Best EV charger with power shower

chriskbhr

Hi friends,

I'm getting and EV and will need a type2 charger. I have an electric shower (9kw) and would like your advice on which charger is best to use. I'm considering the zappi as it reduces charge to the EV when it detects too much energy is being used elsewhere , like a shower. I think the wallbox pulsar has an option for this feature too.

I know you can get a slave unit thing to prioritise the shower, but my fuseboard is pretty full and won't fit it, and I don't really want a small sub board.

I like gadgets and graphs, so am interested in something that I can see details, but not essential as I can monitor energy use with a pi.

thanks y'all

k

Felexicon

chriskbhr wrote: »

Hi friends,

I'm getting and EV and will need a type2 charger. I have an electric shower (9kw) and would like your advice on which charger is best to use. I'm considering the zappi as it reduces charge to the EV when it detects too much energy is being used elsewhere , like a shower. I think the wallbox pulsar has an option for this feature too.

I know you can get a slave unit thing to prioritise the shower, but my fuseboard is pretty full and won't fit it, and I don't really want a small sub board.

I like gadgets and graphs, so am interested in something that I can see details, but not essential as I can monitor energy use with a pi.

thanks y'all

k

You need to go for a Pulsar Plus if you have a shower.
The app and web portal gives out plenty of stats if that's your pleasure

_dof_

chriskbhr wrote: »

Hi friends,

I'm considering the zappi as it reduces charge to the EV when it detects too much energy is being used elsewhere , like a shower.

Yeah, you're right about the Zappi. You don't need a priority switch so that would save around 200 euro, but the Zappi has gotten a bit pricey. It's a good choice if you plan on ever installing solar PV too, since it can charge the car on surplus solar.

I like gadgets and graphs, so am interested in something that I can see details, but not essential as I can monitor energy use with a pi.

Do you have any details of the pi to monitor energy use?

zg3409

Garo also do load sensing and are available in many electrical wholesalers. You probably want WiFi option too. I have not used their interface so not sure how good any graphs are.

https://www.garo.ie/Categories/evhomechargers/EV-Wall-Mounted-Charging-Stations

The Zappi is the most expensive charger there is, and is relatively bulky. You need to pay an extra 120 euro for a hub to connect to internet. The graphs are only on the app and really basic (this may change in time) There is no cumulative consumption readout. If you have a regular commute, the daily usage is the same, and most cars display this on the infotainment system. The main benefit of the zappi is for solar, but solar is only of use if you car is home office hours to charge. I think for most EV users night rate with no solar makes more sense. Solar can take multiple days to fill a car. There are other non Zappi chargers that can do solar. I don't think there is any data output or api to get data from a Zappi, a separate consumption meter might be better. I only use about 400 euro a year to fill car for 600km a week commute on night rate, so its not really worth the bother of solar or data monitoring.

Which ever charger you go with you will need an extra wide circuit breaker added to fuse board.

Firstly you need to get SEAI grant approval, then decide tethered or untethered, then decide on make and options for charger, finally get a few quotes as prices vary widely.

zg3409

Anything with load balancing should work with the shower

https://www.apielectrical.co.uk/electric-vehicles/charge-point-brands/

chriskbhr

zg3409 wrote: »

Anything with load balancing should work with the shower

https://www.apielectrical.co.uk/electric-vehicles/charge-point-brands/

Thanks, thats a great list. Load balancing I don't think is the right term, but will look more. for example, the tesla charger says load balancing, because if you have two chargers they communicate with each other. (there is a project that lets you use that interface to control the power use, for solar or on a timer). the tesla charger doesn't watch your usage like the zappi or wallbox and protect from over load afaik. I had considered the tesla charger and setting a schedule, no body uses the power shower 1am to 6pm , so could full speed charge then.

there are some good options on that list for me to consider.

chriskbhr

_dof_ wrote: »

Yeah, you're right about the Zappi. You don't need a priority switch so that would save around 200 euro, but the Zappi has gotten a bit pricey. It's a good choice if you plan on ever installing solar PV too, since it can charge the car on surplus solar.



Do you have any details of the pi to monitor energy use?

I have a submeter in my fuse box, an adm 1te, and it has an output that pulses everytime 1wh is consumed. I hooked that into a pi and run a script that counts and calculates, then pushes that to a graph. it's quite homebrew , but the results are accurate, and I can graph usage over the last year. I can also compare day to night usage to figure out if I should go to a day/night meter. I would put another of these on the circuit for the ev charger, so I can graph that separately to other house use. happy to share more details.

(I guess with an ev on the way I should, but I have a smart meter, and have been told I'd have to give that up. smart meters are due to be smart in Q1 next year, so might just suck up extra cost of day/day metering until then)

chriskbhr

chriskbhr wrote: »

Thanks, thats a great list. Load balancing I don't think is the right term, but will look more.

Load balancing means it monitors the rest of the houses usages and adjusts accordingly.
No need to worry about showers or any thing else.

chriskbhr

zg3409 wrote: »

Garo also do load sensing and are available in many electrical wholesalers. You probably want WiFi option too. I have not used their interface so not sure how good any graphs are.

https://www.garo.ie/Categories/evhomechargers/EV-Wall-Mounted-Charging-Stations

The Zappi is the most expensive charger there is, and is relatively bulky. You need to pay an extra 120 euro for a hub to connect to internet. The graphs are only on the app and really basic (this may change in time) There is no cumulative consumption readout. If you have a regular commute, the daily usage is the same, and most cars display this on the infotainment system. The main benefit of the zappi is for solar, but solar is only of use if you car is home office hours to charge. I think for most EV users night rate with no solar makes more sense. Solar can take multiple days to fill a car. There are other non Zappi chargers that can do solar. I don't think there is any data output or api to get data from a Zappi, a separate consumption meter might be better. I only use about 400 euro a year to fill car for 600km a week commute on night rate, so its not really worth the bother of solar or data monitoring.

Which ever charger you go with you will need an extra wide circuit breaker added to fuse board.

Firstly you need to get SEAI grant approval, then decide tethered or untethered, then decide on make and options for charger, finally get a few quotes as prices vary widely.

Thanks, thats useful info on your current costs. I think I might go with a cheaper unit and a priority switch, but will look to see if there is something that offers the automatic balancing without the extra cost. It would be nice if my car would allow me to set a charge schedule and rate, but it only allows a schedule, or setting the rate limit separately. i could charge 7.2kw 1am to 6am without fear of a shower being a problem, and 3.6kw rest of the time.

I did see a project for getting data out of the zappi into other systems, but don't know how reliable it is...

darrenheaphy

I have nothing to contribute here - wondering what option to go with myself - but let us know what you choose!

chriskbhr

BrownFinger wrote: »

Load balancing means it monitors the rest of the houses usages and adjusts accordingly.
No need to worry about showers or any thing else.

for zappi, they call it load balancing, wallbox call it power boost, tesla loadbalancing is for balancing charge points only. some of the ones on the list you kindly shared that say load balancing, seem to have their own idea of what it means. the ohme for example has load balancing but it's docs don't show any indication of it acting on existing house draw. i'm still working my way through that list to see if I can find out the ones that have that feature.

wallbox seem to use rs485 to talk to your meter, or else you use a clamp with rs485 or add a din rail sensor with rs485. i'm surprised it's fast enough to prevent the main fuse tripping, but apparently it is ....

Felexicon

chriskbhr wrote: »

for zappi, they call it load balancing, wallbox call it power boost, tesla loadbalancing is for balancing charge points only. some of the ones on the list you kindly shared that say load balancing, seem to have their own idea of what it means. the ohme for example has load balancing but it's docs don't show any indication of it acting on existing house draw. i'm still working my way through that list to see if I can find out the ones that have that feature.

wallbox seem to use rs485 to talk to your meter, or else you use a clamp with rs485 or add a din rail sensor with rs485. i'm surprised it's fast enough to prevent the main fuse tripping, but apparently it is ....

Wallbox use a clamp around the main incomer either in ESB cabinet or board. It is fast enough to prevent main fuse blowing. You set the limit (generally 63a) in the Power Boost setting but I think that name is slightly misleading as to what its functionality is.

I would call these systems load management rather than balancing.
Balancing is done over a number of charge points on one installation

chriskbhr

I've looked at so many of the chargers, ones that offer this feature tend to be more expensive.

The garo GLB and it's module come in around 800 euros inc vat for the equipment, the eo basic and it's unit are around 800 these are dumb units. after that it's a broad set of units with smarts and wifi for 1000+ (type 2 tethered units), most use a modbus connection to a submeter in your panel.

I still not sure which one to go for, sigh ... probably looked for something used .