Affordable Home Electrification: Avoiding Electric Panel and Service Costs

Many homes in the US have electric service and panels that might not support adding the new loads associated with home electrification. New panels and service connections add to home electrification project costs and delays, and they also increase the load that electric utilities must plan to serve, which can drive up prices for all utility customers. In this presentation, we will explore what panel amperages actually are in US homes and how they vary by house age, size or region based on several data sources covering thousands of homes. We will also discuss how common panel upgrades are when electrifying, and opportunities for electrifying homes without doing an upgrade. Example strategies for avoiding panel upgrades will be presented, including: pursuing alternative calculation methods in the national electrical code, using low-power appliances, plug and circuit sharing technologies, and load control devices. We will also discuss proposed changes to the electric codes to make home electrification easier that are based on measured data from homes.