John T,,

NEXT FIRST THING lol you gotta get the utility out to check the meter base n service entrance, they ought to do that for free versus you hiring an electrician, you may have a fault or a bad neutral connection or something after that storm, or maybe the problems out on the pole or pad mount, again the utility's responsibiity????? ?????

NOWWWWW WWW heres the deal on Panelboards.... If you have say a main 100 amp panel with a 100 amp main breaker,,,, the typically largest branch circuit breaker would be maybe 70 amps or so NOT 100 THE SIZE OF THE MAIN. Similar, if you have a 200 amp panel with a 200 amp main breaker, then you could indeed use a 100 or 120 amp or larger (as required but still as upper limited by the panelboard) branch circuit breaker to feed that furnace.

MY QUESTION IS how you gonna get the feeder wires from the pole transformer or pad mount for that "Extra 100 amp service" you want ??? Around here if youre alllll ll electric the utility will furnish n trench the wires from the transformer to the meter base but if not youuuuu uu furnish n run the wires from the transformer. Regardless who does it, youre gonna need aeiral twisted triplex or UF twisted triplex from the utility transformer but again, I dont see them liking youre hanging on 2 meter bases THEY ARE WHO DRIVES ALL THESE QUESTIONS

SUMMARY Have the utility out to check that problem,,,,, ,,,, ask if they are willing to furnish you another seperate 100 amp (or larger if needed) service from their transformer (regardless who runs the wire),,,,, ,,,,if NOT then you gotta break down n upgrade the wires n meter base n service entrance panel to 200 amps and sub feed the furnace with a 100 or 120 or so amp branch circuit breaker,,,,, ,,,If they ARE willing to let you run another 100 amp service from their transformer, see who has to furnish the wires and who has to run it .... In that situation you would need a utility provided meter base,,,,, ,a main service entrance disconnect (within 10 feet from entrance) and/or service entrance panelboard. I kinda see the 100 amp furnace service as a main breaker ONLY not any panelboard right????? ??

NOTE if 100 amps is in doubt, you can always run a 150 amp service for the furnace you know!!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!!

FINALLYYYYY YY if they say "Hey no problem" heres a 100 amp meter base (or larger) so have at running the wires to our transformer and after inspecting the service entrance we will connect it..... MY QUESTION IS will that 100 amps suffice to feed that furnace WITHOUT tripping the 100 amp breaker??? As far as wire size, if its a long run and/or theres a problem tripping a 100 amp breaker on start up, to reduce voltage drop I would use a wire size LARGER like maybe 1 Gauge Copper (but wire sizing depends on in free air or raceways etc etc) ALSO AGAIN, you could run 150 amps service n bigger wires for the furnace. As my fellow EE friend Gerald points out, the NEC wire sizes are a minimum, so if voltage drops or long runs are a problem RUN LARGER WIRE NO PROBLEMMMMM MMMMM..... ...

Around here and based on my experience an ALL ELECTRIC home ESPECIALLY if an electric resistive furnace NOT a heat pump or geo thermal, a 200 amp service is like the minimum, how you get by with 100 amps ifffff the furnace is straight electric resistive????? You have a resistive electric furnace right????? ?? With only a 100 amp service it seems questionable you could run a pure resistive electric furnace (NOT heat pump/geothermal) in an alllll l electric home..... .....

DISCLAIMER I been longgggg ggg retired as an electrical design engineer and am rustyyyyy on the NEC and am tooooo oo lazy to look up wire sizes etc lol sooooo ooo dont bet your life on any of this versus what a current practicing electrician or engineer might tell you buttttt ttttt tt regardless, its really what the Utility Provider tells you that counts, they will NOT hook up unless n until it meets THEIR requiremets as far as wire size n 100 or 150 amp service n seperate services etc sooooo ooooo CHECK WITH THEM FIRSTTTTT TTTTT

Still hope this helps provide some basic guidance, best wishes, God Bless, stay safeeeee

John T Nordhoff in Indiana long retired EE

As far as energy savings, its wasted energy to heat (I squared R losses) when theres heavy current and/or undersized wires so trying to balance the Phase A and B loads in all that mess and big wires can help to some extent. Im unsure if or how your utility may or may not penalize you for a poor power factor from big motor loads but if its an issue, they make power factor correction capacitors you know. The pure resistive furnace, however, is NOT a problem there.

Let us know

John T

• Hobby farm

Whether a marginally larger breaker can be put in the box depends on the maker and part number for the box. Some makes can, some can't. Often the lowest bid box is compact and doesn't have room for bending larger conductors into place. And that problem is made worse by using aluminum wire since copper is probably not affordable these days.

Electrically, running a separate line from the pole (with its own breaker) for the furnace would work but I don't think its NEC approved because it would be safer for the house to have only one disconnect. And at the pole the power company needs to have 200 amp meter loop and enough transformer to support that load.

Having larger wires will get more of the energy you pay for to the house instead of warming outdoors with power lost in the wires and for thermostatically controlled loads like furnace, oven, and water heater may reduce the energy costs a couple percent. But not enough that you can prove it in the noise of variations in use brought about by weather.

The minimum wire size needed depends on the length of the service run, but there's nothing wrong with going a size larger if it will fit the conduit and the lugs on the breakers and you can afford it.

Gerald J, electrical engineer

So whats your problem with the power bill? Sound pretty good to me.I personally think you dont have a big enough service for a totally electric home.(Not bashing on you at all,just donr see what he complaint is on the power bill)

My bills (one coop and one investor owned utility) are separated into an equipment charge and an energy charge. The equipment charge is the rent on the transformer, power lines, meter, and power plant fraction, while the energy charge is only for the energy used. At the farm, my outside light quit working and the energy part of the bill went to nearly zero while the fixed costs remained the same.

You have a connection actually wanting THREE services. One for the bins (to make their cost easily deducted), one for the house, and a third for the heat, each with a separate meter. In some utilities (my coop for one) running the heat on a separate meter gets a better rate. A significantly better rate. Ask your utility about their electricc heat rate. My coop has a couple, better if you have a back up furnace (gas or oil) so they can interrupt your furnace load, but the investor owned utility doesn't have an electric heat rate.

Gerald J.

Hope we meet again at some tractor show, its been tooooo long

Take care, John T