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

The Nal

Can only get a 7kw charge point in the house.

Fairly restrictive stuff

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085027#Comment_118085027

No problem. The grant doesnt really care about who/what/where the charge point comes from. They want to see a picture of your car, your installed charge point and a cert from your electrician to prove it was all done on your MPRN.

Your electrician should have no issue with you sourcing the charge point yourself and they install it.

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085598#Comment_118085598

Why is it restrictive?

You can dream up scenarios where it might be deemed restrictive but in reality it isnt.

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085838#Comment_118085838

Just very slow. Will take days to charge the car.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085930#Comment_118085930

Days?

How big do you think the batteries are?

Even the largest current car batteries would take at most 12-14hrs to charge from completely empty at 7Kw/h.

In real terms charging from the recommended ~20% minimum level, 8-10 hours or a standard overnight will be plenty to get a full charge.

kesey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085930#Comment_118085930

incorrect.

If your car has a 77kWh battery, then at 7kw/h it will take approx 11 hours to completely charge the car. Normally you would only charge from 20% to 80% level, i.e. 60% of your 77kWh so max it would take would be 60% of 77 = 6.6 hours.

Sam W

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085048#Comment_118085048

There's a difference between not knowing the answer and not replying anything & not calling back. For example, the electrician changed the max voltage on the charger to be a significantly lower value. I asked why and they didn't even bother typing 'I don't know'. I just turned it back onto the max allowed value after quite a lot of research and consultation with other electricians myself.

Billydoc

What’s the usual price for a zappi installation? Got quoted €1200 all in. I’ll get €600 back after. And what’s the best approach tethered it untethered? I’m thinking tethered as it would be handy to just stick it in the car but untethered would look neater. What’s your opinions?

eagerv

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118091380#Comment_118091380

Sound a fair price, similar to what we paid about 2 years ago. Most quotes seem a bit higher lately.

We far prefer tethered, much more convenient. With two EVs it is very simple to change over the very odd time we both need to charge the same night. But our unit is not on the front of the house where an untethered unit may look a little neater..

Manion

So I've read back through a lot of this thread and I'm thinking of asking electrician to install an Andersen A2. The car dealership is offering some deal with Energia to get a free charger installed but our guy was the electrician who wired up the house originally and he does a nice clean Job. I see a few houses in the neighborhood have big manky isolation switches and appear to be wired back into the fuse board as opposed to the meter. What exactly is needed in terms of certs and what not from the lecky.

Also, in terms of the SEAL grant, can I get the charger installed in advance of the car being delivered. They're talking March for delivery of the car but the charger itself has a long lead time.

Roger the cabin boy

Does anyone have a std wiring diagram for the addition of an EV charger to a domestic setup being fed directly from the meter box?

thunderbolt

Apols if this has been answered already, or if it’s a stupid question, but what are the disadvantages of getting the smart meters installed? I got my EV charger installed two weeks ago and I’m due to get my meter upgraded to a smart meter (even though the house is five years old) in a few weeks. Won’t I simply keep my existing energy plan with the upgraded meter? I’ve seen people on here saying to steer well clear of the smart meters if you have an EV charger at home? Thanks

Roger the cabin boy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099210#Comment_118099210

Do a energy usage map.

Chart what you use and who.

You may find that a smart meter isn't so smart.

Night meters are great for high mileage ev drivers.

thunderbolt

Thanks Roger. I just thought it can help you understand energy usage and saves manual reads? Outside of that, what smarts does it have? I assume I can keep my existing plan i.e. I won’t be forced to change providers or plans?

How do I do a usage map?

Manion

I think you get forced into the smart plans.

Out of interest, would upgrading the meter mean the main fuse is upgraded?

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118086470#Comment_118086470

The max voltage? What was it set to? Do you mean Amps? Perhaps they didn’t answer your question as it was silly

Sam W

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099961#Comment_118099961

Yes I meant amps. Couldn’t edit my comment after I noticed it after 24 h.

i don’t believe it was a silly question. I was simply trying to figure out why my charger charges my car more slowly than advertised. It could be due to a malfunction with the car, the charger, the circuit, or some settings that I don’t know of.

And even if it is a silly question, it doesn’t hurt to politely put in a reply. Not everyone is an electrician. After all, they were so eager to answer anything before the money was taken.

I actually did a Google search on them just now and found they were ‘permanently closed’ on Google, and some recent comments mentioned the same experience of non-replies after work is done, so they are well deserved.

Anyway, I don’t have any appetite in arguing what’s silly or not. The only purpose of my original post was to say that there are very cheap and very expensive electricians out there. They have their pros and cons.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118100254#Comment_118100254

What speed does it charge at? What type car is it?

Manion

Having started to do some research myself on chargers, the chap probably just didn't know about load balancing in the charger function, did an energy usage audit and set the current at a level that would ensure it didn't trip the mains. It seems the most likely explanation since you sourced the charger. I wouldn't loose sleep over it, He could have said that to you though.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099210#Comment_118099210

The main problem isn't the meter , it's the tariffs you'll get shifted to if you get one.

If you currently have a contract in place for a specific price , then you'll likely stay at that until the year is up. But when you come for renewal you'll only be able to pick from their "smart" options , which are significantly more expensive than the standard ones.

They defend this by claiming that the smart meter will reduce your usage and that part of the cost is covering the national installation program, but bottom line you'll be paying more for your electricity.

Today , the best option for an EV owner is a standard day/night rate meter with one of the regular tariffs.

thunderbolt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118100758#Comment_118100758

Thanks Quin-Dub. I think I'll postpone the installation and try and get another year or two out of normal tariffs. Energia told me that they can't force you into a smart tariff but once you opt-in, you cannot opt out. I imagine that as time goes on, there will be less good value on the normal tariffs as the energy providers will want everyone on smart tariffs.

Manion

I'm also trying to decide what package is the best for charging an EV. I noticed that a lot of companies are advertising 100% green electricity, but what does this really mean? As I understand it, on the retail side of the energy market, there is no way to determine where your electricity comes from regardless of how your provider generates electricity, it's not like homes on 100% green electricity packages have power outages when it isn't windy, it all seems a little muddled in terms of marketing.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118102528#Comment_118102528

In Ireland , the figure for Green Energy generation is about 40% of the total output.

I think that some companies claim "100% Green energy" on the basis that the generation facilities that they directly own are "green", but of course that power is fed into the general supply prior to distribution so as you say there's absolutely no way for an end-user to exclusively receive their power from any one specific source.

graememk

They claim the 100% renewable by only buying "renewable" electricity.

If you consider the grid to be a big pot. Be it on a Daily/monthly/whatever basis, the Gas/Coal/Renewable/import pour into the pot, and then the suppliers take from the pot, some only buy from the renewable sources. their x number of MWh's that their customers use. the electricity taken is a mix of everything but they have paid for renewable only. That allows them to say that they are 100% renewable.

Marketing.. isnt it great?

Type 17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118102721#Comment_118102721

That works for me - I have an EV & buy 100% renewable electricity - the point is that the proportion of renewable electricity in the grid at any moment is known (see here)

http://smartgriddashboard.eirgrid.com/#all

so once providers don't sell more than is there to sell, it doesn't matter which actual electrons you get. Also, the more demand there is for renewable electricity, the more it will pay generator companies to feed it into the grid to satisfy that demand.

The same is done with Biogas - you can buy regular fossil fuel propane for your (rural, non-mains) gas tank, but you can also buy propane which comes from renewable sources* - the biogas and regular gas is mixed in the supply chain (they're chemically identical), but once they don't sell more Biogas than is put into the supply chain, it doesn't matter which actual molecules you get.

*However, I'm not completely convinced by Biogas, because while some of the gas is produced from rendering waste organic materials, a lot is produced from certified-sustainable palm oil, but I can't see how even sustainable palm oil doesn't increase world demand, and encourage development of non-sustainable sources to satisfy overall world demand.

Manion

This is the bit I struggle with, you pay a little bit more as a consumer for your 100% green plan than I do on my current plan but we're both consuming the same amount of peat, coal and gas generated electricity in real terms?

I'd pay more for green energy, absolutely, but I've a feeling all this is me paying more for the same old same old, no?

eoinfitzokk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118100758#Comment_118100758

I postponed KN smart meter installation last week due to Zappi charger installation going in to the external meter. Haven't switched over to a day/night rate with Bord Gais Networks duel fuel plan.

Can anybody tell me if I should avoid the installation so I can say go onto a day/night plan without having to go a smart plan? Or is it that I'll need to get the smart meter installed and go into the smart plan to get the day/night rates?

Bord Gais haven't called me back to "inform" me.

On the positive side, I got a load balancing Zappi charger installed on a pedestal places at the edge of the driveway tarmac. Nice enough job, they had to cut a channel in the concrete, run the cable buried along a path for 10m and run into the pedestal set in concrete.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099765#Comment_118099765

You don’t.

I got smart meter, still on my original price plan.

i will check cabinet tomorrow to see if fuse has been upgraded but I can’t remember what was there beforehand!

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118104775#Comment_118104775

I don't think they can take you off an existing contract/discount rate just because they've swapped out the meter. Think you have to be allowed finish out that agreement term.

What would be interesting to know if if anyone has had a smart meter installed and then gone to renew/update a contract at the end of a term - Have they been allowed to select one of the traditional offers or are you only given the option of a smart plan?

we finally have a meter - and so can now start getting the process together about getting setup. Still undecided about what to get - local electrician coming for an inspection in next 10 days or so to give idea of layout options etc.

Did however put in my application for the SEAI grant on Friday, and had confirmation back on Monday already that we were approved, so that side of the system is obviously working well!