RichAZ/CapeCod
Member
$160 bucks (Tucson AZ), but you can't go by me. The electric box was on the other side of the wall, an 18" or so wire run.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Nema 5-20? Moving soon trying to save money
- Thread starter Jayskywalker21
- Start date
Nah, doesn’t cause any problems with the Tesla.
Check with your electric company, they may have better rates at certain times of the day, in which case, and if your charging needs are indeed small, you could tell the Tesla to start charging at midnight or whatever. You can always override in the app to tell it to start charging right away if you’ve just come back from a long trip.
It is more inefficient to charge at low power rather than higher power, so you will waste more $$ charging this way, but if you don’t drive much, the difference in cost probably won’t be much.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
A properly installed and code-compliant 14-50 outlet will cost you almost as much as installing a wall connector in 2023.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
This advice is outdated in a world where:
- Increasing numbers of people are on time of use electrical plans
- New Teslas no longer include a mobile connector
- Code requires outlets for EVSEs to have expensive GFCI protection
So what's your advice? Just stop being cheap and get a wall charger? It'll prob be 500-600 for the install where I'm heading
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
If you’re renting and don’t drive a lot just use the 5-15 you have available. I’d not spend a bunch of money improving someone else’s property unless you really need to.
Gotcha, and yeah I’m renting. That charging speed is just so bad. I’ll test it for the first few weeks if I don’t like it I’ll look into other options.
Another issue with 120V charging, for people who live in areas that get freezing weather. When it's cold out, you must plug in and start charging after every drive, while the battery is still warm. Do not use any form of scheduled charging. The "always be charging" rule really applies with 120V charging.
If you come home from a long trip, on a cold night, with a near dead battery, and don't plug in until the next morning, you may find yourself with a car that won't/can't charge, because the battery is too cold to charge and the outlet can't provide enough power to run the battery heater.
If you come home from a long trip, on a cold night, with a near dead battery, and don't plug in until the next morning, you may find yourself with a car that won't/can't charge, because the battery is too cold to charge and the outlet can't provide enough power to run the battery heater.
What about the rebates you get from adding an inhome charger whether a Nema 14-50 plug or the Wall charger. I live in NY Long Island and I'm seeing rebates up to 1500 from PSEG which if that's the case would make more sense and would 100% offset the cost. Anybody have any experience getting rebates after they've installed some type of charging system in-home
If you are going to do that, I would look to see if you could change it to a 6-20 outlet, and more than double the charging rate.Why not have an electrician check the wiring to see if it is 20A capable, and if so, change the outlet to 5-20, then safely charge at 16A continuous.
You're mashing together two points that don't relate to each other.
1. Try using what you have first to see if it will work well before seeing if you need to invest money into adding something for faster charging.
Yes, this is good advice for @Jayskywalker21 and makes sense. See if just using the 5-15 outlet is sufficient. And especially with renting and maybe being short term, that also makes sense.
But then this other part:
2. "Don't get a wall charger" and recommending a 14-50 as the upgrade path doesn't really make sense now, as @ucmndd pointed out. Code changes and pricing changes have made the outlet situation worse functionality and even higher cost than just doing the wall connector.
UncleCreepy
Member
What strikes me as odd is that this is the Model S forum, HPWCs can be uninstalled and later be installed elsewhere and a couple hundred bucks for a safe and solid solution are a problem?
I mean I get it, if you don't drive much you might not need top notch charging equipment, but you do need something that is reliable and safe. I would not mess around with adapters, extension cords etc, especially not on an outlet that we know pretty much nothing about other than that it is a 5-15 outlet. We don't know what wire size they used, what size the breaker is and if there other outlets on the same breaker. Even if everything lines up perfectly, the contacts in a regular outlet can and will wear over time. If you did your due diligence you probably know what the possible result could be. If things get bad you'll wish you had spent a few hundred bucks for a safe charging solution.
That's my $0.02 anyway.
I mean I get it, if you don't drive much you might not need top notch charging equipment, but you do need something that is reliable and safe. I would not mess around with adapters, extension cords etc, especially not on an outlet that we know pretty much nothing about other than that it is a 5-15 outlet. We don't know what wire size they used, what size the breaker is and if there other outlets on the same breaker. Even if everything lines up perfectly, the contacts in a regular outlet can and will wear over time. If you did your due diligence you probably know what the possible result could be. If things get bad you'll wish you had spent a few hundred bucks for a safe charging solution.
That's my $0.02 anyway.
Electric700
Active Member
And may be get one of those drop-in panel surge protectors too. I've seen them for close to $50. You just need to put the protector in a space closest to the incoming power supply line within the panel.
Similar threads
