Home charge points (purchase/problems/questions) (See mod note post#1)

Kinda confused, there are two ct clamps in the picture.

Sorry...white ct is just an owl Energy meter I have for years before I had solar or zappi.

My solar installer...infamous Enniskillen crew mentioned so many times in solar quotes thread. Only noticed when I took off the cover of my board to see if I could easily fit ct clamp myself. Is there a risk of arcing or anything or os it more a risk of a screwdriver touching it?

Electrical engineer, not an electrician. ;)

Yes they’ll have to be upgraded if they’re not 16mm square

the mains tails should be capable of taking the whole load of the installation irrespective of where the main consumer unit is

Had a visit from the kn guy to fix the Eo, he was about as useful as a chocolate teapot. After much feckin around he rang Eo in the uk who told him to open it up and check the connections…. Anyway he was whinging because I painted it but there was no paint inside the unit, he took a zillion photos and emailed them off to Eo, so it still isn’t transmitting its network and Eo are supposed to get in touch with me…

on behalf of electric ireland, and its pretty good value, but they arent really into anything out of the ordinary.

i used them and had no complaints and im sure 1000s of other people are in the same boat,

if you have specific needs or requirements, pay a bit more and get someone else, if not they are decent value (relatively speaking)

Thanks Manion - I'm sure they do a decent job and I don't necessarily need anything bespoke. The house is 17 year old and the meter box is at the side. I want a charger (probably EO untethered) and the required isolator switch unit to be wired from the meter box (outside). I can clearly see from a previous post that this is the way it can be done unless the installation is not in a new build. KN seem to have issues with this and want to go from the consumer board only. That is their choice but they are out for me as an option as I'm not debating that issues with guys on the day etc.

The only other issue I can see in my own place is that we have 2 electric shower pumps so maybe this will need something done in the consumer box such as an upgraded fuse or a priority switch in case we wantt o use them at teh same time the car is charging ?

Not electric showers, looking in the press it is one pump unit about the size of a shoebox with both shower feeds going through \ from it. The house is 3 storey so I assume it is just to increase the shower pressure from the tank. The water is coming from the hot tank, heated by the gas boiler etc.. I can turn it off and the showers still work but without the added pressure. Can't see the ratings \ markings as that side is against the wall.

I've no issue with getting whatever needs to be done and paying for it as long as the installers follows the industry guidelines. I'm not a fan of 'that's the only way we do it' approach and reading here for a while that seems to be the case with the meter \ consumer box issue, despite the industry guidelines.

I'll take that as a compliment as confidence comes from a bit of checking. The ECSSA for example indicate clearly that it is not mandatory to go from the consumer box in every install except in the case of new builds. Other installation companies seem to have no issue with following that line either, from what I can see on here over hundreds of posts on the subject.

I don't really care what kind of pump I have. When I get an expert to access the install they will tell me what type it is and whether I need a priority switch etc. My point is I'm not having a company come with the decision already made to only go from the Consumer Board, and knock a hole in my wall, just because it's the way they always do it. I'll simply ask that question up front.

It's the same reason I decide on my car colour rather than the salesman telling me which one I should have, because he only sells that colour, and what would I know I'm not a paint expert.

If you get the unit installed from the meter, essentially your entire existing consumer board becomes a sub board to a new one installed in the meter box. The meter tails connect into the new board. Your house is placed on a new switch, you charger or on another and the mains supply is is protected by an rcbo.

If you get a load balancing device separately or as part of your charger, it can throttle the power to your charger on the basis of what is being used by the house. If you're not having issues today this device will be enough so you don't have any once installation is complete.

Posted literally one page back. Pretty clear.

I didn't realize you said it's 100% fine to install from the meter. I thought you had posted something completely wrong and uninformed.