Service entrance problems seen during peak demand

[Alan]

Cold weather has a way of turning theoretical capacity into a very real problem. Everything works fine until heaters kick on, holiday loads stack up, and suddenly the service entrance becomes the main character.

As demand goes up this time of year, what service entrance issues tend to show up that homeowners did not see coming? Curious what you end up explaining most often once winter loads hit.

 

[Greygnarl_Dragon]

The most common issue I see is overloaded panels once space heaters and holiday stuff all run together. Everything works fine most of the year, then winter hits and breakers start tripping. Homeowners usually don’t realize how much those extra loads add up. It turns into a capacity conversation pretty fast.

 

[PGB1]

The only residential I do is favors and donates, so not nearly as much experience as you guys. What I've used to see an increase of this time of year was aluminum neutrals loose or burned in the load center. I think the spike in incidents may be due to the heavier than usual load that Greygnarl_Dragon wrote above. The resistance loads of space heaters can't be helpful either.

At work, I would get lots of service calls in winter for short circuits or melt downs in CT cabinets. Water leaks go unnoticed until freezing weather causes ice build up and shorts to the cabinet. Most CT here are not overcurrent protected.