Random EV thoughts.....

Can’t argue with that at all. Excellent!

mp3guy wrote: »

It's not all good. If you fail to charge enough at home and can't push enough energy usage into off peak it will cost you more than sticking on 24 hour.

They say (who’s they??) that if you can shift 1/3 of your usage to night rate it’s worth while doing it.

I was dying to see my 1st bill after the night meter went in, as I've been religiously running the big users on the cheap rate (including even the morning coffee machine/kettle/toaster, and of course the bill arrived and it was a usage estimate, and not an actual meter read!! (I wanted to have a meter reading to compare before & after the EV arrival).

big users for me would be the twin drawer dish washers, of which there about 10-12 washes per week, and then the washing machine ,which would get about 3-5 runs per week in the morning before the night rate ends. Now Ive also the car*, but last night it would have only taken about 3% (1.5kWh), whereas tonight it'll be taking about 35% (17.5kWh).

*only got the car on Friday, and with the current situation, usage will be lower than expected, so it'll probably be a few months before I start seeing an accurate picture of weekly usage/charge required.

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I was dying to see my 1st bill after the night meter went in, as I've been religiously running the big users on the cheap rate (including even the morning coffee machine/kettle/toaster, and of course the bill arrived and it was a usage estimate, and not an actual meter read!! (I wanted to have a meter reading to compare before & after the EV arrival).

big users for me would be the twin drawer dish washers, of which there about 10-12 washes per week, and then the washing machine ,which would get about 3-5 runs per week in the morning before the night rate ends. Now Ive also the car*, but last night it would have only taken about 3% (1.5kWh), whereas tonight it'll be taking about 35% (17.5kWh).

*only got the car on Friday, and with the current situation, usage will be lower than expected, so it'll probably be a few months before I start seeing an accurate picture of weekly usage/charge required.

Take your own meter readings!

JPA wrote: »

Take your own meter readings!

Yeah, I had a look at it, and it doesn’t look so easy to read compared to a regular meter!!

Mickeroo wrote: »

Did you get a smart metre or something? Night rate metre I have is pretty simple to read, it's got a digital display with the metre readings on it and only one button that flicks between the different readings.

Yeah, 1 display, and a button, but pressing the button seemed to bring up about 4 different readings if I remember correctly!!

I’ll have to have another look at it tomorrow.

Black_Knight wrote: »

Not really. Your point was that if you don't complete your charge overnight, you charge using more expensive day rate electricity. You're paying the extra standing charge regardless.

My main point was that people shouldn't be mislead into thinking day night is for them, because in some cases it's not.

Black_Knight wrote: »

Think that's even the order in which they cycle.

ESB have a guide for all their meters here https://www.esbnetworks.ie/existing-connection/meters-readings/how-to-read-your-meter/how-to-read-your-meter

Just read the meter there, and since install (about 5 weeks ago, I've used 228 kWh on day rate, and 182 kWh on night rate.

so a very pigeon calculation says total of 410 kWh @ €0.18 (rough standard 24hr rate) works out at €73.80

228kWh @ €0.19 (day rate) works out €43.32
182kWh @ €0.08 (night rate) works out at €14.56

total is €57.88, so about €16 cheaper over the same period if on 24 hour rate, and roughly worked out over a year is about €169, minus the standing charge which is €40 I think, means a saving of around €130 per year. That €130 saving will get me around 1,625kWh of charge for the car, or 32.5 full charges from empty to full (50kWh usable battery).

Now to call Electric Ireland and find out my exact day/night rates*

*I signed up for online billing and direct debit giving me 8.5% savings on my rates (gas & electricity), so I want to know the exact rates I pay including the 8.5% discount.

**I also signed with them for a 12 month period, and as a bonus they gave me €200 credit to my electric account (which is another 2,500 kWh of night rate = 50 full charges from empty to full).

Black_Knight wrote: »

For someone with an EV, it's pretty much always worth being on the night rate. Even if they can't fully charge your car over night, they'd be able to get ~63kWh during the night rate period. Anyone with that EV usage would be an idiot to not have a night rate.

Only reasons not to be on a night rate are: 1) Their mileage is really low (in which case they'd also struggle to recover the premium they paid on an EV vs ICE car) or 2) they've crazy high day usage.

Or 3) They charge at work / away from home most of the time.

I can share the maths if you need convincing.

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Night rate meters were around long before EV's though, so surely there's benefit there to be had by some?

Yes, anyone with a heat pump would/should also be using night rate.

I had night rate long before I got an EV.

And most farmers would have it too... at least dairy ones anyway.

unkel wrote: »

If you have an old, inefficient gas boiler, then that sure is an option to consider. You won't save much either way. If you have a modern condensing boiler (that can modulate), it is a good bit cheaper to use gas to heat your water than to use night rate electricity.

boiler is about 21 years old, so it's the older inefficient type!! I think maybe around 60% at this stage!

(planning an upgrade during the summer as we've other plumbing works that need to be done, which is a pain in the arse as there's a leak somewhere and the boiler loses pressure quite regularly!!, but that's for a different thread)

A plumber that serviced my boiler before said as a general rule of thumb, they'll lose about 1% of efficiency per year.

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

We have a double drawer dishwasher, so it's 2 dishwashers really, and for at least 4 nights they were both ran, which wouldn't be the norm, so that's probably skewing the numbers slightly, but still, I'm more than happy with that figure.

If you are charging a Tesla each night it would be drawing an order of magnitude more electricity than the dishwasher so it wont be skewed at all!

A decent dishwasher would probably use 1-2kWh's. Your Tesla battery is, what, ~70kWh's!? I know you arent charging it from 0% but you get the idea!