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

ECO_Mental · 09-09-2022 02:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119594887#Comment_119594887

I wasn't going to reply, but a surgeon makes amputating a leg look easy as well, theres nothin' to it! a cut here, saw the bone there and stitch him up boom jobs a gud un!

Electricians go through 4 years of training and college and are constantly updating their skills as new equipment and standards are released. They have to buy all their own tools and testing equipment etc etc Just to say its striping a few wires, a couple of screws and give it a touch of the auld multimeter is not what happens.

Here's 50 quid for your troubles and be glad you got it...you are only an auld sparky

ted1 · 09-09-2022 02:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119595462#Comment_119595462

More dramatics.

The tools are reused many times over. They aren’t buying new ones each time.

I often have teams of electricians working for me.

many of the lads doing installs are charging a premium. A regular domestic sparks will charge much less than someone who specialises in doing work with SEAI grants

...Ghost... · 09-09-2022 03:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119595299#Comment_119595299

I have a 6.6OBC Leaf. Sold the 3.3 one to replace with the M3. So there is no difference in the load as mentioned previously.

Solar I will look at for maybe next year. Cobbling the deposit together for the M3 within a few days has left the account a bit empty 🫢 so if I can put off expenses for a couple of months, that’s what works for me. Solar is only entering my mind, so no dates set for that.

Not sure about the €350 you mentioned. Figures aren’t exact but a sparks will pay ~€500 for a decent CP like the Hypervolt or Wallbox etc depending on qty ordered from supplier. €100 on other materials is about right. A supply and installation of a CP is up to 4 hours including travel time. So easily 2 done per day. If the electrician is charging €1400 per job, that’s €800 after materials or €750 after other overheads. That’s €1500 a day or 7.5k per week on such installs. Not bad. I’m allowing for €100 per day overheads which seems more than enough.

If the grant wasn’t there, people wouldn’t be paying what is being charged. When the free ESB car charger was being installed for new EVs, do you think the electrician was getting anywhere near €750 per install? Grants ALWAYS inflate prices with the service provider simply adding the grant to their fee.

I might be pushing a little hard on this issue, but I hate seeing a cash grab like this for what is one of the easier jobs on an electricians list.

UID0 · 09-09-2022 03:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119595761#Comment_119595761

Not sure about the €350 you mentioned

Someone earlier had a Zappi installed for €1400. The Zappi costs about €1050, which gives €350 for installation. This gives them, with your prices for materials and overheads about €400 a day or €2k per week. There are some taking the piss and charging €2k+ for a basic install or even €1400 for an install with a €600 charge point.

...Ghost... · 09-09-2022 06:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119595863#Comment_119595863

Zappi can be bought by the public for €800 and a couple hundred less to trades when buying in bulk (as they often do.....this is why the SEAI extended the dumb charger deadline to the end of the year). The figures I gave still stack up pretty well there.

But of course I am sure there are some not completely ripping the p1ss out of customers.....I just haven't found any not making easy money. Same with Solar, but that's a whole other thread.

Gumbo · 09-09-2022 07:53PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119596633#Comment_119596633

Zappi is €975 from MyEnergy.

€999 for the tethered version.

But I agree with your other points. I’ve replaced my own chargers over the years and even added the isolation switch retrospectively.

It’s a skilled job but some are taking the pi55 because of the grant.

NinjaTruncs · 09-09-2022 09:53PM

Does anyone have a Ohme Home pro? Can you confirm what charging speed you can get with load balancing turned on.

I'm only get ~16 amps or ~3.5kwh.

ted1 · 09-09-2022 11:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119597587#Comment_119597587

7kwh, if your only getting 16A it’s not working

if your getting -16A then the CT is facing the wrong way

slave1 · 10-09-2022 03:34PM

You may be using a 16amp charge cable

NinjaTruncs · 10-09-2022 05:43PM

It's a tethered unit, and when I turn off load balancing the car charges at 7kwh.

I killed power to the house and still only got 3.5kwh, which suggests the load balancing isn't working correctly.

The current unit is a replacement unit for the same issue, either the units are **** or there is something else at play with the install.

ted1 · 10-09-2022 06:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119600534#Comment_119600534

How are you turning off load balancing? It’s not a standard setting.

NinjaTruncs · 10-09-2022 06:16PM

If you put the unit into installer mode you can disable Load Balancing.

Metalpanic · 13-09-2022 01:51PM

Just an update on my search for quotes for tethered Zappi installed at a pre-wired house. The original company came back with a cheaper price of €1,349. A second company quoted €1300. This seems to be the ballpark figure in the market going on those two prices.

GalwayMan74 · 13-09-2022 02:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119612162#Comment_119612162

Pre wired with isolator and all ?

If you can change a plugtop you could fit it yourself.

Screw it to the wall and connect 3 wires.

Metalpanic · 13-09-2022 02:31PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119612471#Comment_119612471

I'd need RCB, CT clamp and rotary isolator installed. Plus won't get the grant if I attempted a self-install.

GalwayMan74 · 14-09-2022 07:51AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119612479#Comment_119612479

Fair enough 🤙

budhabob · 14-09-2022 08:47AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119575925#Comment_119575925

What are the Pros v Cons of connecting the charger at the meter with all required protections or back to the main tripboard?

We live in a mid terrace house with tripboard at the rear of the house. When Car charger survey was done the rationale explained to me was they could use the meter connection if connection to the tripboard would damage the fabric of the house.

KCross · 14-09-2022 10:12AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119615777#Comment_119615777

What are the Pros v Cons of connecting the charger at the meter

Mainly aesthetic reasons.

If the consumer unit is in an awkward place in the house and you dont want trunking and drilling going through your inside walls its neater to install outside in some cases.

If you can run a cable to your consumer unit (via attic) and have it all hidden its neater to do it that way.

Once its in, there isn't any difference from the perspective of operating the charge point.

Installing it at the meter box will also have some ugly items installed on your outside wall.

So, its a decision you have to come to between you and your electrician.

budhabob · 14-09-2022 10:31AM

Thanks for that. As long as no impact to safety or performance that's key for me.

VikingG · 14-09-2022 03:29PM

Any recommendations for an installer in the Limerick region? probably looking at a Zappi as would need built in load balancing.

...Ghost... · 14-09-2022 04:50PM

I ordered myself a Hypervolt 2.0. Asked them to remove VAT because it was being sent from UK to Ireland. Cost £560 (€650) including delivery. Didn't get hit (yet) with any VAT or customs charges. Happy days!!

17larsson · 14-09-2022 11:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119615777#Comment_119615777

Pros are you don't have to drill walls or mount trunking/have cable clipped to walls.

Cons are you have another small board beside your ESB cabinet.

If it's awkward to get to your board and your charger will be mounted close to your ESB cabinet it's probably the best option

15-09-2022 12:21PM

Possibly not the right spot for this question, but anyway...

I have just bought PHEV and have installed a home charger as it's much handier than the granny charger. Now I'm wondering if it's worth changing my electric plan to day/night one instead of 24hrs. The thing is my PHEV has only a 7KWh battery or so. Is there any point in changing?

KCross · 15-09-2022 12:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119621382#Comment_119621382

You'd need a few more bits of info to answer it accurately as it depends on a few other variables.

What mileage do you do per year?

How many units of electricity do you use right now per year?

And, if possible, how much of it is by day/night? If you already have a day/night meter you should be able to press the buttons on the meter and it will give you that breakdown.

Once you have that info it is then easy to calculate if you would be quids in or not with a day/night tariff.... my bet is that you would be and even more so with the addition of the PHEV.

15-09-2022 02:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119621465#Comment_119621465

Ah, I must go and check out my night vs day consumption so! I didn't realise I could check that on the meter!

Haven't gotten a handle on total yearly units yet as it's a new home, but reckon ~6,000 (have air to water heating, so runs off electric too).

Probably do about ~10,000km a year. My commute is about 20km, three days a week.

stimpson · 15-09-2022 02:55PM

I had an outlander (10kW battery) and the house had night rate when I moved in. I did the sums after a year and it worked out cheaper on the night rate. We did run the dishwasher at night too. I probably did similar milage as you, but the outlander was heavier on the juice. It’s probably a close run thing with the smaller battery.

What PHEV do you have? I’m wondering if you have the charge rate and capacity confused as 7kW seems quite small.

Edit: I found the spreadsheet. It was only over a couple of months (Nov-Dec 2018), but a good yardstick

15-09-2022 03:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119622158#Comment_119622158

Ah nice, that's a handy spreadsheet!

I have a BMW 330e, that has a battery capacity of 7.6 kW. It's not massive but suits my needs.

stimpson · 15-09-2022 04:20PM

Yeah, but you can only do it if you already have the day/night figures. If you can estimate how often you do a full charge and subtract it from your 24hr usage then you should be able to approximate it yourself. Remember that the standing charge is more for day/night.

KCross · 15-09-2022 05:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119621861#Comment_119621861

have air to water heating, so runs off electric too

It will be a no brainer for you to move to a day/night tariff... with a heat pump and a PHEV it will be very easy for you to save money.

You can tell the heat pump to heat all the hot water during night rate so overnight your hot water costs will be less than half the price, all year round. You could probably tweak the heat pump a little to run a bit more by night also and then the PHEV on top of that.

You should be able to get 50%+ onto night rate which will more than make up for higher standing charge and slightly more expensive day rate.

But lets see what your current day/night rate figures are and then we can add the PHEV in to see how it works out.

mc2022B2TF · 15-09-2022 07:46PM

Amazing how many big houses in the country built over the last few years all with air to water heat pumps but no solar panels. 100% of their energy coming from electricity (no gas or oil etc.) yet they decided against solar.

Another one of my gripes is that why no one is installing air to air heat pumps is beyond me as those same houses are like sweat boxes in the summer with no way of cooling them down.

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

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