Am I pushing my luck with this setup? NEMA 14-50 on a 100amp panel?

[garth_angst]

My electric panel is 100amps. My house does not have gas, so I have electric oven and dryer. I also have central A/C. My house is a ranch, around 1600 square feet. All of my appliances are recent, so Energy Star. I only have LED bulbs, a few CFLs. Electrician came over and is going to put in a 50amp dual pole breaker so I can put in a NEMA 14-50.

Am I pushing my luck with the load or should I go with a NEMA 14-30. Now mind you, I am most likely going for the Model 3 LR, not the SR+, if that makes any difference. I would charge overnight when neither the dryer nor the oven would be running, but surely the A/C would come on intermittently overnight.

Any advice?

 

[Tam]

...overnight...

What's the electrician advice?

Oven..30A
Dryer..30A
A/C....30A
Lights..10A
---------------
Total load=100A

If you don't use 50A of those above, your NEMA 14-50 should be fine.

 

[COrocket]

With an electric oven/washer/AC you might be pushing it. Generally the electricians do load calculations which estimate average usage and include square footage of the house to estimate the load. I’m guessing the electrician didn’t do that because that sounds like a lot of stuff on a 100 amp panel.

In a practical application, if you were mindful to charge at night when the only other load is the HVAC, then you should be fine. Even though it’s a 50 amp outlet, the UMC maxes out at 32 amps. If a 20 or 30 amp outlet would make you feel more comfortable, then either of those should be sufficient for average driving use. At 15 or 22 MPH charging, you could top off 150-220 miles every night if you charged for 10 hours.

 

[twistedskipper]

My electrician said they can’t put in a single 240v circuit that’s is more than half the service to the house. In my case 125A to house so 60A for my charging circuit, which will only see 32A through UMC, in any case, as others have pointed out. You should be fine, although I’m sure you could pop the main if you put your mind to it.

 

[juliusa]

You could have an electrician do a load analysis, but a 100a service to a house with electric stove/oven/dryer is not looking too good.

Depending on where your dryer is located, you might consider something like this. For less than the cost of an electrician installing an outlet, you can share the dryer outlet. Dryer Buddy™

 

[garth_angst]

You could have an electrician do a load analysis, but a 100a service to a house with electric stove/oven/dryer is not looking too good.

Depending on where your dryer is located, you might consider something like this. For less than the cost of an electrician installing an outlet, you can share the dryer outlet. Dryer Buddy™

The Dryer Buddy looks cool, but unfortunately my dryer is in the basement, a good 20-25 feet from the garage. After talking to a few people, I'm thinking about just upgrading the electric panel to 150 or 200 amps. I know it will cost me, but I don't want to have to worry about it. Boy, this Telsa is causing so many other costs. Hahaha, I'll just suck it up and smile.

 

[CRASHER]

In worst case, if you over load the main 100A breaker will trip. Then you would also know your limit

for future.​

 

[mswlogo]

I’d say absolutely not. Guarantee any decent electrician would say no.

There is really no need typically for 50A any way.

Play it safe and either put a 20A 240V or add a buddy box switch to the dryer. Buddy box/switch can be any where ( at the dryer or at the panel ).

You DON’T ever want to trip the main. And you could be loading it to 90% and it won’t trip.

And if you do plan on a whole new service go 60A and put a Wall Connector.

 

[mswlogo]

With an electric oven/washer/AC you might be pushing it. Generally the electricians do load calculations which estimate average usage and include square footage of the house to estimate the load. I’m guessing the electrician didn’t do that because that sounds like a lot of stuff on a 100 amp panel.

In a practical application, if you were mindful to charge at night when the only other load is the HVAC, then you should be fine. Even though it’s a 50 amp outlet, the UMC maxes out at 32 amps. If a 20 or 30 amp outlet would make you feel more comfortable, then either of those should be sufficient for average driving use. At 15 or 22 MPH charging, you could top off 150-220 miles every night if you charged for 10 hours.

Don’t count the UMC as “32A” count it as 40A loaded to 80%. No circuit should run 100% including the the main.

 

[ewoodrick]

Definitely look at one of the lower current options. Look at the adapters available for the UMC and see what your easy options look like. Also, you need to make a determination of how much you drive each day. If you can add a 240A 20A plug, you'll probably be in great shape, even 15A will help.
And don't discount 120V 15A, it does work and for some users, works well.

 

[gilscales]

If you ignore the professional advice (I am not saying you should) and put in a 50A circuit then it is up to you to manage the load, the fact that you will probably be charging when the stove/range, dryer is off would allow for the 40A draw (unless you are using the gen 2 mobile connector then 32A is the max draw) for the car, OTOH, you can set the charge rate in the car to whatever you need up to the 40a (or 32A) rate, most times you will find that you will never have to charge at a rate over 20A and still be able to charge the car while most major appliances are off in the wee hours of the morning.

 

[ewoodrick]

But once the car is plugged in, the AC come on by itself. A spouse or a kid could decide to turn the oven or dryer on. Heck, just a hair dryer and a few other loads can bring you dangerously close to tripping the panel.

Also, if it is determined that the building codes were ignored and a fire happens, then well, there goes the insurance.

 

[gilscales]

Safest way would be a dryer buddy if the laundry is in the garage
Dryer Buddy™ Plus AUTO #1 Custom 30A 2-way switcher, 5' 10-30 plug cable (before 1996) to two 10-30 outlets with optional kWh/Watt/Volt/Amp meter

 

[ivan801]

I charge with 240 V 20 amps, works great. I would just install a 20 amp breaker and call it good. There is no real reason to spend the money to upgrade the service unless you can benefit from time of day rates. Now, if you buy another Tesla you will probably have to upgrade your service.

 

[juliusa]

I agree with upgrading the panel, or putting in a 20a 240v circuit with a 6-20 receptacle for charging with the 6-20 adapter for the UMC. While even 20a is probably a stretch technically, from a practical perspective it is unlikely you will be charging when cooking and drying clothes.

 

[garth_angst]

I charge with 240 V 20 amps, works great. I would just install a 20 amp breaker and call it good. There is no real reason to spend the money to upgrade the service unless you can benefit from time of day rates. Now, if you buy another Tesla you will probably have to upgrade your service.

Ivan801, would that be with a NEMA 6-20?

 

[mswlogo]

What's the electrician advice?

Oven..30A
Dryer..30A
A/C....30A
Lights..10A
---------------
Total load=100A

If you don't use 50A of those above, your NEMA 14-50 should be fine.

For the record Electric Oven’s are typically 40-60 amp circuits (most common is 50A) I’ve never seen a 30A one. But maybe they exist. A/C could be 20A. Not sure about his hot water.

 

[RedModel3]

In worst case, if you over load the main 100A breaker will trip. Then you would also know your limit

for future.​

Breakers don't always trip. Sometimes wires just start on fire and melt.

 

[Troy]

Check out the table here on Tesla's website that shows how much range you would get per hour.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Your describing our house to a Tee. Exactly the same. 14-50 worked for us. However the most our leaf pulls is 27 amps soooooooo.