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Anyone uses a smart plug with the L1 charger?

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by su_A_ve, Aug 2, 2022.

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  1. Aug 2, 2022 #1
    su_A_ve

    su_A_ve Active Member

    After 4 years of free charging at work, after being laid off (did get a new job though), I'm back charging at home on L1 every night.

    Because it's still a short commute, don't see the need to get a L2 charger at this point. If I upgrade to a full EV vehicle, it'll be another story. Up to now, I've been keeping track of charges and cost at home with a kill-a-watt and recording the kWh and cost. But the other problem I'm having is not able to remote turn on climate control, neither via the app nor keyfob, because the L1 charger is plugged in.

    So I thought about getting a smart plug that I would be able to either schedule or remotely turn off and hence be able to turn climate control remotely. And if it provides power consumption, I'd also be able to keep track of cost.

    Just ordered some Kasa plugs that work with HomeKit and able to give power usage. Anyone else done something like this?
     

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  2. Aug 2, 2022 #2
    Dan Albrich

    Dan Albrich Well-Known Member

    Oregon
    So I went like 6 months without L2. I also like climate control. So the deal with L1 ( at least with Touring, maybe both Touring and base) is that climate control absolutely *does* work but the car can do one or another. My meaning is you can either charge or do climate. I remember I'd sometimes stop charging (even thought not 100%) so climate control would happen... but this is from memory a few years back so YMMV.
     
  3. Aug 2, 2022 #3
    su_A_ve

    su_A_ve Active Member

    I’ve gotten it working but it was when I would only charge a few hours to get enough miles to get to work. I believe if schedule is on then you can start the remote climate.

    But now that I charge to full, it won’t even if it’s not charging but still plugged in. I try sending a stop charge and then start remote climate but would not work.
     
  4. Aug 2, 2022 #4
    Steven B

    Steven B Active Member

    Have used only L1 at home since new (Dec 2017). To activate climate remotely, the car can't be actively charging. If plugged in but not charging, when you initiate remote climate via the app or the fob, charging begins simultaneously with the climate system. If my car is the odd ball in this behavior, I'd be pleasantly surprised.

    Seems like someone along the way calculated the power required to operate the climate system and in the heat cycle it is greater than L1 can provide, so the battery slowly drains during preconditioning/charging. I suspect during cooling, the power consumption of the compressor is less than L1 can provide so if the car is not at 100%, the battery will slowly charge during preconditioning/charging.
     
  5. Aug 3, 2022 #5
    Dan Albrich

    Dan Albrich Well-Known Member

    Oregon
    Yes, and Steven B makes the point, but if like me your primary use for climate is heating in the winter, it doesn't also charge the car at same time. At least not on L1. And yep if you have access to L2, it's part of the reason I upgraded, that and just faster charge times.

    Also final comment on this. When a similar discussion happened back in 2018, some people in this forum made the claim that this behavior varied from base to touring. That is, ability to schedule climate and have it work automatically provided the car wasn't also charging when climate "fired." Others claimed base models could do this too. Mine is touring, but I was able to schedule and not manually press buttons even on L1.
     

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  6. Aug 7, 2022 #6
    Mowcowbell

    Mowcowbell Well-Known Member

    Surprised no one mentioned that the 'L1' evse provided with the Honda is capable of running on 240v and reducing the charge time in half. Been using mine in that manner for 3.5 years.
     
  7. Aug 9, 2022 #7
    Roy2001

    Roy2001 Member

    I did with a Kasa 15A plug , just make sure the smart plug is rated at 15A.
     

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