Home batteries are on the rise and the homewizard plug-in battery seems to be a good choice. You can read whether this is the case where the installation, installation, use, the pros and cons, costs, app and privacy are also discussed.
In PC-Active 343 I already pay a lot of attention to the HomeWizard Plug-in Battery, an easy-to-install home battery for € 1395.00 and it works with all solar panels and energy suppliers. This online article is largely based on this, but also has some additions. This way you will find more information about installing, use, advantages and disadvantages, costs, app, sustainability and privacy. And is that indeed a home battery whose plug you put in a power outlet and the rest will be automatic? And is it a smart purchase? You can find that information here and on https://www.homewizard.com/nl/plug-in-battery/ more information. Incidentally, in the coming months I will continue to publish my experiences and findings with regard to the homewizard plug-in battery on pcactive.nl.
Home battery
A home battery offers a solution if you have solar panels and thus generates more energy than you consume at that time. That extra generated energy then loads that home battery and discharges at a later time to keep the meter at zero. If you need more power than the panels deliver and/or your battery is ‘filled’, then it will first be removed from the battery. The stored solar power is in principle used in the evening or at night. In this way, there is less electricity to and from your energy supplier and that saves in your wallet, especially if you have to pay back fitting costs.
Requirements HomeWizard Plug-in Battery
In addition to a free socket, you need this for a working home battery:
• WiFi (2.4 GHz)
• Smartphone or tablet
• Solar panels
• smart meter
• Energy app and
• Homewizard P1 meter
Design and placement plug-in battery
The plug-in battery, executed in black, is large 40 by 20 cm (Bxhxd) and weighs 24 kg. At the back is a 1.5 m long cable with a plug, on the side the on-out button:
There are 4 vertical LED strips on the front, which more later. You cannot place it outdoors: sun, moisture and frost have a negative influence on the effect, lifetime and safety. The working temperature is 0-40 degrees Celsius and it works best between 10 and 30 degrees Celsius. I heard from a friend that he was going to work slower when it became quite hot outside and therefore also inside (no air conditioning). Therefore, also keep 10 cm around the home battery free and 50 cm at the top. I have it in a very big niche in the hallway. Homewizard also indicates that you should not place it in an escape route, such a place is of course not handy and even dangerous. If you have a garage or shed that is unheated, then that is not a good place. In terms of sound you can hardly hear the built-in fan as well as the relay sounds, anyway a living room or bedroom does not seem like a good place for a home battery.
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The white LED strips are burning
Wattage HomeWizard Plug-in Battery
Although the plug-in battery has a storage capacity of 2.7 kWh, the inverter has a power of 800 watts. That 800 Watt get most people with solar panels (effortless), because many quickly have 9 solar panels with at least 300 watts each. At my house there are 9 solar panels of 415 Watt on a flat roof. In the evening/at night I use that 800 watt almost every time, because I have devices such as a washing machine, dishwasher, induction thuis, Airfryer, etc. I turn on the dishwasher when I go to bed and the induction thuis is usually used when the sun no longer shines on my sun panels.
However, average households are more than 90% of the time below that 800 Watt. Many people then only have the continuous consumption of refrigerator, modem, standby consumption, etc. which is usually an average consumption of around 100 to 300 watts.
Install homewizard plug-in battery
As the name of this home battery indicates, it is Plug & Play or connect and work. You put the grounded plug directly into a power outlet, not in a plug or extension cord. Then put the button on and add your plug-in battery to the Energy app (both Android and iOS) from HomeWizard. This app (which will be called HomeWizard, by the way), not only shows your power consumption, but also your gas consumption. However, you first have to click the homewizard P1 meter in the P1 port of your smart meter: that connection looks like that of an internet connection. You will therefore also have to buy this P1 meter (€ 25.00) and it controls whether the battery is charged or whether the power grid should supply the energy.
Although there is only one P1 port on a smart meter, you can fortunately split it. For example, if you already have your P1 meter in use for load balancing for your electric car, then you need an extra socket and that is possible with a P1 splitter.
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The well -arranged homewizard app
Use HomeWizard Plug-in Battery
Once turned on (plug in and put the button on on) the home battery starts to work. If the LED strips are purple, then it is loading, with a green color it is delivering and with white it is waiting for a while before he starts loading or delivering. Unfortunately, you cannot determine when it is going back, for example only after 11 o’clock in the evening or when the electricity price is high with a variable contract. But the latter may be possible this year (Q4?). It is important to know that this home battery is not an emergency power solution for safety reasons: if the power is out, then you have nothing to do with this home battery. That is a shame and the Anker Solix Solarbank 2 AC and Solarbank 3 Pro does that and that is a very big plus.
Costs HomeWizard Plug-in Battery
As mentioned, the HomeWizard Plug-in Battery costs € 1395.00 and € 25.00 for the P1 meters. Currently, energy suppliers calculate return costs based on the kilowatt hours that you will return on an annual basis. However, that differs per energy supplier, because one charges a higher or lower standing right, for example. With a home battery, the total number of kWh that you consume on an annual basis becomes less and also the number of kWh that you will return to the grid. That means that the amount that you pay now becomes lower anyway, so you get a lower energy bill.
From 2027, the netting scheme no longer applies and you will therefore save on every non-backed kWh that you use (at a later time). A simple calculation: with a kilowatt hour price of 30 cents and with 2.5 kW per sunny day, that saves (only) 75 cents. If you look at the number of sunny days, for ease of ease 300 days, then that will be 300 x 75 cents is 225 euros. It is of course coffee grounds to see what the electricity prices are going to do, so making a calculation is not easy. In addition, this home battery also uses energy (around 0.5 kWh per day). I myself think it will take 6 to perhaps 8 years before you have earned it back.
Security and privacy
Fortunately, this home battery is well protected, although the IP address can be traced via the WiFi connection, there is nothing open between 1 and 32000. Although the Dutch homewizard indicates that your data (such as WiFis signal strength and location) are protected, for example, data will also end up on Google LLC servers. According to HomeWizard, that means that the personal information that HomeWizard collects can be transferred to and stored in countries outside the EU.
Whether or not homewizard battery?
All the electricity that you do not return and consume (later) is a saving. And that certainly applies if the netting rule disappears from 2027.
Moreover, if you find sustainability very important, then a home battery is definitely recommended. Assume that you earn back this plug-in battery within 6 to 8 years. He has a lifespan of 6000 cycles and at 1 cycle per day that means more than 16 years. The Swap Service is nice here: if the battery is defective within 2 years, it will be replaced for free. If he will break within 3 to 7 years or 4000 cycles, it will be replaced by a new (er) for € 329.00.
Conclusion: All in all, this homewizard plug-in battery is an excellent simple home battery that does what he promises.
HomeWizard Plug-in Battery
Suggested retail price: € 1395.00
https://www.homewizard.com/nl/plug-in-battery/
+ simple installation without tools and installer
+ good clear app
+ works with all solar panels and energy suppliers
+ good swap service
– No emergency power solution
– delivery time of approx. 2 months
