What size electrical service for a 800 sq ft house with all-electric appliances and an EV charger?

Notes

• **Do not add up the nameplates.** Every appliance in this house adds to 42,220 VA, but NEC 220.82 counts **100% of the first 10 kVA and 40% of everything above it** — because a house never runs the oven, the dryer, the dishwasher and the disposal at the same second. That single step is why the honest answer is 125 A and the forum answer is usually double.
• **150 A is the code minimum; 200 A is what gets installed.** Services come in fixed sizes, so "you need 125 amps" is never an answer on its own. 150 A satisfies NEC for this load today. Most electricians fit 200 A anyway, because the marginal cost at install time is small and the cost of upgrading later — new meter base, new mast, utility coordination — is not.
• **Heating and cooling count once, whichever is larger.** Adding both is the second most common error and it pushes plenty of ordinary houses onto a 400 A recommendation they will never need.
• **The EV charger is the item that changes the answer.** A 48 A charger is a continuous load, counted at 11,520 VA and at 125% for its own breaker. It is also the one load that can be *managed* — a charger that talks to a load-management device can often go onto an existing service where a dumb one cannot, and that is far cheaper than a service upgrade.
• Panel space is a separate constraint from service size. A 200 A panel with every slot full needs a subpanel or a tandem-breaker plan, and that has nothing to do with the calculation above. And a licensed electrician's stamped load calculation is what an inspector accepts — this page is for knowing where you stand before you call one.