Home charger questions

Evermore

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Hello all, I know there are a few AZ residents active on this board right now. Looking at you @macchiaz-o, @SnBGC, @zhackwyatt and I'm sure I missed others. :)

I was reading through the Shopping for a Home Charger forum to figure out best options, and figured it might make sense for those of us here in the Valley that will have garage temps easily exceeding 130* on the hottest days to discuss Home Charging (not to mention that it makes it easier for others to find). We certainly deal with different aspects of climate than those folks in Michigan...

That said, what charger is everyone going with, and did you have it installed or do it yourself? If installed, do you have a recommendation?

I'm planning on adding the unit inside the garage, possibly on the ceiling (heat rises... so even hotter up there, sheesh). Not sure if a normal unit is advisable or if I need to be looking the commercial route?

Thanks everyone!
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Hello all, I know there are a few AZ residents active on this board right now. Looking at you @macchiaz-o, @SnBGC, @zhackwyatt and I'm sure I missed others. :)

I was reading through the Shopping for a Home Charger forum to figure out best options, and figured it might make sense for those of us here in the Valley that will have garage temps easily exceeding 130* on the hottest days to discuss Home Charging (not to mention that it makes it easier for others to find). We certainly deal with different aspects of climate than those folks in Michigan...

That said, what charger is everyone going with, and did you have it installed or do it yourself? If installed, do you have a recommendation?

I'm planning on adding the unit inside the garage, possibly on the ceiling (heat rises... so even hotter up there, sheesh). Not sure if a normal unit is advisable or if I need to be looking the commercial route?

Thanks everyone!
very interesting question that I didn't think about concerning temp. The chargepoint manual says
Do not operate Home in temperatures outside its operating range of -22˚F to 122˚F (-30˚C to 50˚C)
 
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Evermore

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janitorjim

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Yeah, something I hadn't really thought about either. An interesting discussion in the main board starting on Page 10 to get you started: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/shopping-for-a-home-charger.1190/page-10
you have me searching the internet now. Came across something else that I didn't think about.
Actually having the car plugged in on hot days to keep the battery cool. So then you have an issue about operating temp of the charger and keeping the car battery good

Hot Garage
 

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Yeah, something I hadn't really thought about either. An interesting discussion in the main board starting on Page 10 to get you started: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/shopping-for-a-home-charger.1190/page-10
Yeah, good discussion there.

I was considering buying an extra mobile charger instead of a permanent wall type.... But after Greg brought up the issues with temperatures, I changed my mind on that.

I don't have an EV yet (or even a charger). So my only knowledge on this is from this forum and others.

That said, I'm strongly considering this plan for myself:

1. Get a Mach-E.

2. Use the mobile charger that comes with the car.

3. When the FordPass Rewards points show up in my account from new vehicle purchase, redeem all my points towards purchase of connected charge station.

So I'll miss out on some of the EVSE tax credit since it expires this year. But it could be retroactively extended by congress, and I haven't found much other use for those rewards points. And, Webasto (the EVSE supplier) has had operational temp ratings above 122 for some of their wall chargers in the past... So there's hope anyway.
 


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One other thing... I was thinking this won't be such a big deal because I'll have it charging in the hours prior to sunrise... But then I started monitoring garage temps overnight and it remains above 110 on the hotter days. (I didn't even have the thermometer in there during the hottest weeks.)
 

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One other thing... I was thinking this won't be such a big deal because I'll have it charging in the hours prior to sunrise... But then I started monitoring garage temps overnight and it remains above 110 on the hotter days. (I didn't even have the thermometer in there during the hottest weeks.)
have to tried with leaving the garage door a little bit open and see what difference that makes?
 
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Evermore

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have to tried with leaving the garage door a little bit open and see what difference that makes?
Possibly in some months in the spring and fall it might help... but to give you an example here, there are weeks at a time in August when the overnight low doesn't even hit 90*. Add to that the heatsink of a garage and all the rock/asphalt around our houses... It might bring it down a couple degrees, but won't have a huge impact when temps are the hottest here.
 

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I have an Aerovironment RS and I mounted it outside for convenience. Not including the street....there are 6 possible parking spaces and that location can service 5 of those spaces.

I installed myself and have experience with electrical circuits. We hold an electricians license at work.

I installed Seimens Versicharge units for my brother, my niece and at work. Those units function perfectly fine.

We are a dealer for ChargePoint and one other well known manufacturer.

The Aeronvironment, Seimens and ChargePoint are all good products. They all have real contactors with heavy gauge wiring vs relays with soldered circuit boards in a potted case. I would not recomend the second type for our climate. Have experienced issues with those types.

I am not in the market for an EVSE but if I were, I would consider this unit.

https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers/home

Feel free to private message me. I will invite you down to our shop so you can see what these things look like inside. That will tell you what you need to know. :)
 

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Possibly in some months in the spring and fall it might help... but to give you an example here, there are weeks at a time in August when the overnight low doesn't even hit 90*. Add to that the heatsink of a garage and all the rock/asphalt around our houses... It might bring it down a couple degrees, but won't have a huge impact when temps are the hottest here.
Oh yeah I understand. Just to see if it gets the garage below the operating range in the hottest of months. Also wonder if those ductless AC units (not window units) would work. Of course I assume most garages are not insulated so might be a whole lot of wasted energy
 
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redeem all my points towards purchase of connected charge station.
@macchiaz-o : Any idea what the $ value of those points might be? This isn't an unreasonable plan at all... That said, the tax credit savings on getting it done this year might be worthwhile too. 30% on a $1000 electrician + charger bill = $300...
 

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@macchiaz-o : Any idea what the $ value of those points might be? This isn't an unreasonable plan at all... That said, the tax credit savings on getting it done this year might be worthwhile too. 30% on a $1000 electrician + charger bill = $300...
200 points equals $1.00. I know for ICE vehicles you get 42,000 point ($210.00). Not sure if Mach-e is that same amount.
 

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Hello all, I know there are a few AZ residents active on this board right now. Looking at you @macchiaz-o, @SnBGC, @zhackwyatt and I'm sure I missed others. :)

I was reading through the Shopping for a Home Charger forum to figure out best options, and figured it might make sense for those of us here in the Valley that will have garage temps easily exceeding 130* on the hottest days to discuss Home Charging (not to mention that it makes it easier for others to find). We certainly deal with different aspects of climate than those folks in Michigan...

That said, what charger is everyone going with, and did you have it installed or do it yourself? If installed, do you have a recommendation?

I'm planning on adding the unit inside the garage, possibly on the ceiling (heat rises... so even hotter up there, sheesh). Not sure if a normal unit is advisable or if I need to be looking the commercial route?

Thanks everyone!
I toyed with the idea of putting an outlet on my ceiling but my garage ceiling isn't flat and i think may be more trouble than its worth. So I'm just going to put an outlet in the garage on an exterior wall (by a window no less ?) and then install the Grizzl-e next to it. I decided I wasn't going to worry about it too much. If it breaks it breaks and maybe I'll have to come up with something different. I have friends around here who have Tesla's and so far they don't have any issues with that and I think the heat rating is the same for almost all EVSEs.

I did put insulating foam in my garage door as it faces southwest. I think that helps a little bit, but its still like having an oven attached to the side of your house.
 

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Hello all, I know there are a few AZ residents active on this board right now. Looking at you @macchiaz-o, @SnBGC, @zhackwyatt and I'm sure I missed others. :)

I was reading through the Shopping for a Home Charger forum to figure out best options, and figured it might make sense for those of us here in the Valley that will have garage temps easily exceeding 130* on the hottest days to discuss Home Charging (not to mention that it makes it easier for others to find). We certainly deal with different aspects of climate than those folks in Michigan...

That said, what charger is everyone going with, and did you have it installed or do it yourself? If installed, do you have a recommendation?

I'm planning on adding the unit inside the garage, possibly on the ceiling (heat rises... so even hotter up there, sheesh). Not sure if a normal unit is advisable or if I need to be looking the commercial route?

Thanks everyone!
Have you have been on the SRP or APS websites and checked out their EV programs?
 

macchiaz-o

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to see if it gets the garage below the operating range in the hottest of months. Also wonder if those ductless AC units (not window units) would work. Of course I assume most garages are not insulated so might be a whole lot of wasted energy
I installed a GE in-wall A/C but I didn't buy one strong enough to handle this heat and leaky garage door, etc... It can't cope with the heat load. Can't get temp below 100 (the A/C just has a two digit temp display, so it says HI all the time in summer!) Anyway, it also drives energy bill way up, so I don't use it. I wanted it for woodworking purposes but it didn't work out.

Any idea what the $ value of those points might be? This isn't an unreasonable plan at all... That said, the tax credit savings on getting it done this year might be worthwhile too. 30% on a $1000 electrician + charger bill = $300...
About $400 or so, including the $210 granted with new vehicle purchase (if they do that for Mach-E, which isn't specified yet... It's neither gas not diesel.) PLUS if I sign up for the FordPass Rewards visa card, then even more points will be awarded.

If I hire an electrician to fix my own work that I did many years ago, it's probably going to cost well over $1,000... So I will look into doing that part before the end of the year. The main load center on the house is 85 feet from the load center/panel that I put in the garage... And I put a lot of circuits in there.

I did put insulating foam in my garage door as it faces southwest. I think that helps a little bit, but its still like having an oven attached to the side of your house.
Same here, SW facing and foam in the door panels. I also insulated the attic space (R-38) and blew in cellulose insulation into the side walls. Though I didn't buy enough of cellulose stuff so those walls are only partially filled.

Have you have been on the SRP or APS websites and checked out their EV programs?
SRP: $50 Amazon credit for joining their EV community. https://www.srpnet.com/electric/home/forms/EVsignup.aspx
Sponsored

 
 




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