Many people want to get a home charging point installed but don't know where to start.
1) Your electrician will want to find the size of the main cut-out fuse, this is usually located in the electricity meter box on the outside of the house. The service head terminates the main supply and is connected directly to the main cut out fuse, which has a rating. It may be typically a 100A fuse.
2) Find out how much power the new EV charge will use. A 7kW EV Charger will put a 32A load on your electrical system, without any other household appliances being used. Some older houses have a 60A fuse fitted, which may not be enough, and if it blows, you could lose power to the whole house. Your electrician will recommend having your electricity supplier come and upgrade your main fuse to 100A, and probably also upgrade the supply tails to the main consumer unit also.
3) Is the electricity supply a looped service? This is the case where the main supply comes into the property, terminates at the main fuse, and then loops on to the house next door. So both your house and the house next door will be sharing the main supply cable, which means the overall supply is limited and the main fuse may not be able to be upgraded.
4) Your MPAN Number will be needed. Meter Point Access Number â this is needed so your EV charger installation can be registered. It is usually found on your electric bill.
5) Do you have main earth bonding to your gas and water supply? Your electrician is adding a significant load to an existing system, and needs to know the earthing system is good enough. A quick check inside the propertyâs gas supply cabinet should show that there is a substantial earth wire connected to the copper pipe with a earthing or bonding clamp. Similarly the water supply should also be earthed. This can be checked at the main water stop-cock location (usually inside the house) and again the earth wire connected with a bonding clamp to the copper water pipe.
6) Is there space in the existing consumer unit? Is there a spare way in the consumer unit. Sometimes the connections need to be shuffled around inside the unit to make space for a non-rcd way for the EV charger. Is it a modern metal unit with a surge protection unit or an older plastic one? It is best to upgrade to the latest specification standards (18th Edition) unit (see here), and a surge protection unit is recommended and an EV is an expensive item which should be protected from unexpected electricity surges.
So now with these checks complete, your electrician can begin to install your preferred EV charger.
