Well that might be it as I requested a black one...a phone call to the installer may be in order...though I am in the same boat as you...nothing to plug in yet!
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Best home charger
- Thread starter MacJester
- Start date
As I understand it (I'm not expert, just repeating info from having mine installed) the house needs to have at least an 80A main fuse, ideally 100A. The charger needs a single 32A breaker on your consumer unit.
However, some chargers (like the zappi v2) I had installed can come with a load monitor, so I had mine fitted to 32A feed that is supplying my garage and it monitors the load. Therefore if I mow the lawn plugged in to the garage it chargers the car a bit slower so it doesn't trip the breaker.
As long as those sockets are fed by a 32A breaker you may be able to do the same. I used a company called Ecoplugg who I would recommend, may be worth giving them a call.
If it really is a ring and there's nothing else on it anywhere apart from those sockets all in one place, then it's theoretically possible but the result of doing that (two cables in parallel) would be a very non-standard circuit and most electricians would probably not touch it on that basis even if it could be calculated to be OK.
However, that would be a rather unusual setup - are you sure it is actually a ring? Much more common for a few sockets in a garage on their own breaker would be a radial circuit (just one cable). That could certainly be re-purposed as a charging circuit, but most common is for it to be only a 16A circuit - which would suit a 16A chargepoint, but not a 32A chargepoint that you would really prefer. What is the breaker rating that supplies the existing circuit?
You don't really want the chargepoint sharing RCD with other circuits in the CU, but that can be sorted in various ways - your key concern here is with the cable run under the floorboards.
If lifting the floorboards is really a problem (laminated floor laid on top?) then sometimes a circuitous route works out easier, like going all the way up into the attic and down again. But the best way will depend on the preferences of the electrician doing the job - his skills and experience against the details of the fabric of the house.
It’s definitely two cables ( the sockets were installed to run a serious marine aquarium years ago which needed several 400w lights above it ) It’s sits on an RCB rated at 32a but that is shared with other things like the shower. It’s the cable I am more concerned with as you have guessed. It was a right pain even getting the sockets put in as it involved floorboards lifting and chasing a wall out due to the difficulty in getting new cable from the CU. All the way into the attic is just not possible without some serious work which I would want to avoid at all costs ( I’d prefer to just run the supplied trickle charger ! )
The house fuse is labelled 60/80a, whatever that means.
Thanks for the replies btw.
MrBadger
Badger out
I’m no electrician either, but when we had our garage built we ran two cables to it - a dedicated 40A supply which was for the EV charger, and a 30A supply for the ring main and lighting.
Bear in mind the EV feed doesn’t have to go back to your consumer unit. It can be fed directly from your meter cupboard if that is easier.
My neighbour has a zappi (original one) installed on a post...can't see it being an issue
I am getting a EO Mini Pro installed this Saturday to a fence post, the footprint is tiny so apparently it will fit with no problems!
This doesn't sound right. It presumably has a MCB rated 32A (and not shared with anything), plus the RCD shared with other circuits (which would typically have a withstand rating of 80A).
However, if it's definitely two cables then in theory you can use two cables in parallel to create a single circuit of higher capacity, and if you did the necessary calculations it would probably work out OK. But this is very rarely done and as I say electricians would be reluctant to do so, especially in a domestic environment where any documentation explaining the rare setup is likely to be lost. And you would lose your sockets.
You could almost certainly separate the two cables to give you two circuits of 15A or maybe 20A depending how they are installed - so one for the chargepoint and one to retain the sockets with lower capability (circuits for garage sockets are often 16A or less so that part is no issue).
So you could have a lower rated chargepoint in the garage with no aesthetic damage; if you want a full-power one, your plan B of going outdoors is probably much easier.
Presumably you could re-lift those floorboards and replace the two cables with something more useful in the existing chases etc. with much less work than the original job (unless you have since covered it over with laminated flooring/fitted wardrobes/etc). But probably still not tempting.
60/80A might mean a 60A fuse in a fuseholder that can take 80A, or it might mean "I'm not sure if it's 60 or 80". Or it might be a label that is out of date....
Had my Pod Point installation yesterday
Can’t fault them at all so far. (Given that I don’t yet have a car to charge.)
Turned up at 8am, bang on time, installation took about 3 hours, (was fairly simple as the unit was on the outside wall of my garage, (the fuse box is the garage on the same wall, internally)
The fitter was friendly and professional.
Obviously not really seen any other options, but I would recommend them.
Can’t fault them at all so far. (Given that I don’t yet have a car to charge.)
Turned up at 8am, bang on time, installation took about 3 hours, (was fairly simple as the unit was on the outside wall of my garage, (the fuse box is the garage on the same wall, internally)
The fitter was friendly and professional.
Obviously not really seen any other options, but I would recommend them.
I think it's 156mm specs are about right. Andersen A2 Specs | Wall Mounted Electric Car Charge Point
I'm not near at the moment but it is flush against the wall.
Jason71
Well-Known Member
Does anyone know what the typical minimum distance from the ground a chargepoint can be mounted?
I appreciate it may vary from make to make.
The most suitable place I have to put one would be under a window so the top of the charger would be only about 1 meter off the ground.
I would be looking at a tethered one if it make a difference i.e. no exposed socket.
I appreciate it may vary from make to make.
The most suitable place I have to put one would be under a window so the top of the charger would be only about 1 meter off the ground.
I would be looking at a tethered one if it make a difference i.e. no exposed socket.
Wiring regulations say:
The lowest part of any socket-outlet shall be placed at a height of 0.5 to 1.5m from the ground.
Building Regulations part M (accessibility) also applies; no specific limit but standard guidance requires all controls between 450mm and 1.2m above ground.
However, for a tethered unit with no controls then there would be no limit. Obviously you can't put it where it is likely to be flooded (unless you make a special waterproof one for the purpose), but that would depend on the actual risk at the location.
Just had a EO Mini Pro installed, quite impressed with the size of the unit and the functionality in the app. It was quite a complex install so total cost was £980 after OLEV.
