#200 AMP SERVICE WIRE CODE#

The regulations on charging stations have loosened up a bit since the post was published. Luckily I found a somewhat dated article with the calculations.

#200 AMP SERVICE WIRE CODE#

The code uses a combination of watts per square foot and the electric load of various appliances and equipment in the home to determine the correct service you should be using. Upgrades that keep the same amperage and wiring run the least.

The Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) has a lot of rules, regulations and exceptions that need to be applied. Most homes have an electrical service between 100 to 200 amps, which puts you at the. The calculations are best left to the professionals. And these are important considerations if you are planning to add any equipment that draws a lot of power. You’ll also need to ensure that you have the correctly sized wiring from the meter to the main electrical panel. Which begs the question, do you really need a 200 amp service for charging your electric car?įiguring out the size of the service and main breaker needed to accommodate an electric car charging port isn’t easy. To safely deliver this extra power the bigger service needs a larger capacity main breaker and thicker wires when compared to the smaller sized service.īut many homes use a 100 or 125 amp service because that was the requirement at the time they were built. A 200 amp service can deliver twice as much current as a 100 amp service. And the size of your service is expressed in amps as well. The current your home uses when you turn on lights or run appliances is measured in amps. The un-metered neutral wire is connected to neutral bus bars in the panel and doesn’t require a breaker. The two 120 volt wires exiting the meter hook up to your panel main breaker. The hot leads are metered while the neutral is not. These three wires come from the street, either underground or from a utility pole, and enter your hydro meter on one end. The two hot wires when used together provide 240 volts for appliances like stoves and clothes dryers. Which wire used is determined by the voltage drop and. Homes in North America are wired almost exclusively using single phase electricity service consisting of two hot wires of 120 volts each and a neutral wire. Wiring 200 amp service requires either 2/0 copper wiring or 4/0 aluminum or aluminum clad wiring. And if you have plans for any other big electrical additions like a hot tub.įirst I’ll give you an explanation about what exactly the ‘service’ is, be it 100, 200 or even 400 amps. So do you need 200 amps or not? It’s a tough question and depends on the equipment currently installed in your home. But this was overturned by Doug Ford in May. They passed legislation requiring all new homes to have a 200 amp panel. Do you need a 200 amp service for your electric car? The previous Ontario government thought so.

200 amp service wire