Charging w/ house electrical issue

datechboss101

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My house was built by KB Homes (we all know where this is going), and very recently we experienced our electrical system shorted out; this was due to the house builder cutting corners when building the house back in 2013. Never experienced this before, but now it got me wondering how safe and efficient would it be to install the Tesla Wall charger to my garage.

Is it feasible just to do this and hope the rest of the house power won't go out like it did recently or go to Wawa which has the Supercharger stations and charge there?
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My house was built by KB Homes (we all know where this is going), and very recently we experienced our electrical system shorted out; this was due to the house builder cutting corners when building the house back in 2013. Never experienced this before, but now it got me wondering how safe and efficient would it be to install the Tesla Wall charger to my garage.

Is it feasible just to do this and hope the rest of the house power won't go out like it did recently or go to Wawa which has the Supercharger stations and charge there?
What size is your main panel (i.e. 100-200-400 amp?)

Normally if a line is is taken from a panel (by a competent electrician) he can tell if there is an issue with the panel) and if no issue and your panel is big enough he can run wires for 120/240v with amps varying from 10 to 80 plus.
 
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Crissa

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Well, a car charger won't be put on the circuit with your ground fault loop (which is the usual fail point).

It would be like your dryer circuit, and perhaps even a fresh run of copper, so it wouldn't matter how the rest of your house is wired.

If you want to use the dryer outlet, just turn that circuit off and see if it still is connected somewhere... or something unexpected turns off.

It'll almost certainly be fine, just have an electrician do these checks. (I could do it, it's not hard to run copper, but hire a journeyman, they'll get it right.)

-Crissa
 

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My house was built by KB Homes (we all know where this is going), and very recently we experienced our electrical system shorted out; this was due to the house builder cutting corners when building the house back in 2013. Never experienced this before, but now it got me wondering how safe and efficient would it be to install the Tesla Wall charger to my garage.

Is it feasible just to do this and hope the rest of the house power won't go out like it did recently or go to Wawa which has the Supercharger stations and charge there?
This is a complicated question that I don't think we can answer. If you've had electrical issues, you should have a qualified electrician look at your panel, verify it's OK, and run the charger to your garage. Adding an EV to your system is basically like adding another electric stove or dryer. I think they need 40 amps of current. I'm an engineer and my home is a renovated commercial building, and I've done a lot of the work myself. I never, ever, touch the electrical even though I have the knowledge. I always get a certified electrician to advise on work and do the work. Too much can go wrong. So get your panel checked out by someone good and if they give the thumbs up, run the new connection.
 

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One of the mistakes builders/homeowners make is they install a breaker panel that is too small (a 100 amp panel may be good for a small house with not many loads but they trip breakers pretty quick when bigger loads are used). So a 200 amp panel would be great and you prolly wont trip any breakers even when using 240v with 50-80amp output ( assuming you don't have a jacuzzi, heated pool, sauna, hot tub... then you may need a 400 amp or bigger) - but a 100 amp would be tripping a lot.

If you need to "save money" a good way is to determine what volt&amp you will be using then buy the breaker(s), wire, wire length, wire clamps and female connector/outlet and run the lines yourself then pay an electrician to do the termination at the breaker and outlet ( if your electrical code allows such).
 
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m.delmed129

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My advice, don’t try to make something work out. Get the electrical addressed now, plan for a 60amp circuit, and be able to use your home and charge your car with confidence.

One perk of having an EV is being able to stop going other places to “fill up”, and starting every day certain you’ve charged enough. Obviously an occasional trip to a supercharger isn’t out of the question. I wouldn’t rely on them if you don’t have to. Super chargers are roughly 2-3X the cost per kWh as doing it from home.

I started with a NEMA 14-50 outlet, when they were still shipping the adapter with the vehicle. I had it set up for an eventual Wall Connector from Tesla, in the event I want to maximize my charging..and spend $500 on the charger. The NEMA 14-50 has been more than sufficient for my needs.
 

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I have owned my Tesla since December and have only plugged it into a regular 110 wall outlet...it charges slowly and once in awhile I charge up at the local supercharger. My goal was to install a 14-50 outlet but my panel doesn’t have room for anything else. So I found this device called a smart splitter (splitvolt) on Amazon that plugs into my dryer outlet and let’s me charge at 24v which is nearly 7 times faster than using a regular outlet. It cost me much less than hiring an electrician. $310+35 for the Tesla adapter and works excellent. If your dryer is in or is close to your garage then this may work for you.
 

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My house was built by KB Homes (we all know where this is going), and very recently we experienced our electrical system shorted out; this was due to the house builder cutting corners when building the house back in 2013. Never experienced this before, but now it got me wondering how safe and efficient would it be to install the Tesla Wall charger to my garage.

Is it feasible just to do this and hope the rest of the house power won't go out like it did recently or go to Wawa which has the Supercharger stations and charge there?
Definitely address the issue you're having, it could save your house, which is more valuable than even your CT. I plan on having a quick charger installed at my house. You really don't want to rely on the local Wawa to charge tour vehicle, they're there to make money, it can defeat the purpose by getting way too expensive.
 

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My house was built by KB Homes (we all know where this is going), and very recently we experienced our electrical system shorted out; this was due to the house builder cutting corners when building the house back in 2013. Never experienced this before, but now it got me wondering how safe and efficient would it be to install the Tesla Wall charger to my garage.

Is it feasible just to do this and hope the rest of the house power won't go out like it did recently or go to Wawa which has the Supercharger stations and charge there?
Upgrade Mains to copper then add a box for the charger in all-copper wire. This assures you that the charger isn’t going to add to what problem the builder created cost cutting. Typically, aluminum wired mains and house lighting wires.

Aluminum creates more resistance and heat tripping breakers as demand on your service maxes out. IF your builder undersized main service box then you are spending big bucks to upgrade your whole panel. Today code changes in some areas will mandate ground fault breakers which adds a layer of protection. But ground fault throws incompatibilities with low voltage systems. So you will have that chain to sort out as well.
 


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Aluminum conductors aren't legal as house wiring in California.

-Crissa
For outlets and lights and such, correct must use copper. But for mains, panels, and sub panels one can use aluminum. But I and most installers recommend copper due to soo many benefits. I'm helping finish up a residential with 6 panels total.. crazy stuffz..
 
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datechboss101

datechboss101

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Sorry for the late reply, uni had been throwing assignments and projects left and right. I am addressing everyone in this one message, so I won't have multiple quotes nor have multiple posts. I also want to thank those that gave input on this!

I did check the fuse boxes and they are in the 200 AMPs range for each box. We have two fuse boxes, one for the main floor and the 2nd is for the top floor. The dryer's breaker is on the 2nd fuse box, and that was the fuse box that had the short. As far as I know, the electricians did check out the 2nd box, which had the issue and they fixed it, not 100% sure if they checked out the 1st one.

When I mean shorting out (I'm no electrical engineer, just a beginner DIY car electronics guy), I was saying some of the power within the breaker box just cut off due to KB Homes cheaping out on the electricals (apparently it just ONLY took 1 light bulb to burn the wiring and cause the short). Our house is pretty much the largest and biggest house in our cookie cutter neighborhood (yet, we have a small garage and kind of small driveway).

Right now, with my current vehicle, I am driving 10-25 miles (depending the time and day) out of my to fill up on 87 at Costco (they are like $2.599 right now as we speak, compared to everybody else in the $2.899 for the same octane). The other gas station I fill up at is Wawa, so I am already there regardless and that's a 6 mile drive from my house. I do tend to drive a ton of miles (2019 has been my highest record so far with me driving roughly 40k miles) every year except 2020 due to the pandemic. There were at times I was literally paying $100 a week to fill up, and wished I had an EV.

We definitely do have to check if the other box that is for the main floor can be fitted with copper wiring and can survive the charging load that EVs ask for via the additional breaker, considering the fact my father now is thinking about getting a Model Y or Model 3 or the BMW iX; which means we need to install a wall charger sometime down the line. Currently the 110 watt outlet is more accessible since we have one that's near the fuse boxes. The 240 watt is on the 2nd floor, so not sure how I would be able to use that.
 

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I charge my bolt from time to time on 110 at 12 amps, I’m always surprised at how much it adds, it’s not much, but it’s enough for commuting and often under valued as an option!

For example, the gen 2 mobile connector from Tesla does 3-5 km/hour of charge. Plugged in for 12 hours that’s 36-60km or 22- 30 miles! If that’s all you’re doing a day don’t worry too much about the electrical for a 240 outlet, supercharge every now and then after long trips and stick to 110 for your day to day...
 

Hazzzard122

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I charge my bolt from time to time on 110 at 12 amps, I’m always surprised at how much it adds, it’s not much, but it’s enough for commuting and often under valued as an option!

For example, the gen 2 mobile connector from Tesla does 3-5 km/hour of charge. Plugged in for 12 hours that’s 36-60km or 22- 30 miles! If that’s all you’re doing a day don’t worry too much about the electrical for a 240 outlet, supercharge every now and then after long trips and stick to 110 for your day to day...
Those distances quoted from Tesla so based on current vehicles... CT will differ
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