I'm thinking of putting in an electrical sub-panel

[TrogL]

Half the house is on one breaker and I want my studio on its own circuit. I thinking of adding a sub-panel in the basement. Then I can have the oven, stove, laundry room, my studio, the microwave, the stereo, the rest of the kitchen and the rest of the living room all on their own circuits away from the rest of the house.

Somebody was telling me all I have to do is put one 60-amp circuit off the main panel.

Can I do two separate circuits?

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

1. My goodness!

One you say, ! Do you have 100 amp or two hundred amp service? Do you have three wire run threw out the house,thats line neutral and copper ground.Black wire ,white wire bare copper ground. Or is it the the older wiring or both? Put a picture up of your box and let,s see what you got. From there it,s a matter of what you can do and what you can,t do based on what you got going.Your stove and oven given it,s a combo set up should be a 220 dedicated line or circut. All lights and plugs are 110.

What exactly do you man by dividing a circut? Do you mean distrubting the power or dividing it off from room to room? Do you mean dividing a 220 line off into two 110,s? Pulling from a circut such as a 60 amp? The veritables go on. The age and condition of the house wiring has much to do with what you can do. Are you prepared to add wire or rewire?

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

2. Lets say you pony a 60 amp box.

In 110 that can be three twenty amp circuits. That means three seperate twenty amp breakers and three indiviual lines. But if your stove is on there,that could be a fifty amp draw all by itself! So your question is what are you going to carry into the ponyed box along with the sixty amps?

On each breaker you got max draw- that,s how much power you can pull threw the circuit. Say, it,s a 220 and I put two heaters on there ,thats a max of about 4500 on the draw.

If you got 100 amp service-old house and your stove draws fifty amps in full use, how many amps than do you have left to distrubute threw out your house and in a older house how many over loaded circuits are stealing power at the source, that,s the box?

[TrogL]

3. It ended up being cheaper to put a whole new panel in

I got a 100 amp panel with about a dozen breakers of various kinds for the price of what an empty sub-panel would have cost me.

My contactor managed to swap it out live without electrocuting himself.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

4. I know what you mean and your better off.

seems like you got that handled.

And it seems you got a lot on your plate.