3 ms·

> The problem is, most houses aren’t wired to handle the load from electric heating, cooking, and clothes dryers, along with solar panels and vehicle chargers

by tzs 3y ago

> The problem is, most houses aren’t wired to handle the load from electric heating, cooking, and clothes dryers, along with solar panels and vehicle chargers I'm not so sure. 80% of US homes have a clothes dryer [1], and about 80% of clothes dryers are electric [2][3][4]. The average American drives 40 miles per day, which takes about 10 kWh of electricity, which is about the same amount of electricity as two loads in a typical electric clothes dryer. It is very common for the laundry room to be next to the garage (or for the garage to be the laundry room). So put your EV charger on the same circuit as the dryer. Then as long as you don't need to charge the EV at the same time you are running the dryer as far as your house wiring is concerned it is like you are running an extra two loads of clothes through the dryer every day. I'd expect this also wouldn't be a problem for the existing electrical grid, because even though it is increasing how much total electricity that the house uses its at night when the load on the grid is low. It may take a lot more electricians (and a lot of grid upgrades) to get everything off fossil fuels, but it seems plausible that we can get a large percentage of people who have houses where they can charge overnight off ICE cars without much upgrades. [1] https://www.epa.gov/archive/epa/newsreleases/first-clothes-dryers-earn-epas-energy-star-label-now-available-nationwideenergy-star.html https://www.epa.gov/archive/epa/newsreleases/first-clothes-d... [2] https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=39293 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=39293 [3] https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/asset/document/ENERGY_STAR_Scoping_Report_Residential_Clothes_Dryers.pdf https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/asset/documen... [4] https://www.statista.com/statistics/220466/household-penetration-of-clothes-dryers-by-energy-source-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/220466/household-penetra...

bryanlarsen 3y ago
Or if the dryer isn't next to the garage, your water heater or air conditioner might be. If none of those three are, your panel could be near the garage and you can split your dryer circuit there. Note that if you put your charger on the same circuit as your dryer/water heater/etc, code will likely not allow you to have both plugged in at once even if you take care not to use both at the same time. Breakers are emergency protection, not the first line of defense. Add a "Dryer Buddy" or similar to the circuit.
_greim_ 3y ago
> So put your EV charger on the same circuit as the dryer. Then as long as you don't need to charge the EV at the same time you are running the dryer as far as your house wiring is concerned it is like you are running an extra two loads of clothes through the dryer every day. I asked an electrician about this once and got lectured. Apparently per regulations a dryer needs to be on a dedicated circuit, and tapping into that line is a big no-no. Nor do you want to have to depend on a breaker as a fail-safe at this amount of current. Instead he ran a separate 50 amp line to my garage terminating in a single outlet, that I can do whatever I want with, EV or welder or whatever.
mcbishop 3y ago
There are now "power control systems" (software) that can dynamically turn on / off "flexible loads" to keep the total electrical current under a specified maximum. ... Without negatively impacting occupants. "Smart panel" examples: Span, Lumin, Savant.

by tzs 3y ago

bryanlarsen 3y ago

Or if the dryer isn't next to the garage, your water heater or air conditioner might be. If none of those three are, your panel could be near the garage and you can split your dryer circuit there. Note that if you put your charger on the same circuit as your dryer/water heater/etc, code will likely not allow you to have both plugged in at once even if you take care not to use both at the same time. Breakers are emergency protection, not the first line of defense. Add a "Dryer Buddy" or similar to the circuit.

_greim_ 3y ago

> So put your EV charger on the same circuit as the dryer. Then as long as you don't need to charge the EV at the same time you are running the dryer as far as your house wiring is concerned it is like you are running an extra two loads of clothes through the dryer every day. I asked an electrician about this once and got lectured. Apparently per regulations a dryer needs to be on a dedicated circuit, and tapping into that line is a big no-no. Nor do you want to have to depend on a breaker as a fail-safe at this amount of current. Instead he ran a separate 50 amp line to my garage terminating in a single outlet, that I can do whatever I want with, EV or welder or whatever.

mcbishop 3y ago

There are now "power control systems" (software) that can dynamically turn on / off "flexible loads" to keep the total electrical current under a specified maximum. ... Without negatively impacting occupants. "Smart panel" examples: Span, Lumin, Savant.