Most home charging problems don't begin with the charger. They begin with the house.
A buyer orders an 11 kW wallbox. The installer arrives and finds a single-phase supply. Or the consumer unit has no spare way for a dedicated circuit. Or the RCD protecting the circuit isn't the right type for EV charging. None of these are product faults. They are mismatches between the charger and the electrical environment it needs to work in.
This is Part 1 of a two-part checklist. It covers what to confirm before ordering: supply type, dedicated circuit, and RCD selection. Part 2 covers cable sizing, installation position, and what dynamic load management (DLM) does — and does not — replace.
1. Check the supply before choosing the charger
The most common ordering mistake in home charging is picking power first and checking the supply second.
7 kW is typically a single-phase charger drawing around 32 A at 230 V. It adds roughly 35–40 km of range per hour and fully charges a typical 60 kWh EV overnight in about 8 hours. For most homes with a single-phase supply, this is the practical ceiling.
11 kW is a three-phase charger (3 × 16 A). It adds about 50–60 km of range per hour and cuts a full charge to roughly 5–6 hours. But it only performs at that level if the house actually has a three-phase connection. Many homes do not. An 11 kW charger on a single-phase supply will either be configured down to 7 kW or, depending on the model, may not be suitable at all without a supply upgrade.
22 kW requires three-phase and 32 A per phase. Before ordering, check the vehicle's onboard AC charger rating. Most EVs today accept a maximum of 11 kW on AC. A 22 kW wallbox connected to an 11 kW car still charges at 11 kW. The extra capacity sits unused.
What to confirm before ordering: supply type (single-phase or three-phase), main fuse or breaker rating, and the vehicle's onboard AC charging limit. If the house has single-phase and the buyer wants faster charging, the honest answer may be "this needs a supply upgrade first," not "buy a bigger charger."
2. A dedicated circuit is not optional
EV charging is a long-duration, high-current load. It is not a short burst like a kettle or an oven. Industry guidance is consistent on this point: an EV charge point should have its own dedicated end circuit, separate from existing socket circuits.
Three practical reasons.
First, existing wiring may not be rated for continuous load. A circuit that handles intermittent loads fine can heat up under hours of sustained charging current.
Second, the protective device must match the charging load. The circuit breaker and RCD protecting the charger need to be selected for the charger's rated current and the cable's capacity, not reused from whatever was previously on that circuit.
Third, retrofitting into an existing consumer unit often reveals spare-way problems. If there is no physical space for a dedicated breaker, the scope of work changes — and so does the timeline and cost.
What to confirm before ordering: whether the consumer unit has capacity for a dedicated circuit, and whether the cable route from the board to the parking position is practical. This is a site question, best answered by a qualified electrician before the charger is purchased.
3. The RCD question: Type A or Type B?
This is the single most misunderstood item in home charging electrical checks.
EV chargers can produce residual currents that include smooth direct current components. A standard Type A RCD detects alternating and pulsating DC residual currents, but not smooth DC. A Type B RCD detects smooth DC as well, along with the types Type A covers.
The practical rule is not "always use Type B" or "Type A is enough." It depends on what the charger itself does.
Some chargers include built-in DC fault detection, often described as 6 mA DC residual current detection. For a charger like that, the installation instructions may specify Type A as the minimum external RCD requirement. Other chargers do not include DC detection. For those, Type B — or a Type A plus a separate DC detection device — may be required to meet local wiring rules.
What to confirm before ordering: read the charger's installation manual for the specified external RCD type, and check that specification against the local wiring regulation for the installation country. If the manual says "Type A minimum" but the local code requires Type B for the given installation, the stricter requirement applies.
This is a conversation between buyer, installer, and charger supplier — not a decision to guess.
Bring the supply conditions to the conversation
The purpose of this checklist is not to make installation sound complicated. It is to move the electrical questions earlier, where changing a decision costs nothing instead of requiring a return or a rewire.
If you are selecting a residential AC EV charger and want to confirm the fit before ordering, send us the basics: supply type, main breaker rating, and whether a dedicated circuit is planned or already available. We will tell you which of our models match those conditions — and where a site requirement falls outside the product's documented installation scope and needs the installer's input first.
Talk to us about your installation conditions.
