2026 NEC changes that affect your calculations

Article 220 is now Article 120

The most visible change in the 2026 NEC is structural. Load calculations moved out of Chapter 2 into a new Article 120 in Chapter 1, alongside the general requirements they serve, and energy management systems moved into a new Article 130. If you write load calculations for permits, every section number on the sheet changes from 220 to 120.

Most sections kept the number after the decimal point: the dwelling unit load is 120.41 (was 220.41), the range table is Table 120.55 (was Table 220.55) and the optional method is 120.82 (was 220.82). A handful did not, and those are the ones that cause errors on plan review:

• Noncoincident loads moved from 220.60 to 120.6 and were rewritten. Some study guides cite “120.60”, which does not exist.
• The table of specific-purpose calculation references moved from 220.3 to 120.4.
• Counting the minimum number of general-lighting branch circuits now has its own section, 120.13.
• Two sections are new: 120.5(D) treats dc loads as VA = W, and 120.5(E) deals with continuous loads.
• An old trap remains for anyone comparing editions: in 2017 and 2020, 220.42 was the lighting demand table; in 2023, 220.42 is the non-dwelling lighting unit load and the demand table is 220.45. In 2026 the demand table is Table 120.45.

The sections you are most likely to cite on a dwelling or feeder calculation:

Dwelling unit load: 3 VA/ft² becomes 2 VA/ft²

For as long as most electricians have been doing load calculations, the general lighting and general-use receptacle load for a home has been 3 volt-amperes per square foot. In the 2026 NEC, 120.41 sets it at 2 VA/ft² (22 VA/m²) for service and feeder calculations. The small-appliance and laundry circuits (1,500 VA each), the lighting demand factors (the first 3,000 VA at 100%, the next 117,000 VA at 35%, the rest at 25%) and the range table are unchanged.

Two related rules did not move:

• Branch-circuit counts. 120.13 keeps 3 VA/ft² for working out the minimum number of 15 A or 20 A general-lighting branch circuits. A 1,500 ft² house still needs 4,500 VA of general-lighting circuit capacity: three 15 A or two 20 A circuits. You calculate the service with one number and lay out circuits with another.
• Floor area. It is still measured from the outside dimensions and still leaves out open porches, garages and unfinished space that can’t be adapted for future use (120.5(C)); the 2026 text names detached garages explicitly.

What it does to a service: for a 2,000 ft² home the general lighting load falls from 6,000 VA to 4,000 VA. After the 35% demand factor that takes 700 VA, about 3 A at 240 V, off the calculation. The saving grows with floor area: a 4,000 ft² home calculates 1,400 VA (about 6 A) lower. Lighting in new homes draws a fraction of what it did when the 3 VA/ft² figure was set, and the 2020 NEC had already cut the non-dwelling unit loads for the same reason.

Optional method: the first 8 kVA at 100%

Most single-family services are justified with the optional method for one dwelling (120.82, was 220.82). It changed in three ways:

1. The general load uses 2 VA/ft² for the floor area, as in the standard method.
2. The general load is taken at 100% for the first 8 kVA and 40% for the remainder. Through 2023 the first block was 10 kVA.
3. EV charging equipment comes out of the general load and is added separately at 100% (new 120.82(D)).

The heating and air-conditioning step in 120.82(C), which takes the largest of the cooling, heat pump, supplemental heat, thermal storage and space-heating options at their percentages, is unchanged.

Moving 2 kVA from the 100% block to the 40% block saves 1,200 VA on its own, and the lower unit load saves another 0.4 VA for every square foot. In Annex D’s Example D2(b), a 1,500 ft² home where the air conditioning is larger than the heat, the service load drops from 29,200 VA · 122 A to 27,400 VA · 114 A.

EV chargers count at their nameplate rating

The 2023 NEC was the first to give electric-vehicle charging its own load-calculation rule: 220.57 counted each charger at the larger of 7,200 W or its nameplate rating. The 2026 rule, 120.57, counts the nameplate rating and falls back to 7,200 W only when there is no nameplate rating.

For a 48 A charger (11.5 kW) nothing changes. For smaller chargers the 2026 figure is lower: a 16 A, 3.84 kW charger counted as 7,200 VA in 2023 and counts as 3,840 VA in 2026. On the typical 2,000 ft² home below, adding that charger raises the 2023 result to 38,675 VA · 161 A but the 2026 result only to 34,615 VA · 144 A. That gap matters most on existing 100 A and 125 A services, where the 7,200 VA floor often decided whether a charger fit without a service upgrade.

The optional method works the other way. It is used instead of the standard method, so the 7,200 VA floor never applied there: through 2023 a charger was simply a nameplate load inside the general load, most of which is counted at 40%. The 2026 edition takes it out of the general load and adds it at 100% (120.82(D)), so with the optional method a charger now adds its full rating. In our example the optional-method result goes from 26,176 VA · 109 A to 26,480 VA · 110 A: the lower unit load and smaller first block are almost cancelled out by the charger.

The rest of the EV picture is unchanged. Charging is still a continuous load when you size the branch circuit and its breaker (now stated in 625.41), and a power control system can still limit the load used in the calculation (120.7, with the systems themselves now in Article 130).

Continuous loads and the 125% rule

New section 120.5(E) says a load calculation does not have to include continuous loads at 125%. Its informational note explains why: the 125% factor protects conductors and overcurrent devices from sustained heating, so it belongs in the sizing rules, not in the calculated load.

Those sizing rules are unchanged. Branch-circuit conductors and breakers are still sized for 100% of the noncontinuous load plus 125% of the continuous load (210.19(A)(1) and 210.20(A)), and so are feeders (215.4(A)(1) and 215.5, renumbered from 215.2(A)(1) and 215.3) and service conductors (230.42(A)(1)).

An example: a feeder serves 60 A of noncontinuous load and 40 A of continuous load. The 2026 load calculation is 100 A. The conductors and breaker must still carry 60 + 1.25 × 40 = 110 A. Before 2026 many calculations, including Annex D’s store example, folded the 125% into the load itself and reported 110 A as the load. The feeder you install is the same either way; what changes is which number you call the load. The 125% does still appear inside Article 120 for the largest motor (120.50 and 430.24) and for recorded maximum-demand data on existing installations (120.87).

Dryers, existing homes and what stayed the same

Dryers. The household dryer demand factors in Table 120.54 changed at the low end: one or two dryers count at 100% and three to five at 80%. In 2023, one to four dryers counted at 100% and five at 85%; six or more are unchanged. A single home with one dryer sees no difference, but a small multifamily building with shared laundry can calculate lower.

Existing dwellings. The method for adding load to an existing home (120.83) was rebuilt into a single table. The first 8 kVA of the existing and new load counts at 100%, the rest of the existing load at 40%, new EV charging at 80%, new central electric resistance heat at 80%, and every other new load, including a new heat pump or air conditioner, at 50%. You take the larger of air conditioning or space heating, not both. Through 2023 there were two paths, one for adding air conditioning or heat and one for everything else, and new loads did not get their own percentages.

Unchanged: range demand (Table 120.55), small-appliance and laundry circuits at 1,500 VA each, the 75% factor for four or more fastened-in-place appliances, the 70% neutral allowance for ranges and dryers, and the multifamily optional percentages.

Worked comparison: the same homes under 2023 and 2026

We ran the dwelling examples from NEC Informative Annex D, plus a typical modern home, through our residential load calculator under both editions. The calculator reproduces Annex D’s published 2023 answers and the balloted 2026 answers exactly; they are part of its test suite.

The minimum service size rarely changes for an ordinary home, because the savings are a few amperes and services come in 100, 125, 150 and 200 A steps. Where it does matter is at the edges: an existing 100 A service that can take a heat pump or an EV charger under 2026 but not under 2023, or a large home that drops from a 225 A to a 200 A calculation. Run your own house and switch editions to see the difference.

Renumbered sections you will cite

Outside Article 120, several sections that appear on almost every feeder or grounding calculation were renumbered:

The rules themselves are the same: when you upsize the phase conductors, for example for voltage drop, the equipment grounding conductor still has to be increased in proportion to the circular-mil area, under 250.122(D) instead of 250.122(B).

Other changes that touch the numbers

• Ampacity. Table 310.16 values from 14 AWG to 2000 kcmil are unchanged. The table adds 16 AWG copper at 10 A in the 60 °C column, and the 18 AWG row is gone.
• Minimum conductor size moved to 310.5(A) and now allows 16 AWG copper, with 10 A branch circuits limited to lighting outlets and dwelling exhaust fans on lighting circuits (210.23(A)).
• Box fill and conduit fill. The volume allowances in 314.16 and the fill percentages in Chapter 9, Table 1 are unchanged; the 2026 text clarifies that splicing connectors need no box-fill allowance.
• Voltage drop. The informational notes still suggest 3% for a branch circuit or feeder and 5% overall; the feeder note is now under 215.4(A)(2).
• Motors. New conductor sizing rules for Design BE and CE premium-efficiency motors in 430.22(H), including a locked-rotor heating check. A table left out of the printed book was restored by erratum 70-26-4.
• Service conductors. Annex D Example D7 (the 83% rule for dwelling services in 310.12) now uses a 49 °C (120 °F) ambient with a 0.82 correction factor; the answer for a 175 A service is still 2/0 copper or 4/0 aluminum.
• Over 1000 V. Article 235 was replaced by new Articles 265 to 268, with grounding and bonding for those systems in Article 270.
• AFCI. Every proposal to extend 210.12(B) failed ballot, so AFCI requirements are as in 2023.

GFCI changes in brief

• Outdoor outlets at dwellings (210.8(F)) are covered up to 60 A, up from 50 A.
• The exception for listed HVAC equipment expired on September 1, 2026 under the model code. The 2026 edition instead allows a listed Class C special-purpose GFCI for listed HVAC equipment. A proposed amendment to extend the old exception (TIA 1924) was still undecided on 2026-10-14, and many states have amended the rule locally.
• Accessory buildings get their own item and lose the “at or below grade” limit; indoor damp and wet locations become separate items.
• For the named appliances in 210.8(D), the three-phase limit rises to 100 A.

Every location, threshold and exception from 2017 to 2026 is compared side by side in GFCI requirements by NEC edition.

Does the 2026 NEC apply to you?

The NEC is a model code. It applies only where a state or local government adopts it, often with amendments, and inspectors enforce the edition their jurisdiction adopted. As of 2026-10-14, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas and Wyoming enforce the 2026 edition; 20 states are on 2023 and 11 on 2020. The NEC adoption tracker lists every state’s edition, effective date and pending updates.

If your jurisdiction is still on 2023 or earlier, the older rules apply even though the 2026 edition is published, and a 2026 calculation can come in lower than your inspector will accept. Our calculators preselect the edition used in your state and let you switch.

How we verified this

We compared NFPA’s published First and Second Draft working copies for the 2026 revision cycle against the 2023 text, checked the panel ballots that approved each change, and cross-checked against NFPA’s handbook errata and trade coverage published after the edition came out (EC&M, IAEI Magazine, LightNOW). We do not reproduce code text; section numbers and values are cited as facts.

A few details rest on the balloted drafts alone and have not yet been matched against the printed book: the existing-dwelling table in 120.83, the nameplate rule in 120.57, and the renumbered 215 and 250.122 sections. If your copy of the 2026 NEC says something different, tell us below and we will fix it and log the correction publicly.