[HN Gopher] Anker goes big with new whole home backup system
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Anker goes big with new whole home backup system
Author : fleahunter
Score : 33 points
Date : 2026-01-12 18:02 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theverge.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theverge.com)
| adrianN wrote:
| This reads like an ad, but the following passage stood out
|
| > the average US home consumes about 889kWh per month, or about
| 29.2kWh per day
|
| I assume most of that is HVAC? I use about 1500kWh _a year_ , but
| I don't need aircon and heating is district heating.
| Jtsummers wrote:
| https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/electricit...
| - This shows a breakdown. HVAC is not the most [edit: as in
| majority, it has the largest share though], but it is a
| significant amount. Also my household is apparently well below
| average (though still higher than you) for the US and our
| region in the US.
| sixothree wrote:
| 30 kWh per day sounds about right. I have resistive heating and
| holy heck is it expensive in the winter months, which are short
| and mild. I plan to replace it soon.
|
| But yes, most of that would be heating and cooling single
| family homes. Many built during a time when insulation was an
| afterthought. Now homes are well insulated, but they are
| larger.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| Do you intend to replace your resistive heat with a heat
| pump?
| thebruce87m wrote:
| In Scotland it looks like I use 10kWh minimum (not in), 20kWh
| on a "normal" day and more when I charge the EV.
|
| Family of 3 in a Bungalow.
|
| I'd love a system like this to charge on my cheap overnight
| tariff and use during the day. Solar just isn't worth it here.
| laurencerowe wrote:
| I think it would just about break even on an economy 7 night
| rate saving about 17p/kWh shifting load to the overnight
| rate. (Might save more on a smarter tariff.)
|
| A 12kWh system costs PS5880 including VAT. Assume 95% round
| trip efficiency and 80% cycle each night gives savings of
| PS565 annually.
|
| That's about the same as the cost of a loan at 5% for the
| total amount paid back over an estimated useful life of 15
| years.
|
| This assumes it doesn't need servicing in that time and you
| can DIY install.
|
| I don't know whether home systems like this will get much
| cheaper as the batteries themselves probably only make up
| about 20% of the system cost.
|
| There are huge economies of scale for utility scale storage
| with all in project costs now down to $125/kWh meaning 12kWh
| would cost just $1500 rather than $6600 for this home system.
| So I wouldn't be confident the price differentials between
| day and night rates will remain as high over its expected
| lifetime.
| thebruce87m wrote:
| My night tariff is 6.67p/kWh compared to 28.36p/kWh for
| daytime.
|
| I don't think these differentials will last either but I do
| like the idea of smart charging when there is too much
| wind. I suspect these grid storage systems currently being
| built won't handle these peaks and will be designed for the
| average case so there will still be periods of cheap
| electricity.
|
| My supplier already controls my car this way and charges it
| on a schedule it defines each night and also ad-hoc during
| low demand.
|
| There is also some benefit to have a backup system for when
| the power goes out which happens a few times a year.
| estimator7292 wrote:
| A lot of us live in older homes without good insulation.
| Somewhere in the mid 1900s we simply forgot that "plaster
| interior wall directly on brick exterior wall" does not provide
| insulation.
|
| 1920s era homes are even worse, single hung windows in wooden
| frames, no insulation, no conception of managing airflow.
|
| Modern homes are much more efficient, but they're a bit
| impractical to buy these days, and are increasingly built so
| shitty that their lifespan is less than their inhabitants.
| LazyMans wrote:
| Can confirm. HVAC https://imgur.com/a/yI2AX6D
| jmgao wrote:
| > I use about 1500kWh a year, but I don't need aircon and
| heating is district heating.
|
| That's 171 W on average, that's about the same as my
| refrigerator (~150 W on average).
| Scipio_Afri wrote:
| https://archive.ph/cbQOY
| yjftsjthsd-h wrote:
| I thought they already did home batteries, and after looking at
| their other stuff I'm a bit confused; how it this different from
| eg.
| https://www.ankersolix.com/products/f3800?variant=4970232981... ?
| wmf wrote:
| One has wheels and 6 kW and the other has no wheels and 10 kW.
| ch1234 wrote:
| Am I the only one skeptical of having Chinese tech at the gateway
| of my home infra?
| daymanstep wrote:
| Just don't let it connect to Internet and you're done
| pluralmonad wrote:
| And also never let any Bluetooth devices near them because
| they constantly try to connect when powered on.
| bicepjai wrote:
| Random thought: Why don't we have a server rack that runs at home
| but is managed by a company, then people or businesses rent them?
| Th important use case is that the heat generated can be used for
| home. Like property managers, business maintaining them are heat
| managers for home.
| roadbuster wrote:
| - Power fail-over (battery + generator backup) in every house?
|
| - Could get expensive flying a technician to every household to
| upgrade hardware in the racks
|
| - Probably don't want everyone at home having physical access
| to storage devices
|
| - Massive theft risk
|
| - Homeowner's insurance would probably be irked
| burnt-resistor wrote:
| Hard "no" to subscriptions and "cloud management" for shit. On-
| prem ownership or bust.
| blitzar wrote:
| https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rpy7envr5o
|
| Data centre in the shed reduces energy bills to PS40
| actuallyalys wrote:
| I feel like this idea would work better at a somewhat larger
| scale, like a small to medium datacenter heating an apartment
| or office building. The downside is for any of these systems is
| that when it's too hot outside that heat becomes a liability so
| you'd have to have the infrastructure to divert heat as well.
| The other downside is that you'd be replacing a very well
| understood technology with minimal maintenance requirements
| with a relatively complex technology with more extensive and
| complex maintenance requirements.
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