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What are the benefits of a home EV charger?
How a dedicated charger compares with a three-pin plug and public chargers, and what to check before you get one.
If you've bought an electric car, you can charge it from an ordinary three-pin socket, at public chargers, or from a charger fixed to the wall of your home. For most people with a driveway, a home charger is the best of the three: it charges about three times faster than a plug, it's built for the job, and it lets you charge overnight on a cheaper tariff.
This post explains each of those benefits in plain terms, what your home needs before a charger can go in, and the grant some households can still claim. It's written for homeowners and renters, not businesses.
Faster than a three-pin plug
Most electric cars come with a "granny cable", a charging lead that plugs into a normal household socket. It works, but slowly. A three-pin socket is limited to about 2.3kW (kilowatts, the rate at which power flows), which adds very roughly 8 to 10 miles of range for every hour of charging.
A typical home charger runs at 7kW, about three times as fast. That's enough to fill most cars from low overnight, so you can start every day with a full battery rather than topping up whenever you get the chance. If you want to compare charger speeds in more detail, our guide on how to choose the right EV charger for your home covers them.
Safer for charging every day
A household socket isn't designed to deliver close to its full load for eight or more hours, night after night. Doing that through an older socket, worn wiring or a loose connection can make it overheat. Charging through an extension lead or a cable reel adds more joints that can heat up, and it's never safe for an electric car.
A home charger is wired on its own dedicated circuit, a cable that runs straight from your consumer unit (the fuse box) to the charger and feeds nothing else. Under the UK wiring regulations, BS 7671, that circuit must have an RCD, a safety switch that cuts the power if current leaks to earth, and protection against a rare supply fault that could otherwise make the car's bodywork live. A granny cable is fine for the odd top-up or a holiday, but it isn't a substitute for a proper charger if you drive every day.
Cheaper than public charging
Public chargers are useful on long journeys, but they usually cost more per unit of electricity than charging at home, and rapid chargers on motorways cost the most.
At home you pay your own electricity rate, and many suppliers offer EV tariffs with a cheaper rate overnight. Charging during those hours can make home charging a fraction of the cost of the public network. The exact saving depends on your tariff and how far you drive, so it's worth comparing a few before your charger goes in.
Smart charging and solar panels
Every new home charger sold in Great Britain since 30 June 2022 has to be a smart charger, under the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations. A smart charger connects to an app and can:
start and stop charging at set times, so the car charges in your cheapest hours
show how much electricity each charge used
by default, avoid charging at the busiest times on the grid, unless you choose otherwise
If you have solar panels, or are thinking about them, some chargers can also favour the electricity your own roof produces during the day, so a car parked at home soaks up power you'd otherwise send to the grid. We fit solar-ready chargers that work this way, and our solar panel installation service explains how the two fit together.
Is your home ready for a charger?
Most homes with off-street parking can take a home charger, but three things are checked first:
Parking: you need a driveway or private off-street space, so the cable never crosses a pavement.
Your electricity supply: most homes have a single-phase supply, which suits a 7kW charger. A charger draws a lot of power, so the electrician checks your main fuse and how much your home already uses at busy times.
Your consumer unit: an old fuse box with no spare space or no RCD protection may need work before a charger can be added safely. Our consumer unit upgrade service covers this when it's needed.
Your electricity network operator also needs to be told about a new charger, and some installs need their approval first. Your installer should handle this paperwork for you.
Grants for renters and flat owners
If you own a house, there's no longer a government grant for a home charger. If you rent your home, or own a flat, you may still qualify for the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant, which covers 75% of the cost of buying and installing a charger, up to £500. You need your own private off-street parking space and an eligible vehicle, and renters need their landlord's permission. You can check the details on the GOV.UK chargepoint grant page.
How we fit a home charger
Our electricians are NAPIT registered, so the work is notified under Part P of the Building Regulations and you receive a certificate once it's tested. We check your supply and consumer unit at the survey, talk you through where the charger should go, and fit it on its own protected circuit. A straightforward wallbox is often fitted in a few hours, and we'll show you how to set up off-peak or solar charging before we leave.
If you're thinking about charging at home, Resistance Electrical can survey your property and recommend a charger that suits your car and your supply. You can book through our EV charging installation service.
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