Increasing my electric service

snout71

Having checked my most recent usage (last 4 months) I can see no single half hour usage above 7.19kwh, so I might be ok (?)
not sure if it’s the same thing but my batteries recharge from the grid at close to 7/8kwh for 5/6 hours, but so long as I don’t recharge both sites at once I should be ok.

I am unsure why my electrician said I was near the edge, I’ll have to ask him.
so there is hope
i will also reach out to western power and see what limitations my current DNO has in place and what it could be. All being well I will probably put my solar set up on another roof as my current faces east and doesn’t perform too well (they placed it on the wrong side of the garage as they couldn’t get scaffolding to fit the narrow entry) so I will place it on the roof of the house which is west facing, unfortunately no south facing roof large enough for more than 4 panels
i currently do not have a clue what my maximum export rate is as I have never produced enough electricity to export.
but at least now I am able to run the house for most of the day with my 17.8kwh batteries after upgrading to intelligent octopus go which allows me to top up my batteries at the cheap rate
think I will be looking at making this next set up with fox ess 4800EQ batteries which are modular up to 42kwh
thanks for all the help and advice

Gerry1

snout71 said:

Having checked my most recent usage (last 4 months) I can see no single half hour usage above 7.19kwh, so I might be ok (?)
not sure if it’s the same thing but my batteries recharge from the grid at close to 7/8kwh for 5/6 hours,

Not the same thing, you've confused kW with kWh.

QrizB

snout71 said:

I can see no single half hour usage above 7.19kwh, so I might be ok

If you've used 7.19kWh in 30 minutes, that's an average draw for the period of 14.38kW. That's about 60A.

snout71

Gerry1 said:

snout71 said:

Having checked my most recent usage (last 4 months) I can see no single half hour usage above 7.19kwh, so I might be ok (?)
not sure if it’s the same thing but my batteries recharge from the grid at close to 7/8kwh for 5/6 hours,

Not the same thing, you've confused kW with kWh.

Yeah, I thought as much but unfortunately I know absolutely zero about electrics lmao. So could I potentially charge two sets of batteries overnight even on a single phase (?)
I have received a reply from national grid which was quick, only to ask for my specific address but nice to know they’re on the ball, hopefully I can get an answer to that side of things from them to see what limits I have and what I could have
not sure why the wording is in red lol

snout71

QrizB said:

snout71 said:

I can see no single half hour usage above 7.19kwh, so I might be ok

If you've used 7.19kWh in 30 minutes, that's an average draw for the period of 14.38kW. That's about 60A.

Ok, so I wouldn’t be able to charge both sets of batteries at the same time then, that’s ok, not ideal but it is what it is

Gerry1

snout71 said:

Gerry1 said:

snout71 said:

Having checked my most recent usage (last 4 months) I can see no single half hour usage above 7.19kwh, so I might be ok (?)
not sure if it’s the same thing but my batteries recharge from the grid at close to 7/8kwh for 5/6 hours,

Not the same thing, you've confused kW with kWh.

not sure why the wording is in red lol

Highlighting. Just to make it easier to spot at a glance that you meant to say 'but my batteries recharge from the grid at close to 7/8kW for 5/6 hours'.

born_again

snout71 said:

My home is an old Georgian 5 bedroom house with a 2nd 3 bedroom house located in same property. 

My electrician told me a while ago that I am close to maxing out my board
i want to increase my capacity, I believe I have 100a (though there is a 125a fuse (?) as I want to add a 2nd 6kw solar set up with batteries and maybe even add heat pump(s) 
I believe I can ask for a 2nd 100a service from western power is this right? What sort of cost am I looking at? Do I really need a 2nd line? I have so many questions I am hoping to gain some clarity here

Re you sure they are not talking about your circuit board & not the actual supply to the house?
As there is no house circuit board shown in your pictures.

sheenas

As other have said your on an 80A DNO fuse. If you want more you may ask for a 100a fuse, but the DNO may say no. If you really want to consumer hug amounts of power 3 phase is the best option and again the DNO and your wallet may say no. 

A Cost effective solution (Without really having enough details) but an EV charger with current limit clamps (which are mandatory anyway). Solar will require some changes to Consumer units installation.  The units could do with a tidy up and the  BBQ box looks rather suspect. 

snout71

Gerry1 said:

snout71 said:

Gerry1 said:

snout71 said:

Having checked my most recent usage (last 4 months) I can see no single half hour usage above 7.19kwh, so I might be ok (?)
not sure if it’s the same thing but my batteries recharge from the grid at close to 7/8kwh for 5/6 hours,

Not the same thing, you've confused kW with kWh.

not sure why the wording is in red lol

Highlighting. Just to make it easier to spot at a glance that you meant to say 'but my batteries recharge from the grid at close to 7/8kW for 5/6 hours'.

I meant my reply, for some reason the highlighting continued in my reply but it seems to have returned to black now lol

Ectophile

Thinking about it, your electrician may be referring to new guidance for electricians, where a consumer unit is powered from two supplies.

Suppose you do install 2 x 6KWp of solar.  That works out about 52A at 230V.  Add to that the 80A you can draw through the supply fuse, and you get a maximum of 132A flowing through the consumer unit.

Domestic type consumer units aren't designed to handle that sort of power.  It's the sort of thing you would only see in an industrial unit.