For $3000 this would be easy to justify just to keep my computer and network operating. I work at home and our power goes out too frequently. Is usually just for 10-20 seconds and my UPS takes care of that. But sometimes it is out for several hours - I'll say several times per year. If I can't work, I can't bill.
Where are you seeing $3000? When I set it to 1 Powerwall it tells me:
One 14 kWh Powerwall battery $5,500
Installation and supporting hardware starts at $1,000
Total estimate $6,500
Requires $500 deposit for each Powerwall
Which still ties you to the 'grid' insofar as you need the natgas supply chain, even if you have a huge reservoir you'll eventually run out. Having said that, batteries and solar panels don't have an unlimited life span either.
I'm looking at buying a petrol powered generator for reasons other than home power generation, but it will be reassuring to know we have backup power at home, but I don't think I'm allowed to store any more than 25L in one container on my suburban property. I guess that would be 25L plus each of our two cars with full tanks.
It would be fairly trivial to convert a petrol powered generator to run on propane from the barbecue gas cylinder, I've had experience installing gas kits on carburettor engines in cars.
Good points. But for me, I live on 80 acres and it happens that the county natural gas pipeline runs under it. The easement (signed in the 60's) included the right to connect to the pipeline at will. When we built the house, we exercised that right.
So even though I am rural, I don't have to buy liquid propane to heat my house. I'm tapped into a 100,000 home supply line. Its been depressurized maybe twice for maintenance in 50 years.
Not a solution for everybody. But a pretty good one for me! And everybody else on the line.
Nice setup! How much did connecting to the pipeline cost? Making an individual connection to something so large sounds expensive, but obviously I have no actual clue.
Fortunately there was a hairpin(?) connection across the road, so I agreed to connect there. That means they didn't have to depressurize just for me. Cost nothing (easement terms). However they charged me for the pipe to run the 200' from there to the house! I could have negotiated that better.
"Which still ties you to the 'grid' insofar as you need the natgas supply chain, even if you have a huge reservoir you'll eventually run out. Having said that, batteries and solar panels don't have an unlimited life span either."
That is my thought - however, a previous comment in this thread indicates that the powerwall batteries are cloud connected and remote controlled by tesla ... so I am not sure how that pans out when you lose power and network connectivity at the same time (as happens where I live several times throughout the winter, sometimes for 24+ hours).
3 of my 4 adjacent neighbors have natural-gas generators. That gives you an indication of the power reliability here. Note that I don't blame the utility, and I'm not in some backwater ($1M+ homes around me). It's just that we really like our trees here, and sometimes a branch will break in a storm and take out the neighborhood.
My gripe with the generators is they are noisy. A Powerwall would be silent and would handle the typical outage situation. But so probably would a 3000VA UPS, which would only cost $1500.
Some places even managed to get entire sewer systems buried. Granted, that happened on a very different level of urgency (you really want shit to flow, and it only flows downward), but it gives the appropriate perspective on any excuses that are based on the natural scale of infrastructure.
The point is that for sewers there was no choice so we just swallowed the cost and got on with it. For power there was so we went for the cheaper less reliable option.
A UPS will require a battery replacement every 10 years or so, regardless of whether you ever have to go on battery power or not. The UPS should automatically sense the status of the battery and warn you when a replacement is needed.
Pick a model from one of the major manufacturers and look up the replacement battery costs to get an idea of what it will cost.
It's just a big battery that you can plug things into full time. When power goes out it instantly switches to battery power. It recharges when the power comes back.
