Connecting EVSE to ESB meter.

I believe it was Cros who said you can connect some way to the esb meter rather than connect to the consumer unit which in the house I am moving to would be an absolute curse of a job. Can you remind me again please ? I don't want to have to crawl through threads lol.

Can someone take a pic for this please or give me something I can give to the Electrician ( a well known ESB charge point installer) says this is not possible and must go to consumer unit.

KCross

You need a specific type meter with an isolation switch. Probably not in an old house but you could ask ESB Networks for one.

Does your new house have a day/night meter? If not, use that as your opportunity to ask for the meter with the isolation switch.

Thanks,

No it has a old day meter.

Can anyone show me a pic so I can show the electrician ? He's very hard to deal with and everything is no no no.

I might just find another electrician and not an ESB contractor......

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056135091

Something like this ?

n97 mini

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks,

No it has a old day meter.

Can anyone show me a pic so I can show the electrician ? He's very hard to deal with and everything is no no no.

I might just find another electrician and not an ESB contractor......

Why would you deal with an ESB contractor if you don't have to?! My cousin is fully certified and will do anything for me that's within the regs if I ask him to. Unfortunately he's in Oz till the summer.

No I don't have to deal with him, he told me I couldn't under any circumstances have a 32 amp EVSE when I got my Leaf, now he's saying on Facebook that you can !!!

Now he's saying "not to change the 32 amp ready EVSE to 32 amps"

No I'd rather not deal with him if I do not have to.

KCross

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Thanks,

No it has a old day meter.

Can anyone show me a pic so I can show the electrician ? He's very hard to deal with and everything is no no no.

I might just find another electrician and not an ESB contractor......

It's not your electrician you will be dealing with. It's only ESB networks can give you the new meter with the isolation switch. It's them you need to talk to, not your electrician.

No you don't get me, the electrician said it can't be done.

KCross

[Deleted User] wrote: »

No you don't get me, the electrician said it can't be done.

Ok, but so what?
It still won't be him doing it so what difference does it make what he says?

You order a day/night meter and tell ESB Networks you want the meter that has isolation on the consumer side and they will put that in. Nothing to do with your electrician.

ei9go

If I understand this correctly, the only reason for the isolation switch is so that the electricity supply can be turned off without breaking seals to remove the fuse.
When you can turn off the supply to the house at the meter, you can then connect your EV cabling to a separate consumer unit with separate RCD from the the main unit.

KCross

KCross wrote: »

Ok, but so what?
It still won't be him doing it so what difference does it make what he says?

You order a day/night meter and tell ESB Networks you want the meter that has isolation on the consumer side and they will put that in. Nothing to do with your electrician.

I gather what he meant was that he wouldn't connect into the meter box regardless of what was inside and that he would only go back to the consumer unit.

cros13

Deleted User wrote: »

I gather what he meant was that he wouldn't connect into the meter box regardless of what was inside and that he would only go back to the consumer unit.

I feed the intermediate box from the meter with a 63A MCB for inbound power and a 63A MCB feeding the original consumer unit. All the high consumption loads are fed off the intermediate board with 40A RCCBs feeding chargepoints and a 20A feeding some outdoor sockets.

Can you take a pic cros please ? I'd appreciate it.

cros13

Not the prettiest install. I'm going to re-do it as soon as I get the time.
The device down the bottom is a 50A switch/power meter which integrates into my smart home.
Grey cable beside that switch leads to the original consumer unit, two SWAs are to the chargepoints.

Ok, that meter looks like mine so what's the difference ?

cros13

Deleted User wrote: »

Ok, that meter looks like mine so what's the difference ?

The isolation switch is under the caution sticker labelled AC-21B. That's not sealed and you can cut power there. With most meters that isolation switch on the consumer side of the meter does not exist and you can't shut down power to the consumer unit without ESB cutting your power for you either at the pole or at meter (but resealing it) and that's a lot of hassle/expense.

antoinolachtnai

Is this inside your outside meter box?

Only ESBn equipment and customer tails are supposed to be in the meter box as far as I know. (https://www.esbnetworks.ie/docs/default-source/publications/your-meter-cabinet). Is there a new rule allowing this?

cros13

I plead the 5th. The basic principle is the same if one was to comply with the regs.

Ok so I just checked , my meter is exactly the same. :-)

So can I get an electrician to connect my EVSE to the meter box then ? the ESB contractor says "not possible"

cros13

Yes, you could fit an intermediate box.
Connecting the EVSE to the meter directly is of course not possible.

I was careful to make sure that everything was safe even if it wasn't quite to code, for example those SWAs exit the box at the bottom and a channel was cut and then re-concreted.
Everything is sealed/grounded properly, tripping characteristics tested etc. etc.

When I said my meter is exactly the same, I meant where I am now but when I move it may not be.

Anyway, is there a registered contractor who would do this ?

cros13

Deleted User wrote: »

When I said my meter is exactly the same, I meant where I am now but when I move it may not be.

Anyway, is there a registered contractor who would do this ?

If the intermediate box is going to be outside the meter cabinet I don't see why it would be a problem. You may have an issue accessing the existing cable to the consumer unit as it enters the cabinet inside the wall.
Though you can just lay another 25sqmm cable from the consumer unit to your intermediate box.

It would require careful explanation and a bit of show-and-tell, pointing out the unsealed isolation switch etc. etc.