EV charger installation in Ickenham
Nearly half of Ickenham households run two or more cars. So the conversation here is rarely about one charger. It is about how you power two of them without tripping the house.
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Two cars, one main fuse
The 2021 census figures for Ickenham are striking. Just over a third of homes are detached — far more than anywhere else we cover — and nearly 47 per cent of households run two or more vehicles. Only about one household in ten has no car at all.
That last number is the one that shapes this page. Two cars, two working adults, both wanting to charge overnight on a cheap tariff, and one incoming main fuse feeding the whole house.
Your house has a single supply, usually 60A, 80A or 100A. A 7kW charger takes about 32A of that on its own. Two of them, plus an oven, plus a shower, and you are over the top of your supply — which means the main fuse in the street goes, and that is not a fuse you can replace yourself.
How we actually solve it
There are three routes and they cost very different amounts.
One charger, and you swap cars. Cheapest and duller than it sounds. Most two-car households do not both need a full charge every night. Plenty of Ickenham customers start here and never move on.
Two chargers that share the load. Both units are aware of each other and of the house. When both cars are plugged in they split what is available; when one finishes, the other speeds up. Overnight there is normally plenty of time for both. This is the right answer for most genuine two-car households and it is far cheaper than upgrading your supply.
A supply upgrade. Occasionally justified. It means an application to the network operator, digging, and a timescale measured in months rather than days. We will tell you honestly if we think you need it — and most Ickenham homes do not.
Three-phase: probably not, and here is why
People with big houses and two EVs often ask about three-phase, usually after reading about 22kW charging. Two things worth knowing before you get attached to the idea.
First, almost no domestic car will take 22kW AC anyway. Most cap out at 7kW or 11kW on AC no matter what you plug them into. You would be paying for capacity the car cannot use.
Second, bringing three-phase into a house that does not have it is a network operator job with a serious price tag and a long lead time.
Load-managed 7kW units, charging overnight, cover almost every real Ickenham household. We would rather tell you that than sell you something bigger.
Long runs on big plots
Ickenham as you know it dates from the 1922 auction of 1,382 acres of the Swakeleys estate, which laid out Warren Road, Swakeleys Drive, Court Road and Milton Road, and turned a village of a few hundred people into a suburb of nearly ten thousand.
The legacy is generous plots. Houses set back from the road, garages to the side, and driveways that keep going. Lovely to live on, and a longer cable run than a terrace.
Cable is not the expensive part — labour and route are. A run that goes cleanly along a wall is quick. A run that has to cross a driveway, get under a patio or come round the back of a garage is not. That is the difference between a morning and most of a day, and it is why we ask for photos of the whole route rather than just the board.
On the longest runs there is also voltage drop to think about, which we size the cable for. You do not need to worry about it — you just need to know it is why the cable on a 25 metre run is thicker and dearer than on a five metre one.
What it costs in Ickenham
A standard 7kW install starts at £850. If the consumer unit needs replacing first the total is higher, and we tell you by how much from the photos — before you commit to anything. A long run, or a second load-managed charger, costs more, and that is in the quote before we start, not added afterwards.
If there are two cars, say so when you get in touch. We would rather quote the thing you actually want than the cheapest thing that fits.
What about the government grant?
If you own or rent a flat with private off-street parking, you can claim up to £500. If you are a landlord, up to £500 per socket.
If you own a house with a driveway — which is most of Ickenham — there is no grant. Those schemes closed to standard households some years ago.
The conservation area, and the pavement
The Ickenham Village conservation area has been in place since 1970 and covers the streets around the green, the Pump and St Giles’. It does not stop you having a charger; it means we think about where the unit goes and how the cable is routed.
And for the small number of Ickenham homes without off-street parking: Hillingdon Council does not permit any cable across the public highway, even covered or in a gully. Our honest read on the alternatives is on the charging without a driveway page.
Around Ickenham
Ickenham, the roads off Long Lane and Swakeleys Road, and out towards Harefield are all a short run for us from Ruislip. We also cover Ruislip, Uxbridge and Hillingdon.
Thinking about the fuse board as well? See consumer unit replacement.
EV charger questions, answered straight
We have two electric cars — do we need two chargers?
Not necessarily. Many two-car households manage fine with one charger and alternating nights. If you do want two, the right answer is usually a pair of load-managed units that share the available supply between them, rather than upgrading the house supply. Both cars still charge fully overnight in almost every case.
Will two chargers blow the main fuse?
Not if they are set up properly. Load management watches what the whole house is drawing and turns the car charging down when the oven and shower are on, then puts it back up. Without it, two 7kW chargers plus normal household load can exceed a typical 60A or 80A supply, and the main fuse in the street is not one you can replace yourself.
Should I get three-phase for 22kW charging?
Almost certainly not. Most domestic cars cap out at 7kW or 11kW on AC regardless of what you plug them into, so you would be paying for capacity the car cannot use. Bringing three-phase into a house that does not have it is a network operator job with a long lead time and a serious cost.
How much does an EV charger cost to install in Ickenham?
A standard 7kW installation starts at £850. Longer cable runs are common here because of the plot sizes, and a second load-managed charger adds more. You get a fixed price from photographs before any work is booked.
Why does a long cable run cost more?
Partly the cable itself, but mostly the route and the labour. A run that follows a wall is quick. One that crosses a driveway, goes under a patio or comes round the back of a garage is not. Longer runs also need thicker cable to keep the voltage right at the far end.
Charging at home in Ickenham
Send three photos and the make of your car — you’ll get a straight answer and a fixed quote. Tell us if there are two cars and we’ll price it properly.