At home charger - in a terraced house?

[Nickbrapp]

I live in a new build mid Terrace and I’m exploring getting a electric car, but how would the charger be installed

I have 2 spaces outside my house as off road parking, electric meter is at the front and I have a outside socket too

Consumer unit is under the stairs in the middle of the house

Do these chargers require a armoured cable to be run as a new supply? I don’t really want conduit or a cable on show.

[Nickbrapp]

IJWS15 said:

Proper terrace with footpath in front of the house or do you own the land in front?

I own the land in front, it’s a new build so there’s my front door, my path and then my 2 parking spaces/ driveway

[Nickbrapp]

IJWS15 said:

You could probably get it connected your side of the meter in the meter box with the charger on the wall beside the meter box, lead across your garden to the car.

This is what I thought, take the supply at the meter but wasn’t sure if it needed a isolation at the consumer unit as well?

[Nickbrapp]

ruggedscotty said:

cant take it from the meter - you need a means to isolate and protection. You could use a henly block to split the tails - but id be wanting an isolator between the meter and the henley blocks...

Could you have a external RCD or lock off isolator etc in a waterproof enclosure after the meter and before the charger in the same vein as say having a consumer unit in a shed or for a hot tub?

[Nickbrapp]

ruggedscotty said:

andy43 said:

Nickbrapp said:

ruggedscotty said:

cant take it from the meter - you need a means to isolate and protection. You could use a henly block to split the tails - but id be wanting an isolator between the meter and the henley blocks...

Could you have a external RCD or lock off isolator etc in a waterproof enclosure after the meter and before the charger in the same vein as say having a consumer unit in a shed or for a hot tub?

You could fit an external IP66 isolator switch and enclosure that you can fit an isolock padlock to - £30 max.
Other option would be an internal switch - a 45a shower switch would do it - but you’d be less likely to remember to switch it off when not in use.
Can’t believe people are stealing a couple of quids worth of electricity. An unfamiliar EV parked up with a bright blue cable sticking out the front isn’t exactly an under the radar theft...

Need to ensure that the cable and nswitchgear is adequately protected. Hooking up to the meter direct isnt to be advised.

There is the type of supply to your building is it PME ?

Id be looking to get in an expert.

Ive added a link thats worth reading..

https://myenergi.com/pen-protection/

Thanks both, I did have a read up and see that install from one of the big firms included a earth rod if required, It was mainly avoiding having a cable inside the house on show I was worried about but sounds like it can all be done externally.

[Nickbrapp]

Lily the Pink said:

I am getting my first EV within the next couple of weeks. It comes with a granny charger cable (i.e. one you can plug into a 13 amp 3-pin socket to get a slow charge) and I am planning on using that. I expect my usage to be quite low so will only need to charge overnight a couple of times a week. I will also have a type 2 cable for use on any longer trips away from home. I do however also run a B&B and would like to be able to offer charging to guests; if I do that then I will go for a dedicated charger.

So I would say it depends on your particular usage as to whether you actually need a dedicated charger.

I have been looking into this a lot on the speakEV forum and there’s been a few instances of sockets overheating and catching fire when charging a electric car for a long period of time.

Obviously it’s happened maybe 10 times out of 100,000s but it can happen I guess

[Nickbrapp]

Dave Hedgehog said:

i got permission from the residents/management committee to put a post outside my terraced house in front of my parking bays (about 2m from the house)

installer lifted the paviours and ran armoured cable, i went for a galvanised post for rust resistance, they installed the hardware needed in my electric meter box (small 2x32amp panel) after moving a couple of bits to make space and made good (you cant tell the blocks were lifted), so no need to change anything in the house.

i got most of the cost back from the OLEV grant but i think its been reduced now



I got them to run 2 armoured cables (and the hardware for it in the cabinet) for when 'er indoors gets an EV, having lived with an EV for sometime know now 1 charging point is more than enough as i only need to use it twice a week, if the OLEV grant is still about I will get a second one fitted as a spare


and don't forget to switch to octopus go for 5p/kwh off peak charging

Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Wednesday 18th August 11:22

Looks like you have the same set up as me with parking then path then the wall of the house, this is a very smart set up and exactly the sort of thing I think I would want to do, I had hoped they would be able to put a 2nd CU in the meter cabinet.

Looks really smart.

Now to pick which electric car to get!