Electrical – Two 240 volt runs off same breaker

240velectrical

I have natural gas for all main appliances except for our AC system.

However, there are breakers and outlets for all 240v appliances. They are unused and in the off position. Presumably if someone wanted say a gas oven/dryer/water heater etc they could then do that without issue.

My question is, while I never plan on getting anything but natural gas appliances, it is nice to know that I could go electric should I want to. So, that being said, am I able to use one of the existing 240v breakers to drop my own 240v plug in a place that doesn’t currently have one?

Let’s assume all proper calculations like wire size, expected draw, etc were all figured out. The question is simply can you have two separate leads on the same breaker going to two separate outlets? My gut tells me no, because I don’t see anything like that in the panel. But I’d like to ask.

Note: currently there is no more space in the panel, so that’s why I have this question.

Best Answer

Disconnect the old run then hook up the new one

Since we're dealing with EVSE (a Tesla charger) here, we need to provide a dedicated branch circuit for that EVSE as per NEC 625.40:

625.40 Electric Vehicle Branch Circuit. Each outlet installed for the purpose of charging electric vehicles shall be supplied by an individual branch circuit. Each circuit shall have no other outlets.

As a result, you'll need to disconnect the old wires from the breaker you plan to use and cap them off inside the breaker box, then attach your new homerun to the breaker in question.