases. It is possible to have one leg so heavily loaded that the voltage on the leg may be too low and a motor controller would see it as a low voltage problem and either trip out or fail to actually start a motor. Kajun Edited December 15, 2016 by Krazy Kajun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Was told today that when running circuits to a power distribution panel the two sides of the panel should have evenly distributed amp draws. Otherwise, a panel with uneven distribution would use more electricity than a panel with equal distribution. Can any one verify or refute this claim? Are you asking about commercial 3 phase, or single phase residential? Have to know that before correct answer can be given. OLG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Rick Posted December 16, 2016 Author Share Posted December 16, 2016 Are you asking about commercial 3 phase, or single phase residential? Have to know that before correct answer can be given. OLG Single phase residential. It didn't make sense to me but hey - I'm no electrician. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Res.... I wouldn't worry about 'balance'. You'll run out of panel first-LOL OLG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Top Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Chief Rick, The reason that they state try to balance the load on a residental panel is the Neutral will carry the unbalanced load, so if you have 60 amps on one phase and 30 amps on the other the neutral is would have a load of 30 amps. It gets much worse with three phase. Which is why the neutral must be the same wire size as the feeder wires. I can go in to more detail if you wish but it makes my brain hurt also. Old Top (electrician for about 40 yrs) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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