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This email exchange has coincided with my Octopus mini install notification so hopefully it will add more input to the story. Sent from my Galaxy -------- Original message -------- From: Gordon Henderson <gordon+lug@xxxxxxxxxx> Date: 16/12/2024 20:35 (GMT+00:00) To: DCGLUG ML <list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [LUG]Re: OT: Voip power cut, FTTC > As a (second) aside; Our house has a 100A incoming fuse. Should that > ever blow, I'm advised it would be replaced with an 80A fuse. Again, > this is due to large uptake in things like EVs and batteries at domestic > premises that do not have the infrastructure to support everyone being > on 100A; Rather than invest, the poor house owner is being squeezed > down. What does this mean? You EV, instead of using > 100A-house to charge up, it's using 80A-house. IOW, it's going to take > longer to charge the car. If you can pull 100 amps into your house for domestic use, then it may be argued that you're doing it wrong. There may be other reasons to whinge about the privatisation of the power grid but this isn't one of them. 100A gives you a serious amount of power to use - 23Kw. Given that a standard outlet can only supply 13A/3Kw then where is the rest going? An induction hob (4+1) zone) can max. out at 4.5Kw. Fast heating oven, also 4.5Kw. What are you using the rest for? Given an 80A limit, then it's a mere 18.5Kw. More than enough to run your hob and oven full blast as well as washing machines, etc. Electric house heating is possible, but can work out very expensive indeed although overnight storage radiators can be economical if you can get the right tarrif and set them up correctly. (The other high use domestic power sucker is a good electric shower - they can be up to 7Kw or 30 amps) Those fuses do run hot when pushed to the limits - replacing them with a modern 80 amp one is a sensible move. (I worked with a friend in Bristol who had a home server room - 2 full racks and a big AC unit - that lot was pulling 80 amps at peak until one day it all went beeeep - then the UPSs ran out - a cable junction on the street had blown up!) Lets not forget that domestic stuff is rated for intermittent use. Boil a full 3Kw kettle and 1-2 minutes later it's off - before anything has had a chance to get anything near hot enough to be an issue. Same for modern washing machines. As for EV charging - a typical domestic Level 2 charger can pull a max of about 7Kw and for that it needs to be directly wired into a separate 30A breaker in your distribution panel. Anything more than that (a Level 3 charger) needs a three phase supply and lots of money up front. I do not know of any Level 3 chargers that will run off a domestic single phase supply. A 7Kw charger is going to pull < 30 of your precious 80 amps and realistically you're going to charge that at night on a sensible tariff from a modern energy company who can sell you electricity for single digit pennies per KwH at very off-peak times. It really should not be anything to worry about. For now. -Gordon -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG FAQ: https://www.dcglug.org.uk/faq/ |
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