On 19/07/2013 17:44, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jul 2013 02:50:25 +0000, Bt
wrote:

They wired our electric cooker so that permanently works on mains. That
again was not mentioned on the sales visit

You didn't seriously expect a battery bank to power your cooker,
immersion, or anything else that relies on an electric heating
element?
This is old bull**** - ten, fifteen years ago, it was simply solar,
off-grid, battery banks, inverter (if used) and grid-tie (if needed).
Cost? Thousands. Only worthwhile for a cabin in the woods and if you
were absolutely determined.
Anyone in an urban setting with one of these setups is perhaps hoping
for a bit of a tide-over when the main grid starts falling apart, but
unless you actually have a cabin in the woods, you're kidding yourself
on.


There may still be some mileage in using batteries though. This bloke
claims to have made an inverter and a set of traction batteries pay for
itself by charging on economy 7 overnight and running background loads
during the day. He keeps the big loads away from it, of course, and I
think he knows where to get the kit cheap.

Not exactly automated though, and I think he has to be careful to avoid
switching the inverter directly on to the grid...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka0M...OtK53scyZWLSD3



Cheers,

Colin.