Case studies·East York, Toronto

Project snapshotEV chargingLoad management

48 A EV charger on a 100 A panel
with a heat pump in the house

A heat pump house peaking at 67 A in January. A certified energy management system let a full-speed 48 A charger go in without a service upgrade.

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48 A EV charger mounted on a brick wall beside the driveway, East York, Toronto — 48 A charger, 100 A panel, no upgrade

67 A

Winter peak on the meter

48 A

Charger at full speed

23 of 3,285

Overnight hours the charger would pause

100 A

Service kept, no upgrade

1The challenge

Twelve months of Toronto Hydro data showed the house peaking at 67 A on a cold January night: a heat pump with a 10 kW backup coil. With the Code's 1.25 factor the house calculates to 84 A, so a 48 A charger added at full rating comes to 132 A on a 100 A service. The charger's app offered load management, but in Canada that is listed as monitoring equipment, not a certified energy management system, so an inspector cannot rely on it.

2What we did

Certified energy management system (UL 3141) installed between the panel and the charger, watching the whole service with current transformers
Set for this house: 100 A service, 48 A charger, charger paused if the house climbs past 80 A, then back on after a set delay. If the controller fails, the charger stays off
Charger hardwired at 48 A on #6 copper and a 60 A breaker, fed through the wall to the driveway
ESA permit, inspection and an engineering load assessment on file

3The result

Modelled on the real year of data, the charger would have paused in 23 of 3,285 overnight hours. Every other hour it charges at the full 48 A. No service upgrade, no new panel.

The load check

The numbers, by the Code method

Measured peak, the 1.25 factor, then the charger added at its full rating.

Busiest hour on the meterJanuary night, heat pump and backup coil

67 A

Calculated house loadPeak x 1.25

84 A

Plus a 48 A charger, no load managementFails on a 100 A service

132 A

With the certified load managerService held at 80 A

80 A

The service100 A at 240 V

100 A

Load management, done properly. The charger only steps aside on the few cold-weather hours the house actually needs the capacity, and the certified device is what lets the inspector sign it off.

Watch the install

100 A panel, 48 A charger, no upgrade

On site

48 A EV charger on a 100 A panel

48 A EV charger on a 100 A panel, photo 3

Load assessment first

Then the right install

Send your address and 12 months of Toronto Hydro data. We will tell you if a charger goes straight in, needs load management, or needs an upgrade, with a fixed quote.

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Straight Answers

The kind we would give before you commit a dollar of capital. Tap a question.

Can I put a 48 A EV charger on a 100 A panel?

Often, yes. Under ESA Bulletin 8-3-15, take the highest demand from 12 months of utility data, multiply by 1.25, then add the charger at its full rating. If the total stays within the service rating, it goes in directly. If not, a certified electric vehicle energy management system can keep the total within the rating, as it did here.

Is the load management in my charger's app enough?

Only if the product is certified as an EV energy management system for Canada. Many app-based features are listed as energy monitoring equipment, which an inspector cannot rely on to stay within the service rating. We check the listing before anything is installed.

Will load management slow down my charging?

Usually very little. Most charging happens overnight, when the house is quiet. On this house the charger would have paused in 23 of 3,285 overnight hours across a full year, and charged at full speed the rest of the time.

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