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Comment by segseg7 | Hacker News Reader

Any way to get 240V out of the ecosystem?

Our first product is focused on 120V, but we'll be iterating on a 240V option. Out of curiosity which 240V loads are you most interested to connect?

I have well water and the pump is 1.5 HP on 230 volts. In a power outage situation I doubt it would run for more than a minute at a time, maybe 4 or 5 times a day.

Often well pumps and sump pumps can be wired for either 230 or 120V, so Pila could be an option with some added effort and a conversation with an electrician. But in any case, looking forward to building the 230/240V version!

What are the environmental requirements for Pila?

My well pump is 120V, but I don't keep it in my house. It's in a shed out back built over the well and tank. The shed is not insulated, but does have a 400W space heater plugged into one of these [1] that tries to keep it above freezing in there. I think most of the time it succeeds but it is possible that for a few days a year it might get below freezing for a while.

I have no idea what the humidity is like, or how hot it can get in the summer.

Would the current Pila be OK in that kind of environment?

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovators-TC-3-Thermostatically...

I’d like to be able to use a 240V hot water kettle to boil water for tea (or for sanitization during an outage). I live in the US and 120V is slow and inefficient, especially at family-scale.

Do you have frequent enough power outages that waiting an extra minute for tea is a concern?

> Do you have frequent enough power outages that waiting an extra minute for tea is a concern?

I’ve had ten power outages in the past six months, one mile from an international airport. I’ve lived through hundreds hours of power outages due to PG&E’s fucking incompetence in the past ten years. You’ll have to judge for yourself whether that justifies my comment - but, if you were a startup considering a 240V outlet on your home battery solution, I’m pointing out an entire category of uses that they may not have considered:

US kitchen countertop equipment that runs at higher power draw when a 240 outlet is available.

As an apartment renter, I have no reasonable solution today for a battery that can cope with my kitchen at all, prior to this one — and if they go 240V, I can upgrade my kitchen appliances, take them with me when I move, and be more resilient to power outages. And if that puts more weight behind the 240V purpose so they eventually offer a model for people’s furnaces, cool beans. I may not be able to convince my landlord to install a Charlie range, but I already have battery backups in every room except my kitchen, so there’s an unmet need that this startup’s a very close fit for already.

Being dismissive about someone’s questions will cause you to overlook potential market niches that have no viable solutions today. Your competitors thank you for your service :)

I love 240V appliances. I have a 240V induction hob from Italy(Fabita Ordine). Would love to have a 120V in and 240V out for this use case.

I've never been in an American datacentre, and power provision looks more complicated than in Europe, but I guess there is 240V power available.

That should mean there are UPSs already available, although possibly they don't come in small sizes.

As I vaguely understand it, and I’m not an expert at all here - American 220V is two 110V phases tapped off the feed and glued together at 180 degree offsets; European 240V is one phase tapped directly off the mains feed. So it’s definitely constructed differently! Their battery could tap into the electric range 220V/50A circuit and then redistributing that somehow - or it could tap into the 110V 15A circuit and synthesize 220V/xxA itself. I’m not sure what makes the most sense, or how the NEMA outlet legalities work out! But it’s definitely a lot of interesting research.

I’m in Australia and everything is 240V (well, I think technically it’s 230V now) here.

Any timeline yet for international distribution?

On a personal note, I'll also be really stoked when we're shipping to Australia. Lots of friends down there, and have been lucky to work on some past home energy products for the Australian market.

Parts of Pila's power electronics are already 230~240V capable. We've just launched in the US, and are doing our best to stay focused on excellent support for our home market before expanding. That said, I could see 2026 being the right time for expansion... stay tuned mate!

Best of luck -- hope to see it available here soon!

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