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In Line Timer & Granny Charger?

ajw1100

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Location
Hertfordshire UK
Driving
MG HS PHEV
I am now with Octopus after Avro went bust. I have the HS PHEV on the water heading my way, now I have to decide on charging.
Our consumer unit was replaced a couple of years ago and our wiring checked but at the time did not think about EV's and such like. Our house was renovated top to bottom so did not want to wreck the new decorations. Getting the 32A 16mm cable out to the garage was a problem as the consumer unit is in the cupboard under the stairs so no direct route to the front of the garage and would need to go through 4 walls anyway.
Our builder/electrician fed the cable up into the bedroom above then removed floor boards and fished the cable through the void then across to the original twin exterior wall, went through this and into the garage which was done as part of an earlier extension. The 32A cable now terminates in a new 13A switched socket on an inside wall of the garage. It has a NAPIT certificate. Phew!
I have printed off the Octopus tariffs for Octopus Go and Go faster, now need to see what will be best, bearing in mind the drastic increase expected in April. Not sure whether to go, 7.5kw or supplied Granny chargers. It would be easy to install a 7.5kw either inside the garage or outside.

As an interim is it feasible to use an inline timer between socket and 3pin plug as the Granny, I assume has no timer built in so cannot use the 7.5p time slot, unless I stay up late and get up early closely followed by divorce proceedings. If so can anyone recommend a suitable timer that can cope with the current and time without starting a fire?

A bit long winded I know.
 
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Prior to my current MG EV I had a Mitsubishi Phev. I used to charge it with a granny charger with a timer on a 13amp socket in my garage. I cut a notch in the garage door frame to allow the charging cable access to the car. This worked fine for a couple of years until I bought the MG. JUST ENSURE IF YOU DO THIS THAT THE TIMER CAN COPE WITH CURRENT FOR SUFFICIENT CHARGING NEEDS. The supplier should provide advice on type and make.
I decided to go for a dedicated 7.5 kw charger as I wanted to take advantage of the grant which may not be available in the future.
The point was fitted inside the garage with the existing notch again providing cable access.
Given your situation, I would advise you to get advice and a quote from a registered power point provider(s) and then make your decision.
 
I've used one of these since I had my car September 2021. Connects to wifi and controlled from your mobile. You can set timers and power plug on or off etc.

Works perfectly.

 
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Hi
Have you a date from David for delivery? The socket on the inside the door could be replaced with this timer socket For use with granny charger, I have looked at the wall box but have still not gone down that road. The grant from the government will end March 2022

1643220342815.jpeg
 
Hi
Have you a date from David for delivery? The socket on the inside the door could be replaced with this timer socket For use with granny charger, I have looked at the wall box but have still not gone down that road. The grant from the government will end March 2022

View attachment 6608
Hi.
Trying to contact David has been somewhat difficult, obviously a very busy man, but I did speak to Raj, he gave me a rough idea in that the end of Feb seems most likely unless the ship gets lost on the way. This does look like a possible charge solution but whose is it and where can I find more info?

The suggestion from madmartyr71 seems a good option, as I am not using the car everyday, I would not need to charge it everyday, with the app I can set it up and switch it on and off when needed from the comfort of my nice armchair, set it up automatically. That would save the cost of a wallbox charger. Even with the grant the cost is still high and as the car cannot be fast charged it may end up an expensive piece of wall art.

I think I will find out more about the Tapo and similar options.
 
Hi.
Trying to contact David has been somewhat difficult, obviously a very busy man, but I did speak to Raj, he gave me a rough idea in that the end of Feb seems most likely unless the ship gets lost on the way. This does look like a possible charge solution but whose is it and where can I find more info?

The suggestion from madmartyr71 seems a good option, as I am not using the car everyday, I would not need to charge it everyday, with the app I can set it up and switch it on and off when needed from the comfort of my nice armchair, set it up automatically. That would save the cost of a wallbox charger. Even with the grant the cost is still high and as the car cannot be fast charged it may end up an expensive piece of wall art.

I think I will find out more about the Tapo and similar options.
Hi
That is good opttion and you will be able to set the start time to come on when you have cheeper electricity but if the car battery is low you need to set the charge time for six hours as your cheep time is four hours to bring the battery up to full.
 
Go Faster is 5 hours and fully depleted battery takes around 6 hours on granny charger. It should be under 4 using dedicated charger. If you have the option I would suggest. Installing a 7kW charger would future proof it
 
Firstly to get the best low rate night time EV tariff from Octopus you must have a smart meter which I presume you have. To charge only in that low EV tariff to make it as cheap as possible then you would need a 7kw setup otherwise the granny will overrun into the more expensive rate. My octopus EV rate is from 00:30 to 04:30 only and currently 5p per Kw. per hour. This will change at next deal renewal and is more for new customers. My Charger as most do? has its own mini consumer unit. which should work off the 32A supply?

Whoever you go with will at least need detailed photos and explanation or the proposed installation (plus several earthing questions about current supply, Wifi/mobile coverage and plumbing earthing too) or more likely they will insist on a site visit before agreeing to fit to supply. Good news is that if its relatively simple its a quick job my took less than 3 hours
 
I have just rang Octopussy😂 they advised me to stay with present company until after April. Not many companies will do that😁
 
HI C6MFC.
I applied for a smart meter as soon as I was switched over from Avro and am still waiting for it to be installed. However after some emails I sent to Octopus about the delay I now have an installation date at the end of FEB. I doubt very much I will be able to get a fast charger installed before the Gov' deadline though.

Amazon Review.....
I had a look at the Tapo remote switcher/timer as suggested, but then read some of the reviews, as you need to install their app in order to use it. One of which has rather put me off getting it, I would advise one reads the review on Amazon by E Tsang, it is to do with the privacy policy and makes me very wary of why a company needs the masses of information it collects and more worrying what you, the user, gives them permission to do with it as they indicate.

Might have to go with a mechanical timer :(
 
HI C6MFC.
I applied for a smart meter as soon as I was switched over from Avro and am still waiting for it to be installed. However after some emails I sent to Octopus about the delay I now have an installation date at the end of FEB. I doubt very much I will be able to get a fast charger installed before the Gov' deadline though.

Amazon Review.....
I had a look at the Tapo remote switcher/timer as suggested, but then read some of the reviews, as you need to install their app in order to use it. One of which has rather put me off getting it, I would advise one reads the review on Amazon by E Tsang, it is to do with the privacy policy and makes me very wary of why a company needs the masses of information it collects and more worrying what you, the user, gives them permission to do with it as they indicate.

Might have to go with a mechanical timer :(
Tapo and Kasa who sell these plugs are owned by TP-Link one of the biggest manufacturers in Home networking. I doubt very much there'd be interested in monitoring how often you charge you car lol.
 
Probably not, but what about all my personal info, email, passwords, logins, address, access to my apps and their information, plus a lot more. And I give them permission to use as they see fit to sell or give to anyone they want.
Would you agree to that?
 
Probably not, but what about all my personal info, email, passwords, logins, address, access to my apps and their information, plus a lot more. And I give them permission to use as they see fit to sell or give to anyone they want.
Would you agree to that?
That's no different to any device you using. Mobile phone, Router, Amazon or Google devices. We all monitored one way or another wether we like it or not.
 
If you're a fan of the Ikea TRADFRI home automation solution, their smart switches are rated high enough to support the granny charger. I used one for a while without any issues. The plug on the extension got warmer than the smart switch did (settled at about 10 degrees above the ambient temp). Just keep an eye on whatever switch and extension you use for the first couple of charges.

and don't feed the troll ;)
 
I have a bunch of smart plugs from Dealz (Irish Poundland) made by Ultrabrite and use them extensively around the house with Alexa. I was thinking to use it with the granny charger so I don't have to leave it plugged in for longer than needed, set a timer, switch it off when I'm away from home etc. But after emailing Ultrabrite support to check if the plug can handle 3Kw they said no and that it's a risk to use it with car charger even though the plug itself is rated for 13A. I suspect that getting a more reputable plug like Tapo is the way to go (also rated at 13A but likely built better) but when I was researching the topic I fell into the rabbit hole of electricity, loads, rings, circuits, breakers and my head is spinning. Not sure if links are allowed but this thread gave me a bit of a scare - Charging using granny cable with smart plug

I have the garage on a separate circuit but it's shared with a washing machine. So I defo need to keep that in mind. I will also get an electrician to check things out to be on the safe side. I had no idea that EV charging comes with such caveats! :)
 
Life's too short.
Got my electrician to install a 32amp cable from the new fuse box in the center of the house, in the cupboard under the stairs. Trunked it up to the first floor, took up the carpet and floor boards in the bedroom and fished the cable into the ceiling void. Went into garage and drilled through original double wall to the void where the cable was and fished that through and into the garage, he then attached said cable to walls and joists down to a 13 twin socket.
I contacted a local EV Charger fitter who checked the wiring and fuse box and all was okay and is coming in a couple of weeks to install the Zappi charger. He says he can install before the grant cut off ends so will save the £350. (The electrician cost a lot more than £350. though).
Yes it is OTT for the HS but we now have a charger capable of charging an 'EV' in an acceptable time frame.
I have read so much information on the pro's and con's of Granny/Pukka chargers we decided that the sensible option was the safest option. I will probably also install another linked smoke alarm in the garage.
 
Update.
Had the Smart meter installed on Thursday and the zappi installed on Friday (yesterday) However setting up the zappi/Hub/Harvi + App, emails/user name/ password + PC/Myenergi forum with email/user/password and then tapatalk/email/user name/password is driving me insane. Of course nothing is simple and this certainly isn't. I have emailed the retailer/installer to come over and set it all up properly as the guy that actually installed the unit did not know much about setting it all up.
I guess once I get the HS and 'play' with the zappi a bit I should be able to get the hang of it.
 
As you say, the Zappi is well over the top for the HS but I think you have done the right thing and at the right time.
Our previous car was a VW PHEV with a small battery, the Granny would have been fine, but we decided to go for a 32 Amp 7kw wall box, way back in 2015.
This was over the top for the VW PHEV but we wanted to build in some future proofing for ourselves.
Four years later, we replaced the PHEV with a full BEV.
The 32Amp wall box was already in place, and ready to go !.
 
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