Normally the main is on the top but you can install a service panel with the main on the bottom unless local codes prohibit it.
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Yes a breaker panel can be located in a hall. In fact a lot of apartments have them in that location just as you come in the main door to the apartment.
Not exactly sure what your question is and you need to make sure you are in compliance with electrical code for your jurisdiction. But, generally speaking you install a large breaker (let's say 100A 2 pole breaker to power the sub panel) just as you would install any other breaker in the presently used (hot) panel, and the proper sized cable then goes from old to new and terminates on the main lugs of the new panel. Ground and neutral are usually isolated from each other in the sub panel but depends on other factors as to location of the sub panel, etc.
Yes. Many installations have breaker totals higher that the main breaker of the panel. It is worked on a percentage basis. Not all of the breakers will be on at the same time. In a home, on a 100 amp panel the average load is 50 - 60 amps. The 100 amp main breaker is protecting the 100 amp rated panel board. If the load current goes higher that the panel board is rated at, the main breaker will trip to protect the board.
A sub-panel is always fed from a main panel. The main panel is situated where the electrical service wiring first enters the main structure on a dwelling plot or building site.A sub-panel can be situated within the same building as the main panel or it can be in a subsidiary building or structure (such as a garage, garden shed or workshop) that is separate from the main building.More informationA sub-panel is another name for a secondary breaker box, just as "the main panel" is another name for "the main breaker-box"."Breaker-box" and/or "panel" are just alternative short names that are used instead of the full name "circuit breaker box".
You can reduce the breaker size because that limits the current that can reach the main panel. There is no safety issue other than the significant danger in an unskilled person changing out a main breaker.