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Guidelines to electrician
- Thread starter mncbabu
- Start date
.Yes. Main breakers of many condo units are nested together in a room attached to my garage. I don't know our HOA will allow to access the room. The circuit breaker for my condo is in second floor , just about the garage. Why do we need to have access to main breakers? My understanding is that the new line will be pulled from circuit breaker box..
What is the breaker size in that room?
I’m surprised that a main breaker doesn’t have to be readily accessible.
I've done a lot of site walks at multi-unit properties in San Diego specifically to scope them out for EV charging. Your $200 + $200 numbers make more sense in a single family home environment where the electric panel is near the garage so that only a short run is necessary to install a new circuit.
But the OP lives in a condo and that usually makes the installation a lot more complicated. He'll have to deal with the HOA, so an electrical permit will be required, and the bulk of the cost for an EV charging station installation will depend on how far the car's parking space is from the electrical room or closet and how easy it will be to run the new circuit. Depending on the layout, and whether concrete boring needs to be done to go from one floor to another, etc. this could easily be a $2000-$3000 job (or more in some circumstances). One of the first steps is to ensure that the electric service for the property can handle this new EV charging load. You're probably okay for one charging station, but unfortunately I've been to several recently-built properties that wanted to install 10-12 chargers and didn't have the spare capacity to do that. There are a lot of other details to consider...
OP, can you please provide more details about the location of the electrical room where your meter is and the location of your parking space, etc.?
By the way, since you're local, I'm happy to volunteer to make a site visit at no cost to you and look over your job to provide some tips and/or suggestions to help get you started. I'm a retired utility (registered professional) engineer that specializes in EV charging, and do part time EV charging consulting mainly for utilities. I don't do actual installation work, but can point you in the right direction with your job. You can send me a PM if you're interested...
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How many miles do you drive per day and per week?
Do you have cheap charging at night?
Is there a garage outlet fed by a 20amp 120v breaker using 12-2 wire?
Depending on your answers, you could:
Use an existing NEMA 5-15 outlet and charge at 10A or about 4 miles of range per hour.
Change a garage outlet yourself to a NEMA 5-20 and charge at 16A/120v (1.9kw/h or ~7 miles/h) for about 10 - $30 (might need an electrician in a condo)
Change a garage outlet to a NEMA 6-20 and breaker to 20a/240v and charge at 16A/240V (3.8kw/h or ~15 mile/h) for about $100.(might need an electrician in a condo)
Install a 30 or 40 amp outlet and needed breaker and wiring for ~S1000. (labour included) and charge at 5 to 7 kw/h.
I would strongly advise buying at least two EVSEs (chargers) and keep one in the car at all times.
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RandyS,
Thank you for you offer to make a visit to provide some suggestion, as you are in SD. I could not find an option to send PM to you..
Another side question.
The work order mentions that they will be installing GFCI/AFCI 15-30a Plug-In Breaker. Is it corresponds to 30A breaker? If we install 30A circuit breaker, can I use the NEMA adapter 14-50 supplied with Tesla mobile charger? or, Should I buy a separate NEMA adapter 14-30 from Tesla?
The work order mentions that they will be installing GFCI/AFCI 15-30a Plug-In Breaker. Is it corresponds to 30A breaker? If we install 30A circuit breaker, can I use the NEMA adapter 14-50 supplied with Tesla mobile charger? or, Should I buy a separate NEMA adapter 14-30 from Tesla?
RayK
Active Member
In short, no. Using an adapter that changes a 14-50 plug into a 14-30 plug will confuse the mobile connector into thinking it's plugged into a 50A outlet and deliver 32A. That will exceed the safe limit of 24A for a 30A breaker and circuit. Or, if you intend to install a 14-50 outlet on a 30A breaker (which I think is still to code), you're still telling the mobile connector you're plugging into a 50A circuit if you continue to use the 14-50 NEMA adapter.
Yes.
Gauss Guzzler
Safety Score = 42
Why 30A? That just seems like a whole lot of extra hassle just to get something nonsensically worse than a normal installation.
davewill
Active Member
Eric33432
Member
While your panel is rated 125 amps, it might be fed with a circuit that is rated less than 125 amps. As an example, I have a sub panel rated for 200 amps that is mainly used for lighting that is fed with a 60 amp circuit. So you need to know what your capacity is and the only way to do that is to find where the service equipment (main breaker) is located and examine it.
While you can talk about it all day, the only way to really know how much additional load you can install for an EVSE is to do a load study. You can easily do that yourself using Mike Holt's Electrical Tool Box:
While almost any 240 volt circuit will be adequate most of the time, even a 20 amp circuit, I recommend that you install whatever is possible as most of the cost of installing your circuit will be labor, and the labor to install a 50 or 60 amp circuit will be almost the same as the installation of a 20 amp circuit, especially if the length is only 20 or 30 feet.
Here is why I say, even though a 240 volt 20 amp circuit is almost always adequate, but recommend you install whatever is possible (based on your load study):
Normally, even with a 20 amp circuit you will be fully charged in the morning if you have all evening/night to charge. But, on some occasions you may need to charger quicker than that, for example 1) you suddenly need to go on a last minute trip and want to top off the car to 95+%. If you set the car to charge while you are getting ready for your trip you will gain more miles with the larger capacity circuit, 2) you might come home from a long trip one afternoon at 8% SOC, and want to go out later that day and need to quickly add 40 or 50 miles of range, or 3) if I am going on a trip, I will set the car to charge to 100% when I wake up in the morning and am getting ready (it will have been charged to 80% with its normal overnight charging). Having the larger capacity circuit will top off the car so it will be at, or close to 100% right before I leave. You will gain the range you might need quicker with a higher capacity circuit.
That said, I would not hold off on buying an EV if I could only install a low capacity circuit. The benefits are just too good to pass by the opportunity of owning an EV. And I would not spend a lot more money installing a higher capacity circuit if it required upgrading my electrical service or panel. I would only install the higher capacity circuit if the cost increase is just for the marginal cost of the materials, and a slight increase in labor as installing larger wire is a bit more difficult. But the cost difference between #10 wire for a 30 amp circuit and #8 wire for a 40 amp circuit should be slight.
Another thing, I do not understand your quote where it says "15-30 amp circuit breaker". That makes no sense. Is it a 15 amp breaker or a 30 amp breaker?
Last, I strongly recommend you install a Tesla Wall Connector. This will save a considerable amount since it does not need a GFCI breaker, and you can keep the Tesla Mobile Connector in your car. You may never need it, but if you do need it (and I have) you will be extremely glad you have it.
Hope this helps. Let us know what you end up doing.
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I just sent you a private message with my contact information...
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