Zappi install and questions

[Cardo]

Several replies have confirmed the logic of what I suspected - leaving the car plugged into the Zappi serves no purpose when only mains is available, the charger is set to Eco+ on standby & no timers are set.

So on that basis there is no benefit in following Tesla advice to leave plugged in (setting boost timers for whatever reason would of course override it but I didn't doubt that)

One of the preconditioning settings would likely let the car pull more charge from the Zappi on Eco+. Essentially, if the car has reported it is “fully charged” the Zappi will go into “charge complete” status. If the car then tries to pull more charge, the Zappi will assume it’s for preconditioning and will allow further charge from the grid, even outside of the timer settings.

 

[Adopado]

One of the preconditioning settings would likely let the car pull more charge from the Zappi on Eco+. Essentially, if the car has reported it is “fully charged” the Zappi will go into “charge complete” status. If the car then tries to pull more charge, the Zappi will assume it’s for preconditioning and will allow further charge from the grid, even outside of the timer settings.

I only use the Zappi on "Fast" but even after the car is reporting as being fully charged I can ask the car to pre-condition in the morning via the app and the Zappi kicks in appropriately. This is the advantage of leaving the car plugged in. The other advantage is if there are losses through overnight drain the car can top up when needed.

 

[InventEd]

I have Octopus off peak electric in the night from 00:30 to 04:30. I set my Zappi to allow charge between 00:30 and 07:00. This means it charges on the off peak electric (and stops when fully charged) but can use the electric to precondition in the morning (admittedly now at normal electricity prices). I leave it plugged in all day as I have solar and so it tops up if the sun shines.

If you dont charge at night, dont want to pre condition, dont need to ensure it is always charged and dont have solar then then yes I guess dont bother plugging it in.

 

[Drew57]

I do charge at night in winter, don't need to precondition, don't need it always charged but do plug in when there's excess solar (ie yesterday & much of spring/summer/autumn).

 

[Dilly]

I do charge at night in winter, don't need to precondition, don't need it always charged but do plug in when there's excess solar (ie yesterday & much of spring/summer/autumn).

Today was a good solar day as are the next few. Generated nearly 30kwh everything is full. Lucky I have a 40 mile round trip tomorrow,

 

[Tigermad]

Moderator comment - posts merged from "Charger install and few electric questions"

I am getting quotes in to install a Zappi charger. I have found out I need a dual pole isolation switch installed in my meter cupboard. I have contacted Octopus and they are coming out next week.

In the meantime none of the installers have mentioned that I only have a 60amp cut out fuse. Do you think I will need to ask the DNO to upgrade it if I can? Also I will be running the charger off a separate CU in the meter cupboard so that will need to fit in the cupboard too. Someone has told me I may have to get permission to have the CU in the meter cupboard because they consider it their property. Is this the case?

is it a good idea to have the Harvi installed with the Zappi? I don’t have solar panels do wonder what this does. Thanks.

 

[Dilly]

There are better people than me to advise on electric specifics but from my experience you don’t need a Harvi. Just a hub and a Zappi.
even if you add solar at some point you may well not need a Harvi. I haven’t got one.
a 60amp mains fuse should be OK. I had one up until last year. If the incoming mains cables are sufficient, Your DNO may be happy to upgrade it. Mine is now 100amps.
the hub allows access to Zappi controls and shows what power is going where
here’s mine right now

 

[Tigermad]

There are better people than me to advise on electric specifics but from my experience you don’t need a Harvi. Just a hub and a Zappi.
even if you add solar at some point you may well not need a Harvi. I haven’t got one.
a 60amp mains fuse should be OK. I had one up until last year. If the incoming mains cables are sufficient, Your DNO may be happy to upgrade it. Mine is now 100amps.

Thanks. I will give the DNO a call tomorrow and see what they say.

 

[Tigermad]

There are better people than me to advise on electric specifics but from my experience you don’t need a Harvi. Just a hub and a Zappi.
even if you add solar at some point you may well not need a Harvi. I haven’t got one.
a 60amp mains fuse should be OK. I had one up until last year. If the incoming mains cables are sufficient, Your DNO may be happy to upgrade it. Mine is now 100amps.
the hub allows access to Zappi controls and shows what power is going where
here’s mine right now
View attachment 644256

That app looks brilliant. So it will tell me how much my house is using?

 

[jager122]

I have Octopus off peak electric in the night from 00:30 to 04:30. I set my Zappi to allow charge between 00:30 and 07:00. This means it charges on the off peak electric (and stops when fully charged) but can use the electric to precondition in the morning (admittedly now at normal electricity prices). I leave it plugged in all day as I have solar and so it tops up if the sun shines.

If you dont charge at night, dont want to pre condition, dont need to ensure it is always charged and dont have solar then then yes I guess dont bother plugging it in.

Hi, I am weighing up whether to go with Zappi, or a cheaper bp pulse. Am I right in thinking the native car app could give me that fununctunality e.g. Begin at 00.30 and stop at 7.00am? Just trying to figure out whether that's unique to Zappi, or could be avaliable to all.

 

[Tigermad]

Hi, I am weighing up whether to go with Zappi, or a cheaper bp pulse. Am I right in thinking the native car app could give me that fununctunality e.g. Begin at 00.30 and stop at 7.00am? Just trying to figure out whether that's unique to Zappi, or could be avaliable to all.

You can only set and end time I believe with Tesla. You can’t set a start and end time at the same time. So it may start in your expensive time if you need to have a certain percentage at a certain time in the morning. I don’t have the car yet so I don’t know if it can be done in the Tesla app or a setting on the car itself.

 

[Dilly]

That app looks brilliant. So it will tell me how much my house is using?

Yes, and what the car has taken. Bear in mind that if the has taken a 10Kw charge, not all 10 has gone in the battery as there is a small loss as with any charging

 

[Dilly]

You can only set and end time I believe with Tesla. You can’t set a start and end time at the same time. So it may start in your expensive time if you need to have a certain percentage at a certain time in the morning. I don’t have the car yet so I don’t know if it can be done in the Tesla app or a setting on the car itself.

With a Zappi, you are better to set boost timers in the Zappi if you have cheap rate overnight and set nothing in the car.
the Tesla charge settings are a dog’s breakfast. If you use those, you then have to calcurate when a charge needs to start or end based upon how much charge you need.
in my case on Octopus Go, I have boosts set for 00:30 to 04:30. I only use these over winter as solar does the biz the rest of the year
that said 4 hours charge at 7Kw will put about a 100 miles in the car in one night

 

[Cardo]

You can only set and end time I believe with Tesla. You can’t set a start and end time at the same time. So it may start in your expensive time if you need to have a certain percentage at a certain time in the morning. I don’t have the car yet so I don’t know if it can be done in the Tesla app or a setting on the car itself.

You can only set a charge start time or a charge end time, but not both! That’s why you’re better off with a properly smart charger, such as the Zappi and let that do the hard work and leave the car to just do as it‘s told.

 

[Tigermad]

You can only set a charge start time or a charge end time, but not both! That’s why you’re better off with a properly smart charger, such as the Zappi and let that do the hard work and leave the car to just do as it‘s told.

That’s what I said. You can’t set both. I was replying to someone’s question.

 

[Tigermad]

With a Zappi, you are better to set boost timers in the Zappi if you have cheap rate overnight and set nothing in the car.
the Tesla charge settings are a dog’s breakfast. If you use those, you then have to calcurate when a charge needs to start or end based upon how much charge you need.
in my case on Octopus Go, I have boosts set for 00:30 to 04:30. I only use these over winter as solar does the biz the rest of the year
that said 4 hours charge at 7Kw will put about a 100 miles in the car in one night

The boost option is not there when you don’t have solar panels is it? I thought it was only available in the 2 modes that use the panels?

 

[Dilly]

The boost option is not there when you don’t have solar panels is it? I thought it was only available in the 2 modes that use the panels?

Boost timers can be set in any Zappi. when running, they will only charge in fast mode, but in order to prevent Zappi charging outside of boost times, you put in eco+ mode. It works irrespective of solar panels. It expects a boost to be drawn from the grid or solar battery.
if you had panels giving solar, it would charge straight away and top up with the boost overnight if needed
you can check this MyenergI for peace of mind, but I’m confident that it’s correct

 

[Tigermad]

Boost timers can be set in any Zappi. when running, they will only charge in fast mode, but in order to prevent Zappi charging outside of boost times, you put in eco+ mode. It works irrespective of solar panels. It expects a boost to be drawn from the grid or solar battery.
if you had panels giving solar, it would charge straight away and top up with the boost overnight if needed
you can check this MyenergI for peace of mind, but I’m confident that it’s correct

Thanks. Didn’t realise I could use the eco and eco plus modes because they use renewable energy. So for me the Eco modes would just adapt how much power goes to the car and when the car charges depending on my electric usage in the house at that time.

 

[Dilly]

Thanks. Didn’t realise I could use the eco and eco plus modes because they use renewable energy. So for me the Eco modes would just adapt how much power goes to the car and when the car charges depending on my electric usage in the house at that time.

Spot on. Eco will charge at 1.4Kw, fast at 7Kw. Eco+ will work as standby for boost mode. Stop mode will just stop. Should the need arise you can adjust fast mode by altering the amps downwards in the car. To get less than 7Kw.

 

[jager122]

Great. I can start a new thread if need be, but as it relates to Zappi ill try here.

Our family electrician is not registered for the £350 grant but is willing to fit the charger for us, and in fact, recons he can match the best price with grant (as the prices are inflated).

I would obviously need to source the charger and supply to him to fit. Problem is the Zappi chargers are £££, cheapest I can find online for a Zapi charger (no installation) is pretty much the same as fully installed cost, same for syncEV, projectEV, pod point etc.

So effectively the grant is being used to offset 100% of the installation.

Have I got this correct, and any ideas about what I could do?