Advice: Rental property and Model 3

[narardha]

Hi Everyone

FIrst time tesla customer here (almost).

I am taking delivery of my model 3 next week and I am having some trouble with installing Tesla charging at my home which I rent. The option that I am considering is to use the dryer plug (10-30 or 14-30 adapter) to charge the Model 3.

I had an electrician come in and assess my apartment for this type of charging. He said that my main breaker was only rated at 100A. Charging a Tesla (instead of running the dryer) should be fine given my max usage in the past year. I am a little concerned about this... Have any of you had this type of an issue where home charging a Model 3 would put you close to the max amperage on your home circuit?

I'd love to hear what you think! If I cant charge at home, I am in big trouble and may have to return the Model 3. I commute 80 miles a day.

 

[LoL Rick]

Look into getting a Dryer Buddy so that you don't have to repeatedly plug/unplug. With the car only drawing 24 amps, I don't see any concern with the main breaker.
Dryer Buddy™

 

[PoitNarf]

So you plan on using the existing dryer outlet to charge your 3? And I’m guessing you’d be unplugged the dryer to gain access to said outlet? If so then it’s really no different than if you were running the dryer at the same time as other things in the house. On a 30 amp circuit it won’t draw more than 80% of the max amperage of the circuit, so 24 amps. That’s only 25% of your main breaker. As long as you’re not running every single other high amperage appliance in the house all at once while simultaneously charging your 3 you should be fine.

Charging at 24 amps should get you around 21-22 miles into the battery every hour it’s charging.

 

[run-the-joules]

Hi Everyone

FIrst time tesla customer here (almost).

I am taking delivery of my model 3 next week and I am having some trouble with installing Tesla charging at my home which I rent. The option that I am considering is to use the dryer plug (10-30 or 14-30 adapter) to charge the Model 3.

I had an electrician come in and assess my apartment for this type of charging. He said that my main breaker was only rated at 100A. Charging a Tesla (instead of running the dryer) should be fine given my max usage in the past year. I am a little concerned about this... Have any of you had this type of an issue where home charging a Model 3 would put you close to the max amperage on your home circuit?

I'd love to hear what you think! If I cant charge at home, I am in big trouble and may have to return the Model 3. I commute 80 miles a day.

I only have a 100a circuit and haven’t had any issues after adding a 14-50. My dryer is gas, though.

 

[PhaseWhite]

Hi Everyone

FIrst time tesla customer here (almost).

I am taking delivery of my model 3 next week and I am having some trouble with installing Tesla charging at my home which I rent. The option that I am considering is to use the dryer plug (10-30 or 14-30 adapter) to charge the Model 3.

I had an electrician come in and assess my apartment for this type of charging. He said that my main breaker was only rated at 100A. Charging a Tesla (instead of running the dryer) should be fine given my max usage in the past year. I am a little concerned about this... Have any of you had this type of an issue where home charging a Model 3 would put you close to the max amperage on your home circuit?

I'd love to hear what you think! If I cant charge at home, I am in big trouble and may have to return the Model 3. I commute 80 miles a day.

You will lkely do the bulk of your charging overnight when there is very little electrical load. You will be fine.

 

[jamnmon66]

You will lkely do the bulk of your charging overnight when there is very little electrical load. You will be fine.

+1 on this.

Also see if your utility offers a time-of-day plan. You'll have to do a little bit of research to figure out if it's worth it but you might be able to save some money if you schedule your charging off-peak.

 

[narardha]

So you plan on using the existing dryer outlet to charge your 3? And I’m guessing you’d be unplugged the dryer to gain access to said outlet? If so then it’s really no different than if you were running the dryer at the same time as other things in the house. On a 30 amp circuit it won’t draw more than 80% of the max amperage of the circuit, so 24 amps. That’s only 25% of your main breaker. As long as you’re not running every single other high amperage appliance in the house all at once while simultaneously charging your 3 you should be fine.

Charging at 24 amps should get you around 21-22 miles into the battery every hour it’s charging.

You're right. I am planning to use the existing dryer outlet to draw 24A through a 10-30 or 14-30 adapter. Mostly likely will have to use a 14-30 to 10-30 converting adapter since Tesla seems to have discontinued the 10-30 plug.

I see your point on the loading (80% of capacity).. I guess I was a bit concerned cos charging the tesla would be like running the dryer for 8 hrs through the night.

 

[narardha]

Thanks so much for the feedback... This community is fantastic!

 

[NeverFollow]

Do you have Air Conditioning also? If so, this can start any time during the day, but I doubt it will start at night...

 

[Tron 3]

You're right. I am planning to use the existing dryer outlet to draw 24A through a 10-30 or 14-30 adapter. Mostly likely will have to use a 14-30 to 10-30 converting adapter since Tesla seems to have discontinued the 10-30 plug./QUOTE]

Had our 3 about 3 weeks now, and I purchased the Tesla 10 30 adapter from their online store 2 weeks ago.

 

[PoitNarf]

Mostly likely will have to use a 14-30 to 10-30 converting adapter since Tesla seems to have discontinued the 10-30 plug.

I just checked and you can still order all of the adapters from Tesla's website: Model S/X/3 Gen 2 NEMA Adapters

 

[narardha]

Do you have Air Conditioning also? If so, this can start any time during the day, but I doubt it will start at night...

I do. I suspect it might actually run in the night (given that I live in Texas and it does get quite warm here). Do you think that might be a problem?

 

[narardha]

I just checked and you can still order all of the adapters from Tesla's website: Model S/X/3 Gen 2 NEMA Adapters

Thanks for the link. I checked on the website. The 10-30 (which would fit in the dryer outlet) says that it is 'Sold Out'. The 14-30 is the only one that is available. I read on other forums that Tesla may have discontinued the 10-30 (10-30 Adapter Sold Out).

 

[ilg]

Thanks for the link. I checked on the website. The 10-30 (which would fit in the dryer outlet) says that it is 'Sold Out'. The 14-30 is the only one that is available. I read on other forums that Tesla may have discontinued the 10-30 (10-30 Adapter Sold Out).

Try again. I just went to the Telsa site and it allowed me to put one in my cart.

 

[Eno Deb]

You're right. I am planning to use the existing dryer outlet to draw 24A through a 10-30 or 14-30 adapter. Mostly likely will have to use a 14-30 to 10-30 converting adapter since Tesla seems to have discontinued the 10-30 plug.

The 10-30 adapter seems to be in high demand, but they do occasionally have it in stock. I got mine a few weeks ago. Just keep an eye on the store web page.

Are you also using the outlet for a dryer? In that case I'd strongly recommend to get a Dryer Buddy or other switching solution, since residential dryer outlets are not made for a lot of mating cycles and will wear out quickly if you constantly plug/unplug (at which point they can become a fire hazard). If you get a Dryer Buddy, there is a version that has one 10-30 and one 14-30 outlet, so that would solve the 10-30 stock problem as well.

I see your point on the loading (80% of capacity).. I guess I was a bit concerned cos charging the tesla would be like running the dryer for 8 hrs through the night.

I charge my car from a dryer outlet and have zero issues.

 

[NeverFollow]

I do. I suspect it might actually run in the night (given that I live in Texas and it does get quite warm here).
Do you think that might be a problem?

Well, look at the worse case. How much Ampacity is left when the AC start?
What else can be running? Do you have electric range and oven...

This is why if you cannot have the AC and the EV charging at the same time, like in middle of the night,
there is a device who can disconnect automatically the EV charging.

But I assume that if you use the EV charging instead of the Dryer then
you system was design with enough capacity.

 

[bryan995]

10-30 adapter was back in stock as of yesterday!
I have a similar situation, only with a gas dryer and a spare 10-30 outlet. Originatlly started with a 70a main and it was fine. Now running a 100a main just to be safe.

Would recommend the dryer buddy as well so that you are not constantly unplugging / plugging. Though in all reality the plug itself is cheap enough so not a big deal to replace every few years?