Electrical Question

[Tommy Warren]

So I'm new here, and plan to stay a while, so hi all!
My wife and I just built a new pool, and we are doing the landscaping. I just had an electrician come in and add an outlet to my new sub panel and he said the pool electrician wired us wrong. The pool electrician used a 20 amp breaker at the main panel to feed my sub panel with a 12 guage wire to two 20 amp breakers on the sub panel. One of the 20 amp breakers runs the pump and heater, and the other runs the lights and a GFI outlet. Is the electrician I hired right in saying that the main panel should have been installed with a 30 amp breaker, which needs a 10 guage wire?

Any thoughts and expertise would be appreciated, and Im glad I found this forum, it looks so very helpful.

 

[danpik]

Nothing wrong with having a 20 amp feed to a sub panel. I am assuming it is a 240 volt circuit feeding the sub? double pole breaker in the main panel?

 

[gwegan]

If the two panels are fairly close its probably ok if its 240 vac with a neutral wire and ground.

 

[CJadamec]

With out knowing the amp draw and voltage of all the equipment and length of wire run, there is no way to say who is right about the install. But it is certainly possible for a singe 20 amp 240v 12 gauge feed to power a small pool setup.