Home / Charging / Level 2 EV Charger Installation
Level 2 EV Charger Installation
Load management exists because not every house needs a bigger service to charge a car. An EV charger is a continuous load, which means it is sized differently from an outlet you plug a tool into.
Level 2 EV Charger Installation in O’Fallon and across St. Charles, St. Louis, Lincoln and Warren counties.
Owner-operated: the person who answers the phone is the person who measures it.
5.0 from 94 Google reviews · BBB A+ since 2022
What this work actually involves
The circuit is sized for continuous duty and run on its own breaker, with the disconnect where the code and the inspector expect it.
Clint measures before he quotes. The reading comes first, then what it means, then the one repair that solves it. If the honest answer is smaller than what you called about, that is the answer you get, even when the bigger job pays better.
Work that needs a permit gets one, and work that needs an inspection is left ready for it. One person does the diagnosis and the repair, so nothing is lost between a salesman and a technician.
When people call about this
- A new EV on order
- A charger that trips mid-session
- A panel with no spare double-pole space
- A garage with no dedicated circuit
Why people choose Clint for it
One person does the diagnosis and the repair, so nothing is lost between a salesman and a technician, and nobody is paid to sell past the finding.
Seventeen years in the trade, four of them running his own shop, 5.0 from 94 Google reviews, and an A+ BBB accreditation held since 2022.
Where this is done
Thirty towns across five jurisdictions, worked out of O’Fallon. The housing stock and the inspection process both change as you move across them.
See the full service area, or the rest of our ev charging work.
Continuous load, and why it changes the maths
Code treats EV charging as a continuous load, which means the circuit is sized at 125 percent of the charger’s rating. A 40 amp charger wants a 50 amp circuit. That single rule explains most of the difference between an EV install and an ordinary outlet.
It also explains why a charger that worked at an old house trips at a new one. The charger did not change; the circuit behind it did.
Where the charger should actually go
Cable length and mounting height decide whether you still like the install a year later. The cable has to reach the car’s port on the side it is parked, with slack to hang without dragging.
Future second cars matter too. Running conduit for a second charger while the wall is open costs very little; adding it later means opening the wall again.
What the car actually needs from the house
A Level 2 charger is a continuous load, which means the circuit is sized at 125 percent of the charger’s draw rather than to its nameplate. A 48 amp charger therefore wants a 60 amp circuit, and that is the number that has to fit inside what the service already carries.
Where it does not fit, there are usually two honest answers before a service upgrade: a smaller charger that still fills the car overnight, or load management that lets the charger share capacity with the range or the dryer. Both are cheaper than new service and both are code-compliant. You get the load calculation either way.
The three answers before a service upgrade
Charging load is the most common reason a house suddenly looks short on capacity, and a service upgrade is only one of three honest answers. The other two are a smaller charger that still fills the car overnight, and load management that shares capacity with the range or dryer.
The load calculation decides which, and you see it. Both alternatives are code-compliant and both are cheaper than new service.
Permits, inspections and why they vary here
Requirements genuinely differ across this metro. O’Fallon, St. Charles, St. Peters, the St. Louis County municipalities and St. Louis City each run their own process, and what one treats as a minor repair another permits and inspects.
Work that needs a permit gets one, and work that needs an inspection is left ready for it with the panel labeled and the junctions accessible. That matters most before a closing, when an inspector’s written item becomes someone’s negotiating position.
“Clint did an excellent job installing two bathroom exhaust fans. He installed high-quality fans that were far superior to the ones I had purchased from a big box store. I highly recommend his services.”
David Hinners · Google review
How the visit goes
- The call
Which car, which charger, and where it parks. Those three answers decide most of the install before anyone visits.
- The measurement
A load calculation against the existing service, plus the run from the panel to the parking spot and what it passes through.
- The finding
Either the service carries it, or load management lets it share, or a service upgrade is genuinely needed. You hear which, with the number behind it.
- The work
Dedicated circuit sized for continuous duty, disconnect where the code and the inspector expect it, charger mounted so the cable reaches with slack, and a test charge before anyone leaves.
What the job includes
- Load calculation to confirm the service can carry the charger
- A dedicated circuit sized for continuous duty, on its own breaker
- Charger mounted where the cable reaches the car with slack to spare
- Disconnect where code and the inspector expect it
- Permit and inspection where required
- Conduit for a second charger while the wall is open, if you want it
What it does not
- Supplying the charger itself, unless you ask
- Utility rebate paperwork, though we will tell you what exists
- Charging network accounts and apps
Anything that is not an electrical problem gets identified as such and handed on. See finished work, or say what the house is doing.
Related ev charging work
Level 2 EV Charger Installation across the metro
Five jurisdictions, five different sets of conditions. What an inspector looks at first differs by address here, which shapes the job as much as the house does.
St. Louis County
This is where the genuinely old wiring lives: cloth insulation, no equipment ground, fuse panels and the mid-seventies aluminum. Each has an accepted remedy rather than requiring a whole-house rewire.
St. Louis City
Much of this stock is two and four family, which means shared services and panels that are rarely labeled accurately.
Lincoln County
Outbuildings count as separate structures in code terms: a disconnect at the building, a grounding electrode there, and a feeder sized for the distance.
County by county coverage is on the service areas page.
Questions worth asking first.
Do I need a 60 amp circuit for a 48 amp charger?
Yes. Charging is a continuous load, so the circuit is sized at 125 percent of the charger’s draw. That is also why dialing the charger back is often what keeps a house off a service upgrade.
Can two cars share one circuit?
With load-managed chargers, yes, and for most two-car households overnight charging still finishes both. It is considerably cheaper than new service.
Can my panel handle a charger?
Often yes. The load calculation checks what the house already runs against the service rating. Where it is tight, load management lets the charger share capacity instead of forcing an upgrade.
Do you pull permits?
Where the municipality requires one, yes, and the work is left ready for inspection with the panel labeled and junctions accessible. Requirements genuinely differ across this metro, which is why it is established per address rather than assumed.
How long have you been doing this?
Clint has seventeen years in the trade and has been running his own shop out of O’Fallon since 2022.
Talk to the person who will do the work.
No dispatcher, no salesman. Clint takes the call and Clint does the job. Level 2 EV Charger Installation in O’Fallon and across the metro.
Mon-Thu 8-5 · Fri 8-4 · Sat 10-3 · or ask online