I believe I found the answer. I was able to track down the now retired electrician who did the work. I have two meters on the main electric company service box. This box comes INSTALLED with neutral and ground bonded. The basement panel (which services HVAC) is connected to one of the meters which the electric company refers to "Heat Only" and gives me a lower Kw rate. The other meter is connected to the main floor panel.
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I have an electric panel in my basement that I want to run a 120v line from All of the circuits currently on it are 240v. It seems to me that this is the main service panel as the underground service wires come in at the bottom right of the panel (where all the caulking is), and the ground is connected to a rod set in the basement floor concrete.
There is currently nothing connected to the service common line bus strip except the large service black with yellow line wire, which is isolated from the panel. There is also an electric panel on the first floor of the home, and every circuit there is 120v. I'm guessing the basement panel is the main and the main floor panel is a subpanel, but I'm not sure.
I just want to make sure I can install a single pole 120v breaker in this basement box and attach the white common wire to the neutral bus bar....but should it be somehow bonded over to ground?
Okay, update on this panel. There are actually 3 electric panels on the property..this one in the basement, one on the main house floor, and one in the garage outbuilding. This is a manufactured home so the main floor/house came pre-wired. I don't know when the other two panels were installed. The previous owners left me NOTHING and they are not available for questions.
I put a meter on this panel. The neutral bar to a single pole on a breaker is 122 volts, neutral bar to ground is 0.00...so, it is bonded somewhere in the configuration, although I don't know (yet) where. Does that now mean it is not the main?
These are the panel's circuits shown in the photo:
Left side top down;
Pond: This is a 6 gauge wire that me and my well driller installed to service a panel with two breakers at my pond for a 230v deep well and a 230v pond aerator (I meter 243 volts there at the terminal). We ran a 3/G wire in the event 120 volts is ever needed at that location, which is why you see a capped white common wire at the top left. If it is ever connected to the neutral bus it will be with a proper size insulated connector on a 6ga pigtail;
Geothermal Unit (water to water, open loop, discharges in pond);
Geothermal Unit;
Hot Water Heater;
Pond Contactor: This is a 12ga wire we also ran underground to a 240v contactor inside the pond well's control box. This allows that well to be activated from this panel, whether as a backup for the house main well (the pond well is plumbed to the house) or to connect it to the GEO if desired. It is also wired to a 240v timer (seen mounted on the wall to the right of the panel) in accordance with it's instructions, so the pond well's run times can be programmed to maintain full water level.
Right Side top down
Geothermal;
Spare,;
Basement Sauna Electric Heater;
Domestic Well, main house.
To my knowledge every circuit is 240v, if you see one that is split I'd sure like to see it. As far as I can tell everything is Hot/Hot/Ground as it should be.
I appreciate the comments on the mix-match of circuit breakers. This is a Cutler Hammer panel and I WILL replace all the wrong breakers with Eatons.
As far as the appropriate wire sizes for supporting whatever is at the other end of each circuit, that is something I can investigate with a professional electrician.
"I could have done it faster and cheaper, but I decided to do it myself." Me.
