Whole home backup power
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Hmmm. Are you on time of use metering?
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@wtg interesting. We don’t have any kind of backup generator and I would rather we had something. Looking at that link, it shows the standard installation cost as $295 and “no ongoing battery fees” (not the discount, since thst is limited).
But can it be that cheap? What am I missing or where’s the catch?Also, are there any downsides? Like, how big is the battery and where does it get installed?Whoops, didn’t read the second link…
There’s a catch, there’s always a catch.
BTW we don’t have any time of use metering or anything like peak use time metering.
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Ok, I read the second article… yeah, I don’t like the model. I don’t like the fact that the company can drain the battery so you may not be at 100% when an outage happens.
Although we have zero backup at present, so I’m in no position to be so choosy.
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This seems to be taking off here. My neighbor is having one installed at his mom's house, and his sister and nephew are also signed up. We have seen Base Power trucks at people’s houses. I did investigate it for our housebut we don't qualify for their program because a) we have an ancient electric panel and, more importantly, b) there is no way to put the battery near the electric meter at our house because of where the outside basement stairway is located. I initially didn't think we'd be interested but after my neighbor investigated it in detail and shared more about how it works, it seems like a very good option for getting some backup power.
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Ok, I read the second article… yeah, I don’t like the model. I don’t like the fact that the company can drain the battery so you may not be at 100% when an outage happens.
Although we have zero backup at present, so I’m in no position to be so choosy.
I don’t like the fact that the company can drain the battery so you may not be at 100% when an outage happens.
Definitely not a deal breaker for me.
Their whole model is buying power cheaply and storing it in the battery and then selling it back to the market when the price is higher. And the rate they charge you as your electric supplier is lower than the local electric utility, so you save money on monthly bills.
They have weather monitoring in place, and if bad weather is coming and might cause outages, they modify how much they sell/drain your battery.
Although we have zero backup at present,
Yup. Some backup is better than nothing. And if you want an extra level of protection, you can get a portable generator and charge the battery yourself in the event of an extended outage.
From what I've learned so far, this is a pretty inexpensive (possibly money-saving ) way to get some level of protection.
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My biggest concern power-wise is the winters here. I have to be able to keep the birds comfortable and a loss of power (which happens at least once almost every winter) could be a catastrophe (I heat their room with an electric heater). But, since the wood burning stove doesn't require electricity, heating is taken care of and I can direct it into their room if needed. If I need light I can use kerosene lamps or candles. The gas hob works without electricity because I can light the burners with a match. The oven and fridge won't work, but I can put food outside in the winter to keep it cold in an emergency (the bears are hibernating so they won't take it). Plumbing won't work for too long, but if worse came to worst, I could melt snow for water. Of course, no internet... how will I ever live? Yeah, it's not all the most convenient but it would get us through.
I bought a gas powered generator the 2nd or 3rd year I was here and never used it. It sat in the basement all these years rusting out. It's noisy, needs to run outside (where there would normally be feet of snow). Quite a lot of trouble really.
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My biggest concern power-wise is the winters here. I have to be able to keep the birds comfortable and a loss of power (which happens at least once almost every winter) could be a catastrophe (I heat their room with an electric heater). But, since the wood burning stove doesn't require electricity, heating is taken care of and I can direct it into their room if needed. If I need light I can use kerosene lamps or candles. The gas hob works without electricity because I can light the burners with a match. The oven and fridge won't work, but I can put food outside in the winter to keep it cold in an emergency (the bears are hibernating so they won't take it). Plumbing won't work for too long, but if worse came to worst, I could melt snow for water. Of course, no internet... how will I ever live? Yeah, it's not all the most convenient but it would get us through.
I bought a gas powered generator the 2nd or 3rd year I was here and never used it. It sat in the basement all these years rusting out. It's noisy, needs to run outside (where there would normally be feet of snow). Quite a lot of trouble really.
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@Bernard How do you get the generator out of the basement? Ours is in the garage so I just wheel it outside near where the plug is that goes into the manual transfer switch.
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