How do I know if I have a 100 amp or a 200 amp circuit breaker?

Question

The electric company states that if I have 100 amp, I may want to switch to a 200 amp and our pool pumps would draw less power and cost less. With what I have been reading on the net, this doesn't seem to be true. It seems that the differences between the amps would just allow me to run more power in my house, not save me money on electricity costs. And with all of the electric appliances in our house, I am beginning to assume that we have a 200 amp.

Answer 1

It does not matter 100 amp or 200amp.Its not going to save any money on the light bill.

Answer 2

You would not draw any less power with a 200 as opposed to a 100.

All that breaker really cares about anyway is whether or not he is overloaded.

You can tell the size of your existing breaker by the number stamped on the switch.Good luck.

Answer 3

Normally the top breaker in your panel is the main. It will have the amperage imprinted on the handle of the breaker itself. Unless you are severely overloaded, you will not pull anymore current with 100 amp capacity, than 200 amp. The difference is the size of the input cable, and the capacity of the breaker box.  

Answer 4

Actually, there is just a bit of truth to this.  The reason has nothing to do with the breaker, but rather the wire that is used to bring power from the power company's transformer to your house.

Generally, a 100 amp service will use a smaller wire than a 200 amp service.  Smaller wire creates more resistance in the line and will cause a slight voltage drop before the power enters your house wiring.  Electrical devices use more wattage at a lower voltage than at a higher voltage.  You pay for wattage used, so increasing your voltage a bit (which will reduce the wattage required) will reduce your bill just a bit.  Unless the condition is extreme, this is not the kind of savings you would notice.

Now, the key to this is not the size of your breaker, but the size of the wire entering your house.  The electric company should know what size wire is going to your house.  It is possible that you have a 200 amp service wire even if you have a 100 amp box and breaker, in which case it would not make a difference.

If you want to check the size of your service equipment, this is very easy.  Open the door on your breaker box and look for the main breaker, usually at the top of the panel.  There should be a number on the handle indicating the rated amps.  

Answer 5

Open your electric panel where all your circuit breakers are. There should be a big one centralized at the top of the box. It will say 100 or 200. Changing a 100 amp breaker to a 200 amp breaker won't save any $ on your bill, (it's like getting bigger water pipes in your house, you will still use the same amount of water) what it will do is allow you to run more capacity through that circuit breaker. Circuit breakers are designed to protect the circuit (wires) and nothing else. So keep in mind that if you have a house with a 100 amp breaker, Your wires are sized to handle it. If you run double the amps through them, they present a fire hazard. Bottom line, if you increase the capacity of your circuit breaker, you should also increase the size of your wires. If everything in your house is working fine now without tripping breakers, leave it alone. As long as it was installed by a licensed electrician who knows this stuff. Also, voltage drop across smaller wires costs you pennies per year. It would take you a lifetime to justify paying for the upgrade.

Answer 6

having 100 amp or 200 amp makes no difference on power consumption or save you money.turning things off will save you money run your pool pump at night and put it on a timer so it comes on and goes off on its own.you can set for multiple times so you can run for a couple of hours during the day and then in the night  for a few more

Answer 7

MOST HOMES THAT ARE TOTAL ELEC. HAS 200AMP MAIN SERVICE BREAKER,DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE,BUT I DON'T THINK THAT STATEMENT WAS WELL THOUGHT.WHEN YOU RAISE/LOWER THE AMP BREAKER YOU USE AS YOUR MAIN SVC,ONLY ALLOWS THAT MUCH AMPERAGE THROUGH THAT SVC.THIS CAN BE GOOD OR BAD.IF YOU HAVE A 200 AMP BREAKER W/THE WRONG GAUGE WIRING,YOUR SETTING YOUR SELF UP FOR A FIRE.AND IF YOU HAVE A 100 AMP BREAKER WHERE YOU SHOULD HAVE A 200 AMP,YOUR GOING TO BE RESETTING THE BREAKER ALL THE TIME,DUE TO THE LOAD GOING INTO THE BOX. BUT IF YOU LOOK IN THE BOX ON THE PANEL IT SHOULD TELL YOU ALL THE INFO YOU NEED,ALSO THE BREAKER ITSELF WILL HAVE THE AMP RATING ON IT.MOST BOXES  HAVE 1 OR 200AMP BREAKER AT THE TOP,THEN 1 OR 2 BANKS OF SMALLER BREAKERS BELOW IT

(FEEDER LINES)THESE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE IMPORTANT,MAKE SURE THEY ARE GOOD AND SECURE IN THEIR SLOTS,AND THE WIRES GOING INTO THEM ARE TIGHT,ALSO MAKE SURE THE STRIPS RUNNING ALONG THE SIDE AND BOTTOM OF THE BREAKERS (COMMONS&GROUNDS) ARE TIGHT ALSO,

   IF THESE ARE ALL GOOD&TIGHT THIS WILL HELP YOU AS FAR AS YOUR PWR BILL IS CONCERNED,NOT TO MENTION KEEPING YOUR HOME FROM BURNING DOWN.EVEN MORE SO IF YOU HAVE ALUM WIRING.

Answer 8

Changing the breaker size will not alter your power consumtion. It could in fact cost you a lot of money to firsftly get the 200amp breaker installed and secondly if the cables supplying your home are not compatable with the 200amp breaker, that would cost you far more money than you are worrying about. Make sure you have your pool equipment serviced at least once per year to ensure it is running efficiently and use timers as it may be running when it doesn't have to be.