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Building inspector won't approve transfer switch
- Thread starter cwoernle
- Start date
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
It may be only a minor inconvenience, but it violates code. If you have a garage fire, the fumes will go into your house. Your insurance most likely will not cover any interior damage.
Bet your inspector will not be happy with this either.
Maybe you could push your dryer plug through the wall and install a charging plug inside your garage.
Another idea, if you have gas, is to just buy a gas dryer and free up that dryer plug for EV charging.
Bet your inspector will not be happy with this either.
Maybe you could push your dryer plug through the wall and install a charging plug inside your garage.
Another idea, if you have gas, is to just buy a gas dryer and free up that dryer plug for EV charging.
Why would an inspector ever need to see that?
TT97
Active Member
The code states that doors between garages and homes need to either be a certain thickness or fire-rated to 20 minutes. In addition, the doors need to be self-closing. I have never seen any code stating the door must remain closed (of course, different jurisdictions have different regulations).
The main reason for the code has to do with fumes entering the house from the garage (which wouldn't be a concern if parking a Tesla in the garage) A 20-minute fire rated door will have little impact if there is a fire in the garage (especially if attached to a multi-story house).
NeverFollow
Active Member
Can't you cut a little bit the door's bottom corner to get the cable passing under the door?
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Well yeah. That's like option #0 before looking at options #1, 2, or 3. I thought it had been dismissed already because of [REASON]. I guess I was thinking the cord wouldn't reach far enough or you wouldn't want it going through the doorway.
If this is a direction you want to go, there are various "methods" you can come up with to get that cable to where it needs to go. And it would not be part of a wiring change to your house, so no electrician or inspection needed. Just up to you what you're OK with.
And just to catch up with an answer to this last question of differences and pros/cons of mobile charge cable versus wall connector. First off, if you want to see a lot of discussion on this search this forum for "UMC vs HPWC". Those names were the Universal Mobile Connector versus the High Power Wall Connector. I think the second one is just called Wall Connector now, but those acronyms were used for a few years, so there was a lot of discussion there.
So no, there isn't any actual need to get a wall connector at all. I've had my Model S for 4 years, and my UMC stays plugged into a 14-50 outlet in my garage, and it hangs nicely on a hook on the wall. I don't unplug it or put it in the car every day--no need. I can't use up 200 miles driving around town in a day, so there's never any purpose to having it in the car around town for daily use. And even if a charging situation would come up, that UMC is only used for plugging into an outlet. When would I really be charging from an outlet in my local area? The Superchargers, CHAdeMo stations, and J1772 stations don't use that cable anyway. So it's just not really going to come up in daily use. So I would only take it with me if I am going out of town on a road trip a few times a year. And even with that, most of the time you wouldn't even need it if the route is well covered by Superchargers.
But...the pros and cons are:
Some people absolutely insist on being quadruple prepared for every form of emergency, so they MUST have the UMC in the car at all times in case of zombie apocalypse or whatever. In that case, you really won't want to plug and unplug every day, so you would need to get another [something] to keep at home to charge. In that case, with both UMC and HPWC being close to the same price, yes, I would absolutely recommend the HPWC as a permanent at-home item.
(1) Higher power capability -- I don't run my mobile cable at the maximum 40A, because that is the maximum for the cable wire thickness and electronics in it, and it gets kind of warm doing that, so my amps are turned down a little. The wall connector is beefy, and can handle much higher loads, so there's more margin there at whatever level you're running. Plus, it can go on higher circuits, like 60A or 80A, to give you more of the charging speed that the car can handle.
(2) Lower power capability/flexibility -- It may sound a little odd, but this is still a good use case. Some people with very small electrical services may only be able to add a small 240V circuit, like a 15A or 20A or 40A. There isn't a 40A outlet type, so it's a little hokey to deal with that, and you would have to buy Tesla plug adapters for those other outlet types anyway, so the wall connector is a good solution that will fit whatever you have now or in a different house someday.
(3) Power sharing -- If you do later end up getting a second Tesla, the wall connectors can be installed and connected together in a certain way to communicate in order to share the power from one size of circuit, allocated dynamically as the cars need it. Pretty slick if you end up needing that someday.
(4) Hard wired/less connection points -- This is just a small improvement in safety. The less plug points and interconnections the better, so for a long term permanent thing, the hard wired wall connector is solid.
(5) Looks like frickin awesomesauce! -- You have a futuristic kickass electric car! It's kind of cool to have a piece of Star Trek technology mounted on your wall, and the cord wraps neatly around the body of it, instead of looking like a bulky extension cord plugged into an outlet and hanging on a hose reel you have screwed into the wall.
Could you elaborate on the methods to get the cable into the garage from the laundry room? Wouldn't building a passage way between the common wall still raise the issue of possible fume intrusion?
That's kind of why I used the exaggerated finger quotes on the word "methods". I wasn't referring to anything specific or official, or even code-compliant. It's just up to whatever kind of house hacking you're willing to do. I'm talking about things that would probably look ugly, but could get the job done. A couple of thoughts:
You know those doggie doors people install that have a plastic flap with magnets to keep it shut? It probably isn't code-compliant to put in a fire door, but that would make a pass-through available. You would probably have to replace that door when you sell the house then. This would probably be my last choice.
Instead of that larger flap, you just need to get a small cord through, so maybe cutting a small 3/4 inch notch out of the corner of the door would let the cord pass through the corner of the doorway, while the door can still close without scraping it, and it wouldn't let much air through.
What is the flooring like under that doorway threshold? Could you drill/cut some kind of trench to pass the cable an inch or two underneath the doorway?
Do you have crawlspace under that area from laundry room to garage? You might be able to put it through the laundry room floor and then down to the garage.
So I'm not really recommending or saying any of these are a "right" way to do this. You really aren't supposed to have a cord go through a doorway, but underneath somehow might be OK. It just depends on your level of desperation to have something that works.
davewill
Active Member
I'm sure @Rocky_H means well, but all of those suggestions violate code and are really bad ideas. It's time to bite the bullet and have an electrician run a new circuit. Once you said that the dryer outlet was not actually in the garage it was party over for using that circuit... which is why you were asked that question so many times.
So yourself a favor and do it right.
So yourself a favor and do it right.
WileyTheMan
Peanut Gallery Member
Personally I wish there was a way I could avoid the $2k to have my WC attached, but not being an electrician, I don't want to risk burning my house (and other houses around me) down, so I'm going to pony it up when I can afford it.
In the meantime, it's 110v/15a for me!
In the meantime, it's 110v/15a for me!
davewill
Active Member
As soon as you go through a wall, it's no longer just something you're plugging in, and it becomes a code issue. The transfer switch idea is still valid because it would be an outlet installed according to code, and could be run through the wall, but I have doubts it's going to fly.
You may want to try 110v before spending any money on a 220v solution. My circuit breaker panel is on the opposite side of the house from my garage so my only solution was to run conduit around the house or steal the 220v electric range circuit from the kitchen. I decided to try out 110v and it's worked well so far. Overnight charging (3mph) covers my trip to work and back everyday (30 miles).
That's encouraging. Currently I'm sitting on a $925 quote to tap into the 10-30 30 amp dryer line and extend it by 5 feet or so with a transfer switch. Seems high to me.
I should clarify that 120V charging (~1kW / 12 Amp) equates to 3-4 miles/hour in the Model S. I'm guessing that number will be higher, maybe 5-6 mph with the Model 3. That's based on the assumption of 300 Wh/mi for the Model S and 200Wh/mi for the Model 3. Even more reason to try out 120V first.
Perhaps if the OP has any dedicated 120V 20A circuits in their garage that are wired with 12AWG copper wire that could be converted to be 240 20A? I assume either an adapter or setting the HPWC could limit it (16A?) and at least be double the 5mph rate of a regular 120V socket?
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