breaker panel advice needed

[jvtran]

I have a new house just 4 months old. It is a ranch style with unfinished basemetn. I plan on finishing a bedroom, bathroom, utility room, and rec room. Problem is the builder/electrician put in a breaker panel and the panel is totally full of breakers for the rest of the house. The slots that could accept double circuits already have double circuits breakers in place.

Since I have a whole basement to power, what are my options?

Is a subpanel/buddy box/load center an option? If so, how is the power fed from the main panel to this sub panel?

I don’t know of any other option. The main panel now is a Siemans brand

Please help….

-James

[HayZee518]

A sub panel seems proper. Get a Main Lug panel and a double pole 60 amp breaker that'll fit your siemans panel. Get a 1 1/2 inch steel pipe nipple, four 1 1/2 inch locknuts and two 1 1/2 inch plastic bushings. Get XX # feet - #6THW - copper. Get an aux grounding bar for the new panel. Once you get everything installed remove two breakers and put in the double 60. Wire two wires from the breaker to the main lugs (new panel) Run a wire to the neutral bus and another to the aux ground bar. Put white tape on the neutral going to the neutral in the sub. Either bare the whole length of the cable going to the aux gnd bus or use green tape on it - both ends. Put this on the neutral strip - main panel.
The two wires you remove off the two seperate breakers, splice a length of black romex onto it and feed through nipple to new panel and terminate at a breaker. Same with the other one.

[jvtran]

Thanks for the info. I decided to take off the front panel of my main breaker panel yesterday and found another option i think might work. tell me if this one is ok to do and is it code?

There are 2 screw lugs after the 125 amp Main Breaker and before the rest of the breakers for the house. It looks as if Siemans designed this main panel to allow someone to take a feed after the main 125 AMP breaker to feed into a sub panel.see my diagram below. will this setup work and is it code? will i run into and problems?


http://www.homerepairforum.com/images/uploads/2004-10-19_panel10-19-04_w550.bmp[/img]

[HayZee518]

OK, looks good! doublecheck and see if you have 220 at these terminals.

[HayZee518]

Turn off the main before you make any connections in the main panel and doublecheck for zero volts before you attach wire to the terminals.

[kactuskid]

Here's a link that'll help in installing your sub panel. Make sure that the ground bar and the neutral bus bar in your subpanel are totally separate.

http://www.electrical-online.com/howtoarticles/subpanel.htm

[jvtran]

thanks everyone for the help

[jvtran]

Now the city inspector says that taking power right after the main breaker is not code. is this true?

does anyone know a website to research Siemens Breakers/Panels

[HayZee518]

If there are lugs after the main breaker then it is ok to hitch up there. Nothing is being cobbed. Being 125 amps for a main you'll need 4 - #1 copper THW wire.

[jvtran]

ok, thanks Hayzee518

[Kidd6488]

If his main breaker is 125A, should he consider re-calculating his total load demand (or whatever it's called), for all the new circuits? He is adding quite a few new rooms, and such.


~Jonathon Reinhart

[HayZee518]

I wouldn't worry about it unless he's putting in electric baseboard heat. Regular power and lighting isn't going to draw close to the capacity of the main.