Many of the world’s nations are beginning to transition toward more sustainable energy sources. While this transition is necessary to mitigate climate change and protect the planet, many experts foresee significantly higher power demands due to the increased use of green technologies like solar panels, electric car chargers, and heat pumps.
According to the nonprofit Pecan Street, as many as 48 million homes in the United States could need electrical upgrades to meet this higher electricity demand. Homeowners should consider evaluating their current electrical system and implementing electrical upgrades to handle higher demand from these new technologies.
Which Homes Need Electrical Panel Upgrades?
Many American homes—especially older ones—have 120-volt electrical panels. Homeowners remodeling their homes often discover that their current 120-volt system is not powerful enough to handle certain modern appliances, such as high-efficiency electric induction stoves. To meet the higher demand for the new appliances, they find that they have to upgrade their electrical panel to a 240-volt system.
Over half of the single-family homes in the US were built before 1980. Most households used far fewer home electric devices during this era, so 100-amp electrical panels were more than enough to meet the home’s electricity needs. Modern American households often have many more electrical devices, such as computers, televisions, video game systems, kitchen appliances, and more.
The electricity usage of the average American household is only expected to increase in the future as electric cars, solar panels, and heat pumps become more common. Because 100-amp panels are incapable of meeting the demand of all of these devices, many Americans may need to upgrade their systems to 200-amp panels to avoid overloads.
New electrical panels can be costly as well. They can go for $2,000 or more depending on how they need to be installed. Some homes require new electric supply wires to handle the increased capacity, which can increase the bill by thousands of dollars. In some cases, the supply wire may need to be routed underground, which can bring the cost to over $10,000.
Smart Electrical Panels
Internet-enabled “smart” electrical panels are an alternative to standard 200-amp panels, and they can be used with existing 100-amp panels instead of replacing the entire system. These smart panels manage all circuits in the home and automatically balance the electrical load generated by electric car charges, solar panels, heat pumps, and battery storage systems.
Smart panels can be used to regulate energy use and avoid spikes in demand that would typically require conventional 240-volt electrical panels. For example, if you were to plug in your electric vehicle and use your heat pump at the same time, a standard 100-amp panel could easily become overloaded. Smart panels can automatically delay the vehicle charger until the heat pump is no longer in use.
A smart panel produced by the company Span.IO Inc. sells for $4,500 before installation costs. However, this could still be a more economical option for homes that require expensive supply wire upgrades. Smart panels also allow homeowners to future-proof their homes by providing enough capacity to accommodate additional appliances that may be needed in the future, such as an extra electric vehicle charger.
Span’s smart panel can be controlled via a smartphone app, which allows homeowners to monitor each circuit and all appliances in the house. This feature is useful during spikes in electricity demand; homeowners can shut down appliances that require excessive power or siphon power from home battery storage systems.
Cost-Effective Alternatives to Electric Panels
Homeowners may be able to avoid upgrading their out-of-date electrical panel by limiting its use as much as possible.
For example, the ConnectDER solar collar allows rooftop solar panels to be plugged directly into utility meters. This system allows homeowners to save on installation costs and does not require the electrical panel to be upgraded.
ConnectDER is also currently developing an attachment that will allow Siemens AG 240-volt electric car chargers to be plugged directly into the meter. This device would allow homeowners to free up space on their current electrical panel, which can be used by other green appliances. This attachment will also temporarily delay vehicle charging if it detects that the current electricity demand exceeds the utility supply wire’s capacity.
Low-Voltage Appliances
While smart panels are effective, there are other solutions to the increased electricity demand that comes with the use of climate-friendly appliances. Homeowners can also replace household fossil fuel appliances with low-voltage electric alternatives that will not overload the existing electrical panel.
For instance, Rheem Manufacturing Co. has introduced a 120-volt version of its ProTerra heat pump water heater, which can be plugged into a standard electrical circuit without requiring an upgrade to 240 volts. Similar products are expected to hit the market soon.
These products will make it much easier to replace natural gas water heaters with low-carbon heat pumps. Government incentives also offer major savings. The Inflation Reduction Act offers a heat pump water heater rebate of up to $1,750, which covers a significant portion of the 120-volt ProTerra’s price tag of between $1,904 and $3,156 (depending on the water tank capacity).