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I recently newly moved into an apartment in the west Bay Area, in California. Because I have an electric car & want to use L1 (120V 12A) charging, I took a look at the breaker panel to see what circuits were present. Here's what I saw:

2x 30A breakers

Westinghouse electrical meter

I'm no electrician, but my understanding was that 30A breakers aren't allowed on 15/20A receptacles (my apartment has 15A receptacles). Is that correct, why are these breakers 30A, and will this pose any dangers especially if I use it for heavy loads like EV charging?

The apartment was constructed in the 1950s to the best of my knowledge.

Edit: Yeah, the apartment is definitely underpowered by modern standards. It was built all-gas (gas stove, gas oven, gas heating) but did get a normal window AC retrofitted at some later date.

Edit 2: Ok, you all asked for it. Here's a photo of the whole electrical box. As you can tell, it's a fourplex with a separate attached room for washer/dryer hookups.

the exterior line

the whole box

I have not been able to find another panel beyond this one - I've looked in all interior rooms.

nobody
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Kevin Liu
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    It looks like these breakers are (a) in use as a disconnect for the entire service, (b) way undersized for most service (typically at least 60A and this is just 30A) (c) normally should be a double-breaker not two single breakers. And that is all in addition to your need for 15A or 20A breakers to protect your apartment circuits. **Look for another panel somewhere with more breakers.** It might even be an old fuse box rather than breakers. But based on this limited information, I'd be seriously concerned about whether you have the capacity to add *any* EV charging. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Aug 18 '22 at 01:55
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    @manassehkatz-Moving2Codidact YEAH AGREED , look for another panel someplace. Something is off here. – George Anderson Aug 18 '22 at 01:57
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    The meter appears to be rated for 15A if I'm reading correctly. Yikes. – Ecnerwal Aug 18 '22 at 02:32
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    Well, a 30A/240V or even 30A/120V service to an *all-gas* apartment is possible. I have one. But you have a second problem: you need to figure out the other loads to see if EV charging is even *possible* and if so, how much. We might be able to wangle 2880W (240V/"15A" actual 12A) out of this deal. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Aug 18 '22 at 02:38
  • Thanks for the help, guys! Looked around but I couldn't find another breaker panel (checked every room, closet, and walked around outside). My only guess is maybe the roof or crawlspace? But that seems unlikely. I'll do a more extensive search tomorrow. – Kevin Liu Aug 18 '22 at 06:14
  • @KevinLiu what's the box above the meter, or is that the breaker box in the first photo? – ThreePhaseEel Aug 18 '22 at 06:21
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    @ThreePhaseEel, I think the question is "what's the box _below_ the meter?". It appears that the meter is below the box in the first pic (looking at the 2 ground wires & the remnant of paper stapled to the wood that are common to both pics), but there is another box below the meter in the 2nd pic. – FreeMan Aug 18 '22 at 12:19
  • @FreeMan normal utility practice ("hot sequence") would put the breaker box below the meter for an overhead service (which I'm kinda presuming it is, given the age of the meter base) – ThreePhaseEel Aug 18 '22 at 17:18
  • I'm afraid to even speculate about this equipment. – Robert Chapin Aug 18 '22 at 18:47
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    Just posted some more pics that should answer questions about meter placement. The long bottom metal box seems to be unopenable, as does the yellow one (no idea what's in there). I'm as puzzled as you all are. – Kevin Liu Aug 19 '22 at 00:07
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    You should not attempt to open the long bottom metal box. That is the utility's junction box, the wires inside are totally unfused and always live (unless the utility disconnects the building's feed from the local transformer). It should open after loosening the screws (and maybe some force to break the rust free) but you absolutely should not touch it. – nobody Aug 19 '22 at 01:58
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    Also: Firestarter Pacific for the laundry room! Classy! – nobody Aug 19 '22 at 02:05
  • @KevinLiu do other buildings in the vicinity have overhead or underground power? Is there a service mast and triplex cable running off to a power pole from your building? – ThreePhaseEel Aug 19 '22 at 03:47
  • @ThreePhaseEel thanks for that tip. Also, there _is_ another box below the meter, just not what I was expecting. Probably something you'd have been familiar with. – FreeMan Aug 19 '22 at 11:26
  • Now I'm curious about the rating on the house meter and all those circuit breakers for the laundry. If that's another 15A single phase unit I would just slowly walk away from this whole thing and buy some extra fire insurance. – Robert Chapin Aug 19 '22 at 15:57

1 Answers1

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This apartment building needs some serious professional help

Because this is an apartment, what you can touch on your own is very limited, and certainly doesn't extend to what appears to be issues with improperly retrofitted/overfused service equipment, nor to the Fire Protection Eliminated "house panel" serving the shared circuits. (Certainly, 15A receptacles on a 30A circuit would be a Code violation when the building was built!)

You'll need to have the landlord get an electrician in to sort everything out, which may very well involve having to cut power to the entire building, given that the incoming cable from the utility appears to be entering the utility's trough from an unknown point inside the building, not a proper service mast or stub-up.

ThreePhaseEel
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    The OP should bear in mind that if the landlord is the cheapskate he appears to be, his hand could be forced by calling in the local building inspector. _However_, that has consequences, including the possibilities of raised rent or lease termination. – FreeMan Aug 19 '22 at 11:28
  • Were buildings not required to have a main disconnect back then? Or do you imagine it's located somewhere else? – Robert Chapin Aug 19 '22 at 15:53
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    @RobertChapin -- this is a Rule of Six setup with separate service disconnect enclosures, so *that* part is fine (even with the Rule of 6 changes in the 2020 NEC) – ThreePhaseEel Aug 20 '22 at 07:27