Old meters, upgrades and EV charging - Looking for best pathway to upgrade

traco

Hi and sorry for asking but there are so many threads I am now more confused than before I started. Current base is a 1970's semi-d in Dublin with MC001 meter.

Mrs Traco has made the jump to EV and has free charging in work so we aren't under huge pressure but do need to get things sorted. So far this is what I know.

I need upgraded 16sq tails from meter to board, a new 10sq earth to hot press and a new earth rod. Fuse box is literally inside the wall where the meter is, so no long runs. Current distribution board is OK but it might benefit from an upgrade / tidy up / refresh while we are at it. No electric shower but electric ovens and induction hob. Gas heating so immersion is off 99% of the time.

Currently with Electric Ireland on 39c per unit ex Vat and out of contract so will be looking to lock in when I see a significant improvement on rates in Oct / Nov hopefully

Questions:

Should I get an independent electrician to sort the tails, fuseboard, hotpress etc first in prep for charger install and have all that signed off?

ESB meter - smart meters were being installed over 12 minths ago but I held off, I think that may have been a mistake now but thats history. So should I go for a smart meter or D/N meter if I can get one. How do I get said meter, do I request the new meter from ESB or via electric Ireland?

EV charging - Do we really need one of these smart chargers of can we use a 32A socket and let the car control times etc but how is load balancing handled with a more basic charger? There must be something in between and ideally thethered and discreet.

Next has anyone got the perfect circuit layout / pics of a proper install as again there seem to be some chancers out there. The thread linked below really got me thinking about the potential issues with messy / poor installs. Solar may be on the cards in the future and at that point I could swap the charger to a more advanced one to benefit from panels and battery. Just seems like the way tech moves that one today could be well seperseeded in a year or two.

Any advice appreicted - assume a clean slate and what would you do to get the best setup today to support future mods / additions whithout breaking the bank?

Thread that has me worries about installers: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058311726/meter-exchange-and-isolator-issue/p1

Thanks for reading and appreciate the comments good and bad.

JL spark

50 year old wiring , full rewire I would advise, do it once and do it right ,

traco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121190619#Comment_121190619

A huge amount has been rewired with renovations over the years hence why I thought the box could do with a tidy. I really don't want to go pulling the inside apart if at all possible and keep the disruption to just the front room where the fusebox is inside the meter but I appreciate the input.

JL spark

Either way , you will have to test the whole installation, that will show up what needs doing