heater 60 amp panel?

[moreira85]

Question for ya. I have a 60 amp sub panel at the pool shed that is running off of a 100 amp sub panel under my porch. There are no other circuits on the 100 amp panel just the 60 amp circuit. It's just there in case I ever decide on installing a hot tub. How many amps can I run off the 60 amp sub panel?
So basically i have 150 main to 100 sub to 60 sub at pool shed. I was curious if a pool heat pump can run off the 60 sub panel w my pump and chlorinator?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Theoretically you can run 60 amps through that panel. The wire is sized to handle 60 amps, so you can't exceed that without upgrading the wire and breaker.

 

[moreira85]

Okay thank you

 

[setsailsoon]

Dave's correct but the only caveat I'd add is this assumes the wire size was chosen so that it conforms to NEC requirements. This is a safe assumption almost all of the time. However, I've found sometimes the sub panel is added after the original build that had a building department inspection or was added by a "handy man" and the supply wire was too small. There are usually other signs like sloppy wire installation, wire is exposed not in conduit, or sloppy mounting of the sub panel. If you suspect this it's easy to look up the wire size and check.

I hope this helps.

Chris

 

[CJadamec]

It's not just the wire size that matters you need to know how long the wire is as well as what gauge it is. If you are going to add a heat pump it is heavy continuous draw equipment. You don't want to be borderline with your wire size and a heat pump. Make sure you take into account the wiring to both panels when you figure your voltage drop.