the APC UTS 10BI

[jurick_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 3/4/2020

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I recently purchased the APC UTS 10BI.  My problem is my main panel has three different 240V pole circuits, and each one is different.  One has two 15 A breakers for the extra basement heater (not used much at all).  Another has two 20 A breakers for the extra oven in the kitchen.  The third has two 30 A breakers for the electric drier.  I'm still not sure about what I "want" to use for the 240, but is it safe to use any of the circuits even if the breakers are not 20A?

Thanks in advance!

[dferrero_apc · Accepted solution]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 5/2/2020

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Hi Jurick:

First, I'm not an electrician. Second I purchased a UTS10BI. Third, I just replaced my electric panel and upgraded it from 150A to 200A (so I did get some neighborly advice and pulled permits, etc). Let me see if I can add some useful feedback:

The UTS6BI and UTS10BI do support a single 240V dual-pole circuit up to 20A (assuming you replace the glass fuse in the UTS on circuit 9 and circuit 10) and configure the UTS for these 20A fuses. 

I'm not sure if your description above is inaccurate or if I misunderstood what you wrote: You say you have 3 240V circuits yet when describing the breaks you said "two XXX A breakers". It sounds like you are saying that two single-pole breakers were used for each 240V dual-pole circuit. That's wrong and you should fix that right away. A 240V circuit should have a dual-pole breaker in standard 240V wiring.

Secondly, it seems wrong for an oven to have only a 20A breaker unless it is quite small.

An electric drier would typically have a dual-pole 30A breaker - ensure it's a dual-pole breaker, not two single-pole breakers!

An electric heater should NOT have a 15A circuit IMO. At the very least, 20A (and the corresponding 12 gauge wires). Don't simply upgrade the breaker if the home wiring is 14 gauge. 14 gauge should never be used for an electric heater IMO. It just sounds like a fire hazard.

Honestly, an extra basement heater, an extra oven, and an electric drier all sound like non-critical loads.

IMO, if you do not have a critical 240V 20A load like a well pump, you could not even need circuit 9 and 10 for load (they do need to be wired in using a 20A dual-pole breaker but the 9 out and 10 out could simply be safely wire-capped. In this case, you could use a smaller 120V generator and a smaller UTS6 that lacks the 240V...

What type of generator?