Electric vehicles are showing up in driveways all across the Wasatch Front. New ones, used ones, Teslas, Chevy Bolts, Ford F-150 Lightnings, Utah families are making the switch, and for good reason. The cost savings on fuel alone can be significant, and the convenience of waking up every morning to a fully charged vehicle is hard to overstate.
But once the excitement of getting a new EV settles in, most homeowners run straight into the same question: “How do I charge this thing at home without waiting twelve hours every night?”
The answer is a Level 2 home EV charger, and installing one is absolutely worth it. That said, there are a few important things to understand before you go looking for the cheapest option on the internet. We’re going to walk you through all of it, because an informed homeowner is always a happier homeowner.
Level 1 vs. Level 2: Why the Upgrade Matters
When you drive your new EV home, it comes with a basic charging cable that plugs into a standard 120-volt household outlet. That’s called Level 1 charging — and while it works, it’s painfully slow. Depending on your vehicle’s battery size, a full charge on Level 1 can take anywhere from 24 to 50 hours. If you’re driving daily, you’re rarely going to be fully topped off.
A Level 2 charger uses a dedicated 240-volt circuit, the same type of circuit that powers your dryer or your oven, and it charges your vehicle 4 to 6 times faster. Most Utah EV owners with a Level 2 charger wake up every morning to a full battery, no matter how far they drove the day before. It’s a complete game-changer for daily life with an electric vehicle.
Yes, You Need a Permit And Here’s Why That’s Actually a Good Thing
This is the part where some homeowners get a little frustrated, especially if they’ve been quoted a quick, cheap installation from someone willing to skip the paperwork. We understand the impulse. But we want you to understand why the permit requirement exists, because once you do, you’ll be grateful for it.
Here in Sandy and throughout the Wasatch Front, city inspectors require a permit for EV charger installation. This isn’t bureaucratic red tape for its own sake. It’s about electrical safety, and there’s a very specific reason EV chargers get extra scrutiny.
Most household appliances cycle on and off. Your refrigerator runs for a few minutes, then rests. Your microwave runs for two minutes, then it’s done. An EV charger is different: it draws a heavy, continuous electrical load for hours at a time. When you plug in your car at 10:00 PM, and it charges until 6:00 AM, that circuit is under sustained, significant demand the entire time.
For newer homes with modern 200-amp panels, this typically isn’t a problem. But here’s the reality of our area: the majority of homes across Sandy, Draper, Murray, Millcreek, and Cottonwood Heights are 30 to 50+ years old. Many of them are still running on 100-amp or older electrical panels that were never designed to handle the demands of modern life, let alone an EV charger running all night on top of everything else.
When an undersized panel is pushed past its capacity, the results aren’t just inconvenient; they can be dangerous. Overloaded circuits, tripped breakers, overheated wiring, and, in serious cases, electrical fires. The permit process exists to make sure a licensed electrician evaluates your home’s specific electrical capacity before any charger goes in. A city inspector then verifies that the work was done safely and to code.
Think of the permit process this way: it’s not the city making your life harder.
It’s the city making sure your home doesn’t become a cautionary tale.
And at Connect Home Services, we handle the entire permitting process for you —
So you never have to visit a government office or navigate the paperwork on your own.
The Panel Upgrade Question And a Smarter Way Around It
When a city inspector or licensed electrician evaluates your home for EV charger installation, they’re looking at your electrical panel to determine whether it can safely handle the added load. For many older Utah homes, the answer is that an upgrade is needed, and a full electrical panel upgrade can add $1,000 or more to your project cost.
That’s the number that stops a lot of homeowners in their tracks. And honestly, we get it. You just bought a car. You’re already investing in the charger. The last thing you want is a surprise four-figure bill on top of everything else.
Here’s where we have some genuinely good news.
The Schneider EV Charger with Built-In Load Management
Connect Home Services offers a Schneider brand EV charger that has a load management device built right inside it. This is technology that intelligently monitors your home’s total electrical demand in real time and automatically adjusts the power going to your EV charger accordingly.
Here’s what that means in practical terms: if your home’s electrical load is running high — say, the AC is blasting, the oven is on, and the dryer is running — the load management system will temporarily reduce the charging speed to keep your total panel demand within safe limits. When the demand drops back down, your charger ramps back up. Your car still charges. Your panel stays safe. And nobody’s tripping breakers or overloading circuits.
The Schneider charger with load management runs approximately $200 more than a standard EV charger without it. But for many Utah homeowners, particularly those in older homes,s that built-in load management device satisfies the city’s safety requirements without the need for a full panel upgrade.
Do the math: spend $200 more on the charger, save $1,000 on the panel upgrade. That’s an $800 net savings. For most homeowners, that’s not even a close call.
The Schneider EV charger with built-in load management costs approximately $200 more than a standard model but can save eligible homeowners around $1,000 in panel upgrade costs.
Ask us whether your home qualifies during your pre-inspection.
The Emporia Pro Level 2 EV Charger Is Another Option
The Emporia Pro Level 2 EV Charger has been on the market longer, and the Connect Home Services team has installed many of them. It’s $200 more than the base charger, but it avoids the need for a $1200 surge protector.
The benefits of using the Emporia Pro Level 2 EV Charger are as follows:
- Rapid charging without the need to upgrade your electrical panel
- Allows you to schedule your charging times to avoid higher energy rates
- It was named a “Top Home EV Charger of 2025” for its award-winning performance
- Reliable and safe recharging, and it is compatible with all EV automobiles
Either way, the Connect Home Services team is happy to offer the Emporia and Schneider EV chargers because they include the required load management device that city inspectors require to authorize a permit.
What the Installation Process Looks Like with Connect
We’ve designed our EV charger installation process to take the mental load completely off your shoulders. Here’s how it works from start to finish:
- Pre-Inspection — Before anything else, our licensed electrician comes out to evaluate your home’s electrical panel, assess your load capacity, and determine the best installation approach for your specific situation. We’ll let you know upfront whether the Schneider load management charger is the right fit or whether a panel upgrade makes more sense.
- Free Credit Toward Installation — The good news: if you move forward with us for the full installation, we’ll credit the cost of the pre-inspection toward your total project cost. You’re not paying twice.
- Permit Pulled on Your Behalf — We handle all permit applications with Sandy City and surrounding municipalities. You don’t fill out a single form or make a single call to a city office. That’s on us.
- Professional Installation — Our licensed electrician installs your dedicated 240-volt circuit, mounts your Schneider EV charger, and completes all wiring safely and to code. Installation is typically completed in a single visit. Total labor cost is approximately $1,200, plus the cost of the charger itself.
- City Inspection & Sign-Off — Once the work is complete, the city inspector comes out to verify everything was installed correctly and safely. We coordinate the inspection scheduling. You just need to be available.
- You’re Charging — From this point forward, you’ve got a fast, reliable, permitted Level 2 charger in your garage. Plug in at night, wake up to a full battery.
Could This Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Premium?
It’s worth a quick call to your insurance agent once your EV charger is installed. Some homeowners’ insurance carriers offer discounts for homes where EV charger installations were completed with proper permits and professional installation because a code-compliant, inspected installation significantly reduces the risk of an electrical fire or other damage.
Savings vary by carrier and policy, and not every provider offers this discount. But for some Utah homeowners, following the city’s safety guidelines pays off in more ways than one. Ask your agent directly; it’s a five-minute conversation that could be worth something.
A Note on Federal Tax Credits
For a long time, there was a federal tax credit available to homeowners who installed EV chargers worth up to 30% of the project cost, up to $1,000. As of the date of this article, we recommend verifying the current status of any available credits with your tax professional, as federal incentive programs can change. Your accountant or CPA can quickly confirm what’s currently available and whether your installation qualifies.
Is This the Right Time to Install?
If you’ve already purchased an EV or you’re seriously considering one, there’s no reason to wait. The sooner your home charger is in, the sooner you stop relying on public charging stations and the sooner your daily driving routine becomes genuinely effortless.
And if you’re thinking about purchasing an EV in the near future, this is actually the perfect time to get a pre-inspection done. You’ll know exactly what your home needs, what it will cost, and whether the Schneider load management charger is a fit for your panel. No surprises when the car arrives.
The Schneider EV charger is an especially great fit if any of these apply to you:
- Your home is more than 20 years old
- You have a 100-amp or older electrical panel
- You want to avoid a panel upgrade if possible
- You own or plan to own an electric vehicle
- You want a smart charger that works with your home’s existing electrical capacity
Let Connect Take the Mental Load Off
At Connect Home Services, our electrical specialist Josh is the kind of problem-solver who doesn’t just look at what’s easiest; he looks at what’s right for your home and your budget. He’ll explain every step of the process in plain language, show you exactly what your panel can handle, and give you clear options so you can make the best decision for your family.
We’re a local, family-owned, women-owned business that has been serving Wasatch Front homeowners for 30 years. We live in the same neighborhoods we work in, and we take the same care with your home that we’d take with our own.
Give us a call or reach out through our website to schedule your EV charger pre-inspection. We’ll handle the rest: the permit, the panel evaluation, the city inspection, all of it, so you can focus on enjoying your new vehicle.
