EV Charger Installation, Sized to Your House
A Level 2 charger at home means waking up to a full battery every morning. The install is a dedicated 240-volt circuit, a permit where your town requires one, and an honest answer to the question everybody asks first: does my panel need an upgrade?
Quoted before we start, guaranteed on the invoice.
What a Level 2 install actually involves
The charger you buy plugs into a wall or a truck bed; the part we do is everything behind it.
- A load calculation. What the house draws now, what the charger adds, what the service can carry. This is where the 200 amp question gets answered with numbers instead of a sales pitch.
- A dedicated 240-volt circuit sized to the charger, typically a 50 or 60 amp run from the panel to where the car parks, with the breaker to match.
- Hardwired or plug-in. A plug-in charger uses a heavy 240-volt receptacle, which under the current code needs ground-fault protection. A hardwired charger carries its own protection inside the unit. We will tell you which suits the spot.
- The permit and inspection where your municipality requires one, pulled by us and signed off by an inspector who does not work for us.
- The panel, if it is needed. Not always. See below.
Does my panel need an upgrade first?
The biggest cost driver is distance. A panel in the garage with the charger on the wall beside it is the simplest install. A panel on the far side of the house means a long run, and that is where the number grows.
The second question is your service size. A home with 100 amp service usually needs an upgrade to 200 amp before a charger goes in. If you have 150 amp, we usually take it to 200 as well, because the cost difference is small. A home with no gas, where the range, dryer and heat are all electric, almost always needs the upgrade.
It is not always the case. If the panel is close and you are not charging the car while the stove and dryer run, a 100 amp service can sometimes carry it, and the load calculation is what tells us. If the answer is yes, you get a panel upgrade proposal as a separate line so you can see both numbers. If the answer is no, we say no. A bigger sale is not worth doing business the wrong way.
Garage, driveway or detached building
An attached garage is the simple case. A driveway charger needs a weather-rated unit and a mounting spot that survives a Capital Region winter. A detached garage means a feeder run underground, which is a bigger job and, in most towns, a permitted one. We price all three from the same printed guide, so the number you see is the number you pay.
Gas-to-electric is the other conversation we have a lot right now. New York’s all-electric rules apply to new construction, not to the house you already own, so nobody is forcing you to convert. If you want to, the charger, the range and the heat pump all draw on the same service, and we size it once for all of them.
EV charger questions we hear most
What is the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 charging?
Level 1 is a regular 120 volt wall outlet. It is filling a pool with a garden hose: a few miles of range per hour. Level 2 is a 240 volt circuit, the same kind that runs a dryer or range, and it is the fire hose: many times faster, usually a full charge overnight. Level 2 is what we install, and it needs its own circuit from the panel.
Do I need a new panel first?
Often, yes. A 100 amp service usually needs a 200 amp upgrade first, and a 150 amp service usually goes to 200 as well. Sometimes a 100 amp panel can carry a charger when it sits close by and the load allows it. A load calculation tells us which, and we show you the result. If your panel cannot handle it, the upgrade shows up as its own line on the proposal, so you see both numbers.
Should I buy the charger before I call?
Call first. The charger you pick decides the size of the circuit and whether it plugs in or is hardwired. If you drive a Tesla, you will want the Tesla Wall Connector. For any other car we can recommend the chargers we install most. Some cars can only accept a modest charge rate, and buying a bigger charger than the car can use is money you never get back. Ten minutes on the phone avoids buying the wrong one.
Does it need a permit?
In most of the municipalities we work in, a new 240 volt circuit is permit work. We pull the permit and schedule the inspection. Who inspects what, city by city.
Is the quote the whole price?
Yes, unless you add work once we start. Your number depends on the distance from the panel to where the car parks, the charger you choose, and whether the panel needs work. Whatever it is, it is written on the proposal before we start and does not change on the invoice.
Charge at home. Know the number first.
Tell us the car and where it parks. We will tell you whether your panel can take it and what the install costs.