EV Charging Point (Dumb) Question
Discussion
Reading up on chargers, it seems a few of them want to know the distance from the consumer unit to where you want the charger.
I have a garage that's about 100 yards from the consumer unit but already has power and light installed.
Would they be able to plumb in a charger in the garage or do they need to go direct to the consumer unit?
Sterillium said:
Reading up on chargers, it seems a few of them want to know the distance from the consumer unit to where you want the charger.
I have a garage that's about 100 yards from the consumer unit but already has power and light installed.
Would they be able to plumb in a charger in the garage or do they need to go direct to the consumer unit?
The cable to your garage will almost certainly be rated for a 32a load, which is what is required for the lighting and power in the garage. Your new charger will itself present a ~32a load so... bigger cable required if you go that route. Also some different switchgear in the CU in the house.I have a garage that's about 100 yards from the consumer unit but already has power and light installed.
Would they be able to plumb in a charger in the garage or do they need to go direct to the consumer unit?
Tbh it's virtually always cheaper and easier to mount the charger on the house, as close to the CU in the house as possible - or to the meter cupboard outside the house. If that puts the charger in a not ideal place regards reaching the car, you can buy a longer cable - cheaper than laying a bigger cable to the garage in most cases.
NB Strictly speaking taking a feed directly from the meter cabinet outside the house is a bit of a gray area because 'you don't own the cabinet or the space within it', however it's also extremely common, makes a great deal of sense and is often the only non-destructive way of getting the job done.
Sterillium said:
Reading up on chargers, it seems a few of them want to know the distance from the consumer unit to where you want the charger.
I have a garage that's about 100 yards from the consumer unit but already has power and light installed.
Would they be able to plumb in a charger in the garage or do they need to go direct to the consumer unit?
You need to check how thick the cable is first, that will tell you how much power you can pull.I have a garage that's about 100 yards from the consumer unit but already has power and light installed.
Would they be able to plumb in a charger in the garage or do they need to go direct to the consumer unit?
We have just done this and luckily the cable was thick enough for 40amps, still needed a new consumer unit in the garage and while we were at it had the main house consumer unit updated at the same time.
CharlieAlphaMike said:
Calculating the 'volt drop' will be the reason for the question. Volt drop will determine the size of cable needed and if the distance between the two points is significantly far, bigger cables will be required.
That's a good point - and 100 yards is quite a significant run. Given the garage unit is very likely to only have a 16a MCB for the power sockets and another for the lighting, a 6a, it's unlikely they put in a heavy enough cable to also take the charger. Although fairly easy to find out by opening up the CU in the house and checking that end of the same cable.I had a similar situation with a garage 50m away from the meter location and an existing buried cable on a 20A MCB from the house consumer unit, with another small consumer unit in the garage for lights, sockets and a sewage pump. I don't remember the exact size of the cable but it certainly wasn't good for EV charging.
I would have been impractical to taken an EV charger from the meter box as it would either have needed to be placed far away from where I'd rather park the cars (in front of the garage) or the cable would need to be buried.
I ended up going down the slightly more invasive route of getting some blokes with a mini-digger round to trench in some flexible duct 450mm below, fortunately I was able to take a route that was entirely under grass and block paving, and now having that flexibility has paid off as I've been able to install whatever cabling I want to support any future plans e.g. solar PV on house and inverter/batteries in garage.
I would have been impractical to taken an EV charger from the meter box as it would either have needed to be placed far away from where I'd rather park the cars (in front of the garage) or the cable would need to be buried.
I ended up going down the slightly more invasive route of getting some blokes with a mini-digger round to trench in some flexible duct 450mm below, fortunately I was able to take a route that was entirely under grass and block paving, and now having that flexibility has paid off as I've been able to install whatever cabling I want to support any future plans e.g. solar PV on house and inverter/batteries in garage.
theboss said:
I had a similar situation with a garage 50m away from the meter location and an existing buried cable on a 20A MCB from the house consumer unit, with another small consumer unit in the garage for lights, sockets and a sewage pump. I don't remember the exact size of the cable but it certainly wasn't good for EV charging.
I would have been impractical to taken an EV charger from the meter box as it would either have needed to be placed far away from where I'd rather park the cars (in front of the garage) or the cable would need to be buried.
I ended up going down the slightly more invasive route of getting some blokes with a mini-digger round to trench in some flexible duct 450mm below, fortunately I was able to take a route that was entirely under grass and block paving, and now having that flexibility has paid off as I've been able to install whatever cabling I want to support any future plans e.g. solar PV on house and inverter/batteries in garage.
Any details on the ducting you used as I'd like to do something similar when I re-do the run to my garage.I would have been impractical to taken an EV charger from the meter box as it would either have needed to be placed far away from where I'd rather park the cars (in front of the garage) or the cable would need to be buried.
I ended up going down the slightly more invasive route of getting some blokes with a mini-digger round to trench in some flexible duct 450mm below, fortunately I was able to take a route that was entirely under grass and block paving, and now having that flexibility has paid off as I've been able to install whatever cabling I want to support any future plans e.g. solar PV on house and inverter/batteries in garage.
somouk said:
theboss said:
I had a similar situation with a garage 50m away from the meter location and an existing buried cable on a 20A MCB from the house consumer unit, with another small consumer unit in the garage for lights, sockets and a sewage pump. I don't remember the exact size of the cable but it certainly wasn't good for EV charging.
I would have been impractical to taken an EV charger from the meter box as it would either have needed to be placed far away from where I'd rather park the cars (in front of the garage) or the cable would need to be buried.
I ended up going down the slightly more invasive route of getting some blokes with a mini-digger round to trench in some flexible duct 450mm below, fortunately I was able to take a route that was entirely under grass and block paving, and now having that flexibility has paid off as I've been able to install whatever cabling I want to support any future plans e.g. solar PV on house and inverter/batteries in garage.
Any details on the ducting you used as I'd like to do something similar when I re-do the run to my garage.I would have been impractical to taken an EV charger from the meter box as it would either have needed to be placed far away from where I'd rather park the cars (in front of the garage) or the cable would need to be buried.
I ended up going down the slightly more invasive route of getting some blokes with a mini-digger round to trench in some flexible duct 450mm below, fortunately I was able to take a route that was entirely under grass and block paving, and now having that flexibility has paid off as I've been able to install whatever cabling I want to support any future plans e.g. solar PV on house and inverter/batteries in garage.
https://store.jdpipes.co.uk/class-3-power-cable-du...
I put way more down than necessary, the logic being I might situate a gazebo / outdoor kitchen along its route in the future, meaning I have a couple of separate unused ducts I can intercept for power/data and cold water if needed.
You only want to dig once!
Ours went in 5 years ago. The consumer unit is in the kitchen to the left side of the property as you look at it from the front. The garage, set away from the house to the right.
From memory he went up, through the loft and then down on the right side, putting the cable in a tube to then feed it into the detached garage and siting the charger on the wall outside it.
They wanted detailed plans of the house etc to calculate distances and how much cable would be needed to then calculate costs.
From memory he went up, through the loft and then down on the right side, putting the cable in a tube to then feed it into the detached garage and siting the charger on the wall outside it.
They wanted detailed plans of the house etc to calculate distances and how much cable would be needed to then calculate costs.
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