cjy (10/20/82)
The question of what your electrical service is can be easily answered by your friendly electrical utility company. You see, they ( at least in Illinois ) are responsible for your drop and will tell you what the drop wires can handle. ( The drop is the wiring from the pole or distribution point to your house ) Once you know that capacity, you can then ask a reliable electrical contractor if the wiring in your house can be used at that current level. If you don't trust anyone to tell you this, you will have to determine this on your own. To do this properly, you have to get a table of what wire guage will safely carry what current. This is found in your local wiring codes or in the national wiring code. ( The national code is usually much less restrictive than local codes, so watch it! ) You then have to determine what each circuit is wired with in your house and what you have each circuit loaded with. Then you can determine if you have any excess capacity or not. If you have excess capacity ( the drop can supply more current than you can use ) the simple addition of an additional fuse box and circuit(s) is all that is needed. If not, then you need a new drop and then you can add additional circuits. I hope this helps rather than confuses, Chuck Young .....ihps3!ihuxi!cjy P.S. I forgot to tell you that some houses are wired with main fuses which are usually located near the point where the drop enters your house. The rating on those fuses ( one for each leg of the 220v. ) will tell you the rating on the drop. The total capacity of the house is the sum of those fuses for 110v. usage only. If you have any significant usage of 220v. ( electrical range, electrical heat, large motors, etc. ) you will have to calculate each leg separately and then remember to add in the 220v. usage.