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

25% off Black Friday deal on Rolec Wall Pods @ evonestop.co.uk.

Ordered myself a 32Amp tethered Type one delivered for €354 via Parcel Motel

KAGY wrote: »

Depends on the length, whether it's in a wall with insulation etc, but is rated for 32a

My run will be about 4 metres indoors then 10 metres outdoors. I'm thinking of going 10sq mm armoured to future proof the cable run.

Might be over kill??

http://www.doncastercables.com/technical-help/

Cable size calculator to bs spec. Don't take as Gospel though

One thing about SWA is it's very stiff and doesn't do tight radius bends easily. The alternative is regular cable in ducting.

rolion wrote: »

WTF are we paying the electrician to do their jobs for !? If the chap says 10 go for 10, otherwise leave the man to do his job.

If we let car salesmen do their jobs and we took their advice, none of us would be driving an EV

rolion wrote: »

I dont get the beauty with Zappi in relation to load balancing and load limiting.

From my own testing i can run an electric shower and oven and the car will still charge at 6.6 but stick on the kettle and the car charge drops until something is turned off. The kettle in my test and then it goes back up to 6.6

In my case i have a priority switch already so id have to add another one and it would also be safer to have a soft change rather then a hard stop.

unkel wrote: »

Does not compute.

Standard Irish connection is 63A = 14kW

Shower 9-10kW + car 6.6kW + oven 3kW = 18.6-19.6kW, so not possible. Unless your oven was in the off cycle (it goes on and off all the time on the thermostat) and your shower is a very low power one

I'm not sure it's quite that black and white unkel. For example I am looking at a screenshot from my Effergy showing 20kw being drawn (two chargers, oven, kettle, fridge, toaster) which is ~83A. Not sure if I have a 63A or 80A fuse, but either way I would be over it.

That's not to say just because you can draw more than you're supposed to that you should, over loading wiring will not cause an immediate failure, it will just heat up slowly and maybe one time you charge and have a long shower on a sunny day and the heat is enough to start a fire. But just saying the ESB fuse does not necessarily blow the moment you go over 63.001A and wiring does not necessarily fail the minute you overload it either...

Zenith74 wrote: »

I'm not sure it's quite that black and white unkel. For example I am looking at a screenshot from my Effergy showing 20kw being drawn (two chargers, oven, kettle, fridge, toaster) which is ~83A. Not sure if I have a 63A or 80A fuse, but either way I would be over it.

I'd say you have a 80A supply. I'm no expert on this but I very much doubt a 63A supply would sustain an 83A draw without the fuse blowing.

Every EV for sale today charges at 7kW. It would have been a huge mistake only installing a 16A charger (and 16A rated cables, 16A/25A RCBO, etc.)

DrPhilG wrote: »

I'm up to my elbows with some folk on the UK i3 owners page who insist that the i3 will only charge at 3.6kw on an 11kw post if its using a single phase cable.

They also reckon that our 22kw posts are 3x7kw rather than 2x11kw?

I gave up trying to understand it.

Morons.


If you connect to an 11kW post with a 32a single phase cable the i3 should take 32a/7kW not 16a. It can use 2 of the phases to give 32a single phase. At least that's my understanding of it. I stand to be corrected by someone who knows what they are talking about of course! I mean even in my Ioniq I get 7kW 32a from a 11kW 16a 3phn post


How could the post be 3*7kW that doesn't make sense. The UK haven't a clue, they refer to them as "fast chargers" anyway sure :D:D

unkel wrote: »

Does not compute.

Standard Irish connection is 63A = 14kW

Shower 9-10kW + car 6.6kW + oven 3kW = 18.6-19.6kW, so not possible. Unless your oven was in the off cycle (it goes on and off all the time on the thermostat) and your shower is a very low power one

80A=17.6Kw
But i was wrong about the kettle,it was the oven that dropped the car charge rate

80A is actually 18.4kW as voltage is 230V.

optimal wrote: »

Does anyone know if there’s any way to be absolutely sure as to exactly what you are allowed to draw. I can’t find anything on my bill. There is the maximum import capacity but not sure if that only applies to commercial companies. It would be really useful to know.

Not really. The main fuse is just below your outside meter but it’s sealed and you can’t just pull it out to see.

If you didn’t pay for an upgraded supply you should assume you have a 60A fuse in there. Upgraded supply has 80A fuse.

unkel wrote: »

So you do have a 80A connection?

Yes

stimpson wrote: »

80A is actually 18.4kW as voltage is 230V.

So i could change the limit on the zappy from 17.6 if i was willing to risk the fuse...Think ill just leave it at 17.6

optimal wrote: »

Does anyone know if there’s any way to be absolutely sure as to exactly what you are allowed to draw. I can’t find anything on my bill. There is the maximum import capacity but not sure if that only applies to commercial companies. It would be really useful to know.

Normal supply is 12kVA
Enhanced is 16kVA [you can upgrade to this easily enough if you home is modern]

After that things get expensive as you a liable for any related price to upgrade the line to your house but they offer a 20kVA single phase line and above along with 3 phase.

You can get a separate 12kVA connection for a family apartment

I just paid my spark for the install. €170 in VAT. In fairness he was here doing other work at the same time. €150 after the grant for a Zappi installation. Not too shabby.

Is anyone else finding it difficult to get an electrician to do an install for the charger?

I have contacted 14 different electricians and only managed to get a single quote!
The one guy that did give me a quote has not responded to my calls or texts.
At first I thought it was that the electricians were just too busy, but now I am thinking there is some other reason they don't want to do the job.
Is it the paper trail that is scaring them away?
Any electrician out there want to shed some light?
At this rate I will end up selling the unit and just using the granny cable

unkel wrote: »

You obviously haven't tried Nigel Daly? He's the biggest installer of EV charge points in the country. Not cheap, but it's a professional outfit and they do a good job. They install nationwide.

No I haven't tried Nigel yet but may have to.
I just don't understand why so many electricians don't even want to quote for what is a simple job.!

optimal wrote: »

I’m struggling with this one too. My 12kw heat pump and fast charge Leaf were running together (unintentionally) for over an hour with no issue. In theory this should be about 19kw. I’m on a standard supply which I thought was 12kVA. I’ve a 63A “fuse” in customer unit and 63/80 A at meter. Any ideas?

Common misunderstanding. Your 12kW heat pump isnt pulling 12kW, thats its output not its input!

When the HP is running it's probably pulling around ~2.5kW

Had my Zappi Charger installed this morning by John from Nigel Daly's Team.

Here's my unsolicited feedback & a few pics in case it helps anyone...

Work Carried Out: Supply and Installation of Zappi EV Charger at my House.

Disclaimer: I am not in any way related to Nigel Daly's Company or Employee's (that I know of!). I'm not employed or being paid by Nigel Daly for my feedback. This is my own unsolicited feedback.



Feedback:


I'll be getting my first EV soon & I had been researching what I needed to have ready in advance of the car arriving. I chose a MyEnergi Zappi EV Charger (5 Meter Tethered Unit, Type 2) based on its ability to integrate with Solar Panels in the future if I decide to get them, for its reputation among those EV owners who have already purchased & been using it, and (because I have an Electric Shower installed in my home) for its ability to dynamically determine what current/power is being used within the house at any point so it then can adjust the power/current sent to the car when it is charging. (Using its CT Clamp). So it avoided the need to purchase an additional Priority Switch.

The next thing I had to determine was who to ask to do this work.

Again, I read a lot of online forums and one name repeatedly came up in terms of that company's Expertise, Skill, Knowledge & Ability to deliver a professional service and high quality finish - Nigel Daly.

I understood that there may have been cheaper alternatives - eg for me to source & acquire the charger unit myself & then separately find an electrician to install it.

I decided because I wanted the least amount of hassle / inconvenience with the highest level of service, professional finish, & someone that understood all the paperwork & who met all the criteria required for me to submit my EV Home Charger SEAI Grant Application, that I would choose Nigel Daly for this work.

I asked Nigel to source the charger & install it.

Right from my initial contact with Nigel's Team - Kelly, I could tell this was going to be a positive experience. Kelly was very responsive to all my questions & a good communicator using email & calling me on my phone. Nigel himself also provided me with information through email & over the phone. So it was great to see such a high level of customer focus & responsiveness at all levels within the company.

Kelly was very efficient in scheduling the work & providing me with time frames that suited me.

I subsequently got a follow up call from one of the Installation Electricians in Nigel's' Team (John) & he arranged a mutually agreeable installation day / time with me.

On the morning of the scheduled work, John was travelling a long distance to get to me & constantly kept me appraised of his location & updated me (through text messaging) with expected arrival times. I found this very helpful & not something that other tradespeople had bothered to do in the past for me.

John arrived on time & all ready & prepared for the job. He had obviously already been fully briefed by Kelly & Nigel on what I needed done as he knew exactly what the job was & there were no surprises for him & I did not have to explain everything.

John was an absolute professional. He provided such a high level & standard of work that it went above what I had expected (and I have high standards!). He went out of his way to explain what he was going to do at each stage of the work & ensured I was comfortable with it.

Observing John at work, it was apparent that he was highly skilled, had done this exact type of install many times & to me, he was so efficient I think he could have almost done the work with a blindfold on (not that it would be safe to do that of course :-)).

John was so incredibly neat & tidy at every stage (Drilling out from the internal fuse box in the house, attaching & routing protective cable trunking on the side of the house, installing & testing the EV charger for me).

I cannot recommend Nigel Daly & his team (thanks again Kelly & John) highly enough for their outstanding level of responsiveness, customer service, for getting things right first time, for their attention to detail & faultless install of my Home EV Charger.

Well done Nigel to you & your team. You obviously surround yourself with the right type of people - great personalities, superb customer focus / responsiveness, combined with expertise knowledge & professionalism.

You & your company deserve any & all success based on what you did for me this morning.

In my eyes - great value for my money & a totally happy customer.