Battery-only storage charged off-peak in Greens Norton

No panels, no roof work. A homeowner in Greens Norton wanted storage alone, to buy electricity cheaply overnight and use it through the day.

A Fox ESS AC-coupled inverter and floor-standing battery fitted to a garage wall in Greens Norton

Quick facts

System: Battery only — no solar
Inverter: Fox ESS 5 kW AC-coupled
Battery: Fox ESS EP12 — 11.52 kWh nominal, 10.4 kWh usable
Backup: No whole-home backup
EV charger: None
Property: Cottage, built 1900–1945
Grid connection: G99 fast track, approved the next day
Installed: May 2026, in a day

Why they got in touch

This one arrived already decided. A homeowner in Greens Norton wrote: “looking for a quote for a standalone, AC-coupled home battery system. I don’t want solar panels, just the battery. I plan to use an off-peak smart tariff… winter usage around 16.5 kWh per day.” There was a deadline too — a fixed tariff was ending.

What we recommended and why

A battery with no solar behind it is a straightforward proposition: you buy electricity when it is cheap and use it when it is expensive. The sizing question is how much of a winter day you want to cover.

They had asked for 9.5–10 kWh. We recommended going slightly above that to 11.52 kWh, so a 16.5 kWh winter day is mostly covered from the cheap rate rather than partly. The Fox system was chosen on cost-effectiveness and the strength of its warranty. Being AC-coupled, it sits alongside the existing electrics rather than replacing anything.

The install

The one awkward part was distance. The battery went on the garage sub-board, and the meter and main board are in the house, too far apart for a straightforward wired current sensor. We used a wireless CT clamp, with an external CAT cable as the fallback if it did not hold. It held.

The G99 went in on 27 April and came back approved on 28 April. The install itself took a day.

The result

A cottage with no panels on it, running a good part of each day on electricity bought at the overnight rate.

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