In Appliance Batteries

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NoGoodAtScreenNames

Feeling the Heat
Sep 16, 2015
489
Massachusetts
I found this pretty interesting. A few companies are working on putting batteries directly inside induction stoves. My first thought was that seems wasteful -why not use that capacity in a whole house battery. But there’s a lot of good reasons why connecting the battery to an appliance makes sense. Basically it sips a little bit of power all day and if needed uses the battery to boost to the equivalent of a standard stove / oven to not overrun the 120 volt circuit it’s connected to.

It allows retrofits on gas ovens since this can run on a 120 volt circuit. It doesn’t impact the max load of the house so less likely to need service line updates. Simpler / no permitting requirements since this just plugs in. Cooking is still available during a power outage. It uses DC to power the magnets so there’s no pot singing and performs better than other induction stoves when using a wok.

Seems like a creative solution.


Here’s a good discussion with some guys working in the startups that are producing them.

 
Fronius did a similar thing with a small portable welding machine about 5 years back. Could run higher outputs off a standard 120 plug, or even weld without power for a while.

Think in terms of the stove I'd rather have a battery in the basement though.