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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have a gas furnace and hot water heater and are in the process of getting central AC (yay!). We currently have 200 amp service and have been surprised that multiple HVAC companies want us to upgrade our service from the city to add 200 amps.

Meanwhile, every electrician is doing load calculations and saying that it’s not only unnecessary, but will take forever (3-9 months) and the city might say no since we have buried lines that go to an overhead line across a busy street. We can’t start necessary electric or HVAC work because no one agrees on what to do. Could we really need another 200 or are these guys just giving us lazy information?

House is 4000 sf, no big electrical things like a pool or hot tub, gas stove but other kitchen applicants are electric. No plans to add a car charger. We are a small family and we do sometimes entertain but would never have more than 4-5 people sleeping in the house, so it’s not like we have a 10 person electrical load.[/quote]

An upgrade to a 400A service seems unnecessary.

Our house is 3600 sqft finished with a 200A main panel which includes a 60A 2P circuit for central AC, a 50A 2P circuit for a double wall oven, 20A and 50A 2P circuits for dual level 2 car charging, a 30A 2P circuit for an electric dryer, and a 40A 2P circuit for outdoor radiant heating. Then a bunch of 15A and 20A 1P circuits for lights, outlets, and other fixtures. We have a gas furnace, gas cooktop, gas hot water heater, and gas fireplaces. Never had any issues, but we’re pretty close to capacity. Though some stuff is unlikely to be used at the same time (e.g., AC + outdoor heating for screened porch). Plus many circuits won’t pull anything close to maximum capacity (e.g., 50A car charger circuit has 40A charging unit that is programmed to pull 32A [80%] max / 20A charger pulls 16A max / etc…).

I am an electrician. HVAC guys are just covering their butts. [/quote]

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