ChargeRight $12.99 app estimates panels
- Kentucky master electrician Jason Walls is selling ChargeRight, a $12.99 web app that uses panel photos and dwelling-load math to estimate EV-charger fit. - Walls says the tool automates National Electrical Code optional-method calculations under Section 220.82, producing a report in minutes instead of a truck roll. - The pitch lands as EV buyers face frequent panel-upgrade quotes, while code writers still allow a lower-demand dwelling method. (nfpa.org) (ecmweb.com)
ChargeRight is a $12.99 tool from Kentucky master electrician Jason Walls that estimates whether a home’s existing panel can support an electric-vehicle charger. (youtube.com) (t.co) Walls says the product automates a residential load calculation under National Electrical Code Section 220.82 after a user uploads a panel photo and home details. He describes the output as a PDF report rather than a contractor visit. (t.co) (forums.hardwarezone.com.sg) The basic problem is simple: many homeowners hear that a Level 2 charger requires a service upgrade, but the answer depends on how total household demand is calculated. Under the code’s dwelling-unit optional method, diversified household loads can be counted more lightly than under the standard method. (ecmweb.com) (expertce.com) In a ChargeRight demo, Walls compares the same 2,400-square-foot house, 200-amp service and 48-amp Tesla charger under two methods. He says the optional method comes out at 149 amps, while the standard method reaches 204 amps and triggers a quoted $3,000 to $5,000 upgrade. (youtube.com) Walls says he built the software over about six months despite having “zero coding background,” while still working as an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 369 electrician in Kentucky. He says the app went live with Stripe payments and automated reports at $12.99. (t.co) His sales pitch is that many upgrade recommendations are based on rough rules of thumb or the wrong calculation path for single-family homes. He says about 70% of the EV-charger jobs he saw in the field did not actually need a panel upgrade. (t.co) The code backdrop is real, but the limits are real too. National Electrical Code guidance says the optional dwelling method applies only to qualifying 120/240-volt or 120/208-volt three-wire dwelling services rated 100 amps or larger. (ecmweb.com) (mikeholt.com) That means a cheap estimate is not the same as a signed permit set or an inspector’s approval. The National Fire Protection Association says NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code, is the benchmark used across all 50 states, but enforcement still runs through local jurisdictions and electricians on the job. (nfpa.org) For now, ChargeRight sits between a free online calculator and a paid site visit: cheaper than an on-site assessment, but still built around a code method licensed electricians already use. Walls’ bet is that a five-minute report can change the first conversation before a homeowner agrees to a four-figure panel swap. (youtube.com) (t.co)
