Home Charge Points Discussion and Suggestions [megathread]

[Js1977]

Our building control.

I think not

 

[Js1977]

Planning Permission - Electrics - Planning Portal

Details of the planning permission and building regulation regimes for Electrics in England

www.planningportal.co.uk

 

[MrBadger]

You mean this page?

Building Regulations: General information - Electrics - Planning Portal

Details of the planning permission and building regulation regimes for Electrics in England

www.planningportal.co.uk

Building Regulations: General information

If you are carrying out electrical installation work in your home or garden in England and Wales, you must comply with the rules in the Building Regulations. It is best to use an installer registered with a competent person scheme (a ‘registered competent person’) who can self-certify compliance with the Building Regulations.

If an installer is not registered, then certain riskier jobs (identified as ‘notifiable’ in the Building Regulations) will need to be inspected, approved and certificated by:

A building control body (your local authority or a private approved inspector), or
In England only, an electrician registered with a third-party certification scheme (a ‘registered third-party certifier’).
The building control body or registered third-party certifier must be notified before work starts.

And examples of notifiable work

Notifiable jobs include:

• The installation of a new consumer unit or fuse box
• The installation of a complete new circuit – for example a ring or lighting circuit, or a new circuit for a cooker, shower or immersion heater
• Alterations to existing circuits – such as adding an extra power point or lighting point – but only in ‘special locations’. In England, special locations are the spaces around baths and showers. In Wales, special locations include also kitchens and outdoors.

 

[Casss]

Hi all,

I'm very new to the EV world, my Model 3 is being delivered in a few weeks now. I've been looking at different options for home chargers but they all seem very similar in terms of capability and price. I wouldn't need a charger that has solar/extra energy functions, or 'smart' features as such. I've been looking and the two that have caught my eye are the Tesla Gen 3 (currently out of stock) and the Pod Point homecharger.

What seems to be the most common option for a home charger among Tesla owners in the UK?

I'm kind of leaning toward Podpoint as their price includes installation, and has the OLEV grant as well. Although I'm wondering if the official Tesla charger will be best for a Tesla car.

Interested to hear your thoughts

Many thanks

To make the most of the OLEV grant (makes sense to whilst it's there - it won't be forever) you will need to order a smart charger. It doesn't apply to chargers that are not deemed to be 'smart' by govt.

Really depends what you're after, level of after sales service you want and whether you care much about how it looks. Worth considering that it will be permanently stuck to the side of your house/garage/driveway whatever for however long you keep it. Podpoint are popular.

The official Tesla charger will be no better or worse for your Tesla than any of the other proper EV chargers. Just consider it's a very simple device - it looks lovely but is not OLEV grant eligible because it does't meet their requirements for being a 'smart' charger like others do (IMO it's overpriced for what it is). I would say the most important features to look out for are: safety (built in pen fault protection, so that you don't need an earth rod installed), scheduled / smart charging to make use of EV energy tariffs (charging at night), robust, useful app developed by the charger company and finally tethered vs. untethered. Thoroughly recommend watching some videos on YouTube.

Final word of advice as I waited over a month for mine due to our DNO: don't hang about unless you're happy granny charging your model 3 for a good month or two.

 

[Js1977]

You mean this page?

Building Regulations: General information - Electrics - Planning Portal

Details of the planning permission and building regulation regimes for Electrics in England

www.planningportal.co.uk

And examples of notifiable work

You mean this page?

Building Regulations: General information - Electrics - Planning Portal

Details of the planning permission and building regulation regimes for Electrics in England

www.planningportal.co.uk

And examples of notifiable work

Its not notifiable!

 

[MrBadger]

What is not notifiable? Its a new circuit. Its notifiable.

• The installation of a complete new circuit – for example a ring or lighting circuit, or a new circuit for a cooker, shower or immersion heater

Which part of a new EV circuit is not a complete new circuit?

 

[Js1977]

What is not notifiable? Its a new circuit. Its notifiable.

• The installation of a complete new circuit – for example a ring or lighting circuit, or a new circuit for a cooker, shower or immersion heater

Which part of a new EV circuit is not a complete new circuit?

If an installer is not registered, then certain riskier jobs (identified as ‘notifiable’ in the Building Regulations) will need to be inspected, approved and certificated by:

• A building control body (your local authority or a private approved inspector), or
• In England only, an electrician registered with a third-party certification scheme (a ‘registered third-party certifier’).

The clue is "there"

 

[Casss]

I swear every thread on here about chargers devolves into an argument about UK electrical regs

 

[MrBadger]

The clue is "there"

If you are talking about a registered electrician/third party installer then they will still register it with building control on your behalf - exactly the same as had they done the work in the first place. You just pay the electrician not building control and definitely not a DIY job unless you are an electrician or domestic installer with the likes of NICEIC

 

[Js1977]

If you are talking about a registered electrician/third party installer then they will still register it with building control on your behalf - exactly the same as had they done the work in the first place. You just pay the electrician not building control and definitely not a DIY job unless you are an electrician or domestic installer with the likes of NICEIC

The Electrician does not register or need to register anything with building control. I this you are getting yourself confused with gas installations. But go ahead and ask a sparky.

 

[MrBadger]

Not what NICEIC say. It’s also got a link for anyone to check their notifications.

Anyone can check their notification here NICEIC Online Certification if work undertaken by a NICEIC/Elecsa registered contractor

NICEIC Online Certification

NICEIC: Introducing Notification check.

www.niceic.com

When using a registered electrical contractor, you do not need to notify your Local Building Control Body in advance, as the electrical contractor will do this when the work is finished.

 

[Js1977]

Not what NICEIC say

NICEIC Online Certification

NICEIC: Introducing Notification check.

www.niceic.com

You get an EICR from the sparky and that is it. He does not register anything with building control. IE. If you are making a house extension that and have had electrics done, YOU need to provide the EICR certificate to building control.

 

[mikeyg_ev]

I wish someone with all the details could pin something to the top of the forum with a summary of all the available chargers so we dont' have the same question again and again.

The bits I know:

• Tesla chargers are very dumb, require a lot of extra work to make them compliant to uk regs, have an annoying massive stiff cable, require an earth rod, don't qualify for the grant (not sure about the gen 3 tbh) - Not Recommended!
• Rolec chargers are not particularly good and have a reputation for breaking - also require an earth rod - not recommended
• Pod-point has all the required safety features, doesn't require an earth rod, has scheduled charging (but not super flexable), can reduce power if other things in your house are drawing too much for your main fuse, app shows how much money you used, understands cheap rate overnight tariff etc, looks good, has somewhere to coil the cable, installers were quick and responsive to queries - I would recommend
• Zappi has all the required safety features, doesn't require an earth rod, has scheduled charging (apparently good?), heard it has a good app, lots of people like it but ugly IMO.
• Andersen - looks good - don't know anything else.
• ... Can someone knowledgeable add in the rest ( doesn't have to be perfect - don't argue over small details)

Also:

Yes "chargers" are not really chargers, The charger is in the car. All your wall box does is connect the power, tell the car how much current it can draw and has some clever safety features to cut the power in the event of various fault conditions.

You could just use the granny charger - or get a 32A commando socket installed on your wall very cheaply and use that for a lifetime with no problems - but one day some bizarre freak fault could potentially electrocute anyone who touches your car. It's very unlikely but it is possible.

Scheduled charging in the "charger" is a good thing because the schedule charging in the car is *sugar*.

 

[MrBadger]

I wish someone with all the details could pin something to the top of the forum with a summary of all the available chargers so we dont' have the same question again and again.

Why does it have to be someone else? Why not go and gather the info and ask a mod to wiki and sticky it.

 

[KennethS]

Not what NICEIC say. It’s also got a link for anyone to check their notifications.

Anyone can check their notification here NICEIC Online Certification if work undertaken by a NICEIC/Elecsa registered contractor

NICEIC Online Certification

NICEIC: Introducing Notification check.

www.niceic.com

I was not aware of this lookup portal, so thanks for providing it. I just checked and my installer did notify of the installation of a new circuit.

 

[OnTheEdge]

• Rolec chargers are not particularly good and have a reputation for breaking - also require an earth rod - not recommended
• Pod-point has all the required safety features, doesn't require an earth rod, has scheduled charging (but not super flexable), can reduce power if other things in your house are drawing too much for your main fuse, app shows how much money you used, understands cheap rate overnight tariff etc, looks good, has somewhere to coil the cable, installers were quick and responsive to queries - I would recommend

I'm just speaking from my own experience, but I have Rolec at home, which has no earth rod, and has never missed a beat. I think there were problems with earlier versions. We have over 20 pod-point chargers at work and are continually having problems with charge rates and failures.

 

[longmalx]

We have a Wallbox Pulsar Plus which is small, seems reliable and the only real downside is the glaring LED.
I leave it in "dumb" mode, so any scheduled charging will be done by the car itself.

I'm yet to be convinced the low-price tariffs would be worth the hassle for the 10K miles we do a year. The EV energy is only about 20% more than our household usage, so the increase to standing/daily rates may make not as a good deal as it seems.

 

[mikeyg_ev]

I'm yet to be convinced the low-price tariffs would be worth the hassle for the 10K miles we do a year. The EV energy is only about 20% more than our household usage, so the increase to standing/daily rates may make not as a good deal as it seems.

My octopus go rate is 5p/kWh vs 15.9p/kWh at other times
Assuming a very conservative 4 miles / kWh that's a saving of up to about £270 - so not earth shattering. I agree you'd want to make sure the peak rate was competitive before switching. For me it was better than my old provider anyway. (I just wish I'd switched the gas as well before they went bust.)

Best bit is I can tell people I get 10k miles for under £125 in "fuel", versus £90 for every tank full in my old BMW.

 

[LUXY]

Octopus Energy

I've been recommended for the above £499 installed as disappointed with hyper-volt additional charges from installers.

 

[longmalx]

My octopus go rate is 5p/kWh vs 15.9p/kWh at other times
Assuming a very conservative 4 miles / kWh that's a saving of up to about £270 - so not earth shattering. I agree you'd want to make sure the peak rate was competitive before switching. For me it was better than my old provider anyway. (I just wish I'd switched the gas as well before they went bust.)

Best bit is I can tell people I get 10k miles for under £125 in "fuel", versus £90 for every tank full in my old BMW.

Thanks. For me it would be 24p at other times, so the savings would be minimal - probably around 150, which would hardly be worth the effort to get setup for it.