3 Reasons To Upgrade Your Home's Electrical Panel When Adding An EV Charger Instead Of Installing An Energy Management System
Installing an electric vehicle charger in your home makes it convenient to keep your car's battery fully charged, ensuring you'll have the maximum range if you need to drive a long distance. However, EV chargers consume a significant amount of power, so many homes require an electrical panel upgrade to support the additional power draw. Older homes often have electrical panels that can't support running an EV charger at the same time as your other home appliances like your air conditioner, refrigerator, and water heater.
One alternative that some homeowners choose instead of an electrical panel upgrade is installing an energy management system. An energy management system monitors the amount of electricity you're using in your home, and it will only turn on the EV charger when there's no risk of overloading your electrical panel. If you charge your electric vehicle overnight, for example, it can turn on the charger whenever your air conditioner turns off and isn't consuming any power. This can make it possible to install an EV charger in a home with an older electrical panel.
However, installing an energy management system is often a poor alternative to upgrading your electrical panel. To learn why, read on to discover why it's usually best to simply upgrade your electrical panel to support a larger power draw.
1. You Won't Risk Your EV Charger Failing to Run Overnight
One of the downsides of using an energy management system is that you're still limited in how much power your electrical panel can support. If you're charging your car overnight and it's very hot outside, your air conditioner may never turn off. Similarly, an unnoticed leak in your home's hot water pipes could cause your hot water heater to run continuously throughout the night. When you wake up in the morning, your car won't be fully charged, and this can interfere with your ability to get to work or run errands. Upgrading your electrical panel will allow you to use your EV charger while the rest of your appliances are running, ensuring that your car will always be charged when you wake up.
2. An Electrical Panel Upgrade Boosts Your Home's Value
Upgrading your home's electrical panel helps increase the value of your home. If a prospective buyer wants to renovate your home by switching gas appliances to electric or adding more electrical outlets, they may not be able to without upgrading the electrical panel first. Upgrading your electrical panel makes it more attractive to buyers because it allows them more freedom for renovation, as a modern electrical panel is able to support more appliances without the risk of overloading the panel.
3. Upgrading Your Electrical Panel Prepares Your Home for the Future
Upgrading your home's electrical panel is a more versatile option than having an energy management system installed. If you ever want to build an addition to your home, then you'll be ready to support the extra power draw of the appliances in it. Installing an energy management system only allows you to charge your car when other appliances aren't using electricity, which makes it more limited.
Overall, upgrading your home's electrical panel makes your EV charger more reliable, helps increase your home's value, and provides more versatility than installing an energy management system. If you're installing an EV charger in your home to make sure your battery's always charged when you need it, call an electrician who performs electrical panel installation and have them upgrade your panel to support the added power draw so that you can use your EV charger at the same time as the rest of your appliances.
Reach out to a local electrician to learn more about EV charger outlet installation.