Growing interest in residential electrification is expanding the playbook for efficiently cutting the cord on fossil fuel energy, carrying implications for project designers and contractors. 

New generations of appliances, load management tools, energy storage, electrical panels, and charging technologies are helping to change the calculus on electrification, possibly accelerating its adoption but changing how it’s achieved and who reaps the rewards. 

Different approaches aim to address multiple aspects of the residential electrification challenge, but one may stand out: the cost to outfit a structure with a high-capacity electrical system capable of handling higher loads.

Electrical panel upgrades from 100A up to 200A and 400A may be needed before electrification can even be contemplated for many existing properties, and 400A service is becoming the default for many new properties. In each case, moving to all-electric demands a not-insignificant upfront investment and isn’t always easily achievable. 

That hurdle, along with others related to electrical service enhancements needed for full electrification, is spawning a push for creative approaches to the emerging challenge of building a foundation for at least a “more-electric” future. 

In a new white paper, “Building for the New Electrical Reality,” electrical products supplier ABB says electrical infrastructure is becoming a “pain point” for homebuilders. New residential construction and remodel projects increasingly seek upgraded electrical service provided by electrical contractors that can sometimes prove difficult and costly to integrate.  

On top of the “hard costs” of adding 400A service that can exceed $20,000, ABB says the “timeline impact of a 400A upgrade is often fatal to project schedules. Upgrading a service entrance frequently triggers utility engineering reviews, new transformer requirements, and trenching permits — delays that can pause a closing for eight to 12 weeks or lead to an outright denial from the utility provider.” 

Yet builders will increasingly have no choice but to navigate the new reality of electrically more complex structures, ABB says. They’ll be needed to accommodate more electrical demand, but a core challenge will be designing “more homes ready for more load without oversizing or under sizing circuits, panels, or services,” a potentially deep well of future demand for electrical service providers. 

But an emerging solution that could reduce the need for electrical panel upgrades that upwards of 60% of U.S. homes could face to go all-electric, ABB says, is load management technology “engineered to intelligently manage and optimize the home’s load consumption, avoiding costly service upgrades while saving time and money for both builders and homeowners.”

That includes “smart” electrical panels that can monitor and shed loads “creating the ideal capacity optimization tool for new construction” as well as integrated tools that add “circuit-level intelligence and control to any existing panel, providing homeowners with a path for adding high-demand loads without creating additional headaches for builders.” 

Further out on the spectrum of solutions that could mitigate the need for service upgrades in an electrification scenario are novel battery-based solutions. An application still in its infancy but showing more promise is battery-integrated appliances.  

Now finding uptake in induction cooking range applications the technology incorporates a lithium ion-type battery into the unit that can be charged from a standard 120V outlet. The battery charges when the unit is not operating and can kick into provide power when load demand is high, thereby shaving off some pull on the overall power needs of a more fully electrified house.  

Unlike standard induction ranges that are coming into vogue as an acceptable — if pricey — electrified alternative to gas ranges, battery-integrated units can operate and charge on a system with a 200A or lower service panel. Yet, they, too, demand a large up-front investment, offset by some possible long-term peak energy usage cost savings. 

Two pioneers in battery-integrated ranges are squaring off in a patent dispute that has gone to court, evidence that demand may be growing. The companies, Impulse Labs and Copper, have continued to refine the technology and have been working to commercialize it through both sales of products they design and produce and working with traditional appliance manufacturers who would license technology for use in their own products.  

Another appliance-related advance that could speed up electrification is centered on heat pumps. A rising alternative to gas heat — one estimate puts annual shipments at 4 million, surpassing gas furnaces — heat pumps can, however, tip home electrical demand into a zone requiring a service panel upgrade. Now, a possible workaround with limited applicability is a small, window mounted heat pump that can run off a standard 120V outlet. 

A recent Wall Street Journal story highlights a New York City Housing Authority initiative to install the appliances into 20,000 rental units in its portfolio by 2031. The multifamily market is now a prime target for window unit producers, but the individual consumer market could come into play. 

While these and other technological advances could over time reshape how electrification is achieved, there’s little evidence now that the needle on its electrical service upgrade component has moved much. A new EnergySage, Inc., report on home electrification trends notes that a survey of contractors found main panel upgrades are a common, and highly profitable, element of electrification. 

“Since older homes frequently need a panel upgrade to support EV charging, the two services often go hand in hand, giving installers who offer both direct access to two of the survey’s strongest margin categories,” the report reads. “Contractors reported a 24% typical margin on EV charger installations, just behind main panel upgrades, the highest-margin product measured at 25%.”