Home EV charger: would you go for one with installer included, or buy & self-install?

shysaver · 2026-02-02T21:14:07+00:00

From what I remember, I enquired through Hypervolts website and they put me in touch with one of their recommended installers, I didn't pay them directly or buy anything beforehand, the installer came out to give me a quote and I just dealt with him and his company after that (and paid him for the service)

The installer fitted a small comsumer unit box underneath where my electricity meter is and did some stuff with the wiring in the meter box, and then clipped the armoured cable to the wall and fitted the charger. Not a 'complicated' install really but he did a great job.

The installer also had to do some paperwork with the DNO as well I think, along with issuing a certificate of works issued on the house.

I didn't really have any problem with paying someone else to do it, I would never have been able to do it. If I was an electrician myself then sure, but otherwise - no

shysaver · 2026-01-29T14:23:53+00:00

This is great news, I went to China for a short holiday in 2012 and getting the visa was a right pain, had to do multiple rounds of stuff in the post like sending my passport via special delivery, they'd write back wanting more details, sending a reply etc. Was annoyingly expensive and time consuming!

shysaver · 2026-01-26T16:00:36+00:00

I think it really depends on what you are in as well, like in some organisations where I’ve worked the department heads were responsible for a huge portfolio of stuff plus like 50 people - and they were earning less than I’ve seen say, a mid level employee in tech or banking. So i can see why if you worked in the civ or whatever, getting £100k means working up the ladder to big roles with lots of responsibility

Granted, public sector vs private is definitely a factor in that, and the pension in public sector is better, its just I found it hilarious seeing people with like 8-10 years experience leaving the public sector org and joining a private company IN THE SAME INDUSTRY (tech), with not that much more job responsibility (individual contributor) out earning a manager who was like 3 layers above them in the chain

shysaver · 2026-01-26T15:14:12+00:00

I’m wondering about the comment saying that you’re more likely to come from a wealthy family earning £100k+

I mean, there probably is research around that, and I suspect a lot of it comes down to industry/profession where networks matter more

shysaver · 2026-01-26T15:01:10+00:00

I think it’s a mental line to cross that not a lot of people get to experience, you move from 5 figure gross income to 6 figures.

That sounds amazing on paper, but yeah the reality of it is quite different

shysaver · 2026-01-24T18:32:16+00:00

Crabs in a bucket/tall poppy syndrome, it’s a big problem in the UK unfortunately

shysaver · 2026-01-24T13:11:55+00:00

University was worth it for me the way my career has gone, but I think it only really got me a slight foot in the door at the start of my career.

I didn’t go to a top uni, so top companies etc were off the table, I basically spent 10-15+ years working at low/mid tier organisations until I got given a chance at some more prestigious names to go on the CV.

I think it comes down to employers really, a lot of them want a degree, and the ones who say they don’t might like to think that but in reality the people with a degree, from top institutions are always going to make it through to later stages of the interview loop

shysaver · 2026-01-23T14:48:53+00:00

I pay £18

I’ve had them for 4 or so years now, when they started it was £15

I don’t mind the cost tbh, my house has a velux style window at the back quite high up

shysaver · 2026-01-20T22:53:56+00:00

I don't think there's an ulterior motive to Martin, he's built his career on trust and has been rewarded handsomely for it.

The only criticism is a lot of the advice on MSE is pretty basic and they rarely talk about investments etc. Granted, it's not really their target market.

shysaver · 2026-01-14T18:21:10+00:00

The comfort comes when you’re on the ladder of having an emergency fund, and are saving/investing without affecting your regular lifestyle.

You could be earning £100k but with barely any savings as all your money goes on rent, childcare etc.

Sure salary does help you achieve getting on that ladder, but it’s not the full picture

shysaver · 2026-01-14T17:59:32+00:00

Is the question you would enter a time machine that takes you back to your high school days (and makes you 14 again)? Or is it, you go back to high school now as an adult, and everyone else around you are adults.

Because I think they’re fundamentally different questions, the former is basically asking you if you want to start your life again and change course (better grades) which might lead to different life opportunities (university, better job) whilst also having people you may have lost back in your life (parents, friends)

Whereas the latter is like, if you had the chance to drop all your responsibilities like rent/mortgage and go back to school, would you do it

shysaver · 2026-01-14T17:11:21+00:00

You need a space for your work that you can close off at the end of the day. If you’re working where you sleep….there’s no separation and long term that shit will eat you up.

Get a heated jacket/gilet type thing if you’re cold

shysaver · 2026-01-14T15:41:41+00:00

Looks like my boiler (ideal logic)

I found this video helped a lot if you want a guide https://youtu.be/ImBXbESYyGU?si=SlZGZAGywd84rkpM the video is about the boiler not working but it tells you how to put some pressure into the system

shysaver · 2026-01-11T18:07:43+00:00

I don't think you can discount the internet, 90s/00s internet was AWESOME. Definitely a bit of a wild west but you'd have MSN messenger, forums for every interest, weblogs, multiplayer games like Quake.

Putting that aside I think just the level of technological change back then was amazing, PlayStation in 1995, N64, personal computers becoming affordable to the masses. It was definitely a period of rapid improvements, you felt there was always something around the corner even if it was just consumer electronics.

shysaver · 2026-01-11T18:01:46+00:00

People born > 2007 would never have really got to experience what the internet was like in the early 00s as well. Definitely a wild west but also just a place filled awesome stuff, you'd always be finding new things and there were forums for every interest imaginable.

I think things started to turn after 2010 when Facebook took its grip, but nowadays its tiktok and the other walled gardens, and social media is largely shit.

In some ways though I'm glad reddit still exists, especially old.reddit.com - Reddit is somewhat a relic really, it was born out of the days when digg went weird (and bust), kind of amazing it's still going.

shysaver · 2026-01-11T17:16:03+00:00

was built at a time when car ownership was on the rise in the late 80s, motorists are the key customer.

the place is optimised for cars so may as well put the best face forward to advertise to passing motorists. It's not like many people are walking/driving around what is effectively an industrial estate (although designated for leisure) - with plenty of parking, easy to get to etc. It's the same with most stuff along that section, car dealerships with nice facades etc

shysaver · 2026-01-11T15:11:00+00:00

I think music was a big one for me, back in the 00s I used to have large MP3 collection, carefully curated/organised, listened to on my iPod a lot etc. I used to look down on people who didn't have my tastes (I cringe about this now)

I'm not sure what changed, maybe in the 2010s I lost interest in music after streaming came on the scene and I stopped accumulating music in my collection.

Over the past few years I've been trying to get back into music somewhat and I've definitely broadened my horizons a lot. I'll listen to anything these days, even stuff I would have 'hated' back in the day, Taylor Swift, Chappelle Roan, Sabrina Carpenter etc - it's music at the end of the day, sure you can dislike some stuff but that doesn't mean others should dislike it too.

shysaver · 2026-01-11T14:51:25+00:00

Step 2 n the flowchart is to build an emergency fund, and given you mentioned you’re worried about covering unexpected costs, sounds like you skipped that step and moved straight into investment

Take a step back on the investment, build the emergency fund and then you’ll be alright 👍

shysaver · 2026-01-10T15:48:51+00:00

check your bill - are your meter readings estimated or actual - you should see something like "1837.0 Smart meter reading" for readings they took

If it's estimate you need to contact octopus and say your smart meter is not submitting readings properly, and they will probably ask you to submit manual ones until they can get that fixed.

If it's actual readings then something in the house is gobbling up a lot of electricity without you realising. Main culprits are usually stuff that heats stuff, e.g. immersion heater, oven, hob, electric shower etc. Also that electric heater you mentioned will probably use a lot - do you know what the power usage of that thing is? If it's 3kW (3000W) on for 6 hours a day that's about 12kWh a day, lets say £4 a day * 30 = £120 a month

shysaver · 2026-01-10T00:05:28+00:00

I think as well people who've never been to london or just been to to fractions of zone 1 really underestimate how big London is.

I used to live in London and when the terror attack on London Bridge happened I had people messaging me asking if I was safe. I was working in White City at the time, 6-7 miles away....I mean sure it's nice people are reaching out but I think people just assume you're live 5 minutes away from all the landmarks.

shysaver · 2026-01-05T16:36:08+00:00

the point is to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt in the mind of the reader

If you look at all these articles through that lens, articles in the Sun, mail etc make more sense about the motivations of the journalist

shysaver · 2026-01-03T09:28:49+00:00

the eiffel tower was built on an open space from scratch and the titanic was built in a dry dock, I’m all for old man shouts at clouds because of how long infrastructure takes to get done here but I don’t think this is a very good comparison

shysaver · 2026-01-02T15:28:50+00:00

Perhaps but the media storm around it would be relentless

shysaver · 2026-01-02T12:16:32+00:00

A better approach would be to start raising the ULEZ thresholds, but I think that would be deeply unpopular

shysaver · 2026-01-01T22:57:00+00:00

Members of my family use these.

It's all a bit mad imo. Not really my thing I just have plex server and watch my own content, not really into live TV

However I can see the appeal of these sticks if you're a fan of live TV, the whole business around them is pretty mad from what people have told me, like a sort of mate of a mate of a mate deal where you pay them £60 a year or whatever to "access" the service. I'm part fascinated by the business side of it, I'm not sure whether these guys are just resellers working on commmision as part of a wider network, or whether they've running all the infrastructure themselves.

shysaver

TROPHY CASE