I visited a friend who has a “Town Home”, basically a two story house with a full basement attached to a mirror image two story unit. His panel is 100 Amps and the development has about 100 units. To put in a heat pump and a car charger he’ll need a 200 Amp panel. The development has underground electrical cables. For those with an understanding of underground electrical hookups, what are the chances this fella can get a 200 Amp panel and what’s involved?
Upgrading Town Home developments for car chargers and heat pumps
- Thread starter Snagglefoot
- Start date
They will probably have to have an electrician evaluate the lines to see if they are already capable of supporting 200A service. When we had the panel upgraded on the house it turned out that the lines were already capable of 200A so that saved us a bunch.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2022
- Messages
- 5,618
The power company will need to answer where is the transformer, how big is it, and how many homes are already hooked to it, and if they will allow the extra capacity. Not sure how that all works, but that is the technical part to start.
Nothing magic about the power being underground - but you will need to get the power provider to approve the extra capacity, Then the line gauge will need to be evaluated, based on the distance to the transformer, etc. Once they have it to the meter, then you can go about adding the extra panel space, etc.
Nothing magic about the power being underground - but you will need to get the power provider to approve the extra capacity, Then the line gauge will need to be evaluated, based on the distance to the transformer, etc. Once they have it to the meter, then you can go about adding the extra panel space, etc.
I understand there is such a thing as a current monitor for an auto shutdown for 100 A panels, allowing a high Amp draw that will cut off an appliance like an electrical clothes dryer, say if someone turned it on while the heat pump was running.
Last edited:
Sounds like an older property. Of course permits will be required. The association will probably have to approve.
Could be as simple as a new service panel and line drop, could be more. My guess is a new panel and drop will be sufficient, unless there are other issues.
Good luck.
Could be as simple as a new service panel and line drop, could be more. My guess is a new panel and drop will be sufficient, unless there are other issues.
Good luck.
His property was built in 1995, back in the day when a 200 A panel was used for a grow-op.
There is, it involves a plug-in unit for the dryer & car charger.
Lectron NEMA 10-30 Socket SplitterDefault Title
Lectron NEMA Socket Splitter - Power Your EV Charger and High-Powered Appliance from the Same Outlet NEMA 10-30
ev-lectron.com
I use a 12 amp 240v charger. There's no need for a "200 amp panel" unless the original one is full.
So how many thousands of dollars is it going to cost to downgraded to a heatpump and electric car?
So how many thousands of dollars is it going to cost to downgraded to a heatpump and electric car?
I don't like it, but I like it a lot more than service upgrade.There is, it involves a plug-in unit for the dryer & car charger.
Lectron NEMA 10-30 Socket SplitterDefault Title
Lectron NEMA Socket Splitter - Power Your EV Charger and High-Powered Appliance from the Same Outlet NEMA 10-30
Yes, the upgrades to a 200 A panel can easily cost $5,000 if a new drop line is required and even can even be impossible if the utility cannot pull an upgraded drop line through the underground conduit. I guess there are other options such as going with a natural gas dryer, which is popular in Calgary but know sure if it’s allowed by the condo board. That would lower the potential current draw.
This is exactly why I ask people, "How ya gonna charge?" when they ask about our car. Get your ducks in a row!
My heat pump takes 240V/18A and my car, 240V/16A. I could manage that and my other loads on a 100A panel if I really had to. Whatever car one is considering, can probably "downshift" its charging strategy to take longer. Or it could charge at 3 am when nothing else is going on. It comes down to what the instructions for the load center allow, and local codes.
I love this idea but my dryer circuit is 4 prong.There is, it involves a plug-in unit for the dryer & car charger.
Lectron NEMA 10-30 Socket SplitterDefault Title
Lectron NEMA Socket Splitter - Power Your EV Charger and High-Powered Appliance from the Same Outlet NEMA 10-30
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
This brings up a good point, if you're serious about getting an EV might want to find out about your service now and do what's necessary before the electric capacity in your area gets filled up and they refuse upgrading your service.
I only have dealt with overhead service round these parts and for overhead service they run the same 6 gauge aluminum for 100 and 200 amp residential service.
If it's direct burial underground cable they're probably out of luck, dig a trench and run another one.
It's way better IMO than Amazon's offerings. I mean service upgrade is best but if I had a 3-prong dryer (I do) this wouldn't be the worst thing.
The only difference is a separate ground.
You probably have a 14-30. All I did was get that adapter for my current charger. I'm not running a split though, it's the direct plug for the car.
Not sure where this Lectron unit would work. It would basically be in the same garage, right?
I have a friend with a 100 amp panel who uses a central heat pump (20 amp) and a 40 amp charger.
All it requires is not charging at full speed during times the service is heavily utilized. Heat pump, water heater, oven, and dryer take about 95 amps when running at full capacity.
However, it’s extremely rare that all of those go at the same time. Even so, with a 40 amp charger he has no issues just setting a scheduled nightly charge to start at 11pm. He’s also never run into a situation where he can’t charge during the day if he wants.
Where you would have issues would be with the many people who don’t understand or care about how things work and expect everything to run at once. Also, areas that require a heat strip backup for the heat pump would probably pull too much power to make this feasible.
All it requires is not charging at full speed during times the service is heavily utilized. Heat pump, water heater, oven, and dryer take about 95 amps when running at full capacity.
However, it’s extremely rare that all of those go at the same time. Even so, with a 40 amp charger he has no issues just setting a scheduled nightly charge to start at 11pm. He’s also never run into a situation where he can’t charge during the day if he wants.
Where you would have issues would be with the many people who don’t understand or care about how things work and expect everything to run at once. Also, areas that require a heat strip backup for the heat pump would probably pull too much power to make this feasible.
Similar threads
