Up next in 10
SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/BLRchannel
WATCH MY POPULAR VIDEO: How to Cut Perfect Miter Joints
https://youtu.be/0wnjJ-Xi5FU
WATCH MORE BAILEY LINE ROAD:
Winter Tips - https://bit.ly/2rpnUcm
Product Tours - https://bit.ly/2L2H54Q
Woodworking - https://bit.ly/2RN83jC
Real Rural Life - https://bit.ly/2RI5dvY
CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE: https://baileylineroad.com/
My Cabin Building Course: https://baileylineroad.com/cozy-cabin/
How-To & DIY eBooks: https://baileylineroad.com/shop/
SOCIAL MEDIA:
http://bit.ly/STEVEMyoutube
http://bit.ly/STEVEMfacebook
http://bit.ly/STEVEMtwitter
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
In this video I want to give you the basics of what's behind an electric service panel
0:06
No matter how you finish your basement, you're going to have to tie into power somewhere
0:11
Even if you're just installing lights and plugs. You'll also need to tie in if you want to power a stove or a washer or dryer, any of those things
0:19
So this is where that power comes from. Now what I'm going to be telling you here is certainly not going to equip you to do electrical work in your home
0:30
But it might be the start. An understanding of how an electrical panel works is the foundation for actually developing the skills to do your own wiring
0:42
But even if you have no intention to do wiring, you're going to want to know how this works so that you can hire someone intelligently
0:50
So, there are different brands of panels like this. But essentially what a panel does is it takes an incoming feed of power
1:02
There are some big wires in this pipe here. And it splits that up, divides it up into different circuits
1:10
So incoming power here, and then all of these wires go to different circuits
1:17
So this might be a bunch of plugs. It could be some lights. If you look here on these stickers, this tells you where everything goes
1:26
You probably know all this already, but maybe not what's going on behind the scenes
1:31
And it's important to understand what's going on behind the scenes so you can do your basement properly
1:37
So I'm going to take off the cover. Don't try this at home unless you know what you're doing
1:43
And we'll take a look inside. So here are those incoming power cables I was telling you about
2:00
And they connect to this, what's called a breaker. A breaker is two things. It's a switch, so you can shut power off
2:11
And then it's also a device that reacts to the amount of current, the flow rate of electricity through it
2:19
and will automatically shut itself off if the current exceeds the capacity of the wire to carry that current
2:29
So this breaker here would be considered the main breaker of the panel
2:34
It's kind of like the gatekeeper. The main power feed comes in here, and that main power energizes contacts in the middle of the panel
2:44
that provide power for all these smaller breakers. So the big power feed's coming in, and then it's like the trunk of the tree
2:52
And then all these smaller breakers are like branches leading off and feeding the different circuits
3:02
So as I said, the amperage rating of the breaker needs to match the capacity of the cable
3:10
So these cables that are coming in, main feed, this happens to be a 100 amp panel
3:18
So you see 100 amps there on this big main breaker. These other breakers are smaller, and the amperage rating of the breaker must be sized to the wires that it's feeding
3:34
So here, this is a 20 amp double breaker, so there's two circuits here
3:40
And a 20 amp breaker is what you want for protecting number 12 cable
3:49
So further up here we have, this is a 15. A 15 amp breaker is what you need to protect a 14 gauge cable
3:58
And so you go all up here, and you'll see all these different sizes, and it relates to wires
4:03
Like for instance, here, this breaker is handling, is protecting, distributing power to and protecting this cable here
4:12
which is a number 14. This breaker, this is a double 30 amp breaker
4:19
It's handling, it's providing power to and protecting a number 10 cable, which is here, you can see that that's bigger
4:28
Connected to all these breakers are different things. This panel happens to be in my workshop
4:36
So in a sense, it's a satellite panel that comes off of my house panel
4:41
My house panel is where the other end of these wires go
4:47
But it's going to be the same situation at your place. Now, there are different regulations about what you can have connected to these things
4:56
Like for instance, if I have a 15 amp circuit, and it's powering some lights
5:02
there are a maximum number of lights that you can put on that circuit
5:07
And the same with plug outlets. Big things like a circuit for a stove, this 40 amp circuit here for a stove
5:16
There can't be anything else on that circuit. That's got to be a dedicated circuit
5:20
The same with outside outlets. They have to be on their own circuit as well
5:27
So the question, the first question you have to ask when you're starting
5:33
when you're deciding about finishing your basement, as far as the electrical goes, is does my existing panel have the capacity to provide these additional circuits
5:43
And that capacity question really has two facets. I mean, the first question is, is there physically space for me to add more circuits
5:54
So if you look here, this is the cover that I took off
5:58
And you can see here, what is it? There's only one more space
6:04
There's only space for one. Well, actually, for two. If I get this style of breaker here that has two breakers in one, essentially
6:12
I could get two circuits here. But that's it. Everything else is occupied in the panel
6:19
Which means that if your panel looks like this in your basement now
6:24
then you are going to have to have a second panel installed
6:28
just simply to provide more physical space for more breakers. That's one thing you're going to have to watch for
6:35
There's another thing, too. There are two ways that an electrical system can run out of capacity for additional stuff
6:43
like you might want to have in your basement. One is that there's no space, no physical space in the panel for more breakers
6:49
The other is that there's no more capacity in the wires coming into your house
6:56
And that can be a limiting factor that's a little harder to determine
7:01
Because if you think about it, you're not using all of your things at once. You're not using all electrical items in your house at once
7:07
So how do you know whether you're exceeding the capacity of your whole system
7:13
That's something that you could get an electrician to help you with. But if you do hire an electrician and he says
7:19
well, we've got to replace your whole electrical service because your current service doesn't have enough capacity
7:26
that's true. That could be true in your case. So if you have an older electrical panel, a lot of older systems were 60 amp, 50 amp
7:38
If that's what you've got in your house, then you probably need to upgrade your whole electrical service
7:44
in order to get a panel with at least 100 amps of capacity, like this one
7:50
Or better yet, 200 amps of capacity. And in order to do that, you're not just adding a second panel
7:58
You're actually replacing these wires with wires that are bigger, that feed a panel that is not only physically large
8:08
but has a breaker to protect those wires and the whole shebang will provide enough electricity for you
8:17
So if you just need another panel, that's pretty easy. You just get another box like this
8:23
You mount it on the wall beside it. You connect one panel to the other with some fairly heavy cable
8:30
and then you go on and you install your circuits and go from there
8:34
If you need to replace your electrical service because it's old or undersized
8:38
then this whole panel will have to be replaced and all these circuits temporarily removed from the panel
8:46
a new panel installed, and new wires, new cables that go right back to the electrical utility supply
8:53
typically at the road feeding your house. So those are the two scenarios
8:59
and it's good that you understand what the possibilities are. You may have an electrical panel that has plenty of room and plenty of capacity
9:07
in which case you're away to the races. You just need to add your additional circuits
9:11
But that might not necessarily be the case. So just before I button things up here
9:16
I want to give you some things to think about as far as possibly doing your own electrical work
9:23
I'm not a trained electrician. I have installed three or four electrical services over the years
9:31
and I've done this by studying. There's actually quite a lot of material out there
9:38
that will tell you everything you need to know about installing an electrical service properly
9:43
right from pole to finished plug outlets. Now, in almost every part of the world
9:50
you are free as the homeowner to do that. I can't go and install an electrical service
9:56
or do any electrical work for someone else, not officially anyway, but you're completely allowed to do that on your own
10:03
and all of your work needs to be inspected anyway, so there's no risk
10:09
Well, I mean, you could electrocute yourself if you started to hook it up wrong
10:13
but I'm just saying in terms of the quality of the installation
10:17
I as a homeowner need to take out an electrical permit just like a professional electrician would
10:23
and that means that I have to have several inspections during the course of the work
10:29
So there would be the rough-in inspection where the cables would be laid
10:34
but there's no power to the system. There's another inspection, at least where I live
10:40
This is the way it works when everything's closed in but not completely finished
10:44
And then there's a final inspection where the guy will come around
10:48
and he'll look at every plug and every switch, and he'll look at your panel
10:52
and make sure everything is just the way it's supposed to be. But my message to you is that
10:58
you may well be capable of doing this yourself because as complicated as this looks
11:02
it's not that intellectually complicated. You're dealing with two hot feeds, 120 volts each
11:11
and a neutral, and that kind of provides the basis for the installation
11:16
So consider doing the work yourself if you have a little more time than money
11:21
and you'd like to economize. And if you don't want to do that
11:26
then at least you know what this box is and what it does
#Electricity
#Electronics & Electrical
#Power Supplies
#Home Appliances
#Home Improvement
#Construction & Power Tools