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

They advised I’ll need the balance loader because I have an electric shower. I don’t really care about the smart features to be honest.

So what's a decent choice/price for a reasonably standard tethered 7kW charger with load management? I'm currently under contract with Energia if that makes any difference.

Thanks yes was aware of that and only did the install once I got the grant approval letter. There's paperwork from the approval letter the installer had to complete.

That would make a lot of sense: car at 31, house at 33. Obviously it can't, as a matter of logic, be the other way around. If CTs are wired incorrectly, I wonder if that means the load balancing is also not going to be working properly. Will have to get the installer to sort this.

From what I remember of electrical engineering from my undergrad metering power is not trivial in terms of AC. Some devices will simple take current times voltage to calculate watts, but that's that's apparent power as opposed to real power. From memory you'd expect these measures to be within 5% of each other in Ireland, all things being equal. Key thing, even ignoring losses, there are lots of ways power can be calculated and it's perfectly reasonable for one device to show one power level and another to show something different as they are potential not talking about the same measure, this is especially true when talking about DC battery power versus house AC load.

Firstly. apologies if already answered, search function after boards' downgrade to vanilla doesn't work as I expected it to.

Will have Zappi + Eddi installed in near future, but no empty modules in my fuse box. How many modules are needed for the installation? Would 12 module box be enough? And future proof maybe?

Not sure if installers would provide one if necessary, and if they will, I'd rather avoid being ripped off for one. Seeing 12 module boxes @ approx 40 quid delivered perhaps I just buy one myself?

Thank you.

I find it shocking hard to navigate compared to the old set up.

It would depend on whether you need a priority unit or not, I installed a Zappi that required a mini db due to no room in the main distribution board it was €1260 all in.

@mfceiling as far away as you want but as stated above it may require a heavier cable.

@russelldlee A pedestal can be used for any charger, I have provided custom pedestals for chargers.

Depends on the company, I fail to see how they can give an accurate price from a few pics. A on site survey should need to be completed to ensure that there are no underlying issues or any hidden additional costs. You can install the charger as far away as you want but the cable would need to be sized accordingly.

you can get a zappi or an EO for that, the pedestal will cost extra though.

The key is in the words “standard install.” If your house is old or has old wiring, they may have to do a “periodic inspection,” which adds a few hundred. You may also need wiring upgrades (mains tails) or a new earth. Or the routing to where you want the charge point could be complicated. And if you want load balancing on the EO at least, that’s an extra cost. So I’d work from the idea that €600 is a minimum, not an average or certain price.

There is no single right answer to that.

It very much depends on what it is you want/need from the charge point.

"Best value" could be the cheapest most reliable one you can buy assuming you dont want/need load sensing, app support etc. i.e. a dumb charge point.

If you do need load sensing then the answer wont be the same at all.

Other people have additional requirements then also like the look of it, size of it, tethered or not etc.

I think you'll need your site survey first to see what your electrician says in terms of install (priority switch etc) and then decide which one suits you best from that.

Load balancing typically means that the current going to the charger will automatically be reduced based on the load in the house. For instance if you have 60A for the entire house, and you start using 40A the charger will automatically reduce the max load it will pull from 32 A to 20 or less. When the load on the house reduces the charger will increase the current to the EV.

A priority switch comes in a couple forms including ones you need to reset, but the key difference is they cut off your EV charge completely if a specific appliance like an electric shower comes on. They won't install one unless you need one.

Al this stuff is definitely overwhelming, and while I agree withe the approach of not paying for smart features you don't need, I'd go with getting a charger that has load protection, it means you'll never run into the issue or overloads tripping your breakers and gives you the flexibility in the future should you add a power shower or heat pump to your property.

Thanks @Manion. Yeah I have no idea about electricals so I'm not really familiar with all the terms.

When you mentioned load protection is that the same as load balancing?