Home Charger

[Smendon]

Hi all

I’m looking to get a charger fitted at home and I have been told that I need to upgrade my fuse on the main meter from 60amps to 100amps.

I contacted my distributor and they said I only need to change it to 80amp for a home charger.

Is that right as a lot of places I’ve seen that they need 100amps?

 

[Gomev]

Mine is 'only' 80 amp. Not a problem

 

[Rattly]

The DNO for your area will know best and it will be they that has to update!

 

[Jake]

Hi all

I’m looking to get a charger fitted at home and I have been told that I need to upgrade my fuse on the main meter from 60amps to 100amps.

I contacted my distributor and they said I only need to change it to 80amp for a home charger.

Is that right as a lot of places I’ve seen that they need 100amps?

My installer assessed the whole loading of the consumer unit before okaying the installation so your survey should determine the maximum capacity available. Did your provider say whether the input cable was capable of 80amps? Others on here have said they were upgraded to 80amp or even 100amp if their supply cable was up to it.

 

[mj224]

Mine went up from 60 to 80 amps

 

[Baz]

Had mine upgraded last week to 100 amps free of charge by UK Power as my supplier is not allowed to change it .So I would not take distributors advise and get it checked as stated above they need to check incoming cable and spurs to fuse box etc

 

[Kithmo]

Mine was 60A when I had my Pod Point installed, apparently it has a built in circuit that regulates the current to the charger when the load increases in the home.
I did decide that it would be a good idea to upgrade it anyway and opted for an 80A upgrade as it was free. My local grid operator, Northern Power, said a 100A might involve some digging and would cost more. They had to dig up part of my drive anyway to isolate the mains and it turned out the cables must have been adequate for a 100A as that's what they fitted.

 

[Smendon]

My installer assessed the whole loading of the consumer unit before okaying the installation so your survey should determine the maximum capacity available. Did your provider say whether the input cable was capable of 80amps? Others on here have said they were upgraded to 80amp or even 100amp if their supply cable was up to it.

My grid operator said that 80amps would be sufficient enough for a charger to be installed when I asked. I haven’t been able to get an installer out to have a look and quote me, but my energy provider said that I needed to upgrade the tails to 25mm and that I should get the fuse upgraded before if possible.

 

[Noraf142]

You definently need to be using a lit of electricity if you need more than 80 A.
I got a 63A main fuse, and got a 32A charger, and have no problems.

Wait one, what net are you connected to? Might not be very comparable when I think about it. I'm connected to a 3 phase it. (230V)
Not sure how your net is built up, so take my first statement with a handful of salt just to be sure

 

[Tango130]

You definently need to be using a lit of electricity if you need more than 80 A.
I got a 63A main fuse, and got a 32A charger, and have no problems.

Not really....

Electric shower 10.5kW = 43.75A
Electric charger 7kW = 29.1A

Throw a Sunday roast in the oven and its well over 80A. Ideally cars should be charged overnight to reduce the load on power network and for many tariffs it is also cheaper. The above example just shows the benefit of the Zappi/Pod Points ability to throttle as and when its required.

 

[bb1922]

The way my installer put it to me was that if you have a 100 amp fuse you can pretty much go for any brand of charger. If you have a 60 amp fuse, then he can advise which brands have the facility to throttle the power to keep your installation safe. They have a current transformer (essentially, a current sensor) that goes round the main incoming live cable that lets the charger know when to reduce power.

Also, just like others have said, you'll likely mainly be using the charger overnight, when you're less likely to be using other loads. So I wouldn't worry too much about the 60 amp fuse, as long as your installer makes sure to install a suitable brand of charger that can throttle the power.

 

[BigEVuser]

Hi Smendon.... I provide courses to electricians on EV and the key is how much electricity you are currently using at night

Most supplies can take at least 60A amps...your charger will require 32 A if it is 7kW....Therefore as long as you have not got electric storage heating then you should be OK...Do not worry about the odd electric shower or cooker etc..... even by using washing machine at night will be OK ..Just perhaps not W/M and dishwahser at same time...hope this helps

 

[Smendon]

Hi Smendon.... I provide courses to electricians on EV and the key is how much electricity you are currently using at night

Most supplies can take at least 60A amps...your charger will require 32 A if it is 7kW....Therefore as long as you have not got electric storgae heating then you should be OK...Do not worry about the odd electric shower or cooker etc..... even by using washing machine at night will be OK ..just perhapsm not W/M and dishwahser at same time...hope this helps

Just a bit of context then to this:

My WiFi doesn’t reach my garage so was looking at getting and Ohme (comes with a sim) or a Wallbox (uses my phones Bluetooth) so that o can set a timer for charging. This would likely be at night, so after I would have used most of the appliances we have (the dishwasher maybe running, possibly the tumble dryer).

 

[Tango130]

My WiFi doesn’t reach my garage so was looking at getting and Ohme (comes with a sim) or a Wallbox (uses my phones Bluetooth) so that o can set a timer for charging.

Zappi charger works on 868MHz to talk to its ethernet connected Hub, which has a greater range than Wifi frequencies which may help with your distance issue. It isn't the cheapest charger available but I would definitely recommend it.

 

[BigEVuser]

my wi fi is weak too...I have a 'basic' charger connected to a timer and contactor... You can buy timers which work from APPs. just depends on what you want to do ... just remember that if you do not have a smart charger then you will not get the 350 install grant but that may not be of concern

 

[Fishettibean]

Zappi charger works on 868MHz to talk to its ethernet connected Hub, which has a greater range than Wifi frequencies which may help with your distance issue. It isn't the cheapest charger available but I would definitely recommend it.

Especially if you place the myenergi hub as close to the garage in your house and run an ethernet cable back to the internet router. But avoid using homeplugs/ethernet over powerline adapters as they might cause either charging issues or Internet issues.

 

[chowbenter]

Mine was 60A when I had my Pod Point installed, apparently it has a built in circuit that regulates the current to the charger when the load increases in the home.
I did decide that it would be a good idea to upgrade it anyway and opted for an 80A upgrade as it was free. My local grid operator, Northern Power, said a 100A might involve some digging and would cost more. They had to dig up part of my drive anyway to isolate the mains and it turned out the cables must have been adequate for a 100A as that's what they fitted.

This is what I'm looking at, Our electricity supply is in a shared loop with two other houses & our provider 'Electricity north west' said the old supply cable (over 100 years old) isn't up to the job to upgrade to 80Amp.

They would have to dig a trench out to the roadway to their main feed to lay a new supply as they cant isolate the other two houses & they also have the same supply cable . I'm still waiting on their verdict as to what will happen!!! All these old houses in my neighbourhood are in blocks of three with shared loop electrics.
Going to be a problem in the years to come when more & more people here want to get a BEV & home charger as their houses are identical to mine with the same old supply.

 

[BigEVuser]

ahh!! you have now have mentioned that dreaded phrase of shared loop.... probably 1 charger will be OK spread over the properties but thats it
A little outside of the circle thinking but due to the cost of having a new supply you may want to consider just using public chargers or local supermarket may have them...just depends on how many miles you will be doing per day

 

[chowbenter]

ahh!! you have now have mentioned that dreaded phrase of shared loop.... probably 1 charger will be OK spread over the properties but thats it
A little outside of the circle thinking but due to the cost of having a new supply you may want to consider just using public chargers or local supermarket may have them...just depends on how many miles you will be doing per day

Yes the cost would be way too expensive plus I don't think I want to put up with my lawns/garden dug up either. I did remind the electricity engineer that came out with a smile on my face that everything this side of the old bakerlite electricity meter is my problem & everything on the other side of the meter is your problem, he laughed. I wait for a reply from them with bated breath.

 

[BigEVuser]

I have a Qube EV which you can set to 16 amps .. this will only give you half a full charge each night on off peak but it may be enough for you and would be able to be installed on your looped system.. Requires remote RCD so would suggest electician fits it