In mid-November 2025 our home charger, a myenergi Zappi V2, began presenting a Comms Fault #26 error. This meant there was a communication error between the Zappi and the car it was plugged into.

Having a background in electronic engineering, I followed myenergi instructions on opening the Zappi, inspecting, & reconnecting the ribbon cable. This temporarily resolved the issue, but the next day I an unresolvable Charge Delayed error presented.

At the time, the unit was just 4 years & 9 months old. I contacted myenergi support, who were excellent in providing initial ticket support. This was followed by over the phone diagnostic steps to try & resolve the issue, but this was to no avail. At the end of that call, it was clear that the unit was not recoverable. Further research online revealed that the switching relay on this model can eventually break & burn out, & when I opened the unit again I could smell the burning. I permanently powered it down & would now have to decide how to get a replacement.

Being a fully EV household, it was important that I try & source a replacement quickly, however, having driven EVs now for 5 years, we were in no panic, other than the fact we would need to pay for public charging. In addition, my wife’s workplace has paid chargers installed, providing a very reasonable 11kW output, & we also have neighbours who have home chargers installed - one of them was kind enough to allow me charge there, if needed.

If this were 5 years ago, the lack of public chargers on the east coast would have posed a bigger problem to keeping both cars on the road, but because of so many improvements over the past few years when it comes to options on charger availability, there was no anxiety when it came to us finding alternate solutions.

My first port of call was to reach out to the EV community for advice on home charger installers, prior to me searching myself. This gave me a starting point for seeking quotes, & a bit more digging revealed many installers in my area - installers who either did not exist, or weren't acting as installers, 5 years ago. In parallel with this research, myenergi came back to me, & given I had been a legacy customer (having a Wifi-less Zappi), they offered me a ‘deal’ on a refurbished V2.5 Zappi unit, with the same 3 year warranty as a new unit, for a price reflecting the fact it was refurbished. I will run through some numbers later.

Next, with my sustainability mindset, I investigated the possibility of perhaps instead replacing the relay & reusing the charge unit. While I did find instructions on repairing it, & located the relay unit needed (which would take about 8 weeks to get delivered from China), given we were coming into Winter, with reduced range due to cold weather, waiting until the end of January was not an option*.

I contacted 5 different providers, for quotes on provision & installation of a new home charger, with a mix of results. At the top end a well-known provider in the South East quoted a whopping €1,334 for supply & fit a new home charger. At the lower end I got prices from both ePower & Zetta Solar of around €1,000 to supply & fit a new home charger.

Some things to consider, when purchasing a replacement home charger:

1. You are not eligible for an SEAI Home Charger Grant if the property previously availed of it - it is only available once per MPRN.

2. There is no grace from installers where this grant is not available, & I suppose why should there be, but given the price range of supply & fit quotations, it does highlight the importance of shopping around (the variance in quotes received was up to €300, which is what the grant now is).

3. Consider contacting charger manufacturers directly, & get a qualified electrician to install it - the cabling is already in place.

4. Don’t dismiss offers such as myenergi's refurbished unit offer - they are good value, & can offer the same warranty (in my case anyway).

5. If you do decide to go for a unit purchased from a manufacturer directly, again, price around for installation quotes. I found that these ranged from €136 to €550, but some installers would not stand over installing a refurbished unit.

So, given the above, what did I do in the end? I decided to purchase the refurbished unit from myenergi based on the fact it was provided & shipped from the UK for €440, & I had a local installer hook it up on December 14th for €200. All in €660, with a 3 year warranty. Compare this to the €800 (€1,400 upfront minus €600 SEAI grant) I paid in 2020 & it's not far off, though it begs the question why home chargers have not dropped in price much over the 5 years.

I think that probably comes down to the fact that everything is more expensive in 2025 - 2026, but as there are more installers now, you'd expect more competition, & as there are more home chargers being installed, you'd expect their prices to have dropped regardless. Kudos to the providers who quoted me a more sensible circa €1,000 for replacement. Perhaps next time!!

* Though I might source that switching relay in future so I can replace it, & have a spare home charger.