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Amp & Anchor Electric · Hamilton ON

EV charging · load calc first

The right charger is the one your panel can carry

Level 2 charging is a continuous load — the most demanding thing most homes will ever add. So we run the demand calculation before we quote, and we'll happily talk you into a smaller charger when the arithmetic says so. Full charge by morning either way.

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Driver plugging a Level 2 charging connector into an electric car in a home driveway
EVC · Level 2

Three honest sizes

Level 2, compared like an electrician would

Bigger is not better — bigger is just bigger. Overnight, all three fill the battery of nearly every EV from nearly empty. What differs is what your service has to carry while they do it.

The arithmetic

How the load calculation decides

  1. 01

    Add up what your house already draws

    The Ontario Electrical Safety Code's demand calculation weighs your square footage, heating, range, dryer, water heater, and A/C — not the sticker on every appliance, but what realistically runs at once.

  2. 02

    Compare against your service size

    A 100 A service supplies 24 kW. If the demand calc says your house already peaks near 80 A, a 48 A continuous charger doesn't fit — arithmetic, not opinion.

  3. 03

    Pick the honest option

    Headroom for 48 A? Great, install it. Tight? A 32 A charger or a load-management device (which pauses charging while the dryer and oven run) usually saves you a $4,000 service upgrade.

A worked example

1972 side-split in Stoney Creek — 1,650 sq ft, 100 A service, gas furnace and water heater, electric range and dryer, central A/C.

78 A of calculated demand on a 100 A service leaves ~22 A of headroom — not enough for a 40 A or 48 A continuous charger. The honest options: a 32 A compact charger (fits comfortably), a load-management device with the 48 A unit (+$650–$900), or a 200 A upgrade ($3,200–$4,600). This household drives 60 km a day; the 32 A charger replaces that in under two hours of overnight charging. That's what we recommended.

Simplified illustration of a CEC Section 8 demand calculation for this fictional house — your numbers will differ. We run the real calculation, on paper, before every charger quote.

Demand calculation (simplified)

  • Basic load (first 90 m² + living area) 6,000 W
  • Electric range 6,000 W
  • Electric dryer (25% demand factor applied) 1,375 W
  • Central air conditioning 3,500 W
  • Other fixed loads at demand factors 1,800 W
  • Calculated demand 18,675 W ≈ 78 A
  • Service size 100 A

Headroom: ~22 A — a 48 A continuous charger does not fit.

The install

What every charger install includes

  • The demand calculation, on paper, before the quote — you keep a copy
  • ESA permit filed by us; inspection scheduled and attended
  • Breaker, conductors, and terminations sized for a continuous load
  • Commissioning, app setup, and a five-minute charging-habits walkthrough
  • A typed panel directory entry — 'EV CHARGER, GARAGE' beats 'MISC'

On rebates Charger and panel rebate programs come and go faster than websites update. We check what's live for your utility when you book, and we fill in the paperwork with you — but we won't advertise last year's program as this year's discount.

On "full" panels A physically full panel isn't the same as a fully loaded service. Half the "you need a $4,000 upgrade" verdicts we're asked to second-opinion are solved with a $650–$900 load-management device — or tandem breakers and an honest afternoon's work.

Bring your own charger Labour pricing is identical whether we supply the unit or you do. We install anything cUL/CSA-certified — and nothing that isn't, because uncertified gear fails inspection.

Planned work · no sirens

Charging ready for delivery day?

Run the calculator for a range, or book the site visit — we'll bring the load calc worksheet and leave you with one written number.

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Prefer a person? (905) 555-0177 — Sam answers weekdays 7:30–4:30.

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