With the rise of electric vehicles (EVs), many of us are getting into the world of fast-charge EV chargers. Here at Southern Chester County Electric, we’ve been installing quite a few of them and we’ve learned a lot along the way. It’s important to know that these chargers need a fair bit of electricity, and if you’re thinking about using a generator with them, there are a few things you should consider.
The Power Needs of EV Chargers
Fast-charge chargers are great because they juice up your car quickly, but they do pull a lot of power. When we talk about using a generator, especially the portable kind, it’s often not up to the task. They just can’t provide the amount of electricity needed. And it’s not just the portable ones; even larger, standby generators can struggle under the load.
The Risks of Overloading
If you try to power your EV charger with a generator during an outage, you might end up overloading it. This can cause the generator to shut down, leaving you without power and your EV uncharged. Plus, overloading can damage your generator and other electrical devices at home.
How to Manage the Load
The key is managing the electrical load to prevent overloading your generator. This means being mindful of how much power you’re using at once and ensuring it’s within the generator’s capacity. It’s all about balance and making sure your generator can handle the demand.
We’re Here to Help
If all this sounds a bit daunting, don’t worry! At Southern Chester County Electric, we’re equipped to help you navigate these challenges. Whether you need advice on the right setup, want to upgrade your generator, or just need help with managing your electrical load, we’re just a call away.
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Two new pendant lights with LED Edison type bulbs in the kitchen at Oaks ministries two. The mission of The Oaks Ministries is to provide hope, healing and restoration in a Christ centered residential environment for women in need of a fresh start. For more information visit, www.oxfordoaksministry.com
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This is a 240 V Tesla portable charger. This EV charger has the power of a lot of hardwired fixed units that people install in their garage but the beauty of this unit is it can be unplugged and brought with you when you travel.
We installed a 240 V receptacle and ran a dedicated line from the garage to the breaker box. Down in beautiful Landenberg Chester county, Pennsylvania.
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Moisture, dust, birds, mice, and their nests often collect in barns and out buildings could be a fire hazard when they come in contact with lighting fixtures and electrical equipment. The heat from the equipment and or even short circuits and electrical malfunctions can cause these materials organic materials to catch fire.
RAB Vaporproof brand lighting is a good choice for agriculture, buildings horse, barns, and more. These lights are waterproof, vapor proof and dust proof with stainless steel screws and cast aluminum. This light fixture is made to be reliable in dirty, damp and dusty conditions and is reasonably priced.
We recently replaced lighting in a barn in the Fair Hill area. We removed the old fluorescent lights that were full of organic materials and even a dead bird we installed new RAB lighting with LED energy efficient bulbs.
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Undercabinet lighting is a great addition to your next kitchen remodel project. Often done incorrectly with cheap plug-in lights or plug-in lights hardwired incorrectly or not installed at all.
GM undercabinet tape lights are the best choice for your undercabinet lighting needs. This installation was done in in West Grove Penn Township in Chester County Pennsylvania.
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We install a variety of home lighting systems, including many with advanced security features that illuminate and monitor your home, garage and more 24 / 7. We recently installed a Ring floodlight cam along with a new hundred amp service and garage wiring in West Grove Penn Township in Chester county, Pennsylvania.
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This past winter the extreme weather and winds caused downed trees and downed wires, leaving many without power for days and even weeks like in Kennett Square, Chester County and also Newtown Square in Delaware County. Those with generators ran them for an extended period of time, which means that the maintenance schedule will come up sooner than expected.
So don’t forget to perform the proper maintenance on your portable and standby generators. Standby generators should be maintained every 200 hours and portable generators every 100 hours or once a year, which ever comes first.
Standby generators need to have their oil changed, oil filters, air filters and spark plugs changed. Portable generators also need the oil changed, spark plugs and the gas tanks should be drained of gasoline for storage.
We just performed scheduled maintenance on this 16 KW standby generator that we installed in Oxford Pennsylvania. We also cleaned it up and it looks like new again. Green light means go, ready to run for the next power outage!
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Commercial quality LED bulbs are much more efficient, up to 80%! LED lighting also lasts much longer on the average, and requires less maintenance. This can add up to big savings on your energy costs.
The photos here show one of our recent commercial LED lighting retrofit projects in Jennersville, in Chester county Pennsylvania.
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There are many electrical certification programs designed to protect customers and identify high-quality and safe products. This article explains the DLC rating system for lighting products, which is of special interest for commercial lighting projects.
DLC applies to fixtures and LED tubes, which are not covered by the Energy Star label. Most utility companies require fixtures to be DLC rated in order to qualify for rebates, which are often an important part of creating a retrofit program that makes financial sense.
