Couple of things.
First: There's this term, "Load Calculation". It's a standard thing that electricians do when sizing breaker panels. I believe that there's some calculators on the web, but it more or less adds up some data on square footage of the house, how many appliances of what kind (HVAC, microwave, electric stoves, electric driers, etc.) and comes up with a Number. Add to this the (nominal) 60A circuit you'd like to add for a HPWC.
The general idea is that a house, under normal usage, shouldn't be popping any breakers, especially the Main.
When the crowd that added my Wall Connector was contacted about the project, that Load Calculation was mentioned right off the bat. Now, it so happens that this house has a 200A panel, so it wasn't a difficult bit of messing about, but, still. Around here we've heard a couple of people mention that they needed a bigger panel, and they had a 200A panel.. but I guess it was a pretty big house.
Second: It's not just the size of the panel, it's the size of the drop from the power pole. These, too, vary in size and, if you end up needing a bigger panel, you may need a bigger feed from On High.
Third: I happen to live in the State of New Jersey, which is exceedingly big on BEV and everybody buying them. One of the many programs they have is to provide monetary assistance for not just putting in something like a HPWC, but separate funds designated towards the local utilities to increase the size of the drop from the pole. I'm not sure, but adding a bigger panel might be part of all the foo-fer-aw.
Fourth: After noticing all these various subsidies on njcleanenergy.com (no, really, that's them), I've had cause to check and see if other states are doing stuff like this. I've only checked a few (Maryland, MA, maybe one or two others) and, well, they are. Sometimes it seems like the subsidies are aimed at commercial properties (Virginia?) but others were very definitely aimed at consumers.
Fifth: Again, NJ is an electric-mad state. Many states (I'm aware of CA, as well) have PUC-mandated Special Deals where, if you're charging an electric vehicle, you get cheap charging rates on that. In fact, PSE&G, the local utility here, has, for Teslas at least, partnered with some company or other that, with the correct data, will talk to the Tesla Mothership to figure out how many kW-hrs one is spending on car charging. And to charge an exceedingly low rate for kW-hr's used for that purpose.
So, check for State stuff, especially if you need to upgrade your breaker panel/drop line.
Finally: Not sure about this, but paying Good Money to add stuff for Clean Energy gets 30% off from the Fed as a tax rebate. That's for solar panel systems, more efficient HVAC, and the like; but, if memory serves, upgrading your electric panel so you can charge your BEV may qualify. Check that, sir.
First: There's this term, "Load Calculation". It's a standard thing that electricians do when sizing breaker panels. I believe that there's some calculators on the web, but it more or less adds up some data on square footage of the house, how many appliances of what kind (HVAC, microwave, electric stoves, electric driers, etc.) and comes up with a Number. Add to this the (nominal) 60A circuit you'd like to add for a HPWC.
The general idea is that a house, under normal usage, shouldn't be popping any breakers, especially the Main.
When the crowd that added my Wall Connector was contacted about the project, that Load Calculation was mentioned right off the bat. Now, it so happens that this house has a 200A panel, so it wasn't a difficult bit of messing about, but, still. Around here we've heard a couple of people mention that they needed a bigger panel, and they had a 200A panel.. but I guess it was a pretty big house.
Second: It's not just the size of the panel, it's the size of the drop from the power pole. These, too, vary in size and, if you end up needing a bigger panel, you may need a bigger feed from On High.
Third: I happen to live in the State of New Jersey, which is exceedingly big on BEV and everybody buying them. One of the many programs they have is to provide monetary assistance for not just putting in something like a HPWC, but separate funds designated towards the local utilities to increase the size of the drop from the pole. I'm not sure, but adding a bigger panel might be part of all the foo-fer-aw.
Fourth: After noticing all these various subsidies on njcleanenergy.com (no, really, that's them), I've had cause to check and see if other states are doing stuff like this. I've only checked a few (Maryland, MA, maybe one or two others) and, well, they are. Sometimes it seems like the subsidies are aimed at commercial properties (Virginia?) but others were very definitely aimed at consumers.
Fifth: Again, NJ is an electric-mad state. Many states (I'm aware of CA, as well) have PUC-mandated Special Deals where, if you're charging an electric vehicle, you get cheap charging rates on that. In fact, PSE&G, the local utility here, has, for Teslas at least, partnered with some company or other that, with the correct data, will talk to the Tesla Mothership to figure out how many kW-hrs one is spending on car charging. And to charge an exceedingly low rate for kW-hr's used for that purpose.
So, check for State stuff, especially if you need to upgrade your breaker panel/drop line.
Finally: Not sure about this, but paying Good Money to add stuff for Clean Energy gets 30% off from the Fed as a tax rebate. That's for solar panel systems, more efficient HVAC, and the like; but, if memory serves, upgrading your electric panel so you can charge your BEV may qualify. Check that, sir.