Last night, we suffered a power cut. The techie inside of me thinks there has to be a way to "do something" to protect against an outage, ie. Automatically flipping to "Off-Grid".
Is it a setting?
Is there an addon I need?
Is it not possible?
It can be a complex subject and will depend on local country regulations, there is an older guide here which was written for the UK https://foxesscommunity.com/viewtopic.php?t=52
But to keep it to a simple description the inverter has an EPS output, when setup this will power up when the grid fails and anything attached to it can be kept running.
The complexity is that if the grid has failed you will have likely lost your incoming earth which would make it dangerous to power your entire home without attaching a local earth rod so the RCD’s etc.. will still work.
Some people simply connect a trailing extension lead off the EPS port on the inverter (on the right underside of the inverter), others have more elaborate arrangements from manual to automatic changeover switches - since the guide above was written there is a commercially available system in the UK that allows for a fully installed automatic changeover should your grid fail, obviously everything comes with a cost but this is an excellent solution to emergency power supplies - there is a link here https://www.eco-ess.co.uk/emergency-power-supply/, they do offer a discount to Fox group members if you quote FoxG1
But to keep it to a simple description the inverter has an EPS output, when setup this will power up when the grid fails and anything attached to it can be kept running.
The complexity is that if the grid has failed you will have likely lost your incoming earth which would make it dangerous to power your entire home without attaching a local earth rod so the RCD’s etc.. will still work.
Some people simply connect a trailing extension lead off the EPS port on the inverter (on the right underside of the inverter), others have more elaborate arrangements from manual to automatic changeover switches - since the guide above was written there is a commercially available system in the UK that allows for a fully installed automatic changeover should your grid fail, obviously everything comes with a cost but this is an excellent solution to emergency power supplies - there is a link here https://www.eco-ess.co.uk/emergency-power-supply/, they do offer a discount to Fox group members if you quote FoxG1
Cheers - I should have mentioned I'm UK based.
I'm guessing the ballpark figure of the Emergency Power Supply is unknown?
I'm guessing the ballpark figure of the Emergency Power Supply is unknown?
Cheers - that's way more than I need/want to spend.
I was hoping I could do something funky with my Modbus and Homeassistant. Clearly, I under-egged the requirements a little.
I was hoping I could do something funky with my Modbus and Homeassistant. Clearly, I under-egged the requirements a little.
As long as you have the EPS connector (sometimes left plugged in or in the bag left by the installer), you can create yourself a trailing extension lead - the only thing to bear in mind is the potential for loss of earth if the grid has been disconnected, but if you make sure that anything you plug in is double insulated you can get something rudimentary working for a low cost.
It cost me roughly £1,200 to have an Earthing plate fitted and an 2-gang EPS socket installed just in case.
I did this without knowing about automatic transfer switches, and not so long ago Fox put their own ATS on the market.
We can at least run lights/cook in air fryer if needed.
If you get one power cut per year, unless you have say medical needs or just prefer the lights on, might not be worth the costing.
You could spend the money on a power bank and run some small essentials, and have something to take if you went camping or such for less.
I did this without knowing about automatic transfer switches, and not so long ago Fox put their own ATS on the market.
We can at least run lights/cook in air fryer if needed.
If you get one power cut per year, unless you have say medical needs or just prefer the lights on, might not be worth the costing.
You could spend the money on a power bank and run some small essentials, and have something to take if you went camping or such for less.
Yeah, my IT knowledge resulted in me incorrectly assuming I was effectively sat on a UPS, that maybe just needed a small tweak to make it act as a full backup supply.
Turns out, it's not quite as simple as that.
As such, it's not worth me pursuing further... but appreciate the input. Interesting, if nothing else!
Turns out, it's not quite as simple as that.
As such, it's not worth me pursuing further... but appreciate the input. Interesting, if nothing else!
I was thinking exactly the same, but then I realised it's to protect the engineers from being fried basically.
I would do it different now, hindsight is 20/20.
Future plans for me, once this install is getting on, and paid for itself is to upgrade to 3-phase and definitly invest in an ATS.
Trying to get the house off gas, and fully electric is end goal.
One thing to always remember with any EPS, only as good as the battery SoC at the time of a power cut. Sods law says grid goes down in evening with 15% left
I would do it different now, hindsight is 20/20.
Future plans for me, once this install is getting on, and paid for itself is to upgrade to 3-phase and definitly invest in an ATS.
Trying to get the house off gas, and fully electric is end goal.
One thing to always remember with any EPS, only as good as the battery SoC at the time of a power cut. Sods law says grid goes down in evening with 15% left