Definition of a Sub Panel?
The primary work that a breaker box of a subpanel does is to transfer energy to different areas of the property. The second name for this is the satellite breaker panel. It has a lesser number of panels as compared to other breakers.
The work it does is that it sends and transfers electricity from the whole area of the house. It provides electricity, controls its flow, and looks like a smaller circuit breaker box.
The sub-panel is the middle pathway between the circuits, the property, and the main panel. All of these are connected directly through a different type of circuit feeder, and it might have a breaker at both ends. This can add up to some more sub-panels. These are similar to the sub-panel but send less energy than the main panel.
Pros and Cons
There are a lot of aces and frauds in adding sub-panels. Some of them are written as follows:
- Adding the sub panels into your home will make your work easier and more efficient as it will transfer energy to all the subpanels, and they will eventually transfer it to all parts of the property eventually and equally.
- It will help you in switching and other operations and give you many more benefits in terms of electrical maintenance if it can be repaired.
- Subpanels have a tendency to get fixated anywhere the owner wants. This roots in safety and boosting your business. Suppose any type of emergency occurs (a fire hazard or any other electronic emergency), you can quickly turn off the subpanels to avoid any further damage, like electrocution.
- Subpanels do not limit you to adding more panels for your safety. These allow the electric current to flow eventually from the whole property without pressurizing the load on only one central area.
Definition of Main Panel?
The central panel can be referred to as the breaker panel that connects the electricity initially from the primary sources (transformers) to your property, like shops, houses, and other properties. It is the front liner of any electrical damage, saving the house from being burned or the persons inside it being electrocuted.
The second name by which the central panel is also called is the service entrance panel, and it acts as the primary circuit so, in any case of emergency, you can directly cut off the wires and lights to prevent damage as the central panel is directly connected from the primary sources of energy(transformers), etc.
Pros and Cons
There are different advantages as well as disadvantages of the main panel also. They are stated here :
- The one main pro of a main electric panel is that it can provide large waves of currents to the devices requiring high power. On the other hand, they can be costly on the pockets, especially for those who entertain a three-way catering system.
- These are also capable of adjusting a wide range of circuit breakers. The con is that if these are installed carelessly, the whole panel or board will look messy, and it will be almost impossible to do something if a fire starts.
- It can offer higher resistance if it is being kept outdoors. It might get corrupted if it is not appropriately protected.
What are the Differences Between Sub Panel & The Main Panel ?
The sub-panels are not able to provide their own energy to the whole piece of property, so instead, they operate the whole house from the power they take from the main panel.
The connectivity of the central panel is at the very doorstep of the buildings, and all of the other sub-panels take energy from there and spread it further wide.
However, the subpanels tend to work on a specific methodology for the installation of the outlets that make it easy for you to organize the electrical systems in your building or the houses.
Although both works have been done by the panels and sub-panels to transfer electricity from the whole building via wires, there are also some other dissimilarities that occur while doing it.
For example, the central panel can work alone and manage the wiring all by itself, and if we talk about the sub panel, it has the work to take electricity from the main panel and, after that, pass it on to the other circuits.
Why Should We Use a Sub Panel Vs The Main Panel
Usually, using a sub-panel instead of a core panel provides a high amount of flexibility for the building’s systems that work electronically. Some of the most commonly used cases in which we experience what happens when we install sub-panels into our buildings and houses.
1. It Offers More Circuit Space
If the main panels get overcrowded with other wires by any chance, it could lead to a destructive fire or something more intense. To avoid this, you can divide the electric systems into different sub-panels so that the load is lifted from the main panel and does not start a fire. The distributions of the sub-panels depend upon the area you want to cover with sub-panels.
2. The Main Care Deliberations
The sub-panels provide more security than the main panels; if the building has too many rooms and requires so much wiring, it can get overloaded on the main panel and cause a fire hazard. If you have sub-panels installed on different areas of the property and the fire starts from one of them, instead of switching off the main panel, you only have to disconnect the sub-panels which started a fire.
3. The Distinct Usages for Control
Most of the people have garages in which they keep their heavy machinery or do work that requires some heavy work. If you do not want to put pressure on the main panel, fixing sub panels all over the property may be the best move to support a load of electricity.
Subpanels help the wires and other things to be organized. If, for any purpose, you think of turning off a specific outlet, you will not need to turn off the whole panel, but instead, it will become easy to turn it off via sub-panels.
Conclusion
From all the above-given information, it can be concluded that sub-panels are placed in different places to avoid fire hazards to distribute the load of the main panel. The comparison between both will help you determine whether you want to place sub-panels or not. If the property area is small, installing subpanels might not be necessary; however, for the more considerable property, you might want to install them.
