When Mrs L J M and I purchased a new home in 2021, we had a plethora of choices to make; tiles for a kitchen and 2.5 bathrooms, paint scheme for each room, kitchen cabinet door colours, handles and worktops, floorcoverings and so on.
We liked quite a bit of the show home and after careful deliberations made our final choices (Which to this day we’re still happy with).
It’s like they use people who know what they’re doing to dress the homes they’re trying to sell.
Anyway, fast forward 6 months and we move in and meet the neighbours and look at each other’s houses. They chose the same colour kitchen doors, albeit in reverse configuration, different worktops, different colour sink, they had an induction hob we had gas, they had different paint colours and different choice of floor coverings and colours throughout.
Do you have the same floor coverings, same wallpaper, eat the same diet, drive the same car, and go on the same holidays as your neighbours?
Then why on earth would you ask their opinion on what’s the best EV charger or installer for you?
You live near each other, that’s it.
You live in the same country and share a language?
We’re talking about connecting the 2 most expensive assets you own to the national electricity grid…
…AND your family’s safety.
With that in mind would it be sensible to be seeking advice from Trevor in Hull, who has a Jack Russell as a profile picture and doesn’t know his arse from his elbow?
Hint: NO. As well intended as he is, he’s a plonker, and if you’re reading this you’re probably not by default.
In almost all cases where someone has approached me telling me they’ve had their fuse upgraded it has been completely unnecessary.
Why? Because they’re getting free “advice” on forums, Facebook, bloke over the road etc and not speaking to the people who can advise them – independent installers who do this day in day out and take legal responsibility for installations.
Load management is standard for most EV ChargePoint’s now and I believe it will be mandated in the not to distant future for domestic installations. Unless you have a large household with electric showers, heat pumps and so on it’s unlikely your fuse size will ever be an issue whatsoever but as someone said this on the internet a millennia ago it has spread like wildfire.
FYI – I load manage most of my installations with a 59/60-amp threshold via a hard-wired CT, even when an 80/100-amp fuse is fitted.
This impacts DNO notifications and application criteria – something the online plonkers don’t understand.
If you’ve made progress with deciding on a solar install then it may be a valid consideration – but only if you are going to be generating significant kWh’s AND exporting them, otherwise you’ll not get much power into your car from solar. And even then, it’s only going to be possible during good weather and during the day – when your car will need to be sat on the driveway for most the day to harness any of the sun.
It really is short-sighted to choose an EV charger based on a solar install that you don’t yet have and may never even be able to make use out of – even more so when export rates are often higher than off-peak import rates.
Yes, some suppliers do offer super low-cost tariffs for certain chargers/cars, but others offer low-cost EV charging 24 hours a day for a little extra – to decide the EV charger fixed to your wall for 5-10+ years based on current tariffs, in a period of volatile energy markets and emerging technologies is short term thinking.
About energy suppliers, it’s worth noting that many are offering EV charger installations and they are typically >£100 cheaper than using independents, there’s a number of reasons why.
Many of their ‘in-house’ installers are not Electricians, but meter installers, some are even gas meter installers who have been fast tracked through a 5-day course (yes, that’s right 5 days instead of a 4+ year apprenticeship) and therefore they don’t have the vast experience and knowledge that time served electricians and EV charger installers have. Also, these are employees working for huge organisations, standards are something aimed for rather than being minimum requirements and I have personally seen some work that isn’t acceptable, except perhaps in a conflict/humanitarian crisis.
That said, many have had to outsource their workloads to sub-contractors who have sub-contracted the work out again and what’s left is very little, and we see corners cut so installers can do enough to make a living (God forbid those greedy buggers wanting to feed their families).
Hopefully the above has made you question how you are looking at your EV charger installation, and maybe even other purchases and decisions in your life.
Choosing which EV charger you purchase and who installs it for you is your decisions – though I’d hate to think people are not focusing on the right things because they’re listening to the wrong people/organisations for guidance and therefore not getting the best outcomes.
Expert advice is worth its weight in gold.
I’m going to give you a little free nugget of advice now.
Use an independent installer who will guide you with impartiality and offer a better standard of installation and service compared with a huge organisation where you are just a number.
And remember…
“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”
