Home charging

[Dyslexicwinker]

Hi we’ve had plug-in hybrids for a couple of years now with ample sockets on the driveway to simply plug in the 3 pin leads but have started reading this might not be ideal and am looking at getting a home charging point. Access to the board is very easy and it’s all rewired with a new board. What’s the best solution at the minute. Is it something I can do myself and get a leccy to wire in Or is it easier to get someone else to do. What are the best options and how much with the grant are we looking at. I also see there’s tethered and untethered and not sure what’s best?? Ta.

[PixelpeepZ4]

if you've recently bought a qualifying car you can get a Government grant of around £500 which leaves £250 ish to pay for most.

We signed up with OVO energy and they offered the £250 part as an incentive - so we got a charge point for free.

i had already run a 10mm cable in the wall to an external waterproof box, directly from the 17th edition split load board with it's own dedicated 32amp breaker.

thought i was clever. When the engineer got here he told me normal MCBs are not any good due to a reg change, the chargers take AC but convert to DC therefore you need a breaker which looks out for faults on both, or words to that effect.

cut a long story short, UK power networks had to upgrade the house fuse to 100amp, OVO installed a separate isolator in the meter housing (on an external wall) and ran the feed for the charger directly from there.

i now have the most over engineered outside socket in the world, should i ever decide to put one in on the provision i had previously fitted

New home charger is great, its a smart one so works with the grid, you can tell it when your cheap electric kicks in and it won't start charging until then (you can override this either by a button on the front of it or via the app) you can also download (Excel format) which logs power used, cost, time, rate etc


OP - get a company to do it, for £250 (or even free) it's worth not having all the hassle.

[PixelpeepZ4]

edit to add - upgrading to a 7kw charger (the one we have) will change your whole experience.

up until a few months ago we'd been charging our i3 via the 3kw 3pin type in our garage. took roughly 10-12 hours from flat, and other half had a commute which needed a daily full charge.

we had to factor in 'what time she had to be home' in order for the car to have a full charge for the following day.

it might be fine for you with your plug in hybrids as they only have small batteries - when you go full EV you'll need to give it considerably longer

takes 4 hours max now, which means it can all be done while our electric is 10p pkw rather than 19ppkw !

[Dyslexicwinker]

Ta. Who did you use are there companies more reputable than others? Sounds like it could be a bit more than rewiring my house! The charging isn’t an issue at the mo but I think we’ll be all electric at some point so good to get ahead. We don’t have the cheap electric tariff at the mo as i don’t think the additional charges for non ev stuff offsets the saving but will need to see. That would change if we went all electric I assume but our lass has been able to charge at work mostly so not a big deal. Thanks for responses.

[Evanivitch]

Rolec historically have a bad name, companies like Zappi are known for working well with solar, and EO do some small, neat chargers.

Personally, I would go untethered and then buy a cable that's left plugged in. Only because the tethered cables are all about 4.7m long, which isn't great if you reverse onto driveway and you might have an issue if you have a mixed type 1/2 fleet.

A potentially cheaper option is to buy a second hand charger and have it I fitted, but the lasted electrical standards are a minefield. I had mine installed before earth rods were required and now I'm worried my new patio might need reworking to accommodate any future upgrade!!!

[Fastlane]

If you want the best then have a look at the Andersen A2. Not cheap but if looks and quality are important, and you dont want a hosereel on your house, then there is no real alternative. Mine has an 8.5m cable.

[GT6k]

PixelpeepZ4 said:

We signed up with OVO energy and they offered the £250 part as an incentive - so we got a charge point for free.

That OVO deal ended last March, all you get now is the Polar card.

[Uncle boshy]

Government grant is now £350, so your looking at a net of £450 to £650 for most depending on the grant for a standard install.

If you’ve got a commando socket or can put one in cheaply you can get the ohme 7kw unit for £199 If you sign up to octopus agile

[Evanivitch]

Uncle boshy said:

Government grant is now £350, so your looking at a net of £450 to £650 for most depending on the grant for a standard install.

If you’ve got a commando socket or can put one in cheaply you can get the ohme 7kw unit for £199 If you sign up to octopus agile

There's a bit of an eye opener on SpeakEV of a bloke that wired his own commando socket and almost burnt his house down!

https://www.speakev.com/threads/a-cautionary-tale-...

[Heres Johnny]

Its technically illegal to add a new circuit of this type unless you are a suitably qualified person and can issue an appropriate certificate. Not saying you can't, just that its illegal.

Its also worth asking a local sparky for a price as the ones using the grant seem to be mysteriously quite expensive. You "think" you're saving witht he grant but they aren't the most competitive. You may need to source the charge point yourself but there's an increasing number knocking around for sale.

A half/half option is to install it yourself and get a sparky to sign it off but be aware of the regs on DC protection and the type of RCBs etc you might need, earthing arrangements (I think they need earth rods now to tie the earth to the real ground earth) etc. .

[gangzoom]

Evanivitch said:

There's a bit of an eye opener on SpeakEV of a bloke that wired his own commando socket and almost burnt his house down!

https://www.speakev.com/threads/a-cautionary-tale-...

Quite scary!!

A local electrician charged me £50 to install a commando and checks to wiring. Why would you do this your self for the sake of saving £50??

[PixelpeepZ4]

GT6k said:

PixelpeepZ4 said:

We signed up with OVO energy and they offered the £250 part as an incentive - so we got a charge point for free.

That OVO deal ended last March, all you get now is the Polar card.

That's odd, we didn't sign up with them until 29th October 2019 - it then took a while to arrange the charge point, then covid hit, charge point wasn't installed until 24/06 this year..

deal was 100% still active in October when we signed!

[Evanivitch]

Heres Johnny said:

Its technically illegal to add a new circuit of this type unless you are a suitably qualified person and can issue an appropriate certificate. Not saying you can't, just that its illegal.

I'm 99% sure it's not illegal to DIY install provided you post the necessary notice and completion paperwork.

[Heres Johnny]

Evanivitch said:

Heres Johnny said:

Its technically illegal to add a new circuit of this type unless you are a suitably qualified person and can issue an appropriate certificate. Not saying you can't, just that its illegal.

I'm 99% sure it's not illegal to DIY install provided you post the necessary notice and completion paperwork.

I was under the impression anyone can do the work, it’s the sign off that’s the legal bit and paperwork from the ‘operator of the registration scheme’.

Warwickshire CC said:

A ‘non-qualified’ person can still carry out notifiable electrical work as long as Building Control are informed – but if you fail to do this and the work is found to be unsafe, it can lead to a hefty fine. Upon completion of the job, it is a legal requirement for the electrician to test the new system and hand over a signed BS 7671 electrical safety certificate. In addition, you should be sent a Building Regulations compliance certificate for all notifiable work by the operator of the registration scheme.

[Evanivitch]

Heres Johnny said:

Evanivitch said:

Heres Johnny said:

Its technically illegal to add a new circuit of this type unless you are a suitably qualified person and can issue an appropriate certificate. Not saying you can't, just that its illegal.

I'm 99% sure it's not illegal to DIY install provided you post the necessary notice and completion paperwork.

I was under the impression anyone can do the work, it’s the sign off that’s the legal bit and paperwork from the ‘operator of the registration scheme’.

Warwickshire CC said:

A ‘non-qualified’ person can still carry out notifiable electrical work as long as Building Control are informed – but if you fail to do this and the work is found to be unsafe, it can lead to a hefty fine. Upon completion of the job, it is a legal requirement for the electrician to test the new system and hand over a signed BS 7671 electrical safety certificate. In addition, you should be sent a Building Regulations compliance certificate for all notifiable work by the operator of the registration scheme.

The electrician, i.e. yourself, needs to.be competent and in possession of all the required test equipment prior to completing the BS 7671. But you don't need to be qualified.

Building compliance could test, fail and fine you if you're not competent.

And your house could burn down.

[Frimley111R]

For a home charger you have lots of options of brand, key ones in terms of chargers are:

EO - Smallest on the market so no big charger on the front of your home for the next X years
ProjectEv - low cost but normal size
ROLEC - Despite the slightly bad rep are fitted to more homes than any others so can't be that bad
Podpoint/Chargemaster - Similar to the above (but no adverse comments generally)
Anderson - Nice looking but pricey

Plus lots of others....

We may not cover your area but if you'd like a bit of an overview to help you decide please feel free to PM me. Happy to help another PHer.

[Gareth79]

Heres Johnny said:

Its also worth asking a local sparky for a price as the ones using the grant seem to be mysteriously quite expensive. You "think" you're saving witht he grant but they aren't the most competitive. You may need to source the charge point yourself but there's an increasing number knocking around for sale.

Yep, the other thing is the OLEV grant has to be for a 'smart' type charger whereas a regular non-smart one can be bought very cheaply if you shop around.

[krisdelta]

Frimley111R said:

For a home charger you have lots of options of brand, key ones in terms of chargers are:

EO - Smallest on the market so no big charger on the front of your home for the next X years
ProjectEv - low cost but normal size
ROLEC - Despite the slightly bad rep are fitted to more homes than any others so can't be that bad
Podpoint/Chargemaster - Similar to the above (but no adverse comments generally)
Anderson - Nice looking but pricey

Plus lots of others....

We may not cover your area but if you'd like a bit of an overview to help you decide please feel free to PM me. Happy to help another PHer.

This is really useful, thank you - I think we've crossed paths once or twice on here, I'm local to you and just about to embark on EV ownership and need an install, so this is timely! I'll PM you if you don't mind.

[Frimley111R]

Yep, anytime.