Well, I guess my farm is defying all logic then.
I'm certainly pulling in over 200A total - all using 120V.
I'll post this to you again. You may not have read it:
Say we had a 200 AMP Main Service Panel and every circuit was 240V circuits by using 2 pole breakers... If every circuit was used at it's max [Not recommended if circuits are inside walls and/or conduit], you could have 10 x 20 amp / 240 Volt circuits for a total of 48,000 watts of power.
If we used 10 x 20 amp / 120 Volt circuits in a 200 amp Main Service Panel and maxed out each circuit to its full 20 amps each [Not recommended if circuits are inside walls and/or conduit], you would only have 24,000 watts available in power.
So, both Main Service Panels were rated for 200 Amps maximum. However, we can utilize the power much better with 240 Volts instead of 120 Volts. Does this make sense now?
notlist3d, is right...
It sounds like you need an electrician. Trust me on what I'm saying about available watts regarding 240 Volt verses 120 Volt. Your Main Service Panel is rated in Amps and Volts. It's limited for 120V/240V [Either can be used] and it is more than likely limited to 200 amps REGARDLESS of what voltage (120V or 240V) for your circuits in the home.
I agree with this statement to a point, but I believe the 200AMP main service is related per pole and not total - So if you approach 200A on either pole you will trip the breaker.
If you divide the 120V services up between the poles equally, end result would be the same with 48000 Watt capacity.
I know from experience a 200 amp main service panel is not rated for 200 amps for each pole. I purchased enough rigs to trip the main breaker at 200 amps on both poles combined. I was an electrician for 3 years in commercial work for Marathon Electrical Contractors. I was taking classes at night to get my masters certification but did not take it to completion. I've tripped my main service panel several times over the summer trying to figure out how many rigs maximum I could run on my 200 amp main service panel. All of my PDU's are "metered."
Trust me... I don't "believe" the 200 amp main service panel is 200 amps on each leg. I "know" It's NOT 200 amps on each leg. I "know" from experience.
I'm not saying this with a "tone" to be argumentative. I'm saying this in a manner to try to educate. That's all...
A 200 Amp Main using 10 x 240 Volt / 20 Amp 2 pole breakers with maximum draw on each 2 pole breaker would pull 48,000 watts of power at 200A/240V. Any more than this "should" trip the main breaker.
A 200 Amp Main using 10 x 120 Volt / 20 Amp single pole breakers with maximum draw on each single pole breaker would pull 24,000 watts of power at 200A/120V. Any more than this "should" trip the main breaker.
Also know this: Current (Amps) is not flowing in a circuit without a load on that circuit. Meaning, current (amps) will not flow without an appliance, light, TV, etc... actually turned on and running. So, just because you have breakers in your main service panel that probably total up to more than than what your main breaker states is because it's highly unlikely you have more than 50% of current draw on every circuit wired to the main service panel.