2ANONYMOUS
Well-Known Member
At the end of the day its going to be a expense no again one thing investing in power upgrade in a property that has your name on lands title is Grand its a investment but if its a rental then WTF you doing
This is how I would do it: if i was owner of a older house that needed a service upgrade
1) Permanently install your new 200-amp panel in the best location possible. and to code
2) Install a 60-amp dual breaker in the new panel.
3) Run a #6-3 cable from this breaker to the old panel. Do not connect at this time.
4) Have the POCO completely remove the incoming power cable (service) from your old panel, and connect the cable you ran in step #3. (Congratulations! Your old main panel is now a sub-panel.)
5) Have the POCO connect service to your new main panel.
6) Migrate old circuits from your "sub-panel" over to your new main panel at your convenience.
I'd also probably get as much of the new/re-wiring out of the way up-front as possible, just so I wouldn't have to keep having the inspector back every few months. I know that some guys will tear out a foot-high horizontal strip of wall about 18" up throughout when they do a rewire, then sheetrock it closed when they're done. This would allow you plenty of access to run new house wiring and your structured cabling, and would leave the place more livable in the mean time by not ripping off entire wall coverings.
As far as why you don't want your structured wiring close to your 120v/240v wiring: Communications cable operates at a low voltage and current, and active house wiring can easily induce noise into it, thereby degrading the signal it carries. The rule of thumb, IIRC, is 12-inches of separation between a CAT-5e data cable and a power cable carrying up to 5000 Watts
This is how I would do it: if i was owner of a older house that needed a service upgrade
1) Permanently install your new 200-amp panel in the best location possible. and to code
2) Install a 60-amp dual breaker in the new panel.
3) Run a #6-3 cable from this breaker to the old panel. Do not connect at this time.
4) Have the POCO completely remove the incoming power cable (service) from your old panel, and connect the cable you ran in step #3. (Congratulations! Your old main panel is now a sub-panel.)
5) Have the POCO connect service to your new main panel.
6) Migrate old circuits from your "sub-panel" over to your new main panel at your convenience.
I'd also probably get as much of the new/re-wiring out of the way up-front as possible, just so I wouldn't have to keep having the inspector back every few months. I know that some guys will tear out a foot-high horizontal strip of wall about 18" up throughout when they do a rewire, then sheetrock it closed when they're done. This would allow you plenty of access to run new house wiring and your structured cabling, and would leave the place more livable in the mean time by not ripping off entire wall coverings.
As far as why you don't want your structured wiring close to your 120v/240v wiring: Communications cable operates at a low voltage and current, and active house wiring can easily induce noise into it, thereby degrading the signal it carries. The rule of thumb, IIRC, is 12-inches of separation between a CAT-5e data cable and a power cable carrying up to 5000 Watts
