With today’s electric equipment […], now is the time to ask the question.

And ideally… even before you buy your house.

An undersized electrical service can lead to costly upgrades — and sometimes, it’s not even possible to fix after the fact.

Power required for typical household electrical equipment

Without an EV charging station

With a standard EV charger (8 kW)

With a high-speed EV charger (50 kW)

* A load controller is required to keep total usage below 320 A.

What’s the difference between “connected load” and “required capacity”?

It all comes down to the usage factor. Any equipment expected to run more than 2 hours at a time is considered 100% active — so it gets a usage factor of 1.0.

Using devices at full power for too long can overload your system — or worse, cause a fire. That’s why the Electrical Code includes safety margins to prevent the risks of overuse.

Electrical service sizes available for homes

At 120/240V, residential services are available in 200A, 300A, and 400A capacities.
The Code requires a safety margin: your actual load should never exceed 80% of the rated capacity of your panel, wires, and outlets.

Important: You are not allowed to have two electrical services of the same voltage at the same address.

What if your system isn’t powerful enough? You’ll need to:

• Contact your utility provider to increase your service size, and

• Hire an electrician to replace your electrical panel (expect several thousand dollars), and/or

• Consider complementary solutions like batteries, solar panels, or a load controller to manage your usage.

Make your life easier: plan it right from the start.