The claim that multiple EV chargers on a single distribution transformer can reduce its lifespan from 30-40 years to as little as 3 years is alarming.

AMK said:

Is there a solution to this ?

I suspect the main solution is not to under-size the transformers.  You aren't going to get extreme thermal cycling if the transformer is operating within its rating.

So this sort of rapid wear-out over 3 years is on transformers originally installed not designed to handle the continuous high loads or the harmonic content introduced by modern EV chargers.

My local power supplier has a special EV charging deal.

They will install a unique EV charging station at my house for free. if I sign up for $30-$35 per month fee, allowing me (if I had an EV) to charge it at overnight.

No mention was made about having to swap the transformer out.

My current pole transformer also services about 8 other houses.

Peter Brooks Palm Bay Florida USA

Hi Peter. Are you considering going EV ? What are your electricity rates per kWh ? 
- Andrew 

Hello Andrew:

1) Do I plan to get an EV? No way!

2) What are my electricity rates per kWh ?

My monthly charge varies by month - Last month January was relatively cold and we used peak power.

The charge is made up of fuel and non-fuel parts, state taxes, local franchise and Utility taxes.

Lumping everything together for January 2025 it was about US$100  for 638 kWh.

It should be noted that the house is "ALL Electric:- no gas, coal or wood. Heating is with air  based heat pump.

Peter Brooks

Palm Bay Florida  

Thank you for sharing the details of your electrical bill. I thought it would be interesting to compare your US bill to what a typical UK household might pay for electricity. From your figures, US rate of  US$0.1567 per kWh (£0.123) is significantly lower than the UK average of £0.34 per kWh plus we pay a  Standing Charge:0.55p per day. Your usage of 638 kWh is much higher than the UK average. This is likely because your home is all-electric, including heating via a heat pump, whereas many UK homes use gas for heating.

Hello Andrew:

There were a couple of other factors that may be applicable in your calculation:

There was 33 days in our January 2025 power bill.

The lowest outside temperature during the month was about 40 degrees F.

The house is heated inside to at least 78 degrees F.

The house foot print area is about 1900 square feet   

Peter Brooks

Palm Bay FL.

Your home is quite spacious. In the UK, smaller home sizes typically result in lower electricity usage, but significantly higher electricity rates. Its also highly likely your energy bills could see a reduction with The 'drill, baby, drill' approach.

"All-electric" houses in the UK commonly have some sort of multi-rate metering to encourage heating at off peak hours to the cost per unit is not a simple figure in those cases.

As noted, since the discovery of North Sea gas and its domestication in the 1960s most buildings in towns and cities have a gas supply and where they do, this is the cheapest heat.

That said, as the North sea gas fields have been running out it is no longer the cheap option it once was. Very new houses quite commonly do not have a gas supply where even a few years ago it was de-riguer.

(For background demand exceeded production rates and we started needing to import extra gas in the winters of the early 2000s and only exporting in the summer, nowadays sadly we import most of the year round

That does not make our electricity cheaper than gas yet as too much of that is still generated by burning gas, and the imported gas price is at the mercy of the international market that more or less tracks the oil price )

An upper bound of UK domestic unit pricing can be gleaned from the ofgem price cap; many suppliers do manage to charge rather less.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/energy-price-cap

Mike.

Hello Mike:

When my sub-division was built in 1970 piped gas was not available (and still isn't), within the county.

Gas stoves were an option when one purchased the house model, but came from a tank outside of the house. 

The only house on our street that now (put in about 2010) has gas is only used to feed an emergency AC power generator. 

The only Power station in the county used to be coal fed, but was converted to Gas  some years ago.

Peter Brooks

Palm Bay

Hello Mike:

When my sub-division was built in 1970 piped gas was not available (and still isn't), within the county.

Gas stoves were an option when one purchased the house model, but came from a tank outside of the house. 

The only house on our street that now (put in about 2010) has gas is only used to feed an emergency AC power generator. 

The only Power station in the county used to be coal fed, but was converted to Gas  some years ago.

Peter Brooks

Palm Bay