Plug in house batteries

[RizzoTheRat]

I don't think they're legal in the UK yet but I know there are a fair few non UK on here.

Does anyone have one of these plug and play house batteries? On the face of it seems a reasonable idea, allowing you to buy electricity at lower rates and use it when the rates are high on a viable tariff. Massively cheaper and simpler than a house battery to install, but the 800w output sounds low. Without checking our exact usage I'd guess that would probably cover lights, router, laptop, extractor fans etc and maybe the fridge freezer, but certainly not any cooking or laundry.

Long term I'd like to get solar and a proper battery setup but the Dutch are changing the net metering fees at the end of this year so its probably better to wait and see what the new rules are and how the energy/solar/battery companies respond to it, but I find the idea of a simple plug in systems intriguing.

[Russet Grange]

Hop over to the Homes, Gardens and DIY forum for all the info you will ever need.

[OutInTheShed]

800W does sound low, but how much energy do you actually use in the peak hours?

Our average over a day is around 300W, so 800W would do quite a bit. It won't run a hob, or the heater element of the dishwasher, but its impact might be a fair bit, depending on the tariff.

[clockworks]

From what I've read, 800w is the limit if you actually plug it in via a socket (when it becomes legal).

The bigger/better units can be hardwired, and can then supply 2KW+.
Hardwiring could be as simple as a fused connection unit spurred from an existing ring AFAIK.
A job for a sparky really, but not too expensive. Easy to disconnect if you move house..

[RizzoTheRat]

From an initial half a days data logging my electricity use it looks like 800W is actually plenty for lights/ventilation/TV/etc, with only the expected high users like the oven, kettle etc taking more.

Our tariff next year will be about 13c cheaper during the day in summer than peak rates, so a 5kWh house battery charging at cheap rate and used at high rate would save me about....50c/day. So pay itself off in about 17 years at current prices

Maybe leave it until there's a bigger disparity between peak and off peak rates, or look at full solar and battery setups.

[ukwill]

I think this and v2h with EVs are going to be in most houses over the next decade or so.

[nordboy]

Been looking at exactly this sort of thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K80xeZAd2js

Worth a watch.

[ukwill]

nordboy said:

Been looking at exactly this sort of thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K80xeZAd2js

Worth a watch.

I'm contemplating something like this, stuck out in the garage:
https://uk.eco-worthy.com/collections/lithium-batt...

I agree with Clockworks - makes more sense to me if I can feed in more than 800w. We get through anywhere between 15-20kwh per day.

However, I'm holding off for a bit longer - if v2h works well I'd arguably not bother with a battery when I could use a car to provide the battery instead. Could be a reason to finally change the missus's S1.

[heisthegaffer]

ukwill said:

nordboy said:

Been looking at exactly this sort of thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K80xeZAd2js

Worth a watch.

I'm contemplating something like this, stuck out in the garage:
https://uk.eco-worthy.com/collections/lithium-batt...

I agree with Clockworks - makes more sense to me if I can feed in more than 800w. We get through anywhere between 15-20kwh per day.

However, I'm holding off for a bit longer - if v2h works well I'd arguably not bother with a battery when I could use a car to provide the battery instead. Could be a reason to finally change the missus's S1.

Im really tempted to get a battery for my cheap overnight deal.

Do we think the energy suppliers will pull the cheap overnight deals as not interested in solar really?

[RizzoTheRat]

heisthegaffer said:

Im really tempted to get a battery for my cheap overnight deal.

Do we think the energy suppliers will pull the cheap overnight deals as not interested in solar really?

Possibly, here in NL our day rate it's cheaper than the night rate due to how much solar there is now.

[clockworks]

RizzoTheRat said:

heisthegaffer said:

Im really tempted to get a battery for my cheap overnight deal.

Do we think the energy suppliers will pull the cheap overnight deals as not interested in solar really?

Possibly, here in NL our day rate it's cheaper than the night rate due to how much solar there is now.

I think there will always be periods when there is surplus electricty available on the grid (solar, wind), so the "spot" wholesale price will vary massively. This will mean suppliers can buy energy really cheaply (or even get paid to take it), so will incentivise customers to use it during these periods.

This is basically what Octopus are doing with the EV part of Intelligent Go - cheap rate during the day, when it's beneficial for Octopus.

Fixed time of use tarrifs may disappear, but they will be replaced with Smart tarrifs, and having a house battery makes you ideally placed to take advantage - as long as your battery is "smart".
This is why Octopus are getting into the house battery market - everybody wins.

On the other hand, I can see solar feed-in payments decreasing further, so domestic solar will become more about using the power yourself - another plus for house batteries.

Since the payback time on batteries is a lot shorter than solar, it's not that much of a gamble.

[heisthegaffer]

Thanks

[RizzoTheRat]

My sister, in the UK has a variable tariff that actually goes to a negative rate, ie they pay her to use electricity, at times when they have a surplus. Works very well with her house battery.

Our provider in NL now charge you feed solar in to the system at peak times.