Installing vehicle-to-home (V2H) takes a matched chain: a car the maker has enabled for home discharge, a bidirectional charger built for that car, transfer equipment that isolates the house during an outage, and utility notification where the system can export. The step that decides whether your home can host that chain is not the shopping. It is a site survey by a licensed electrician, done before equipment is ordered — turning “what do I need” into answers about your panel and circuits.
Key Takeaways
- V2H needs a matched car, charger and transfer equipment — but the site survey decides whether your home can host them.
- The survey checks panel capacity, equipment space, charger position, your backup circuits, and whether the design can export.
- Confirm the car first: without maker-enabled discharge, there is no project to survey for.
- EVDANCE chargers are one-way units; none can be converted to V2H later.
Before the Survey: the Car Gate
The survey assesses your home, but one check comes first and costs nothing. V2H only exists as a matched set: the car maker enables discharge on specific models and supplies or approves the system that works with them. If your car is not one of those models, no survey can change that, so confirm the car before paying for anything else — which EVs can do bidirectional charging and when vehicle-to-home will be available show how narrow that list still is. Assuming the car passes, the rest is a question about your house.
What the Survey Actually Checks
A V2H survey is not a sales visit. It is an electrician measuring your installation against what a two-way system asks of it:
| Survey check | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Service size and spare panel capacity | Whether a dedicated two-way circuit fits, or panel or service work comes first |
| Physical space at the panel | Room for the transfer (gateway) equipment and a separate backup panel |
| Charger position and cable route | Where the unit can sit relative to car and panel, and what the run involves |
| The circuits you nominate | Which loads — typically lights, fridge, Wi-Fi, a few outlets — the system carries in an outage, and which heavy loads stay out |
| Whether the design can export | Home-only backup and grid-exporting designs face different utility processes; the survey establishes which you are building |
None of these can be answered from a photograph or a spec sheet. They are properties of your house — which is why the order, survey first and equipment second, is not negotiable.
The Three Answers a Survey Can Give
The visit ends in one of three findings — each cheaper to learn before money is spent:
- Proceed as designed. Your service, panel and layout can take the system with standard work.
- Proceed after electrical work. The system fits once panel, service or wiring upgrades are done — priced into the project, not discovered during it.
- Not viable without major work. The honest answer for some homes. Learning it now costs a visit; learning it after buying equipment costs far more.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s guidance on procurement and installation for EV charging infrastructure makes the same point generally: assess the site before choosing equipment, because the site is where the surprises live.
What to Have Ready for the Visit
- The car maker’s documentation for your exact model, showing its discharge or V2H position in writing.
- Your backup wish-list: the circuits you need in an outage, decided beforehand.
- A recent electricity bill, naming your utility — the company whose process applies if the system can export.
- Your questions in writing, including what happens if you change cars later.
What One-Way Charging Covers Meanwhile
Plainly: EVDANCE sells no bidirectional charger, and no V2H system. The range charges in one direction only — for example the EV-ACT5006T 48A Level 2 wall charger (up to 48 A hard-wired or NEMA 14-50P, NACS, 25 ft, IP65/IP66, ETL/FCC/CE), with the wider home range on our residential charging page. A one-way charger cannot be upgraded into V2H later, so if a survey is in your future, tell the electrician now — capacity planned for a two-way system costs little extra during work already happening. How the pieces fit together is covered in bidirectional charging explained: V2L, V2H and V2G.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the survey happen before I choose a V2H system?
Yes, and it should. The survey is about your house — service, panel, space and circuits — and its findings decide which systems are possible.
Who should do the survey?
A licensed electrician, ideally the one who would do the installation: the fixed wiring, transfer equipment and backup panel are licensed work, permitted and inspected where local rules require.
Does every home pass a V2H survey?
No. Some homes need panel or service upgrades first; a few are not practical without major work. The survey’s value is finding out which home you have before buying a system.
Related Reading
- Bidirectional Charging Explained: V2L, V2H and V2G
- Which EVs Can Do Bidirectional Charging?
- When Will Vehicle-to-Home Be Available?
- Is Bidirectional Charging Worth It?
