Make room for electric forklifts.
The Chargers Run Between Shifts
The plant peaks mid-morning, once every line and compressor is running on the first shift.
Trucks come off the floor at the shift change and at the end of the day, so the chargers run while the lines are quiet.
Try it at the size you are planning, and at the hour you would run it.
Run this on your own panel →After recovery, 365 A. It fits.
How We Make Room
- 01Add the new load to the peakThe code takes the highest demand the service has recorded, adds a 25% margin, then adds the new load. If the total is above the service rating, the load does not fit.
- 02Find what sets the peakWe measure every circuit at 15-minute intervals and find the loads that land together at each peak. The worst day sets the recorded peak, and the next is often close behind.
- 03Reshape the peakEach change moves or reduces a load at the peak, by staggering starts, changing schedules or controlling speed. The changes act every day, so every peak comes down together, and every load still does its job.
- 04Measure the peak againThe same circuits are measured after the changes. The new load is added to the lower peak and compared with the rating again.
- 05Run the new loadThe four steps above are the calculation, which counts the load on the peak whatever hour it runs. This is the week the facility gets: the load working in its own hours, on a service with room for it.
Counted as the 2023 NEC counts it: the recorded peak at 125%, plus the new load. The calculation follows whichever edition your authority has adopted.
Charge the Fleet in Two Groups
A forklift charger is counted at its nameplate input. A charge runs for hours, so the code treats each charger as a continuous load and adds 25% to it, and a row of chargers lands on the calculation as their sum.
What changes the outcome is when they charge. A schedule on its own changes the bill and leaves the calculation where it was. Where the controls split the chargers into two groups that can never charge at the same time, only one group is counted, and the fleet still charges between shifts.