Which brand of electrical panel?

[FrankPlumber]

I'm building a new home and I'm wondering about the brand of electrical panel ( Siemens, GE, etc ).

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Chris75]

That question will only get you opinions.... My favorite happens to be GE, but really means nothing... so buy what ever you feel is in your price range... I would probably check the price difference between GFI and AFCI breakers and make my choice that way.

[BrianJohn]

Square D over GE anyday

[leejosepho]

Square D QO, to be specific!

[Alectrician]

Seimans, SquareD Homeline and Cutler Hammer are all standard here and about the same quality/style/price. About 120 bucks

We use 200 amp, 40 space, all in one panels in AZ.

[FrankPlumber]

When you say 40 spaces, is it 40 breakers double pole which would means 80 breakers single pole or it's 40 breakers single pole?

Thanks a lot

[Chris75]

Square D is way overpriced IMO, but to each his own. And I also dislike the panel layout, but you could easily say the same with GE.

[construct30]

Many breakers tend to be interchangable with other panels, square D doesn't work in a lot of panels and the other breakers don't work in theirs. I would check for what is available and for what price in your area.

200 amps 40 single breakers 110. 220's counts as two.

[Alectrician]

When you say 40 spaces, is it 40 breakers double pole which would means 80 breakers single pole or it's 40 breakers single pole?

Thanks a lot

40 full spaces.

I avoid twin breakers and would only install them in a pinch.

This was a 20/40 chock FULL of twins. Burned buss behind the A/C breaker lead to the change.

[Mikey]

What were those sense coils around the service entrance cables used for? Some kind of remote billing, maybe?

[Nate R]

RFI Noise reduction?

[BrianJohn]

Look at it differently, my firm does infrared inspections and Sq D QO panels seem to have less thermal issues, not a scientific study just an observation from 27 years of IR scanning. Now most panels we inspect are commercial grade (bolt in CBs) but of the ones we have scanned....


The "sense coils" are CT's current transformers for remote monitoring of current, possible KW also depending on PTs (Potential or voltage) connections

[Bill Arden]

Don't forget to check auctions and surplus.

I got a bunch of the style QO style Square D breakers and panels from a building that was going to be torn down.

I don't like the new AL buss HomeLine panels as I think it's a cheep way to make stuff.

[Mikey]

The "sense coils" are CT's current transformers for remote monitoring of current, possible KW also depending on PTs (Potential or voltage) connections

That's what I suspected. They were connected to the box above the old panel (now gone), and with a little imagination you could see a connection to an antenna of some kind on the right, maybe. I was wondering if the OP's area had a drive-by meter-reading program of some kind. Probably not, since it's been removed, but the service hasn't been hooked up yet, so maybe it'll all be replaced.

[Mikey]

You get what you pay for.

Does anybody know how I could have convinced the #$%! text editor that I wanted the Title to be "QO", and not "Qo"? The best I could do was the Q0.