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

if you are buying a normal ev (not a PHEV) then you are probably going to be charging once a week, twice max, taking a cable out of the boot or out of a shed once a week isnt a big deal.

Loads of places doing tethered chargers with 5 and 10m leads. Can PM if interested.

Some tips from my experience.

1) map out your requirements and study carefully what you have vs what you need.

Read your manuals carefully. Some car chargers provided with the car are all you need. If you have a 32amp type socket nr where you usually charge and demand isn't an issue, you might not need anything at all.

2) Get your meter sorted before you purchase any charger. By sorted, i mean have it changed to suit your new electric demand which may actually mean no change at all.... (Low mileage users for example)

3) Have the meter installed before the charger. On The day, tell the ESB you are fitting a charger and ask them to arrange the meter box accordingly. They do this all the time so know whats needed and its no fuss to do. Ask them to check the fuse rating. You might have a smaller fuse than should be. Most modern houses are good for 80 amps but have a 60amp fuse fitted. The ESB will change it with no bother. (Important for load balancing)

4) Believe nothing anyone tells you. Do your own research.

5) The location of your charger and its cabling are governed by meter/consumer unit location and condition. Only use a charger company who asks detailed questions about your situation and asks for photos of the meters and boards. The final location may be influenced by the discussion. Don't be afraid to ask and challenge.

6) don't rely on your provider to actually be competent at arranging the ESB. Call the ESB to confirm any arrangements made on your behalf.

7) Chargers are unsightly warts stuck on the house with horrendous cables and day-glo switches. Take some time to plan where you want the charger and how it is going to be cabled. (See point 5). Be in and present on the day of installation and talk through the location, routing etc before the installer begins.

Hi Guys,

I seem to be a similar situation to some of you. Got a new EV. A charger + installation was included for free. Free as in I pay the installer €600 and claim that back from SEAI so free (eventually) for me.

However the guy who did the survey AND installation spent about 2 hours installing the charger before he decided the meter tails were not thick enough. I suspect his company quoted the job too low to the car company so he refused to upgrade the meter tails between meter and fuse board. I guess it wasn't part of the contract between the car company and the installation company. And then the ESB Networks need to upgrade their part of the tails! ESB Networks have already sent me an invoice for €169! The original installer will only come back once I've sorted the two parts of the meter tails and I need his paperwork for ESB Networks. My head is wrecked trying to sort it out. 3 electricians for 1 charger :(

If I order a day/night meter from Electric Ireland (current supplier), will they upgrade any of the tails? This would speed things up maybe?

Finding it very hard to get an electrician. Have one who may be able to do it in 2 weeks. (anyone know a good electrician in Dub 11/9/7?)

Thanks in advance.

What do you need the ESB for?

To get a mains cable upgraded to 16mm requires a certificate to be sent to esbn by a rec stating the house has been tested and passed all tests. Some older installations won’t pass these tests so a full Rewire will be recommended to ensure the integrity of the installation.

Right, but the regulations in force are for the time of construction, not time of appraisal.

Otherwise everything has to be updated as the codes change and develop over time.

This is a gross misunderstanding of code.

Cheers yeah will do, just felt like a kick in the balls earlier. Spent so much time deciding on a car (id3), working out budgets etc and first foray into home chargers and 9k is getting thrown about. Not ideal. But yeah explained the situation over the phone, so that rewire chat was not based on an actual visit.

The second option is perfectly fine. Much less hassle, meets regulations, generally cheaper to do it that way.

Go with it if you are happy with the electrician himself and he is willing to provide a cert and allow you to claim your grant.

Recommended or required?

Big difference between the two and the enforcement of building codes usually allows for that.

There is also no need to come from the consumer unit. You can come from the meter box which should negate the issue completely.

What might be an issue is the CU. If its not fit for purpose, then you'd have to replace that perhaps if you want to come from it, but again, why this would require a downstream change for what is an upsteam modification, i am not convinced.

I'd be getting a electrical engineer in to look at this before doing anything. By engineer, i mean a fully qualified consultant, not some bloke with his name on the side of a van.

Does anyone know if you've claimed the grant for whatever house you're living in, can you claim again if you move house? I know the grant is by MPRN so is once per household, but is it also once per EV?

Thanks, so if for example I was moving house I'd need to do something like transfer the car to my wife to claim the grant for a new house

Seems a bit silly, I get the logic of one grant per house, but people move houses sometimes and it'd be better if not allowing them to claim the grant for a new house seems like they're being punished for something