Can My Electrical Panel Handle a Heat Pump?

February 23, 2023

You’ve likely come across an ad or two for heat pumps recently. BC Hydro has mounted a major campaign to get homeowners to swap out natural gas or baseboard heating systems for more environmentally friendly heat pumps, touting improved efficiency and reduced heating and cooling costs.

Heat pumps use electricity to transfer heat from one location to another. A heat pump keeps your home cool in the summer while providing an efficient heat source during the winter. Heat pumps work by taking heat from the air outside (even when it’s cold) and moving it inside the home; in the summer, a heat pump draws hot air from inside and transfers it out. But what does an upgrade to a heat pump mean for your home’s electrical panel and wiring?

I Want a Heat Pump. Will I Need to Upgrade my Electrical?

Your home electrical panel’s ability to absorb the additional load of a heat pump will depend on several factors, including the age of the panel, your home’s current electrical load, and the power requirements of the heat pump you’re considering.

Newer construction homes typically have 200 AMP electrical panels, more than enough to accommodate everything from air conditioning and appliances to EV chargers and hot tubs. If you live in a new home, you probably already have enough power to switch to a heat pump. However, older homes, many of which rely on natural gas for heating, are equipped with smaller 100 to 150 AMP panels.

In some cases, a 100AMP electrical service may be sufficient to power a heat pump. Heat pumps typically have a range of power requirements depending on their size and efficiency, and a smaller, more efficient heat pump may have a lower power requirement than a larger, less efficient heat pump.

However, it is imperative to consult the manufacturer’s specifications and consult with a licensed electrician to ensure that the electrical service is properly sized for the heat pump and that the electrical wiring and circuit breakers can handle the additional load.

What’s Involved with Upgrading a 100AMP Breaker to a 200AMP?

Upgrading a 100AMP panel to a 200AMP service requires extensive electrical work that needs to be carried out by a qualified professional.

First, an electrician will check your existing electrical service entrance cable to see whether it’s rated for a 200AMP service. Electrical wiring not rated for a 200AMP service will need to be replaced with a larger line. After verifying your electrical wiring for compatibility with a heat pump, your electrician can proceed with replacing your service panel and breaker with a 200AMP service panel and breaker. Note that this installation work may also require an upgrade to your grounding. After the installation, your electrician will conduct a final inspection to ensure everything is up to code and functioning correctly.

Depending on the electrician and the complexity of the installation, upgrading to a 200A service can cost anywhere from a few to several thousand dollars.

A Panel Upgrade Comes with Other Benefits

Upgrading your electrical wiring and breaker panel might not be the most exciting home renovation. Still, it does come with a slew of benefits, above and beyond powering your heat pump. As the world moves away from fossil fuels towards electrification, replacing an older 100AMP breaker with an upgraded 200AMP panel will provide increased capacity now and for the future while increasing the value of your home. Older electrical panels can also be unsafe and inefficient; upgrading to a new panel can solve both of those problems.

And finally, a new 200AMP electrical panel leaves you ample room for any other additions you might want to invest in, like a movie theatre, or more realistically, an EV charger.

Switching from fossil fuels to electrical sources of heating and cooling might sound like a big job, but it’s one step we can all take to make the world a little greener for future generations. Working with the right electrical company can ensure that transitioning from a furnace to a heat pump is completed quickly, efficiently, and, most importantly, safely.