Electrical panel split

In my basement electrical panel there are 3 double pole breakers with the word 'split' beside them. What does this mean and why are they used?
Thanks to this board for throwing a 'light' on all these electrical issues.

If it?s 15A they?re most likely split recepticals in your kitchen.
Meaning that the top half is separate from the bottom half
allowing 15A (or really 12A as they?re supposed to only be
loaded up to 80% rating) to each half of the receptical. Those
or 20A T-slots are done in kitchens to allow you to run your
small kitchen appliances without nuisance tripping. 20A t-slots
meet code in Canada and are cheaper because you only
need 1 12/2 for 20A vs 2 runs of 14/2 for split recepticals.
Single 20?s on one receptical only take up 1 slot in your panel
and cheaper breaker vs double. If you already have splits
your well covered.

Actually you can feed a split 15 with 14/3 my bad

And to add 2 cents...They might of been double pole breakers, and the cross/tie piece between them has been removed, therefore they are split into 2 individual breakers, but built as a normal 2 pole breaker unit.
Most likely the counter top circuits reply, a simple test is to turn one off and see if both breakers go off " tied together"or just the one "split", Someone /inspector may of labeled them to indicate that the tie piece has been removed? If they are counter top circuits both have to go off the same time, so there is not a live wire, in the outlet box, when servicing the faulty half of the outlet.

A picture would be helpful, but it is possible they are talking about a split bus in the panel. While there are legitimate uses in commercial installations, such as lighting control or a shunt trip for kitchen equipment under a exhaust hood, I really see no point in them for a residential application.

If it is as mentioned below that a 14/3 conductor is being used for two receptacle circuits with a 2 pole 15A breaker, then I suspect you have a code violation. If I remember correctly, you need individual breakers for each receptavle circuit (Art 240 NEC)

My understanding is that if the current goes to the same box, like a split receptacle, the handles must be tied together.

Doug, again NOT being there I cant say for sure but here's at least ONE possibility based on my years of experience in the engineering field.

You may have what are referred to in the trade as MULTI WIRE BRANCH CIRCUITS

An example is say a Duplex receptacle (NEMA 5-15R or 5-20R) where the top to bottom tie bar on the HOT sided of the duplex receptacle is broke off such that the TOP receptacle is on Leg A (perhaps Black) while the BOTTOM receptacle is in Leg B (perhaps Red) (AND ITS 240 VOLTS L1 TO L2) HOWEVER the tie bar on the Neutral remains so only one common Neutral (white) serves BOTH top and bottom circuits.

Why were they used you ask ????

That way you could have say a 12 amp toaster on the top and a 12 amp microwave on the bottom (24 amp load) BUT IF IT WAS A REGULAR RECEPTACLE (NOT Multi Wire) 24 amps would trip a 15 or 20 amp breaker.

ALSO you save wire and money as ONLY ONE Neutral sufficed for two circuits...??. Two Hots, One Neutral

NOTE In my opinion and the way I practiced what I consider to be sound engineering I NEVER LIKED MULTI WIRE BRANCH CIRCUIT USE IN RESIDANTIAL APPLICATIONS even if perfectly NEC proper, because it was 240 VAC L1 to L2 and besides Billy Bob and Bubba had no clue what was going on and may not be aware that if only one breaker was open the other still had live 120 VAC present !!!!!

Obviously such a circuit required a two pole breaker so if one side was off the other was also and I preferred true two pole versus wire tied

DISCLAIMER I cant say for sure what you have and this is ONLY ONE POSSIBILITY no warranty Im right since its been YEARS since I practiced electrical power distribution design. Others may have more to add to this or other answers to your question this is ONLY ONE POSSIBILITY......

Where fire and life safety is concerned consider consulting trained competent current practicing electricians and electrical engineers versus lay opinions, the life you save may be yours or your family

Best wishes and God Bless n keep yall safe

John T

Hi Philip, I live in Ottawa, Ontario and had our kitchen remodeled about 10 years ago and to bring the electrical up to the current electrical code, the electrician removed all the 15A split plugs and wiring
and replaced it with the 20-T plugs and yellow clad wire(assume wire is 12/2) with GFI outlets near the sink and added about 3 extra plugs. Luckily electrical panel was directly below the kitchen but had to
add pony panel, so wire costs were low.

Several code books back it was required to place multi-wire branch circuits on a two pole breaker to keep people working on kitchen receptacles from getting rapped. That way it shuts off both hot wires in the same junction box. I agree with the practice -- good code change. It took awhile for this change in code to be taken seriously.