1. Welcome to the PanelWizard
Your Home Electrification Planning Tool
PanelWizard is a tool that helps homeowners/users plan to fully electrify their home without an electrical panel upgrade. Electric panel upgrades are expensive and time-consuming; upsizing a home's electrical service (details here) can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $30,000 and take between 3 and 18 months (report here).
This tool is designed to help homeowners assess whether they have sufficient electrical panel capacity to fully electrify their homes by providing a customized list of modern efficient low power electric appliance options.
Project Management
Start a new project or open an existing one from a file.
2. Electrification Goals
Which of these are needed to fully electrify your home?
Let's identify which appliances are needed to fully electrify your home.
To future proof your home, we recommend building a plan that includes ALL of your possible electrification needs upfront, then you can decide and stage them at your convenience. There's no need to do them all at once, but since electric capacity is limited it's best to plan for all of them upfront.
3. Current Electrical Equipment
Your Current Electrical Panel Size
Please enter your current electrical panel size in amps. This information is required to help us calculate your panel's capacity for electrification.
4. Current Load Analysis
Now we need to analyze how much remaining panel capacity you have for electrification. This step is required to proceed.
The National Electrical Code (NEC) provides two different ways to calculate your available panel capacity. You can use either or both methods:
- Top-down approach: Use your actual electricity usage data to determine your available panel capacity.
This method follows the NEC 220.87 code section. - Bottom-up approach: Calculate your available panel capacity by adding up your current electrical loads.
This method follows the NEC 220.83(B) code section.
The first approach is easy if you have a smart meter, but it's not always available. The second approach always works, but it's more time-consuming.
4.1 Top-Down Approach
Use your actual electricity usage data to determine your available panel capacity. One way to do this:
- Visit the Panel Capacity Calculator
- Upload your smart meter data into that tool
- Enter your existing panel size (from step 3)
- Run the calculator to see your available capacity and enter it below
4.2 Bottom-Up Approach
Calculate your available panel capacity by adding up your current electrical loads:
- Hire a professional electrician to do the 220.83(B) load calculation for you
- Or...
- Visit the Kopperfield Load Calculator, enter your home's details and electrical equipment, and run the calculator to see your available capacity
5. Natural Gas Analysis -- Optional
If you have your home's natural gas usage data for the past year it's possible to do some additional analysis, including:
- Estimating the impact on your bill of switching from natural gas to electric appliances
- Estimating the size of a new heat pump for heating your home
Please note these calculations will result in only rough estimates, and you should always consult with a professional to get a more accurate analysis.
We can do this several different ways, and you can use whichever method works best for you:
5.1 PG&E HomeIntel Service
Use PG&E's HomeIntel service for natural gas analysis (free for PG&E customers):
- Sign up for PG&E's HomeIntel service
- Authorize access to your PG&E energy data
- Follow the tool's instructions to get detailed analysis results
5.2 Home Energy Academy Electrification Calculator
Use the Home Energy Academy's free electrification calculator tool to analyze your gas usage data:
- Visit the Electrification Calculator
- Enter your natural gas usage data
- Follow the tool's instructions to get cost impact estimates
5.3 Spreadsheet Method
Use a simple spreadsheet tool for natural gas analysis:
- Download a copy of this spreadsheet which includes instructions
- Enter your monthly natural gas usage data into the spreadsheet
- Answer other questions about your home and natural gas usage
- See the results in the spreadsheet
6. Select New Electric Appliances
Table of Appliance Options
Based on your electrification goals, the table below shows an example configuration of low power electric appliances available in our database. Feel free to change the product selections using the dropdown menu(s) in the table.
As you change selections, you will be able to see the Panel Load and Remaining Capacity change in real time, below the table.
| Appliance Type | Description | CF | Cost Range | Details |
|---|
Calculation Methods
Top-Down Approach (NEC 220.87)
Available Capacity: - amps
Total New Panel Load: 0 amps
Remaining Capacity: 0 amps
Bottom-Up Approach (NEC 220.83)
Available Capacity: - amps
Total New Panel Load (CF-adjusted): 0 amps
Remaining Capacity: 0 amps
Note 1: CF (Coincidence Factor) is used in the NEC methods to account for the fact that not all appliances are used at the same time.
Note 2: Cost ranges are estimates, and cover only the equipment costs. Installation costs (which vary widely) and incentives are not included.
Click the "📋 Details" button for any appliance to see comprehensive product information, including all available data from our database.
7. Next Steps
Implementation Strategy
Your roadmap to electrification:
- Timeline planning: which of these projects do you want to do first?
- If you're using the top-down load calculation (NEC 220.87, from step 4.1), it may help to break up your project into phases and check your new peak load after each phase. For example, you might upgrade your heating system first, then your water heater, then your cooking appliance. Between each project you can take 30 days to recalculate your remaining panel capacity
- If you're using the bottom-up load calculation (NEC 220.83, from step 4.2), you can do it all at once
- Budget considerations: what is your budget for this project?
- More efficient appliances might cost a bit more upfront, but they will save you money in the long run
- Installation costs can vary greatly depending on the complexity of the project and the contractor you hire
- Incentives and rebates: what incentives and rebates are available for your project?
- There are many rebates and incentives available for electrification projects
- Check for Federal, State, Local and utility rebates
- Find incentives by zip code at SwitchIsOn.org
- Contractor selection: who will you hire to do the work?
- Check for contractors who specialize in electrification
- Check for contractors who have experience with your type of project
- Find a list of experienced contractors at SwitchIsOn.org
- Finalize appliance selection: what appliances will you be buying & installing?
- Check availability of appliances in your area
- Confirm the size you need for your project; this is particularly important for heat pumps and water heaters -- get expert help!
- Confirm the cost of appliances and installation details
- Check with your contractor for appliance maintenance
- Permit requirements: what permits are required for your project?
- Check with your local government for permit requirements
- Check with your utility for permit requirements
- Check with your contractor for permit requirements
- Additional equipment information: You or your contractor may want to investigate the following issues:
- Is your existing electric panel dangerous? Some panel types are dangerous and need to be replaced, like Federal Pacific, Zinsco, Stablock & Pushmatic. Note: a panel replacement is much easier than upsizing a panel.ⓘ
- How many available breaker slots do you have? These open slots can be used to add more appliances to your panel.ⓘ
- Are tandem breakers already being used? Tandem (or twin, slim or duplex) breakers are two breakers occupying a single breaker slot. This is a common way to save space on a panel.ⓘ
- Can some of the existing breakers be combined? It is often possible to combine lighting circuits since modern LED lights are very low power.ⓘ
- Is there physical space available to add a subpanel? A subpanel is a smaller electrical panel that is connected to your main panel. It can be used to add more electrical capacity to your home.ⓘ
- Do you have any unused 240 volt outlets (like for an unused electric dryer or cooktop)? These unused 240 volt outlets can possibly be used by the new appliances you're adding.ⓘ
- Do you have any existing 240 volt outlets that can be shared using a smart circuit splitter? A smart circuit splitter can be used to share a 240 volt outlet between two appliances. This is a common way to avoid upsizing your panel.ⓘ
- Is your gas meter very near your electrical panel? If your gas meter is near your electrical panel, you may not be allowed to upsize your panel in that same location to accommodate the new load.ⓘ