Deleted member 14045
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2014
- Messages
- 80
I'm on SDG&E's time of use 2 plan (TOU2) and have solar. The 2015 Leaf 'S' that I'm leasing doesn't have the navigation system, which is apparently needed for the more sophisticated charge timers, and I'm using the level 1 charger that comes with it, combined with picking up some charge from Blink and NRG eVgo chargers near my work. Looking for a versatile, programmable charge timer for the level 1 charger, I came across the Belkin WeMo. You can find them on Amazon.com. It's basically a programmable wall outlet that you can turn on and off from your phone. You can set various timers on it, and enable/disable whichever timers you want, and the one I bought even tells you how much electricity went through it during it's last cycle. It's pretty neat, and it hasn't overheated on me yet or anything.
So, I have a timer called "super off peak - @23 miles" that turns on from midnight to 5am, and adds approximately 23 miles of range. I have another called "midnight to 10am - @40 miles" that spans super off peak and just off peak hours, but adds a little more range if I wasn't able to pick up enough charge during the day. I have another called "6pm to 10am" that's simply designed to make sure that the charger is turned off when it's probably not going to be in use anyway, etc etc.
My routine has been to look at the battery gauge when I get home, plug in, and pick a timer to activate, then deactivate the others. So far, it's working pretty well.
I hope that when I get around to installing a level 2 charger, I'll be able to find something this convenient.
I word of caution. I'm not an electrician, so I don't know how "safe" this is. We run multiple smoke detectors in and near the garage, for this and other reasons. Like I said, it hasn't heated up yet, and the amp rating of the device seems to be what's required, so I think it's safe, but you just never know.
So, I have a timer called "super off peak - @23 miles" that turns on from midnight to 5am, and adds approximately 23 miles of range. I have another called "midnight to 10am - @40 miles" that spans super off peak and just off peak hours, but adds a little more range if I wasn't able to pick up enough charge during the day. I have another called "6pm to 10am" that's simply designed to make sure that the charger is turned off when it's probably not going to be in use anyway, etc etc.
My routine has been to look at the battery gauge when I get home, plug in, and pick a timer to activate, then deactivate the others. So far, it's working pretty well.
I hope that when I get around to installing a level 2 charger, I'll be able to find something this convenient.
I word of caution. I'm not an electrician, so I don't know how "safe" this is. We run multiple smoke detectors in and near the garage, for this and other reasons. Like I said, it hasn't heated up yet, and the amp rating of the device seems to be what's required, so I think it's safe, but you just never know.