Volt 120V Home Charging

[DanW]

Within the next couple of weeks, I'll be picking up my Volt. It's currently at 4B00 - Car is bayed and awaiting transportation... So, in preparation for this I decided to check the state of the electric lines into my garage. I wasn't planning on putting in a 240V charger. So, what I found is all of the power into my garage is fed on the same circuit. This includes the garage (2 car) door opener, overhead lights AND a gas furnace that heats an addition that is above the garage. I'm thinking that I could share the circuit with the garage door opener, but the furnace has me worried that it's fan, when combined with my Volt's charging, is going to blow the circuit (Standard 20AMP).

What have current Volt owners experienced?

I wanted to avoid the 240V, due to cost, but if I'm going to have to run a new line it might as well be a 240.

Thanks all!

Dan

[voltage692]

Could definitely be a problem. Can you find the amp draw on the label on furnance? If it takes more than 8 amps, you are most likely looking at the need for a new circuit.

Within the next couple of weeks, I'll be picking up my Volt. It's currently at 4B00 - Car is bayed and awaiting transportation... So, in preparation for this I decided to check the state of the electric lines into my garage. I wasn't planning on putting in a 240V charger. So, what I found is all of the power into my garage is fed on the same circuit. This includes the garage (2 car) door opener, overhead lights AND a gas furnace that heats an addition that is above the garage. I'm thinking that I could share the circuit with the garage door opener, but the furnace has me worried that it's fan, when combined with my Volt's charging, is going to blow the circuit (Standard 20AMP).

What have current Volt owners experienced?

I wanted to avoid the 240V, due to cost, but if I'm going to have to run a new line it might as well be a 240.

Thanks all!

Dan

[DanW]

I didn't look too closely at the furnace. But I will check it out tonight and report back.

-Dan

[Number719]

I wanted to avoid the 240V, due to cost, but if I'm going to have to run a new line it might as well be a 240.
Dan

The 120V charger does have a reduced current mode you could use if you're blowing breakers. But then the charge time gets even longer. I like having the 240V charger because if I come home with a discharged battery at the end of day I can get enough of a charge in 30-60 minutes to head out for dinner locally. Get the 240V charger!

[PatsVolt]

One thing you should not do is draw more then 75% to 85% of the rated circuit, which I think you said was 20 A. Drawing above those limits will eventully cause the breaker to trip. The more you trip the breaker the easier it will trip. So if the Volt draws 12 amps on HI then your capacity would only be about 4 or 5 more amps. So any other devices like your furnace must not draw more then that for reliable operation.

[sparks]

Within the next couple of weeks, I'll be picking up my Volt. It's currently at 4B00 - Car is bayed and awaiting transportation... So, in preparation for this I decided to check the state of the electric lines into my garage. I wasn't planning on putting in a 240V charger. So, what I found is all of the power into my garage is fed on the same circuit. This includes the garage (2 car) door opener, overhead lights AND a gas furnace that heats an addition that is above the garage. I'm thinking that I could share the circuit with the garage door opener, but the furnace has me worried that it's fan, when combined with my Volt's charging, is going to blow the circuit (Standard 20AMP).

What have current Volt owners experienced?

I wanted to avoid the 240V, due to cost, but if I'm going to have to run a new line it might as well be a 240.

Thanks all!

Dan

You may be able to get by if you don't run everything at once. I have been charging my Volt using the standard 110 volt charger on the High setting, plugged into a standard 15 Amp circuit shared by two garage door openers without any problems. Your furnace blower will probably be no more than 1/2 horsepower, which means it will draw about 4 amps. That plus the volt is 16 amps, still well under your 20-amp limit. A 2-car garage door opener is usually 1/2 horsepower, meaning another 4 amps for a brief duration.

I have found that I can run BOTH of my 1/3-HP garage door openers on the same circuit as the Volt while it is charging. That's a total of 12+3+3=18 amps short-duration, yet the 15-amp breaker never trips when I do that. Only thing I can figure is circuit breakers must be "slow-blow" in nature.

In summary, if you don't have a baseball stadium-worth of incandescent lights in your garage (hopefully you have CFL, otherwise keep it under 400 watts total) you can probably charge your Volt and run your lights simultaneously without any concerns, regardless of whether the furnace is running or not. But either disconnect the Volt, or turn off the lights, before operating the garage door (if the furnace is running).

[DanW]

Sparks,

Very helpful, thank you! I am looking forward to trying it. Good news is, if I can't get it charged, no big deal, I can still use the vehicle... I could even charge at work during the day in a pinch. The lights in the garage are just those in the garage opener unit. I will look at putting in 2 low energy bulbs. I can't disconnect the Volt without opening the garage door first as there isn't access from inside the house. I guess I could always use the MyVolt app on my iOS device... We'll see. Looks like I might be headed to a 240V charger. But, I want to try it first. Certainly the furnace won't be used once it warms up enough anyway.

-Dan

[sparks]

Sparks,

Very helpful, thank you! I am looking forward to trying it. Good news is, if I can't get it charged, no big deal, I can still use the vehicle... I could even charge at work during the day in a pinch. The lights in the garage are just those in the garage opener unit. I will look at putting in 2 low energy bulbs. I can't disconnect the Volt without opening the garage door first as there isn't access from inside the house. I guess I could always use the MyVolt app on my iOS device... We'll see. Looks like I might be headed to a 240V charger. But, I want to try it first. Certainly the furnace won't be used once it warms up enough anyway.

-Dan

Oh, if the only lights are two low-energy bulbs, I don't think you'll ever have a problem. If you're happy with about a 10-hour charge (which I have found to be just fine), you may never need a 240-volt circuit. Anyway, it costs nothing to give it a try, and you may never need to hire an electrician.

BTW, I'm blown away by my Volt. Been driving it 3 weeks now. WOW. This is NOT a compromised car! I've been spoiled by high-performance autos (latest, driving a 2005 Pontiac GTO -- 400 horsepower -- prior to this Volt) and the Volt seems just as responsive and powerful in town, with an immediate and impressive surge of power in lane changes and whenever I need it to get around slower traffic. Getting 38 miles on a charge despite these rather assertive driving habits!