NorthEast US
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I made a lot of nice pieces of furniture using only 120v tools. I not sure that an electrician will be able to answer for sure if you can or cannot upgrade to 200 amp. I had to call my electrical utility. Utilities don't have the same codes to live by as residential electricians. For example my 4/0 copper 200 amp entrance wire from my meter socket to my panel is WAY larger than the 2/0 wire that runs from the meter to the transformer. I called the utility and was informed they only ever installed 200a rated service drops, i voiced my confusion on the line size and my dad who was a utility electrician for 35 years told me they get to live by different codes. I didn't really understand the answer. I digress locations matter but the sub panels specifically the hot tub might be able to upgraded to a 60A sub with more spaces, if that sub-panel is close and you have this ability. If your worried about staying within the 100a you can get a cheep clamp amp meter that you can put on 1 of you main legs and give you an idea of how much draw you have. Odds are that you are using no where near 100a. 20 + 24+ 24 + 24 = 92 You'd probably be fine but there is a lot to what he said. My 3hp DC runs 13a my 3hp planer is about 9-10 under decent load. Turn off your car charger and that's a 1 man wood shop while baking a turkey, drying your cloths and using the hot tub. You can really only use 1 tool at a time safely. The big kicker is start up amps BUT your breaker isn't going to trip instantly at 100a it takes time. Startup load from my DC spikes as high as 80a breaker is only 30 or 40. -
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By Beechwood Chip · Posted
Just to pile on, I have a 220V DC and all of my other tools are 120V. 1.75HP Sawstop and DeWalt 735 planer. It never occurred to me that I needed more power. The biggest pain is having to wire new 220V outlets when I re-arrange my shop and move the DC. I've got a 4" PVC pipe from the DC along one wall, with four iVAC blast gates. The table saw is permanently connected to one, and the other three have Rockler DustRight "slinky" hoses and quick connect handles. Each DustRight hose has a dedicated extension cord with the iVAC tool sensor for that blast gate. When the tool turns on, the sensor automatically starts the DC and opens the corresponding blast gate. It's a luxury, but otherwise I usually remember the DC when I'm halfway through the cut and wondering why there's dust everywhere. I keep the band saw, miter saw, and router table hooked up most of the time. When I'm milling wood, I disconnect those tools and hook up the jointer and planer. Just plug in the DustRight handle and the corresponding extension cord and it's good to go. Everything (except the table saw) is on wheels so I can position tools to handle long boards easily. I got the Harvey G-700 and so far I'm pretty happy with it. It's got a really weird shape, but it fits in my shop nicely. I've got low ceilings and a lot of plumbing and HVAC ducts on the ceiling, so I have to run my DC duct along the bottom of the walls anyway. I thought that having to wait 5 seconds for it to come up to full speed would be annoying, but it's not like it doesn't work at all for the first 5 seconds, it's just not at full power. So, maybe I start a cut when the DC is at 66% of full power which is good enough. I kinda went crazy trying to improve dust collection for my miter saw, like the coyote trying to catch the road runner. I ended up with a hood enclosing the miter saw, a dedicated shop vac under the miter saw attached to the Shop Nation miter saw scoop thingy, and a 4" dust collector port for the enclosure. The miter saw and the shop vac are connected to a switch which goes to a regular 120V plug. It's attached to iVAC stuff as I described above. So, to use the miter saw I hit the switch on the front of the enclosure which turns on the shop vac. The iVAC sensor senses the load from the shop vac and turns on the DC. If I forget to hit the switch, then nothing happens when I squeeze the miter saw trigger. -
My 1.75 Saw Stop has done everything I have asked of it over the years. And I work with 2-1/2" slabs. My 735 planer has done the same. I didn't have to upgrade to a 20" Grizzly, but I wanted to. My dust control is a hooked up to a dedicated 220. For starters, utilize a 220 cirquit for DC, and make do with 110 tools. You'll find a way to make it work. I've built some wonderful furniture with that set up. -
a lot of factors should be taken into account, and all of the above is good info. For me, a factor was what equipment I already owned when we built a new house. I already had the DC (120v) and TS (220v 3HP) , so that is what worked for me. I wish I had run more 220 lines or run conduit for later upgrades, but my shop is close to my panel so it's not a big deal. I didn't see any replies about adding a subpanel. This depends on the electrical code in your area, of course, but taking your single 220v breaker and using that to feed a subpanel of, say, 6 220V circuits, is feasible. I did that in my old shop and it worked great. Many will say "but my service is only 100A" - but that's 100A of 220V, and for most houses that is a LOT of power. You usually run out of circuits before you exceed the service. Another option I've utilized are the "mini breakers" that condense 2 120V circuits into a single slot in your panel (its actually 2 breakers, in a single slot). This can free up space for another 220v breaker. There are limits to how many you can use in a single panel, which is why I eventually moved to a subpanel.
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