Experience With Cutler Hammer (Eaton) CH Series Panels
I am in the midst of new construction and am working with an electrician who is recommending a Cutler Hammer (Eaton) CH series 400 amp panel. He prefers these to Square D panels. The CH series panels have "one-piece silver flash plated copper bus provides superior conductivity throughout the entire product line". I will be running multiple dedicated circuits for audio rooms and am wondering if anyone has an opinion on these panels.
I also, lastly want to point out that I don’t know why audiophiles are obsessed with the best connection to the outdoor supply. A little resistance and inductance in the wiring and panels can be very beneficial to reducing noise and the effect of surges. There’s little guarantee that noise goes down as you get closer to the transformer outside. Some R and L at the panel, and wiring from the transformer can be quite beneficial. |
Have two 200A CH panels; only downside I’ve seen is whole panel (house) surge protectors are external and still leverage two slot for a 50A breaker; i’ve seen other panels that offer the panel surge protector in the breaker, which is nice, as my panels are in the finished part of the basement.
Curious; why are folks needing multiple or more than one 20A circuit for Home Theater? I have one dedicated circuit; all equipment is plugged into nice power conditioner, and that conditioner is plugged in the single dedicated circuit. |
Thanks all who chimed in much appreciated and have given the go ahead on the CH panel. Another question has popped up—we have a 400amp service and the electrician wants to use two 200amp panels—one for those circuits served by a 24k Generac propane generator and one for the other circuits in excess of what the Generac can handle. I would prefer using one panel as we have in our current home (200amps). Since we need more than a 200amp panel in the new home I am wondering if we could do a single 300amp panel rather than 2 x 200amps. If I need the full 400amps and two separate panels would you put the audio room circuits on the panel served by the generator or on the other panel? FWIW the generator is outside the audio room so the noise of it will make it unlikely I will listen to my system during power outages. @n0m1n4l I prefer multiple dedicated lines so I can avoid using a power conditioner—better to draw straight from the wall if possible in my view. |
OP: It’s worth doing a serious survey about how much power you will actually use. I can’t imagine a family of 4 actually using 200A of service unless you have multiple kitchens and more than 3 heat pumps and/or a workshop, but doing separate panels to simplify the Generac install makes sense. Best,
Erik |
