TOPIC: How is my Amp calculation?

Electrical things still vex me. 

Today I saw this panel which I understand to be a split bus panel....right so far?

The upper four breakers determin the Amps going into the panel....still on track?

The second picture shows the four breakers and the total Amps I calculate is 160....yes?

If the manufactures tag says that max Amps allowed is 125 then this panel is over Amped and is a safety issue....did I get a gold star?  Let me know if I'm missing something.  Thanks.

Ummm... depends. Got a good pic or two with the cover off? That would be the only sure way to answer your questions. Never assume with electrical. And never never go by what the legend (or what someone wrote) as it's wrong 50% of the time. The older the panel is, the more wrong the legend/markings usually are.

BYW... I should note that the diagram inside the panel cover will usually answer most of your questions.

Nope.  You lost it on line 2.  Those breakers do not feed the panel.  The panel will have the service entrance conductors attach to the bus bars at the top of the four breakers.  125 amp depending on the size of the service entrance conductors.

Just look at the diagram on the open panel door in the picture.  You can see that the bottom left of the top four breakers feeds the whole bottom of the panel.

The other top three breakers will feed double pole items such as the range, A/C as marked and probably the dryer or water heater.  My guess is the house has a gas water heater and the bottom right side feeds the dryer.

You cannot go by the number and size of the breakers to determine the full load amperage of a home. The full load amperage is based on watts per square ft of living area-usually 3, connected loads of the appliances and any heating cooling equipment. But wait, once that is added up, you have to apply demand factors, which adjust the total amperage down. Load calculation are for the specialist-not the generalist that a home inspector is.  If anyone is curious how to do them I would be happy to walk you through the process. Some building departments have the work sheet for doing this printed on the back of the circuit cards they use for inspection. Ask around