New owner & charging question

[SurfHawk]

With the Alternative Refueling Tax Credit, I should be able to get 30% credit up to $1,000, so a $333 savings max.

How much do you think I'd save having the electrician pull 10 gauge instead of 6 gauge wire? I think the Bolt will be 7.2kW / 32A and I may end up with one of those someday, so I'd hate to limit myself to 24A charging to save a couple dollars. However if it cut the price in half I'd have to consider it. A 24A EVSE will be the same price as a 40A one, so not saving anything there. Only savings could be if I went down to 16A with the Ebusbar.

 

[LeftieBiker]

If it comes down to replacing conduit vs just pulling new wire through the old, the latter would be much cheaper. If it's just a case of a little more effort to pull heavier cable through the existing conduit, the savings would be much less.

 

[jjeff]

With the Alternative Refueling Tax Credit, I should be able to get 30% credit up to $1,000, so a $333 savings max.

How much do you think I'd save having the electrician pull 10 gauge instead of 6 gauge wire? I think the Bolt will be 7.2kW / 32A and I may end up with one of those someday, so I'd hate to limit myself to 24A charging to save a couple dollars. However if it cut the price in half I'd have to consider it. A 24A EVSE will be the same price as a 40A one, so not saving anything there. Only savings could be if I went down to 16A with the Ebusbar.

I'm not sure of the exact savings, best to ask first but if it's only the wiring and not a matter of also replacing the conduit then I can't imagine it would save much more than $100, almost all in wiring, the breakers are generally the same price or very close no matter what amperage(unless we're talking about very large breakers).
I wasn't aware the Bolt was going to have a 32a charger, good for them if true. I also went with a 50a setup 14-50 outlet and #6 wiring but I'm kind of a overbuilder, I also own a 60a Juicebox but only use a maximum of 27.5a for my Leaf. My guess is a 24a EVSE is basically the same price as a larger one, up to a point so yes the only real savings would be in wiring(dependant on how long your run was) and if the conduit would have to be replaced.
Edit: LB said much the same as I when I was typing my response, most of the cost would be in new conduit.

 

[RockyNv]

Conduit is relatively cheap compared to the copper to put inside it (not a really big fan of aluminum wire). My biggest expense aside from the charging station will be the 75 or so feet of copper that will be needed to run the feed from the service panel in the back South East corner of the house to the North West front of the garage. Of course being the Deep South it will have to be sized and rated for our higher ambient temps since we are on a slab and the wire will be going through the small attic space afforded by a 2" roof pitch.

My home was built in 1949 so the electric service was installed as was customary back then outside in the back of the house nearest to the stove and water heater in the kitchen. I envy to a degree those who have their main panel in the garage where it makes all things relatively easy and usually a short run to power tools and such.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Conduit is relatively cheap compared to the copper to put inside it (not a really big fan of aluminum wire).

Yes, but the labor to have the new conduit installed is expensive. Sort of like that $6 brake fluid flush. ;-)

 

[RockyNv]

Conduit is relatively cheap compared to the copper to put inside it (not a really big fan of aluminum wire).

Yes, but the labor to have the new conduit installed is expensive. Sort of like that $6 brake fluid flush. ;-)

Code here requires the conduit up to the roof rafters so most reputable electricians are not going to spec out a pricey run of conduit the length of your garage wall but put a 4 foot run straight up from the panel in the garage and then a 6 foot drop straight down where the charger goes unless they are just trying to jack up the price of the job.

In my case it would be 6 feet of conduit for the drop since my panel is at the other end of the house which is many times cheaper than 100 feet of 4 gauge copper wire run up through a stud wall and then across a limited access attic space.

With the year round heat here conduit up in the attic would be frowned upon and would probably require a larger gauge wire and higher spec insulation further adding to the cost. Living in a hot area changes the game with wiring and things that may be good up North could be considered a fire hazard here.

 

[SurfHawk]

FYI, the GE Durastation is once again $399 on Amazon. Same price as at my local Home Depot so no rush there though. Also, found a $50 coupon on JuiceBox Pro 40 to make is $549, if you use PlugShare: https://www.plugshare.com/?deals=true

 

[jjeff]

FYI, the GE Durastation is once again $399 on Amazon. Same price as at my local Home Depot so no rush there though. Also, found a $50 coupon on JuiceBox Pro 40 to make is $549, if you use PlugShare: https://www.plugshare.com/?deals=true

Yes I also noticed this today, and for someone interested in a 20a L2 EVSE Amazon also seems to have the '18 Leviton on sale(normally $449 for $97 off, for $351(again for however long as the sale lasts).
The GE was it's inflated price(>$500) for quite some time, normally it's only that price for a few days or weeks at a time, this time I believe it was well over a month :roll: IMO the GE seems to be the best price for a full 30a EVSE made by a large company and therefore UL listed, still uglier than sin though :lol:

 

[RockyNv]

With the Alternative Refueling Tax Credit, I should be able to get 30% credit up to $1,000, so a $333 savings max.

How much do you think I'd save having the electrician pull 10 gauge instead of 6 gauge wire? I think the Bolt will be 7.2kW / 32A and I may end up with one of those someday, so I'd hate to limit myself to 24A charging to save a couple dollars. However if it cut the price in half I'd have to consider it. A 24A EVSE will be the same price as a 40A one, so not saving anything there. Only savings could be if I went down to 16A with the Ebusbar.

You are talking about cutting the cost of a $750 job by dropping the wire size from 6 gauge to 10 gauge. What does the current estimate break down the wire cost to be and how many feet roughly are we talking? It would have to be a very long run to have a big enough impact on the final price to make it worth while considering.

 

[SurfHawk]

I decided to not even ask the electrician what 10 gauge would be. I'm going with the 6 gauge 50A circuit to a 14-50 plug and installing a JuiceBox Pro 40.

 

[RockyNv]

I decided to not even ask the electrician what 10 gauge would be. I'm going with the 6 gauge 50A circuit to a 14-50 plug and installing a JuiceBox Pro 40.

That's probably the best choice for the long run. Here it gets about 25 degrees hotter in the Summer so for safety considering the long run I have the circuit would have to be about 100 feet of 4 gauge. I am considering if I do decide to put a charger in to put a relatively large 100 amp sub panel in the garage with plenty of room for expansion so it will be easier to add additional circuits for tools and such along with the eventual rewire a house built in 1949 is going to face.