EV Charging Glossary (Ireland)
Plain-English definitions of the terms you'll encounter when researching a home EV charger install in Ireland.
- MPRN (Meter Point Reference Number)
- An 11-digit number starting with "10" that uniquely identifies your electricity meter. Found on the top of your electricity bill. SEAI uses it to ensure only one EV charger grant is paid per home.
- Eircode
- Ireland's seven-character postcode (e.g. D02 X285). Required by SEAI for grant applications and used to confirm your installation address.
- SEAI Smart Charger Register
- A list of EV chargers approved for the SEAI home charger grant. Only chargers on this register qualify for the €300 refund. The BENY 7.4 kW unit Volt Éire installs is on the register.
- Safe Electric
- Ireland's regulatory body for electrical safety, run by RECI/ECSSA. All EV charger installations must be performed by a Safe Electric registered electrician — both a legal requirement and a SEAI grant condition.
- ESB Networks
- Ireland's electricity distribution system operator. Owns and maintains the network that delivers power from generation to your home, including your meter and main fuse (cut-out). ESB Networks must be consulted for some EV charger installs.
- Type 2 connector
- The standard 7-pin AC charging connector used by all EVs sold in Europe and Ireland since 2014 (also called Mennekes). Volt Éire installs Type 2 tethered cables as standard.
- Tethered charger
- An EV charger with a permanently attached charging cable (typically 5 metres). More convenient day-to-day; the BENY 7.4 kW unit Volt Éire installs is tethered.
- Untethered (socket) charger
- An EV charger with no built-in cable — you plug your own cable in each time. More flexible if you change car-connector standards but less convenient daily.
- kW (kilowatt)
- A unit of power. A 7.4 kW charger means it can deliver 7.4 kW of electricity at any moment. Higher kW = faster charging.
- kWh (kilowatt-hour)
- A unit of energy — the amount of electricity used over time. Your electricity bill is measured in kWh. A typical EV battery holds 50-80 kWh.
- 7.4 kW charger
- The standard home EV charger size in Ireland — runs on a single-phase supply (which most Irish homes have) and fully charges most EVs in 6-8 hours overnight.
- 11 kW / 22 kW charger
- Faster three-phase EV chargers. Most Irish homes do not have a three-phase supply, so these are rare for residential use. They require a separate ESB Networks application.
- Single-phase / Three-phase supply
- Single-phase is the standard Irish residential supply (one live conductor at 230V). Three-phase (three live conductors) is mostly used in commercial premises and supports faster EV chargers, but requires an ESB Networks upgrade if not already present.
- Fuseboard (Consumer Unit)
- The board in your home that distributes electricity to circuits and protects them with breakers. EV chargers connect back to a dedicated breaker on the consumer unit (or a separate sub-board).
- RCBO (Residual Current Breaker with Overload)
- A safety device that combines overload protection and earth-leakage protection in one unit. EV charger circuits in Ireland must include a Type A or Type B RCBO per ET101 wiring rules.
- MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker)
- A circuit breaker that trips when a circuit draws too much current. EV charger circuits use either a dedicated MCB+RCD pair or a single combined RCBO.
- Earth rod
- A copper rod driven into the ground near your electricity meter, providing the home's connection to ground/earth. Usually housed in a small green inspection box. Required and verified during EV charger installation.
- Bonding
- Green/yellow earth cables clamped to incoming gas, water, and other metallic services. Required by SEAI before an EV charger can be installed. Inadequate bonding has to be upgraded as part of the work.
- Looped service
- An ESB supply where two homes share a single feed from the network. ESB Networks does not allow extra EV load on a looped service — it must be split first.
- MIC (Maximum Import Capacity)
- The maximum power your home can draw from the grid, set by ESB Networks. A 7.4 kW EV charger plus a heat pump or electric shower can stress lower-MIC supplies — load management or an MIC upgrade may be needed.
- Load management / Dynamic load balancing
- Smart charger technology that throttles EV charging when other appliances draw heavy current, preventing the main fuse from blowing. Standard on the BENY unit Volt Éire installs.
- IP65
- An ingress protection rating meaning fully dust-tight and protected against low-pressure water jets — the standard for outdoor-rated EV chargers in Ireland.
- Standard Installation (Volt Éire)
- A home EV charger install we can confirm safely from your uploaded photos at our fixed €1,299 all-in price. Most Irish homes qualify. See /standard-installation for the six checks.
- Pre-approval visit
- When your photos do not let us confirm Standard Installation eligibility, we send a Safe Electric registered electrician to inspect in person and quote any extras transparently before you commit.
- Letter of Offer (SEAI)
- The formal SEAI grant offer issued after your application is approved. Valid for 6 months — the installation and grant claim must be completed within that window.
- Net cost
- The amount an EV charger installation costs you after the SEAI grant is refunded. With Volt Éire: €1,299 paid upfront, €300 back from SEAI = €999 net.
Got the jargon? Now get charging.
Volt Éire handles the SEAI paperwork, the install, and the certification. You get a 7.4 kW smart charger at home for €999 net.