batteries to power the house?

unwashed potato! · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:44

this may sound weird, but is it possible and if so would it be economical to have large industrial like batteries that can be charged and then used to power the house or atleast certain items in a house e.g. electric oil filled radiators which are costing a bomb to run?

for me electricity in my office is included in the bills, and you get a very high usage before they charge more which i'll never reach. i'm thinking i could in the day charge the battery in the office, take it home and then have "free" electricity for half the night? would this work? as it's not costing me for the electricity i was thinking it'd have a small potential to work.

BDEE · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:45

Not sure if serious?

[FnG]magnolia · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:47

A guy posted about this months and months ago. He'd looked into it and it's expensive but doable, if I remember correctly. Anyone else remember the thread?

spoffle · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:48

In theory it'd work fine, I don't think you'll find it remotely practical though.

Nitefly · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:49

The big 9 volt battery I licked earlier in the year for GD would do the trick.

Dugganator · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:51

[FnG]magnolia;23108494 said:
A guy posted about this months and months ago. He'd looked into it and it's expensive but doable, if I remember correctly. Anyone else remember the thread?

I remember that post but it feels like it was a few years ago now. Not sure of the out come im sure someone will bring that post back im to lazy to look lol

Destination · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:51

[FnG]magnolia;23108494 said:
A guy posted about this months and months ago. He'd looked into it and it's expensive but doable, if I remember correctly. Anyone else remember the thread?

He was talking about several tonnies of industrial boat batteries, or submarine batteries or similar I think.

OP you won't be walking those in and out of work.

How about changing your heating to gas or oil from electric?

Zefan · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:53

Mammalian said:
i was thinking it'd have a small potential to work.

HA!

spoffle · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:54

[FnG]magnolia;23108494 said:
A guy posted about this months and months ago. He'd looked into it and it's expensive but doable, if I remember correctly. Anyone else remember the thread?

I read it, I can't remember what it was called, but there were youtube videos linked to this electrical engineer guy.

This is one of the vids

Biohazard · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:54

Batteries in boot or truck, park next to window. Open window. Extention cables. Charge?

unwashed potato! · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:55

BDEE said:
Not sure if serious?

i am, though i have little knowledge on how electricity works so maybe this is just lierally no hope.

atm it costs approx 30p an hour to run one single oil filled radiator, we have 3 scattered around the house meaning 90p p/h to heat 3 tiny corners of this place, with nothing in the kitchen/toilet/bathroom.

at 6 hours a day usage, that's £5.40 x 30 = £165ish per month to barely heat anything in this place, and it's going to get worse.

i'm simply looking for ways to deal with this issue, "stealing" electricity from my office that i rent was just a random thought i had and wanted to know if it's do able.

unwashed potato! · 6 Nov 2012 at 00:59

Zefan said:
HA!

what i meant was, if storing electricity with a battery is ever going to have a chance, this is the only way in that i'd save on the cost of electricity rather then just save the economy7 where you pay less over night but still end up paying for it.

Biohazard · 6 Nov 2012 at 01:02

Mammalian said:
what i meant was, if storing electricity with a battery is ever going to have a chance, this is the only way in that i'd save on the cost of electricity rather then just save the economy7 where you pay less over night but still end up paying for it.

Well almost all domestic energy costs doesn't it unless you just steal it at home?

Then you can have your three heaters doing nothing for nothing.

Bennie-Mac · 6 Nov 2012 at 01:04

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18417775&highlight=batteries

That's the thread from before.

starfighter · 6 Nov 2012 at 01:07

It isn't going to be worth it. the batteries will cost more than you will save. You would also need a huge amount of batteries. Look at UPS for example. They cost loads and only power a computer for minutes. High powered stuff isn't going to last long at all on a battery.

unwashed potato! · 6 Nov 2012 at 01:15

Biohazard said:
Well almost all domestic energy costs doesn't it unless you just steal it at home?

Then you can have your three heaters doing nothing for nothing.

unless because it's late and i'm misunderstanding what you're saying, i tihnk you're missing the point.

i felt it wouldn't work if you're paying for the enegry, even if it's less then the normal rate e.g. eco7, however as i'd not be paying anything for the electricity at all, there is a small hope it may have potential to work, but as mentioned by posters it wont so i will dismiss this idea now

arknor · 6 Nov 2012 at 01:29

starfighter said:
It isn't going to be worth it. the batteries will cost more than you will save. You would also need a huge amount of batteries. Look at UPS for example. They cost loads and only power a computer for minutes. High powered stuff isn't going to last long at all on a battery.

some crazy electric guy on youtube has a system that charges his batteries during the night and his house uses them during the day.

V4NT0M · 6 Nov 2012 at 01:33

Just get a blanket.

anything I don't mind · 6 Nov 2012 at 01:36

We have this at work I think it is 8 truck size batteries for the whole building and it is meant to last 8 hours i think. The batteries just charge off the mains and when full they stop. But it not so good because you can only use it once. The point of large scale backup power is meant to protect against grid failure. If the grid fails then so does your charging capability.

Lightnix · 6 Nov 2012 at 01:51

Ohm my god! Well this is certainly a polarising debate, but I'm sure we must have the technology at the current time! However I'm not seeing that much resistance to the idea, I wonder if it just might have the capacity to work. It could Faraday or so.