Castle Cary is built largely of local Cary stone, and many homes in and around it are period cottages, Georgian townhouses, Victorian villas, restored farmhouses and converted barns. They can take a charge point well, but they ask more questions than a new-build drive does. These are the questions we work through on a survey here, and why each answer changes the job.
Old stone walls are thick, and the charger cable has to pass through one somewhere. We drill a clean route, sleeve the cable where it passes through, and seal both faces so water and draughts stay out. The charger is fixed into sound stone, not into soft joints, and set at a height where the lead can be holstered tidily after use.
On the front of a period house, the charger is a visible change. If your home is listed, or you are unsure, talk to the local planning office before booking; we cannot advise on planning. A side or rear wall, or the inside of a garage, often avoids the question and suits the car just as well.
We don't publish a price list, because every install is different. If the house has no recent report we may suggest an EICR first, and an armoured run to a garage or barn is measured at the survey. You then get a fixed price in writing that sets out exactly what is included, charger and all.
Around the town, a lot of people want to charge at a building that is not the house: a garage across a yard, a cart shed or a converted barn. The cable to it goes in armoured (SWA) cable, buried in a duct across your own ground, and where it makes sense the charger circuit gets its own outdoor enclosure at the far end holding its Type A RCBO and surge protection.
If an outbuilding already has an old supply, we test it rather than trust it. At Evercreech this year, a new armoured supply to a garage turned up an old cross-polarity fault on the previous garage feed, which we corrected. That sort of thing is exactly why existing supplies are never reused without testing.
The price depends on the charger you choose, the cable run and the board. The quote covers the unit, the dedicated circuit, the cabling, fitting the charger and certification; we fit Zappi, Andersen, Hypervolt and Ohme, normally 7.4kW on a single-phase supply. A run across a yard to a barn, or board work if the existing consumer unit is not fit for it, is priced once we have measured it.
You get one written, fixed price with VAT at 20% on its own line. We price the work, not the time. When the job is finished we notify the distribution network operator for you, issue an Electrical Installation Certificate, notify the work under Part P through NAPIT and set the app up on your phone.
Two jobs from this year in villages around the town.
Period houses often need more than a charger. See EICR in Castle Cary for a report on the existing wiring, consumer unit replacement in Castle Cary if the board needs changing, heritage rewires in Castle Cary for older stone houses, and our electricians in Castle Cary for smaller jobs. More about the area is on our Castle Cary page.
Leave your details and a line about the job. We will ring you back to talk it through and arrange a survey or a written price.
Possibly, but the planning side is for you to check with the local planning office before booking, as we cannot advise on it. Electrically, a listed house is no different: dedicated circuit, Type A RCBO, earthing checked. A position inside a garage or on an outbuilding is often easier than the front of the house.
In armoured cable, buried in a duct across your own ground, from the house board or meter position to the garage. Where it suits the route, the charger circuit gets its own outdoor enclosure with its RCBO and surge protection. We measure the run at survey and include it in the fixed price, and we agree with you where the trench goes.
Often not. If the house already runs electric cooking, heating and a shower, we fit load management: a CT clamp on the meter tails that lets the charger slow down while the house is busy. We also notify the distribution network operator about the charger for you. If the survey shows something more is needed, we explain what and why before you commit.
Mainly by where the car parks and which side its charging socket is on, so the lead reaches without crossing a path. Then we look at the wall itself, the cable route back to the board and whether your Wi-Fi reaches. We agree the spot with you on the survey, so you know exactly where it will go before you accept the price.
Yes. Ansford adjoins Castle Cary to the north, Alhampton is about two miles north-west and Lovington about three miles west. Farmhouses and barns in those villages often mean longer runs, which we measure and price at survey. Ditcheat, a little further north-west, is covered as well.
Priced by the job, not by the hour. A written, fixed price after a survey, NAPIT certification on every notifiable job.
07889 334849