Help me decide... powerwalls inside the garage or outside?

[bkp_duke]

I'm going against the general consensus I'm seeing here and saying INSIDE, absolutely.

Why might I say that? Efficiency and weather protection.

Like all LiIon batteries, these work best in a temperature range, and even nights in the 40s-50s will see you use up additional energy for the BMS in the batteries to keep them in that temperature range. Being in FL this won't be a huge problem for you, but I still would want to optimize everything on the installation.

Just my 0.02.

 

[SoundDaTrumpet]

I recommend inside. Past week's heat wave 95deg outside, my garage was 81deg with 2 PWs. First time I heard the fans running at 5ft away. I like to be discrete, maintain low profile, and not draw attention to my home. I stacked mine on the floor 3ft from the garage door opening. I can swing car doors open without interference, and I can enter and exit any car parked in any direction.

Installation notes: 1. The installers use a lift for the Powerwalls (your A/C unit is in the way, mind 36" electrical panel clearance OSHA rules). 2. Need concrete pad to added ($500 I think from Tesla when I asked back in 2016). 3. You could screen with solid or lattice fencing. 4. PWs can go anywhere (I have mine opposite side of the garage, 1" conduit routed along the finished garage soffits (could have went inside the soffits, but decided PW are a durable bolt-on appliance like a clothes washer... subject to change/replacement).

 

[jrweiss98020]

My default answer would be to put them inside if possible. Clear the area for the installation, then build new storage above and around them. Setting them on the floor and stacking them 2x2 should minimize their footprint.

However, your north-facing outside wall is a reasonable option IF you are not near the coast. I would NOT put them outside if you have heavy salt air...

 

[BrettS]

However, your north-facing outside wall is a reasonable option IF you are not near the coast. I would NOT put them outside if you have heavy salt air...

Yeah, I’m a good 20 or 25 miles inland, so salt air isn’t really a huge concern here, but I can see how it could potentially be a concern.

 

[chrisbailey13]

View media item 120490
I put mine inside...my outside wall faces the street and North...I didn't want to have to be cleaning mildew off the powerwalls like I do the cable access over.

Like you, I have cenderblock walls, t exposed conduit was necessary sacrifice.

 

[jjrandorin]

Another vote for inside (if we all get one, lol). Inside = less temperature variance. In your case, outside would also work, and this is a personal decision, but to me, its sort of like saying "do I park my car inside my garage or outside?" For me, cars "live" in the garage, and I must have space to park our 2 cars in the garage. I happen to have a 3 car garage, but if I didnt, the cars would still live in the garage as I really dont like parking nice cars in the driveway (even though I live in a nice area).

I would want them inside, so that no one passing by saw them, they would be more temperature controlled, etc. Nothing wrong with outside, but for me specifically, I would make concessions to put them in the garage over the side of the house location.

As you can see from this thread, others have done differently... In your case both seem to work, so its more the aesthetics of it.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[BrettS]

Thanks for all the replies. The more I thought about it, the more I think inside the garage makes sense. Ignore the complete mess that is my garage, but I have this space:

There’s about 7.5 feet between the shelves and the front of the garage, so there should be no problem with two stacks of two power walls there, and hopefully it will be close enough to the front of the garage that it shouldn’t interfere with car doors too much (although I don’t currently park a car on that side of the garage anyway). I’ll need to find some place to put the bikes and stuff that’s hanging on the wall now, but I think that’s probably the best option.

 

[jjrandorin]

Thanks for all the replies. The more I thought about it, the more I think inside the garage makes sense. Ignore the complete mess that is my garage, but I have this space:

View attachment 548125

There’s about 7.5 feet between the shelves and the front of the garage, so there should be no problem with two stacks of two power walls there, and hopefully it will be close enough to the front of the garage that it shouldn’t interfere with car doors too much (although I don’t currently park a car on that side of the garage anyway). I’ll need to find some place to put the bikes and stuff that’s hanging on the wall now, but I think that’s probably the best option.

That looks like the perfect space for 2 stacks of 2 powerwalls on the floor, especially since, as you said, you dont have the "lip" near the floor like I do.

 

[SoundDaTrumpet]

Thanks for all the replies. The more I thought about it, the more I think inside the garage makes sense. Ignore the complete mess that is my garage, but I have this space:

View attachment 548125

There’s about 7.5 feet between the shelves and the front of the garage, so there should be no problem with two stacks of two power walls there, and hopefully it will be close enough to the front of the garage that it shouldn’t interfere with car doors too much (although I don’t currently park a car on that side of the garage anyway). I’ll need to find some place to put the bikes and stuff that’s hanging on the wall now, but I think that’s probably the best option.

My 2 PWs stacked sit exactly where the brown box is as close to garage door. As extra data, I measured 7.5 feet, and the corner of a 3rd & 4th PW would interfere with opening driver side door (TM3) if parked in reverse. 7.5 feet if parked forward would interfere passenger side doors. I understand the dilemma with bicycle storage. My kids are too young to have to strength to rack bikes on the wall. I would like to build a solar shed in the yard one day. Also, the gap above the PWs is a great place to store 3 basketballs.

 

[jboy210]

Thanks for all the replies. The more I thought about it, the more I think inside the garage makes sense. Ignore the complete mess that is my garage, but I have this space:

View attachment 548125

There’s about 7.5 feet between the shelves and the front of the garage, so there should be no problem with two stacks of two power walls there, and hopefully it will be close enough to the front of the garage that it shouldn’t interfere with car doors too much (although I don’t currently park a car on that side of the garage anyway). I’ll need to find some place to put the bikes and stuff that’s hanging on the wall now, but I think that’s probably the best option.

Definitely looks like you have the space. And if those shelves are not impacting you use of the garage, having pairs of powerwalls also should not.

And you can always do like I did and put a shed in the backyard to get your gardening tools, etc out of the garage.

 

[gpez]

Thanks for all the replies. The more I thought about it, the more I think inside the garage makes sense. Ignore the complete mess that is my garage, but I have this space:

View attachment 548125

There’s about 7.5 feet between the shelves and the front of the garage, so there should be no problem with two stacks of two power walls there, and hopefully it will be close enough to the front of the garage that it shouldn’t interfere with car doors too much (although I don’t currently park a car on that side of the garage anyway). I’ll need to find some place to put the bikes and stuff that’s hanging on the wall now, but I think that’s probably the best option.

That does look like a good space. If you haven't measured already you may want to check the clearance if you (or someone else) parks a car there - a bollard may be a good call.

 

[BrettS]

So just a quick follow up to this. If you’ve been watching my other thread you probably already know this, but I did have the powerwalls installed in the garage. They made the electrical connections on the back of the powerwalls so there was no visible conduit in the garage. The conduit is on the outside of the house and they painted it to match the house so it blends in.

 

[BrettS]

I’ve got one more quick note for other people who are making the same decision. One unexpected side effect of having the powerwalls in the garage is that they have noticeably increased the temperature in my garage. This also has the effect of causing my model S to run it’s cooling systems to cool it’s batteries while it’s just sitting in the garage, so the car is using more power than normal as well.

Because I don’t have my PTO yet and I can’t feed power back to the grid I’ve been operating my system off grid for the past few days, so the powerwalls are getting a lot of exercise, charging up to 100% during the day, then draining down to around 40% overnight. Since my utility doesn’t offer TOU rates, once I get my PTO I’m planning to operate in backup only mode and I suspect that will greatly reduce the heat generation since the powerwalls won’t be used nearly as much.

I did want to mention it though, so others who are facing the same decision can also consider the heat generation factor. Especially if they are planning on using the powerwalls daily for load shifting. If I was planning on continuing to operate this way I’d probably try to find some way to vent the powerwalls to the outside, but like I said, once I get my PTO I’ll be switching to backup only mode and I don’t think it will be a problem for me any longer.

 

[TomServo]

I’ll be adding 2 PWs and have the perfect place. The back wall of our garage floor mounted. But are there any safety issues that need to be addressed possible local codes to prevent a car from hitting them? So now am thinking a wall mount is the safer option. Thoughts?

 

[jboy210]

I’ll be adding 2 PWs and have the perfect place. The back wall of our garage floor mounted. But are there any safety issues that need to be addressed possible local codes to prevent a car from hitting them? So now am thinking a wall mount is the safer option. Thoughts?

We had ours on a side wall and mounted. I did not want to have to deal with bollards or another barrier, and/or the risk of hitting them.

 

[Vines]

I’ll be adding 2 PWs and have the perfect place. The back wall of our garage floor mounted. But are there any safety issues that need to be addressed possible local codes to prevent a car from hitting them? So now am thinking a wall mount is the safer option. Thoughts?

Depending on the code your local building department adopts, the back wall might need impact protection.

Putting them on a side wall is less of a worry, but the back wall can be made to work if they are elevated high enough, or if you are willing to use impact protection.

 

[holeydonut]

A neighbor in my subdivision (Contra Costa County California) is getting ESS put in his garage even though the original design had them outdoors. Trying to do it without bollards (edit: side wall; not the shear wall that headlights would shine on). Such bravery in this day and age.

I want to have a bet with him on whether this will pass inspection... anyone have fair odds for this?

 

[Matt-FL]

We have 2 PWs. We were trying to decide whether to mount them inside or out so I posted a similar thread. In the end we were going to put them on the garage floor. But when the installed came they said there was an issue with the wall having a cement curb at the bottom and the PW needing to be tied into the wall for lateral support. So don't be too surprised if your plans have to change at the last minute

The PWs ended up mounting them on the wall and really like the look. Below are some shots of the installation. The Tesla guys that installed the PWs were artists and managed to get all wiring hidden. Wall color is a shade of the color Tesla uses in their showrooms. View attachment 547963 .

So, looking closer at this picture, did you know you have something growing through the wall inbetween the powerwalls?