Anyone using car battery to power house ?

[TimothyN]

Wait a minute. The UK Power guy was talking about a 13A male to 13A male. He expressed no opinion about plugging the combi boiler in to V2L, so we seem to be conflating two (potentially both dangerous, but entirely different) things.

It will be much easier to understand if we kept them separate.

 

[siteguru]

The effect is the same ... the "plug to plug" arrangement would send V2L power into the ring main circuit that it is plugged into. This still has the same earthing risk as you can't isolate the earth at the consumer unit.

So no, we're not conflating two issues - they both are risky and ill-advised, for exactly the same reason.

 

[TimothyN]

I get that, and thank you for drawing it to my attention. I have dismantled the 13A to 13A cable and will have to live without hot water in the event of the next (sadly inevitable) power cut.

But I still hold that you responded to my question about the boiler with comments about the advice I got about the 13A to 13A cable, which is conflation.

 

[MG Clive]

I get that, and thank you for drawing it to my attention. I have dismantled the 13A to 13A cable and will have to live without hot water in the event of the next (sadly inevitable) power cut.

But I still hold that you responded to my question about the boiler with comments about the advice I got about the 13A to 13A cable, which is conflation.

This thread has become a merge of 3 different threads now, so it's possible that some comments may appear in the wrong order, this could explain how a post could seem to be in reply to a different comment?

 

[Barrie]

I get that, and thank you for drawing it to my attention. I have dismantled the 13A to 13A cable and will have to live without hot water in the event of the next (sadly inevitable) power cut.

But I still hold that you responded to my question about the boiler with comments about the advice I got about the 13A to 13A cable, which is conflation.

I wired my combi boiler to a regular plug as it only draws around 150w. It was originally wired direct to my consumer unit. When we have power cuts, as we often do here in rural France, I can still get heating and hot water via my V2L extension cable plugged into my MG Marvel. I don't see any risks doing this and it works flawlessly. It's what V2L was designed for.

 

[Everest]

I don't see any risks doing this and it works flawlessly.

Hmm. Then it would appear you have no knowledge of electrical safety protection systems. Being in France you are fortunate that you are likely to have a TT earthing arrangement which makes earthing of self-generated power easier than in the UK where many houses have a TN-C-S system.

But, without neutral to earth bonding and the adding of an RCD device between your MG and your boiler you should not be powering devices that are not doubly insulated, which a boiler is not. I have already linked to the issues specifically regarding to boilers in my post #74.

You say it works flawlessly. Doh!... of course it does... until something goes wrong. I can drive my car at 70mph without wearing a seatbelt and I don't die... until something goes wrong.

It's what V2L was designed for.

No it isn't. It is what V2H or V2G is designed for, but categorically not what V2L is designed for.

As I mentioned above, you can use V2L to power a house, up to the power delivery limit of the supply, but only when the necessary protection has been put in place.

 

[MG Clive]

Thanks for your knowledgeable posts on this subject @Everest, it's good to have you here.

 

[tsedge]

I find some people are like canaries in the coal mine. Their philosophy is: "I don't really understand X, but if I try doing Y to X and it doesn't blow up, everything must be fine". Until the canary dies, all is well.

Telling them they are wrong is rarely effective, they need an actual disaster to learn.

 

[ReintjeWA]

I think there are a few aussies on here who have managed to charge a home battery using the V2L, but then the house runs off the battery not directly off the car. And I think they made some special cable thing with an RDC in it.

It’s all far above what I’m comfortable with in terms of handling electricity, and far beyond what I understand about it. But I love seeing others talking with knowledge about these subjects.

 

[Everest]

I think there are a few aussies on here who have managed to charge a home battery using the V2L, but then the house runs off the battery not directly off the car.

Correct. That would be my preferred way of powering a house from V2L if one already has solar + a low-voltage battery system installed. Search on postings from @wattmatters and @Bricktop X PWR about that for more details as they have successfully done that.