OK, I am not 100% percent sure of this, but what I understand from the labeling on one hand fits in with what I know of electricity on the other. So, let's say 98% sure.
40A : this is the circuit breaker itself, standard three-phase AC.
50A : this looks to be a residual current breaker, rated 30 mA.
So:
- If something in your house has a short circuit between live and neutral and starts sparking, the 40A breaker should trip protecting you from starting a fire. 40A is the maximum draw you have.
- If, on the other hand, you have a short circuit to earth -such as live current getting in contact with an appliance's external surface- then the residual current breaker cuts in.
The residual current is there mostly to protect the user from becoming the shortest path to earth, or in other words getting electrocuted. This is why it needs to be at a very low differential rating of 30 mA. It also makes sense that it has a higher current rating (50A) than the main breaker, since we want to make sure the main breaker trips before the residual current breaker gets damaged.
To complete the individual circuit identification:
(4) is for the washing machine
(5) is for the fridge
The other circuits are as the OP indicates.
To answer to original question: 40A x 110V gives you 4400 VA. Since this seems to be a 3-phase + 1 neutral setup, you will in reality have three times the current, 40A on each phase. So, in total 13200 VA.
This is not quite the same in Watts, but with a hypothetic cos(phi) value of 0.95 you should be good for some 12000+ W. You should be OK with the devices you want to connect, as long as the circuits are well balanced (equal draw on each phase). I would suppose this is so -the installation looks really professional quality- and try it out before requesting changes, since adding more power will mean changing the main breaker and the residual current breaker (as well as paying a larger monthly charge).
Hope this helps.
That is an old "rule of six" panel, which while grandfathered, is illegal under its grandfathering becuse it has 7 main breakers. Going to five is a good plan.
It is a classic "CH" panel which is a very good industrial grade panel, except that the 3/4" breaker width make non-ordinary breakers very expensive (a trait it shares with Square D QO). That makes it perfect for what you plan.
On your subpanel which would be near this panel, I would get a panel with a main breaker, with an eye toward (at some point in the future) cutting it over to be the main panel. In a subpanel, the "main breaker" is nothing more than an on/off switch, it is OK for it to be larger than the feeding breaker.
I would also get a rather large panel, at the very least 42 space and even 60 or 84 if practicable: because panel spaces are dirt cheap and often even come with free breakers, whereas running out of space is painfully expensive.
I would aim for an industrial grade panel of good repute (one available in 3-phase variants, not Homeline, BR, or second tier brands) and avoid the expensive 3/4" breakers (not CH or QO).
Over time, as you find it convenient, i'd migrate all your 1-pole and smaller 2-pole circuits over to the new panel.
For your garage panel anything would do, but I'd go for the same type as your indoor panel, so you can use some of those bonus breakers. Again it's false economy to scrimp on spaces, I'd go 20-30 at least.
Also, since garage spaces need to be on GFCI, consider getting a subpanel which has a "main breaker" which is GFCI, that way all the breakers in that panel would be protected (at the cost of potential nuisance trips, a big deal if you keep a freezer in the garage).
Ed Beal raises some very good concerns about overall capacity. One problem with these "rule of six" panels is there is literally no main breaker to stop you from drawing more than 150A. So it pays to be conservative.
It's a difficult situation because you have two big loads that operate sporadically - the EV charger and the range. And the A/C as a wildcard.
One thing I might suggest, is feed the garage subpanel from the new primary subpanel. And then move everything but the range over to the new subpanel. At that point the only things still in the CH panel would be a 60A range breaker and a 100A subpanel breaker. Even at max, those two could not overload the 150A service (by enough to matter). This would force your entire house (from A/C to EV charger) to share 100A, but would remove the possibility of an overload. This would also save you the $85 you'll spend on a second 100A CH breaker.
Best Answer
As far as 40 vs. 50 - that depends on the manufacturer's requirements. The installation instructions clearly state:
So there you have it. 50 Amp - not 40 Amp. 8 AWG - not smaller. You can, of course, use larger wire - e.g., 6 AWG - that is always OK. But you can't use a smaller breaker - my guess is you would get nuisance trips if you use the microwave + convection in the top at the same time as you use broil in the bottom oven. And you can't use larger because it would not provide the necessary protection in certain situations.
As to why the oven needs a 50 Amp breaker if it seems to only use 7.8 kW, only the manufacturer can say for sure. But a couple of possibilities:
In any case, you must NOT combine two wires to get more capacity. It is against code and, aside from any other technical reasons, the basic problem is if one wire broke (or more likely, one end came off a connector) then 50A would be flowing over a wire that can only handle 20A or 30A. You can't parallel, as logical as it might seem.