How to Determine If Your Existing Home Panel Can Fit a 220V Double Pole Breaker

You can fit a 220-volt (V) double-pole breaker without modifying your home's electrical panel. A 220V double-pole breaker, also called a double-pole breaker or 220V breaker, is simply a single breaker that combines two 110V lines to deliver safe electricity to your location. Many U.S. homes have 110V and 220V breakers installed in the electrical panel. A 220V breaker occupies two breaker spaces because it handles twice the amount of power of a 110V breaker. A 220V breaker provides electricity to a heavy-duty appliance, such as an air conditioner. Determining whether or not your home's electrical panel can fit a 220V double-pole breaker begins with looking at the panel.

Voltmeter
Flat-head screwdriver

Instructions

- 1
  Locate your home's electrical panel. It is either inside or outside your home and under the electric meter. Open its weather-proof door.
- 2
  Switch branch breakers to the "Off" position. The branch breakers are below the main breaker inside the electrical panel. Turn the main breaker to the "Off" position as well. That will shut off the electricity to your home.
- 3
  Test the main breaker using a voltmeter to ensure no current flows through the panel. Turn on the voltmeter, and set the dial for the volt measurement type to "AC," which stands for "alternating current." Select "110V" for the "range" setting. Point the two probes on the front end of the voltmeter toward the main breaker. A light indicator on the voltmeter will light if the voltmeter detects electrical current.
- 4
  Check whether or not the panel has two adjacent spaces -- or knockouts -- for a 220V double-pole breaker. A knockout is the slot to which a 110V breaker is installed. Available knockouts are covered with a thin metal plate by the panel manufacturer for safety reasons because electrical conducts are exposed prior to an occupying breaker. A 220V double-pole breaker is twice the size of a 110V breaker, which is why two adjacent knockouts are necessary. If your panel doesn't have two adjacent knockouts available, then only 110V breakers can be installed.
- 5
  Pry off the thin metal plates covering two adjacent knockouts using a flat-head screwdriver. Ensure that neither knockout is not occupied by a 110V breaker so a 220V double-pole breaker can be fitted in them. Nothing else should be in the knockouts other than pre-installed metal contacts. The pre-installed metal contacts connect the breakers to the home's wiring. Hire an electrician to install missing metal contacts.
- 6
  Snap the thin metal plates back into the knockouts if you won't install a 220V double-pole breaker immediately.
- 7
  Switch the main breaker to the "On" position, and then do the same for the branch breakers. Those actions resume the flow of electricity to your home.

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