Home Charge Points Discussion and Suggestions [megathread]

[Bootneckshuffl]

Moderator comment - please use this thread to post charge point Q/A, comments and suggestions regarding charge points

thread merged from "Home Charger Decisions" and "Charge Point / Charger Suggestions [megathread]" to keep info together

Hi all,

I understand this topic has been covered on here before and it’s an important one yes.

I’m looking at chargers for my home and I’ve narrowed it down to a few

1. Wallbox Pulsar Plus
2. Zappi
3. EO Mini Pro

Would love to hear from anyone who’s gone with the Wallbox in particular, doesn’t seem to be much info/reviews on them, even on YouTube (not the plus anyway).

Thanks.

 

[bons]

Why not go with the Tesla charger? Not familiar w the other options sorry =P

 

[Bootneckshuffl]

I like the Tesla Charger but heard far too many installation issues. Plus it’s not OLEV supported.

 

[Dilly]

If you have or anticipate getting solar panels, go with Zappi

 

[LukeUK]

I'm due to have an EO Smart Home setup installed in a few weeks time. I'll let you know.

 

[Bootneckshuffl]

Thanks

I have one solar panel (came with the house) whether it works or not I am not so sure

 

[DocA]

I'm about to have the Ohme installed next week - chose it due to smart price charging in line with Octopus Agile.

 

[Bootneckshuffl]

Yeh I was watching a few videos on the Ohme last night and also the Octopus tariffs.

 

[NickName]

Yeh I was watching a few videos on the Ohme last night and also the Octopus tariffs.

I considered all three of the charges in your post. FWIW my decision path went:

• Wallbox : seemed to be less information out there and from what I remember the few places I found information about the app seemed to give mixed views, might have just been the sample I saw so don't take that as a definite.
• Zappi : plus is that it doesn't need an earth rod but that wasn't too much of an issue for me as the location I had in mind had easy ground access for the rod so no need to do anything drastic to drive, paving, paths and such like. Wanted a long tethered cable to give me flexibility but standard tethered was too short for some options. Think it also needed to connect to home network for all smart features, I wanted to avoid charger connected to home network although I know I could have isolated it with various technical approaches. I had limited wall space for mounting the charge unit and its quite a big unit. I wasn't going to be using solar in the current location, if I had then Zappi would have been a good choice from what I read.
• EO Mini Pro : nice small unit so would have given me plenty of mounting options but again limited option for cable length if going tethered. Also needed access to home network.

Eventually I went with the Ohme Wall Charger based on:

• Really small charge unit which can be mounted in various orientations.
• At the time it seemed to play well with the Model 3 w.r.t. controlling the charge rather than using the in-car charging control, don't know how many issues other chargers have or if that's now fixed in more recent Tesla updates
• iOS app is simple but flexible and seems to work well
• Didn't need access to home network, runs off an on-board SIM so 3G/4G communications
• Responsiveness from Ohme when asking questions pre-purchase

Only been using for a short period but Ohme charger, Ohme app, Octopus Agile, TeslaMate logger and TeslaMateAgile integration is a setup which I'm really pleased with so far.

 

[Dilly]

Thanks

I have one solar panel (came with the house) whether it works or not I am not so sure

Unusual to have just one panel. Perhaps it’s dedicated to water heating.
Even if it just puts power into the house it will only be 200-300 watts. Not enough for car charging.
In your situation, I’d go with a charger that operates cheap rate with with ease unless you plan to go solar in the future.
We have 41 panels and that’s more than enough in summer but winter we’re back to cheap rate grid power.

 

[Bootneckshuffl]

Yes, the solar panel is apparently for heating water.
Does that mean it wouldn’t suffice to be used with zappi?

 

[LukeUK]

Sounds like it's a solar water heater, rather than photovoltaic.

If so, it's no use at all, as it doesn't produce electricity.

Does it have pipes or cables connected to it?

 

[Bootneckshuffl]

Yeh, there’s some sort of control box in the loft and pipes and wires going to that.
Think you’re right tho, maybe just for water only.

 

[LukeUK]

If its got pipes, it's very likely to be thermal rather than PV.

The wires you do have are probably for a pump to cycle water around the panel and back to the tank.

 

[Adopado]

Yeh I was watching a few videos on the Ohme last night and also the Octopus tariffs.

If you end up choosing the Octopus Go ev tariff or their Agile you will find plenty of us on this forum who will be delighted to offer use of a referral code that gives you £50 (and £50 to the referrer). Just use the direct messaging system ("start a conversation") on this forum. You will need a smart meter. Octopus will arrange for an install if you need one (though it may be a bit of a wait for obvious reasons ..)

 

[ElectricJoules]

Your other thought should be "Do I need a charger". I've been using 13amp socket for over 10 months, easily sufficient for most people. 10hrs overnight charge can add 80 miles, so if you do less than 550 miles per week it is all you need.

 

[Dilly]

I’d go with a charger under the OLEV scheme.

 

[Adopado]

Your other thought should be "Do I need a charger". I've been using 13amp socket for over 10 months, easily sufficient for most people. 10hrs overnight charge can add 80 miles, so if you do less than 550 miles per week it is all you need.

... so long as your 550 miles are evenly spread!

 

[MrBadger]

Your other thought should be "Do I need a charger". I've been using 13amp socket for over 10 months, easily sufficient for most people. 10hrs overnight charge can add 80 miles, so if you do less than 550 miles per week it is all you need.

+1

A 10A charge via a 13A/3pin socket will give approx 11% boost on a Model 3 LR battery within the 4 hour Octopus Go window - cost approx 50p. Thats 20-30mile real world range. Numbers will be slightly more favourable on a SR+.

ymmv

 

[94jdh]

Hi all,

I understand this topic has been covered on here before and it’s an important one yes.

I’m looking at chargers for my home and I’ve narrowed it down to a few

1. Wallbox Pulsar Plus
2. Zappi
3. EO Mini Pro

Would love to hear from anyone who’s gone with the Wallbox in particular, doesn’t seem to be much info/reviews on them, even on YouTube (not the plus anyway).

Thanks.

I have the wallbox pulsar (tethered) - no issues with it whatsoever, and have managed to cover 5600 miles since the end of March. Obviously some of the charging was superchargers and free ionity at Peterborough services.