Electrical – Where is the tandem breaker located

I got an answer from my electrician. Here are the options in order of preference with pros and cons

1. Replace the panel - Pro: all new box and breakers; Con: Somewhat expensive
2. Replace with "cheaters" to make space - Pro: Cheaper; Con: Still expensive (labor) and the wires may not be long enough to reach where they need to reach.
3. Replace the 220v A/C disconnect with a fusible disconnect - Pro: Cheap; Con: Not entirely to code, have to replace fuses, in my case the outside box would have to be replaced too.

I went with replacing the panel. It cost $1600 and took about 6 hours. Expensive but its the right solution and I have a few free breakers to add some circuits if I ever need them. The old box had a few other tabs that looked fishy, it was a good idea to let it go.

It sounds like you may be mistaken as to how this is wired, or that perhaps I'm just not understanding your explanation. As others have mentioned, it's not possible to get 240 volts from a single pole in a 120/240V split phase system. Each tandem breaker provides 2 120 V circuits, this is true. However, if you measure between the terminals on a single tandem breaker, you'll get 0 volts. This is because the terminals are both powered from the same leg, and so are at the same voltage potential. If you measure from a terminal on the top tandem breaker to a terminal on the bottom one, then you'll measure 240 volts. This is because each breaker is connected to a different leg, which are each one half of a 240 volt circuit.

With all that said. For this setup to work, one appliance would have to be connected to both breaker. Something like this...

Notice that each appliance circuit has one wire connected to each of the tandem breakers. In this situation, you'd need a device like Speedy Petey shows.

Which ties the breaker handles together, to provide common trip characteristics.

Notice how the inner handles are tied together, and that the outer handles are also tied to each other. This way if either trip (or are turned off by the user), the entire circuit is shut off.

If this is wired the way you've explained, where the dryer is connected to the top tandem and the heater is connected to the bottom. Then there's some magic going on in those breakers.