Breaking a 240 circuit down to 120V

The Red and Blue bars represent the powered bars of a single phase (residential) service panel. A breaker attaching to one phase (or one bar) gets 120V of power. A breaker attaching to both of the red and blue bar will achieve 240V. To break 240 down to 120V you must drop one of the power legs.



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As you can see above the red wires are capped off , both in the panel and at the device location. The Green (ground) and the white (grounded) conductors attach to the ground bar in the panel. (Main panel configuration, Sub panel has different rules)

The Black wire was relocated in the panel to a single breaker, and at the device, attaches to the brass screw.

The White wire at the device attaches to the silver screw, as it is the return path for power from your appliance.

The green wire (or bare) attaches to the Green Screw. This is intended to be the safety ground.

How to install a 220V circuit breaker in a panel ( Do it yourself)

The red and blue bars represent a single phase (residential ) Electrical panel. To wire a 220V circuit, a breaker must attach to both colors(red and blue). Any one color is equal to 120V. A single breaker, or any breaker that connects to one bar is 120V.(110) Peanut breakers allow for 2 circuits to pull off one bar. Where a 2 pole breaker will span both bars, and attach a leg to each bar. The two circuits combined equal 240V(220V). Some appliances that are 220-240, do not require a neutral, and will not have a neutral (White wire). Some electricians use the white for a powered wire when there is no need for a neutral.
(Typically a heat circuit will have a black and white on a breaker)
A Stove on the other hand will use 120V at the clock , so the white will run all the way to the stove, and the wiring in the stove will split the two circuits to meet its needs.


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