Existing Home Electric Versus Second EV Meter - Economics

[bbrowncods]

You might get lucky and already have a PVC conduit buried that you can fish the 220V cable through. If you can find it.

 

[Valdemar]

The town electrician suggested running a 100 amp line for now, which always allows stepping up to another EV in years to come.

If the plan is to feed this line from a sub-meter downstream your main service panel make sure it has the capacity for those 100 amps, otherwise you will be facing MSP and possibly service upgrade when you are ready to step-up, or at least you'll need a separate EV service drop. While it is rare, but your utility may not allow you to upgrade your service to higher amps. I guess all I'm saying that future-proofing may end up being a waste of money.

 

[johnrhansen]

You aren't just pouring the money down a rat hole. The 100 amp service in your garage will make your property worth more to the right person. A shop guy would love to have enough juice for a welder and air compressor.

 

[RegGuheert]

If the plan is to feed this line from a sub-meter downstream your main service panel make sure it has the capacity for those 100 amps, otherwise you will be facing MSP and possibly service upgrade when you are ready to step-up, or at least you'll need a separate EV service drop. While it is rare, but your utility may not allow you to upgrade your service to higher amps. I guess all I'm saying that future-proofing may end up being a waste of money.

The capacity of the main panel or the service does not enter into the calculation when deciding whether or not to run a 100A line since the breaker for this stage would be 40A in either case. And since you can run aluminum 2-2-4-4 for about the price of 8 AWG copper (maybe less?) and reduce your resistive losses at the same time, it should be a no-brainer.

 

[Eire32]

I should turn this into 'how its done thread' with photos to show others later what I did etc to get this.....

Ok, so the electrician cam by today, apparently theres already a sub-meter housing and connection to the main meter in place already. I dont know the history on the house but its in place, but theres no meter inside it, its just the housing and connection but he said we can just place the sub-meter for the EV in there saving some money.

The sub-meter is $300 and supplied from the electricity supplier.

On the 240 volt supply I need to dig a 1 foot deep trench, 100 feet, from the sub-meter to the garage. The electrician said number 2 wire if I ever want 100 amp capability on the wire to the garage in case I ever change to another EV other than the leaf.

I think the number 2 wire he talked about is this
2-2-2-4 Aluminum
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-2-2-2-4-Aluminum-SER-Wire-By-the-Foot-13102999/205001908?quantity=100" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Then place the electric cable in a 2 inch pvc pipe to the garage
http://www.homedepot.com/p/JM-eagle-2-in-x-10-ft-PVC-Schedule-40-Conduit-67496/100117340?quantity=10&str_nbr=2602" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Buy two 90 degree pvc elbows
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Carlon-2-in-90-Degree-Sch-40-PVC-Elbow-UA9AJB-CAR/202304075?quantity=2&str_nbr=2674" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As for the other parts or connections......the electrician can figure that out thats not my area of expertise....

Any thoughts, experience or advice please let me know!

Basically I hope to achieve the 240v sub-meter dedicated 240 volt EV electric supply line for I hope under $1,000 (not including level 2 EVSE)
Electrician cost $65 per hour for 4 to 6 hours\
Materials so far
100' of 2-2-2-4 Aluminum cable/ 100' of 2 inch pvc piping and elbows = $250
Sub-Meter = $300
EVSE upgrade of standard leaf charger = $350 or so

Savings:
A dedicated EV supply line after 10pm for 5 cents per KWH

I hope this journey im going on helps others by me and everyone else chipping in

 

[KJD]

Sounds like a good setup to me. 5 cents per kwh is a deal for sure.

It would also be nice to see how much of your bill is for the car and how much for the rest of the house. Post some pictures when you get it set up.

 

[flyonpa]

Existing Sub-Meter... Years ago the Electric companies use to give discounts for Hot Water / Electric heat, the sub-meter were used for that.

Call Dig-Safe before you start to dig.. You don't want to hit any Gas lines. Also any lawn irrigation that may be in your path.

Attempt to avoid the path the 110V line would take to the garage. (Turn power off to it when you start to dig). You may just want to plan on running a new 110v line with your 220v line inside the conduit.

If you have any plans of turning the garage into a man cave, a Coaxial cable would be a good thing to put in it also. If there is still room/ future prof it, a length of fishing line (heavy Gage) so another line could be pulled thru,

It may be worth the $'s to find landscaper who has one of the little backhoes that can dig the trench in a hour vs several days for you to dig it. IF your soil is hard/rocky it will be a hard dig..

I would keep your Leaf Supplied EVSE as 110v in case you need to go and use it else where (also the 220v units charge faster and draw more amps)
Get a wall mounted 220v units (not hardwired, but plug into the outlet from the garage sub-panel) . (Unless electric company/code requires hardwire).

 

[johnrhansen]

Please check the code about running lv wire with power. Something from way back tells me thats not allowed.

 

[flyonpa]

Please check the code about running lv wire with power. Something from way back tells me thats not allowed.

If you can't run the TV wire in the conduit, i would just put it in the trench, outside the conduit. Most TV coaxial are not run in conduits anyway...

 

[johnrhansen]

Please check the code about running lv wire with power. Something from way back tells me thats not allowed.

If you can't run the TV wire in the conduit, i would just put it in the trench, outside the conduit. Most TV coaxial are not run in conduits anyway...

Conduit is cheap. Ought to just run a smaller conduit parallel to the big one for cable, telephone, fiber optic, etc. Then you can change what's run inside it when technology changes just by pulling out the old and replacing it with new!

 

[Valdemar]

Get the permit from your city and have the work inspected once done. The number 2 wire is copper, as it was suggested you can run aluminum instead and save some $. If you do make sure all terminals are rated for Al, most are these days and your electrician uses anti oxidant compound on all connections.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I'm surprised you only have to dig a one foot trench. I had to dig two feet when we put in our solar in the yard. Thought code was statewide, but could be a town by town thing? So, existing conduit too small? Agree with the dig safe advice. Digging your own trench is a great cost savings. Good luck.

 

[Eire32]

Ok, so in the last week plus I found out

Yes, the trench did need to be dug 18 inches, officially, most electricians say dig 2 feet because people don't dig the 18 inches required.

One electrician told me to dig 1 foot deep so I am glad the other guy on here thought that sounded weird cos it was!

The quotes I am getting for running a 120 foot #2 aluminum line in PVC pipe to my garage and have 1 outlet and 1 breaker for 30 amp is ridiculous.

I already have the sub-meter housing in place and connected to my main meter, it was there for some old program the town was running so no need to even put that in there.

Is anyone on here an electrician in MA?
I am predicting material costs to be $300, definitely no more than $400, and some electricians are quoting anything from $50 per hour to $125 per hour with two guys. So the quote they are giving just doesn't make sense given I know how much the materials are costing leaving only labor to figure out, and I think its 4-6 hours work.

Ps
I am digging my own trench, and supplying the sub-meter at $300 myself, so both of those things will be on top of their costs!

 

[Eire32]

So I was thinking of having the EV supply future proof since its digging up the lawn and putting piping in. So I was going to use #2 line so its 100 amp compliant, and for now installing a 50 amp fuse. (I don't think I can run 100amp as the home has 200 amps fuse box and A/C load etc, we can do 50 amp for now which is all I need but 100amp line in case in future we go there with EV's)

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

What town are you in? I'm guessing Cambridge or Framingham. Maybe Harvard.

I'd also guess that the closer to Boston, the more they charge, try calling some west of 495, they may be less expensive. Or, try as local as you can get, less travèl time. There are lots of electricians. Take lots of quotes. It's the only way to judge the market.

If you want, I'll PM you the number for the guy who hooked up my solar and EVSE. He's in Holden, but he travels a lot.

 

[Eire32]

What town are you in? I'm guessing Cambridge or Framingham. Maybe Harvard.

I'd also guess that the closer to Boston, the more they charge, try calling some west of 495, they may be less expensive. Or, try as local as you can get, less travèl time. There are lots of electricians. Take lots of quotes. It's the only way to judge the market.

If you want, I'll PM you the number for the guy who hooked up my solar and EVSE. He's in Holden, but he travels a lot.

I'm in Concord MA.
Sure, you can PM me his number. Thanks!!!

 

[Valdemar]

So the quote they are giving just doesn't make sense given I know how much the materials are costing leaving only labor to figure out, and I think its 4-6 hours work.

Ask for a detailed quote so that you know exactly where the charges are coming from. There may be some work involved or materials needed that you're overlooking. Then if the numbers still don't makes sense ask the contractor to explain.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

What town are you in? I'm guessing Cambridge or Framingham. Maybe Harvard.

I'd also guess that the closer to Boston, the more they charge, try calling some west of 495, they may be less expensive. Or, try as local as you can get, less travèl time. There are lots of electricians. Take lots of quotes. It's the only way to judge the market.

If you want, I'll PM you the number for the guy who hooked up my solar and EVSE. He's in Holden, but he travels a lot.

I'm in Concord MA.
Sure, you can PM me his number. Thanks!!!

Will do. Later, when I get home.

Agree with that last post ^, plus, there are no really cheap electricians. They're all pricey. This job will cost you some buck no matter what. You just want to avoid the really overpriced ones.

 

[Valdemar]

You just want to avoid the really overpriced ones.

That do crappy work.

 

[johnrhansen]

What town are you in? I'm guessing Cambridge or Framingham. Maybe Harvard.

I'd also guess that the closer to Boston, the more they charge, try calling some west of 495, they may be less expensive. Or, try as local as you can get, less travèl time. There are lots of electricians. Take lots of quotes. It's the only way to judge the market.

If you want, I'll PM you the number for the guy who hooked up my solar and EVSE. He's in Holden, but he travels a lot.

I'm in Concord MA.
Sure, you can PM me his number. Thanks!!!

Will do. Later, when I get home.

Agree with that last post ^, plus, there are no really cheap electricians. They're all pricey. This job will cost you some buck no matter what. You just want to avoid the really overpriced ones.

of all the skills in home ownership to learn, electric and plumbing are the ones most worth learning.