Subpanel Alternatives

Before installing a subpanel, consider its necessity. Certainly, it’s a convenience in the event of a tripped breaker, but is it worth the expense of purchasing a second panel (albeit a smaller one than your main panel)? The convenience factor aside, what you’re really comparing is the difference in cost between running individual circuits all the way back to the main panel and running a feeder cable to the subpanel, the cost and installation of the subpanel, and the cost of running the branch circuits from the subpanel. Some subpanels are installed because there aren’t any breaker slots remaining in the service panel, even though the panel has the amperage to carry more circuits. In this case, your existing breakers can be replaced with a smaller version of a standard single-pole breaker. These go by different names, including …
➤ Slimline breaker.
➤ Peanut breaker.
➤ Mini breaker.
➤ Tandem breaker.
These breakers are half the thickness of a standard breaker, which enables you to fit two of them into a single breaker slot. Others have two breakers on one single-polesize breaker.