Tips for using Rivian as power bank for storm

[Dawgtoberfest]

With all the crazy forecasts this weekend calling for ice in the south east I’ve been weighing my options. I was looking into getting a bigger generator than my dinky tailgate generator or a battery back up but realized I have a giant battery sitting in the garage.

I know I’m limited to 1500W max but was curious if anyone has leveraged their car for power during a prolonged outage and if they had any tips/tricks? Ole chat GPT is convinced I need a good power bank I continuously top off from the Rivian to handle more/initial loads but not sure if that’s really necessary or not.

We’ve had maybe 1 outage in the year we’ve lived here with lines underground so trying to balance good planning and over doing a one off situation. Any advice or anecdotes you fine folks have I’d appreciate!

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[Skeldog99]

Picking up my R1T max pack tomorrow and was just thinking about this since I’m in MD.

 

[bfilippo]

So there’s still no V2H setup from Rivian, YET, sadly. Are you listening RJ?

But, we did use our R1T to keep our fridge running for 2 days last year during an outage with an extension cord. Worked great and used minimal charge. Other folks have more involved stories I’m sure.

 

[kanundrum]

Picking up my R1T max pack tomorrow and was just thinking about this since I’m in MD.

Fellow MD here just keep it as close to 90% as possible

 

[Dawgtoberfest]

So there’s still no V2H setup from Rivian, YET, sadly. Are you listening RJ?

But, we did use our R1T to keep our fridge running for 2 days last year during an outage with an extension cord. Worked great and used minimal charge. Other folks have more involved stories I’m sure.

Yea, been wanting V2H for a minute. It’s why I don’t want to go all in on a legit generator haha. But with it being so cold and little ones in the house I’m gonna be seeing what I can sustainably power between fridge, router, etc.

Based on what I’ve see doesn’t seem like a heater is gonna work off the Rivian outlet

 

[HaveBlue]

Yea there are only a couple of V2H solutions right now that work with a Rivian. Best bet is an extension cord off the inverter but be cautious not to blow the inverter fuse.

 

[Redmond Chad]

HERE is a post I made when I tried to power my house from Ecoflow batteries while charging them from my R1S. TLDR: I could kind make it work, but it was not nearly as convenient as I had hoped. The difficult part was that the Ecoflow won't allow simultaneous 120V input and 240V output.

If you're only going to use 120V output, it's a different story. And if you have a later model, it might be a different story.

 

[Cycliste]

If you want to get around the 1500 watts limit, get a backup battery with the delivery you need, and charge the backup battery from your vehicle at 1500 watts. I have an induction cooktop I use at home that exceeds 1500 watts, but use this setup for it in my wildfire emergency kit if I have to evacuate. Hotels fill up fast, but I have a mobile giant battery on wheels.

https://www.jackery.com/products/solar-generator-2000-plus

 

[ndmiller]

In GA as well and we've only lost power for a couple hours a handful of times in the last decade. We use extension cords to R1T for 2 fridges, turn on fireplace to heat main rooms and a couple solar generators throughout the house for lights, phone, internet.

We'll get gas for the ICE and charge Y and R1T before the storm. Only going to be 0.5" of snow, so the state will go nuts, but not even worth buying bread.

 

[Singletracker]

I’ve used my R1T for home backup a couple of times. I just run an extension cord. My highest priority is to keep the furnace working during cold weather. I installed a pig tail on the furnace so that I can connect the Rivian extension cord. Also, keeping the frig going is nice. I have a portable EcoFlo battery that I can use for individual lights and such. As I camp a lot, I have all the necessary gear and supplies to keep going during an extended power outage. It‘s just another camping adventure It has worked quite well. That Rivian battery Is huge and pretty unfazed by the the requirements I have. It could go for days if needed. I used to rely on a small gas generator, but that pales in comparison to the Rivian. I also make sure to have the Rivian charged up when I know there may be impending weather issues.

 

[BigSkies]

Make sure you have an extension cord that is long enough for what you need to power, and also is rated for what you want to power. Many cheaper extension cords are not rated for a 1,500W constant load. Get a properly rated one if in doubt.

 

[Thedude]

Unless it’s a really dinky generator it’s probably less dinky than the Rivian inverter output. If it’s something like a Honda 2000 it will run part load for 40+ hours on a 5 gallon gas can. Fill a couple with some ethanol free gas and rotate them out once a year and you have a simple, reliable power source without draining charge from the vehicle.

 

[SadHill]

Agreed with above peeps. We haven’t lost power in a few years but last time I had 2 extension cords running. One to our fridge and freezer and the other to some lights, internet and an outlet bar to charge laptop (for work) and phones. Was able to keep working and no food was spoiled. We have two wood stoves so our house is always warm, i know everyone doesn’t have that but it works for us.
Rivian has been promising V2H for years and still nothing yet. But even if they turned it on there is very few inverter / chargers that are made. I was hoping Rivian would just make one like Ford and GM do so that it will be a seamless integration.

 

[SilverII]

on a prior thread i read that someone just ran an extension cord from their vehicle to the house. That's not the interesting part, it was that they took off the door knob and used that hole to run the cord through so they can keep the door closed. I thought that was a great tip.

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