Home Charge Points Discussion and Suggestions [megathread]

[JonB]

Thanks for that, Adopado.

The other consideration is supply load. I have two considerations, being a) a pool heater connected to the garage supply, 5.5kW air source heat pump that runs overnight during Summer and b) some night storage heaters, total 5.8kW again run overnight but during Winter. In order to manage this against other household demand on a 100A supply, I think I need some sort of load balancing and I'm looking at a Zappi 2 for this. It can measure demand on the domestic supply, and also on a secondary circuit; so I'd have it keeping an eye on the house load and the pool heater at the same time, so as not to overload the main supply, or the cable going to the garage (6.5mm2 but all the circuit breakers are 40A).

I think if I didn't have so much other (potential) demand on my supply, I'd be happy to stick with the Commando / UMC set up. Apart from the inconvenience of unplugging it and sticking it in the boot every time.

Regarding "I installed it especially for EV charging", who can prove I didn't install it years ago when I was going to buy a lathe, but subsequently changed my mind?

 

[Forty_Two]

I have 50 years of experience (not all good) of employing the whole range of artisans to do jobs in the house and (like all others) all I want is a good job for a fair price.

Can I know - what is a fair hourly rate / daily rate for an electrician (in North West England)?

 

[Adopado]

Thanks for that, Adopado.

The other consideration is supply load. I have two considerations, being a) a pool heater connected to the garage supply, 5.5kW air source heat pump that runs overnight during Summer and b) some night storage heaters, total 5.8kW again run overnight but during Winter. In order to manage this against other household demand on a 100A supply, I think I need some sort of load balancing and I'm looking at a Zappi 2 for this. It can measure demand on the domestic supply, and also on a secondary circuit; so I'd have it keeping an eye on the house load and the pool heater at the same time, so as not to overload the main supply, or the cable going to the garage (6.5mm2 but all the circuit breakers are 40A).

I think if I didn't have so much other (potential) demand on my supply, I'd be happy to stick with the Commando / UMC set up. Apart from the inconvenience of unplugging it and sticking it in the boot every time.

Regarding "I installed it especially for EV charging", who can prove I didn't install it years ago when I was going to buy a lathe, but subsequently changed my mind?

Yes, Zappi and Hypervolt can monitor your supply via CT clamps for load balancing (and there will probably be others too). All this would be specifically calculated and accounted for as part of the installation.

 

[JonB]

Well, it's all wired in, in the nick of time. Collection day tomorrow!

Consumer unit with armoured cables (input, Commando out, pool out, summerhouse out), all properly glanded, plus garage ring main and lighting power. I had to rewire this as it needed to be moved down a couple of feet. Luckily the existing wires were long enough apart from the ring main and lighting power. I laid new cables - but it needs a cable gland.

Commando socket with mechanical switched interlock and armoured cable, properly glanded. I need to clip the cable to the wall. I expect this will be replaced by the Zappi, when it is installed. The UMC and Commado adapter (which is very short and not flexible) will sit on the shelf in use, and it is easy to access for when I need to put it in the car.

Network cable and wireless access point. As the house is 60 meters away, the network cable is going to provide connection to the load monitoring cable clamp using the "power over Ethernet" conductors. I bought a special adapter set that allows access to these lines.

I also acquired a ToughLeads 15m extension and dry box as recommended on another thread as I am going on a trip in a couple of days.

I think I am ready to collect now. At last!

 

[MrBadger]

I think I am ready to collect now. At last!

Building control notified? Ours would want several £££ for a DIY job. Apologies if you are a Part-P qualified electrician and could register this through a competent persons scheme, but these are a useful starting point for anyone wanting to remain compliant and do a DIY job.

 

[Adopado]

Well, it's all wired in, in the nick of time. Collection day tomorrow!

Consumer unit with armoured cables (input, Commando out, pool out, summerhouse out), all properly glanded, plus garage ring main and lighting power. I had to rewire this as it needed to be moved down a couple of feet. Luckily the existing wires were long enough apart from the ring main and lighting power. I laid new cables - but it needs a cable gland.

View attachment 740166

Commando socket with mechanical switched interlock and armoured cable, properly glanded. I need to clip the cable to the wall. I expect this will be replaced by the Zappi, when it is installed. The UMC and Commado adapter (which is very short and not flexible) will sit on the shelf in use, and it is easy to access for when I need to put it in the car.

View attachment 740167

Network cable and wireless access point. As the house is 60 meters away, the network cable is going to provide connection to the load monitoring cable clamp using the "power over Ethernet" conductors. I bought a special adapter set that allows access to these lines.

View attachment 740168


I also acquired a ToughLeads 15m extension and dry box as recommended on another thread as I am going on a trip in a couple of days.

I think I am ready to collect now. At last!

Yes it’s good to have a shelf to support the UMC. I’ve got a few of those old Aiport Expresses too… very handy for access points and gives the option of some lossless music distribution too… that combined analogue audio jack with digital optical seems to have gone by the wayside in recent years.

 

[Adopado]

Building control notified? Ours would want several £££ for a DIY job. Apologies if you are a Part-P qualified electrician and could register this through a competent persons scheme, but these are a useful starting point for anyone wanting to remain compliant and do a DIY job.

View attachment 740229

View attachment 740232

I think the plan is that it will be swapped out when the official charge point is installed shortly.

 

[JonB]

I think the plan is that it will be swapped out when the official charge point is installed shortly.

Correct!

 

[Forty_Two]

Of course there are going to be easy installs and difficult install . . . how many hours did it take for your install?

 

[dunkdafunk]

I've just had one of the new pod point solo 3 chargers installed. £599 for the tethered version with the grant which seems about the cheapest of any decent charger.
I went for the pod point as these come with a 7.5m lead which is decent/versatile and the cable can be coiled around the unit for a neat install.
It also has a CT clip thingy that monitors the load and will reduce the draw if needed.

It can do scheduling etc and seems decent quality.

Not used it yet as car being delivered in 2 weeks.

 

[Forty_Two]

I've just had one of the new pod point solo 3 chargers installed.

Can I know how many hours it took for the installtion?

 

[Adopado]

Can I know how many hours it took for the installtion?

Every installation is very different. The time it takes is related to the detail of each location. Sometimes the time consuming bit comes as an unexpected extra... sometimes not to do with extensive cabling but like some software that needs updated ... or setting up on networks or whatever. Also depends where you live... travel costs (it's likely 3 hours return travel for most potential installers to come to our address). In other words even a "simple" install won't be cheap. In ideal conditions I imagine some installs will be done and dusted within a couple of hours but that most certainly cannot be guaranteed.

 

[dunkdafunk]

Can I know how many hours it took for the installtion?

It was quite a simple job as only about 5 meters from my meter box. It took around 2hrs in total.

 

[Forty_Two]

It was quite a simple job as only about 5 meters from my meter box. It took around 2hrs in total.

wow - if we take off £50 for materials that works out at £200 a hour !!!

 

[MrBadger]

wow - if we take off £50 for materials that works out at £200 a hour !!!

If they add on travel, it was probably booked as half a days job. Add on offsite time for DNO and OLEV paperwork and lodging paperwork for building control, its probably quite a bit cheaper than £200/hour.

 

[Adopado]

If they add on travel, it was probably booked as half a days job. Add on offsite time for DNO and OLEV paperwork and lodging paperwork for building control, its probably quite a bit cheaper than £200/hour.

And for my own install the electrician had a second guy with him to help. People forget what has to be rolled into the hourly rate... back office costs and all the rest too.

 

[HenryT]

If they add on travel, it was probably booked as half a days job. Add on offsite time for DNO and OLEV paperwork and lodging paperwork for building control, its probably quite a bit cheaper than £200/hour.

As @Vanilla Air and @Adopado have said, It's misleading to think about it in hourly-rate terms, as the comparison is made with hourly pay rates. They are not the same thing, even for a one man band.

They won't be 'billing' for anything like 40 hours a week - perhaps more like 20 and then have to accommodate all their operating costs into that 'hourly rate' including whatever they pay the installers.

 

[Forty_Two]

If they add on travel, it was probably booked as half a days job. Add on offsite time for DNO and OLEV paperwork and lodging paperwork for building control, its probably quite a bit cheaper than £200/hour.

£200 a day is an annual salary of £52,000 which is (IMO) more than a medium skilled trade is worth AND I can't believe it would take a full 8 hours to do what needs doing. Why would any of us pay for their travel time, what other trade gets paid to travel to the job and why would we employ AND pay an electrician to travel 2 hours there and 2 hours back?

 

[JonB]

This is why I hate tradesmen.

But I do have an electrician I trust, thank god.

 

[Fury1]

I am having a hypervolt installed in a few weeks, yes it's a very easy install with less than 6meters of cable required. The consumer unit is under the stairs on the outer wall where the charger will be located. I ordered direct from hypervolt, they recommended an installer my area, I checked his reviews and spoke with him 're the install and sent plenty of pictures. The unit itself from hypervolt is £679. I will pay around 100 quid more and the rest by the grant.
The fitter may be getting 200 an hour, but not by me.