Make sure you’re on the latest beta app (v2.0.6 & above)
Click Add New Device in the Manage page
Click Add Smart Charger
Pick your charger brand & enter your credentials for the manufacturer account
Notes
The current beta will allow you to connect to your charger, view charging information & participate in equivents using your charger.
Beta 2 will enable Smart Charging using your Tariff.
You can currently only connect either a Smart Charger or an EV. If you have a supported EV, we recommend keeping your EV connected instead, outside of helping us beta test.
Could be used with “dumb” EV chargers to enable Equiwatt participation. Car chargers give by far the greatest “bang per buck” for the Equiwatt use case, with the least impact on users.
That’s an interesting product, we could probably use smart breaker integrations for overall energy monitoring too. And looks like that particular one is powered by Tuya which is an integration we’re currently looking at. Once/if integrated, we should be able to support those for sure.
Actually picked that one as the first result in a search I did for smart MCBs… I have no particular preference for which product might be eligible, just awareness that charging EVs has to be the best use-case for Equiwatt, but many older charge-points would require replacement to participate.
An EV on a domestic charge-point is of course using something between 3.7kW and 7.3kW, beating fridges and freezers as a source of “virtual power” by a wide margin - think my freezer is 60W when the compressor is running. EVs can be disconnected almost without consequence, unlike some washing machines or dryers, which will need reset if the power goes out. As long as the EV battery is not nearly flat, shutting it off for up to an hour will not inconvenience anyone or cause damage to food in fridges etc.
The breaker looks expensive though, maybe need a large uptick in volume to get the cost down before it would be widely adopted. (I’d probably give one a try, even at the current price, if it became supported.)
Oh right, definitely agreed on that! The capacity they provide is massive (compared to other devices in the home) that’s for sure. But they do have their own issues, like availability and connectivity, which we’re trying to work around as much as possible.
Do you own an EV that you’re looking to potentially connect via the breaker if/when we support it?
Sort of. It’s a PHEV (shyly hide my shame). It has done mostly electric miles during Covid lockdowns, but even though it has a relatively small battery - 13.8kWh - interrupting the charging around 6pm when most equivents occur is unlikely to impact the availability of it’s EV capacity.
@John_Thomas you described it spot on! And that’s exactly what we’re trying to convey.
We know that many EV users are already in a ToU tariff, but specially for those who aren’t the equivents are a great alternative to help the grid and energy transition without causing much inconvenience.
Also about “dumb” chargers, this is something we have on the radar. We’re trying to reach people with for instance QUBEV or similar chargers because they would probably benefit the most from equiwatt without the smart/connectivity capabilities.
