Help choosing home charger

[monkeyhanger]

Has anyone been told they need a mini consumer unit installed and if so, how much has this added to a quote?

I needed one in an external waterproof enclosure as the supply for the chargepoint was taken straight from external meter cupboard to the charge point. From memory it added about £150.

Are you not talking about a Matt-E device, as an alternative to an earthing rod? I have one of those, and it was about £135. A mini consumer unit box is about £14 from the likes of Screwfix.

[Daveion]

I think Ohme are a joke.

Octopus offer was £499 for Ohme Pro. It seems one needs to be in the South (where things are cheaper than the Midlands)!

Then the offer increased to £549. Of course Ohme gives some nonsense message why it is not available and suggests one can get from £550.

They send data to an overpriced installer who wants well over £700 for a simple install when the charger will be on the same wall as the fuse box.

How can one justify over £700 after the EV grant for an Ohme?

I have little faith in Ohme. Their marketing and price structure seems comical.

I had a similar experience with PodPoint.
My install was not as simple as yours but they would not run the cables so to get it completed they supplied me all the cables and an A Type RCD and I routed everything myself. They then hung the Solo and terminated it and connected to my spare 32amp MCB.
That is not a lot of work for £599 + £350 grant.
7metres of 6mm armoured
7 metres of 6mm twin and earth.
15 metres of data cable.
I installed the A type RCD.
I had quotes from 3 suppliers and they were all different technically re RCD type, need for separate isolation, need to install an isolator to the incoming supply which my DNO said was not possible.
Im just glad its all done now.

[Cherry]

It seems to me the £350 grant is a scam. It does not lower the price in real terms for the customer.

I spoke to an electrician and he said I should buy a Wallbox myself for £490 and he will install for £160. But as a one-man-band he cannot claim the grant.

Else, his company can apply for the grant, but will charge £690 after the grant.

I wonder whether there is any point in getting a home charger installed just to get the £350 off if a car will not arrive until June as the charger warranty will start on purchase.

[Smitten]

Has anyone been told they need a mini consumer unit installed and if so, how much has this added to a quote?

I needed one in an external waterproof enclosure as the supply for the chargepoint was taken straight from external meter cupboard to the charge point. From memory it added about £150.

Are you not talking about a Matt-E device, as an alternative to an earthing rod? I have one of those, and it was about £135. A mini consumer unit box is about £14 from the likes of Screwfix.

Just checked the invoice. We were charged £125 to supply and fit and external consumer unit between meter box and charge point in a waterproof enclosure. Licence to print money doing chargepoint installations if you ask me but, have an electrician around to install a domestic socket in London and you will be charged similar or more.

[Daveion]

It seems to me the £350 grant is a scam. It does not lower the price in real terms for the customer.

I spoke to an electrician and he said I should buy a Wallbox myself for £490 and he will install for £160. But as a one-man-band he cannot claim the grant.

Else, his company can apply for the grant, but will charge £690 after the grant.

I wonder whether there is any point in getting a home charger installed just to get the £350 off if a car will not arrive until June as the charger warranty will start on purchase.

Thats an interesting take Cherry. Without a grant there could be a lot of local electricians taking up installs after March. I dont think any suppliers get a huge discount on the charger products so costs may well come back less overall even without a grant.

[Fergus]

Hi Cat\manDo, did you see my PM about choosing pro or pro performance?

Fergus

[durhamlad]

Octopus Energy state a standard install includes:

A Type A RCD in metal Consumer Unit.

Does this mean they supply a mini-consumer unit (< £20 from Amazon) as standard?

We just had our Ohme charger installed this afternoon. It did include a type A RCD in metal consumer unit. The installation was as simple as it gets, inside the garage right next to where the power comes in.

The main fuse is 60A but he said that the Ohme unit monitors total current coming into the house and will self limit if the load is getting too high, although that is unlikely to happen as we will be mostly charging overnight.

[G43FAN]

Whilst undoubtedly the grant availability pushes the cost up, isn't the approved installer supposed to provide 'On site' support for issues with charging for 3 years from installation? They are also responsible for informing the DNO of the installation details. All adding to the time and cost.

[Utumno]

Whilst undoubtedly the grant availability pushes the cost up, isn't the approved installer supposed to provide 'On site' support for issues with charging for 3 years from installation? They are also responsible for informing the DNO of the installation details. All adding to the time and cost.

Yes. And they’re supposed to be Part P proxies as well so they lodge the relevant certs with their building control organisation, which otherwise the householder would have to do, at the householder’s cost.

Personally I’d rather see the grant removed as it clearly distorts the market. I think the cost will then actually go up, because sparkys aren’t stupid, and then equalise over time as the market settles down.