Are you concerned that electrifying your older home will require a costly electrical panel replacement? It might not. Many homes can fully electrify on an existing 100 Amp panel. It just takes some simple upfront planning—and you’ll get all the cost, health, comfort and climate benefits of electrification.
If you’re a homeowner starting your home electrification journey, you may be wondering whether you need to upgrade your electrical panel. If your panel is less than 100 Amps, really old, or unsafe, then you’ll likely need an upgrade. But if your panel is in good shape and at least 100 Amps, you can usually fully electrify without a panel upgrade.
Electrifying on a 100 Amp panel means making some smart choices about energy-efficient appliances and circuit sharing devices—and can save you thousands of dollars and lots of time.
Pros of a panel upgrade
- Increased electrical capacity: more devices and appliances can be powered simultaneously
- Future-proofing: a higher amp panel ensures your system can accommodate future projects down the line.
Cons of a panel upgrade
- Cost: upgrading a panel typically costs $3-6k, or up to $25k if a complex service upgrade or transformer replacement is needed.
- Time: a panel upgrade might trigger a utility service upgrade, which can result in months of delays.
- Impact on the grid: when many homes in a community increase their electric service capacity, this can result in costly grid upgrades that could be avoided through efficient design.
By insulating and weatherizing to reduce heating and cooling loads and choosing power-efficient appliances, most homes can fully electrify without a panel or service upgrade and reduce future energy costs.
Here are some of the appliances and tools that can help you be “power smart”:
- High efficiency, variable speed heat pumps that can heat and cool on a single 30A circuit.
- Heat pump water heaters, which consume dramatically less energy than resistance electric models. 120V versions can even run on a shared 15A circuit.
- Heat pump clothes dryers, which can operate on a 20A circuit (compared to 30-50A for a conventional electric dryer). Ventless washer dryer combos can run on a 15A circuit.
- Power-smart EV chargers, such as the 120 volt Level 1 charger that came with your EV to get 50 miles of charge overnight, or a Level 2 charger that runs on a 20A circuit.
- Smart splitters are low-cost ($400-700) devices that allow you to share a circuit between two devices, like your clothes dryer and EV charger.
- Smart panels cost $3-5k plus installation, and allow you to manage the loads on your panel so you can optimize the use of solar or batteries.
Watch Electrify Now’s recent webinar on the topic to explore in more detail
More helpful resources for electrifying on a 100A panel: