Looking at a Zappi/eddi, but it’s not cheap and I was wandering how much people divert into these in a year.
I’m looking at thing and wondering if it’s actually worthwhile as I’m not sure you save enough.
Thoughts/figure appreciated.
without quantifying the power diverted. I don't use Gas for hot water at all for probably 9 month a year.
I only have 4kw PV and 8.2battery. My export level is very little with this setup so the potential spare for the EV is limited.
I have an old HW portortial diveter for normal use and a smart switch to switch on full in power hours ( or agile plunges)
I was going to divert some power to EV rather than HW as I can heat water with gas but have no alternatives for the car, but now gas £/kW is about to overtake £/kW for overnight electric I am rethinking. Maybe a share between them I think. Easier in the summer as there is more spare energy then HW requires, its easy to plan then pushing to EV. Less obvious in the winter when little PV so robbing one to use in the other
Low tech EV diveter for now. Use the granny cable and only switch on when PV is > 1.5kw and battery is full and water is hot.
EV divert is probably very slow, If you dont move you car much it will work ok as it will charge over seveal days. Use it a lot and it will need a boost, thats where the expensive kit works as it can manage that for you
Certainly worth while for me, but I did not buy expensive brands to achieve this outcome
Your thoughts on cost of gas tied with mine, but if you’re not paying for gas for hot water for around 9 months it’ll pay for itself in no time. 👍
The Zappi gets mentioned a lot because it was one of the first that could use it's CT clamp to modulate the charge current to an EV.
They are not alone now (Wallbox, Indra and a few others can now pull this trick) so you may find cheaper alternatives.
Conversely if your into home automation, I did quite a lot of work a while back dissecting EV Charger apps to the point where they can be controlled remotely based on PV output. The humble Pod-Point can now atleast be used with Home Assistant amongst others.
And one would hope the yet to be released GE charger would self modulate from PV. Would be a bit of an oversight if not!