Granny charging

[Rod Tucker]

Hi I have used my granny charger for 12 months during the day when sun is pumping out solar with no issues, it’s my main way to charge my MG4 and had no problems 1.4kW every day for 6 hours. 19,000 km travelled and total electric bought AU$30 absolutely awesome.

My roof isn’t up to support for solar panels, hence my decision to go with the 3+hybrid.

 

[HazardLights]

Wouldn't it be better to sell your solar to the grid during peak time and then use cheap overnight electricity to charge. If you had the capital then this strategy could be taken further by using a battery and charging it overnight and selling the power to the grid during peak time. I don't have solar but it strikes be the idea of self sufficiency is appealing but seeking to the grid makes more sense. Someone that has solar can no doubt correct any mistakes in my logic.

I think most people that buy hybrids would be better off with an EV and suspect that many neglect charging. There is a strong motive to charge with an EV whereas with a hybrid it's a lot of effort for little return. However I haven't looked into this in so it may be just bias talking. I get that EV range is in other cases annoying although it has been fine for me.

 

[Tig170]

My home electrics are not up to running a wall charger.
My useage is mostly local with monthly trips of around 200 round trip and annual around 300 one way, returning within a week.
Is charging via three pin plug going to be up to the job with occasional public charging station topups?

Basically No: Just get a wall charger fitted, which will come certificated = home insurance = happy. I'm the same currently with the old house wiring, but only run lights & basic curcuits, with a base load of 50W. I've used a granny charger away from home and managed to melt the extension lead (at the plug) - so I've seen enough to not charge via a granny charger unless absolutely necessary

 

[google1901]

I've only used the MG granny, thats for 4yrs+ now (1st ZS now MG5). If unsure re existing wiring/CU then add an RCD plug. Any heat during charging then have the socket replaced.

 

[Rolfe]

EV charger, off-peak tariff and home battery work fine. I see the solar as being the cash cow that pays for it all, plus helps eke out what the battery can store on very dull days. In the late evening every day I simply dump what's left in the battery back to the grid for 15p then recharge it at 7p. The single annoyance is that every evening I have to make a decision as to when the best time to start the export discharge is going to be.

 

[salty]

EV charger, off-peak tariff and home battery work fine. I see the solar as being the cash cow that pays for it all, plus helps eke out what the battery can store on very dull days. In the late evening every day I simply dump what's left in the battery back to the grid for 15p then recharge it at 7p. The single annoyance is that every evening I have to make a decision as to when the best time to start the export discharge is going to be.

That all sounds far too complicated for me.
I'm sticking with me Granny, bless her.
In fact she's doing her job, now as I'm, watching Telly.

 

[Rolfe]

Complicated, but a money-earner.

 

[salty]

Complicated, but a money-earner.

To be honest, I'm not interested in earning money, off my car. I'm just enjoying it.
Some of the posts on here, about,
EV Chargers, EV charging, solar panels, etc etc etc. To me are just mind blowing. Far too convoluted. IMO.

 

[LenEV2016]

To be honest, I'm not interested in earning money, off my car. I'm just enjoying it.
Some of the posts on here, about,
EV Chargers, EV charging, solar panels, etc etc etc. To me are just mind blowing. For too convoluted. IMO.

I am interested in solar,battery etc but at which point do you potentially break even from the initial outlay, it isn't earning money until such time as that outlay is clear

 

[Rolfe]

To be honest, I'm not interested in earning money, off my car. I'm just enjoying it.
Some of the posts on here, about,
EV Chargers, EV charging, solar panels, etc etc etc. To me are just mind blowing. For too convoluted. IMO.

I thought that for a while, but decided to take the plunge. I'm still not up to speed but it's quite a fun learning curve.

I am interested in solar,battery etc but at which point do you potentially break even from the initial outlay, it isn't earning money until such time as that outlay is clear

That is a very fair point and I wrestled with it for some time. There's always the thought, "I could have bought a hell of a lot of electricity with what I just paid for all that kit!" My next door neighbour has an identical system in an identical house, and he's a bit of a nerd. He thinks four years. My installer had some standard calculations that came out around five years. I honestly don't know, I've done it now and I can't undo it!

I think it's hard to quantify, especially if you factor in the difference in cost between charging the car at 7p/unit and buying petrol. Also, it's entirely dependent on the degree of cloud cover every day and nobody can make any more than a wild ball-park guess at that. I reckon I'll get all my household electricity and car charging (excluding road trips) and still, over the year, Octopus will be paying me. So there's that.

 

[Chappers]

It is possible to buy a 13 amp socket manufactured to BS 1363-2 which is designed for continuous 13 amp use for EV charging.

 

[Jomarkh]

It is possible to buy a 13 amp socket manufactured to BS 1363-2 which is designed for continuous 13 amp use for EV charging.

UK rated granny EVSE units are usually 10A 2.2kW. If you buy from Ebay or Amazon you can get them at 13A but they will cook the plug or/and socket if on for hours. Heaters etc. are not run continuously as they turn off and on when they reach the set temperature.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

UK rated granny EVSE units are usually 10A 2.2kW. If you buy from Ebay or Amazon you can get them at 13A but they will cook the plug or/and socket if on for hours. Heaters etc. are not run continuously as they turn off and on when they reach the set temperature.

It is possible to buy a 13 amp socket manufactured to BS 1363-2 which is designed for continuous 13 amp use for EV charging.

I have one of those; Masterplug EV charging plug. However it still is not rated for 13A continuous. However 10A is enough.

 

[Walks with Enzo]

I always use the granny cable, thankfully there is a fairly new socket ring in our garage. I bought a specific EV extension cable with inline RCD. Never had an issue with either the MG or XC60 hybrid. Both draw 1.9kW when charging.
At the moment we charge the 10kWh home battery over night on cheap rate and the heatable solar panels keep the house ticking over during the day.
When we had the system first installed (August this year), I was using solar for everything and didn't have use any grid consumption. We've only just managed to get the smart export tariff sorted so was trying to use all my "free" power.
Even over the last few overcast days, we've always produced over 1kWh of solar, nowhere near enough to charge the car. The home battery is always over 60% full at 6pm ish.

 

[Rolfe]

I was in your position from May till August. It was impossible to use all the solar! On one occasion I went for an evening joyride to get space in the battery for a sunny day's generation.

 

[EvTek23]

It is possible to buy a 13 amp socket manufactured to BS 1363-2 which is designed for continuous 13 amp use for EV charging.

Yes they do make a 13A socket rated for 10A continuous use for EV charging.
There is a specific BS standard, BS1363-2 EV
Available from Toughleads.co.uk. Link below
Toughleads.co.uk

 

[Jomarkh]

Yes they do make a 13A socket rated for 10A continuous use for EV charging.
There is a specific BS standard, BS1363-2 EV
Available from Toughleads.co.uk. Link below
Toughleads.co.uk

In #31 He was asking for a continuous 13A

 

[EvTek23]

13A EV Granny chargers although available are not to UK regulations, 10A max continuous.

 

[MG Madness]

This is the one I use.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/masterplug-ip66-13a-1-gang-weatherproof-outdoor-unswitched-active-plug-socket-with-rcbo/889RG?tc=WB7&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD8IdPyPCj0gOCUOXaBSg1X3fT5b8&gclid=Cj0KCQiA57G5BhDUARIsACgCYnySvi1M9DmdqqerowpxhOKkHhRrgR1mUENQFdF8OZat2TA8EpMKwXgaAqjuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Berkofix]

I installed a tough leads extension lead on the outside of my garage. Instead of plugging it into the socket in the garage, it's wired directly in to a socket (I await the comments). First week I used the MG supplied charger but that only inputs about 1.7kW. After lots of research I bought a second granny charger that inputs 2.7kW. I have checked after it being on charge for 8 hours and nothing is warm let alone hot!

I have also switched to tomato energy. 13p from 10pm until 0000 and 5p from 0000 to 0600.

Approx 40 miles a day.

What granny charger did you get?

Recently used a 10m 2.5mm² ext lead and got 1.9kW. The 45m 2.5mm² ext reel gave 1.7kW before tripping the thermal cut out