Has anyone used their Lightning up backup their house?

[Bushwood CC]

When I bought my Flash in July 24 it did not come with the Ford charge station Pro. I’d like to have that feature. I’ve read some comments from people who are not fans of this charger. Could you let me know if you have this and used this feature or if you know of another charger that I can use with my lightning to provide backup for my house. Thanks.

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[sfringer]

When I bought my Flash in July 24 it did not come with the Ford charge station Pro. I’d like to have that feature. I’ve read some comments from people who are not fans of this charger. Could you let me know if you have this and used this feature or if you know of another charger that I can use with my lightning to provide backup for my house. Thanks.

Not to come across as inconsiderate, but please search the forums - there are innumerable threads discussing the Ford option (which requires more than just the FCSP) and other options such as making use of a generator connection to run from the bed outlets. This is a very common and active topic.

 

[davehu]

the FCSP is not required to use the Lightning Pro Power to backup your house. I have used my Lightning to power my house several times, replacing the portable generator I used to own. there are many threads here discussing that option.

 

[Altivec]

Just to clear up some of the replies which are kind of going all over the place. 1) The charge station pro is a charger. It can be used as a stand alone charger but it does have the ability to connect to other devices that can send power back to your home in the event of a power failure... The charge station pro is only one piece of the puzzle and the other pieces are extremely expensive at this time. The other issue that is well known (do a search) is that the charge station pro has a ton of problems staying connected and after spending big bucks, the system troublesome to keep working.

2) Many people just use the 30 Amp outlet in the back and plug it into a generator backup port in your house. This is by far the most affordable option. The negative is that you have to go physically plug in the cable. And that you are limited to 30 amps. I believe the Ford station pro has the ability to send more than 30 Amps, but not that much more.

3) I believe there are other systems (not Ford) now that can do both directions but I won't comment on it because I know very little about these options other than it's not cheap to do this. If money is no object, then it's well worth researching it more than just going with the Ford charge station pro. If you are cheap like me, then just do option 2 above.

 

[Ejunge]

Here is why no one has done the seamless integration that Ford Advertises-

https://www.sunrun.com/shop/products/sunrun-home-integration-system

 

[RickLightning]

The Ford Charge Station Pro is no longer made. It, and the HIS system, hardware and software, ran about $10,000...

 

[CrimsonGhost603]

This is a project I plan to undertake in the fall. My current transfer switch is a ProTran, which is not compatible with the lightning’s pro power (neutral and grounding config will trip the Lightning’s GFCI). I’ll drop you some key links that I found helpful.

This guys has a great video on this.



Product:

Generac 6852 Transfer Switch on Amazon

also check out these forums:

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...house-which-transfer-switch-works-best.26153/


This should be enough to get you started. If you don’t feel comfortable doing the work, consult a licensed electrician. Whats nice about the Generac is each wire is color coded. Keep in mind you can’t just use any transfer switch out there, as the Lightning is sensitive to certain neutral and ground configs.

 

[K1ng0011]

EG4 Chargeverter - this can charge an already installed battery at your house from the 30amp plug in the bed.

EG4 Gridboss - has a generator port built in. Hook the truck up to this generator port from the 30 amp outlet in the bed.

Either solution requires the truck to be on.

 

[JohnsonEJ23]

Take a look at the Sig Energy V2X system. It is pricey but has worked well for a few of us on here (including me).

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I use the Pro Power Onboard 7.2 kW output to power a 48 Volt, 60 Amp battery charger that charges my whole home batteries which are connected to the solar inverter.

Yes, there’s loss to go from DC to AC to DC and back to AC.
But the simplicity and safety is unbeatable.

I don’t need an engineer’s stamp to connect the charger to the battery (I got that stamp for the solar install); I don’t need to worry about the safety of an automatic transfer switch since that’s already part of the solar inverter. I don’t need to use another breaker slot in the panel.

If I’m not home or the truck isn’t plugged in, the truck wouldn’t be powering anything anyway. Having a system that’s not dependent on me being home and the truck being plugged in gives me more flexibility.

If I’m home and I’m worried that the 88 kWh of home battery will run out, I can just plug into the cable that feeds the batteries. If I’m running out of energy, I can take the truck to a nearby DCFC and recharge it while the house is still powered via the whole home battery.

I could also plug the truck into the generator port of the solar inverter if I wanted to avoid two conversion loss steps. But then I can only provide 30 Amps max to the house and I don’t get to use the whole home battery. Instead, by charging the whole home battery, I can provide up to 200 Amps surge from the battery while also pulling 30 Amps from the truck to feed the battery. That “built-in” surge buffer allows things like the AC/heat pump to spin up, or to use the stove or water heater for a bit.

 

[chl]

When I bought my Flash in July 24 it did not come with the Ford charge station Pro. I’d like to have that feature. I’ve read some comments from people who are not fans of this charger. Could you let me know if you have this and used this feature or if you know of another charger that I can use with my lightning to provide backup for my house. Thanks.

1) I believe your 2024 Flash can only charge at 48A so you don't need a FCSP, and decent EVSE that will charge at 48A will do.

2) The least expensive way to back up you house is through the PPOB if you have the 240V 30A outlet in the bed - I use a GENERAC 6853 (about $400 on amazon) transfer switch for 10 emergency circuits. 30A is not going to run everything most likely, so if you need more, you could go with a Sigenergy system which will include a DC charger to charge your truck AND a way to power you house in an outage: https://www.sigenergy.com/us/products/dc-charger but it will cost you. It would make sense if you have a lot of outages, pay a lot for electricity and want a solar system and battery storage, or if money is no object.

3) I have a FCSP I bought on eBay new in the box in 2024 for $600 (about 1/2 the retail) back when I was pondering the HIS system - but after reading about all the issues the HIS has, I opted to pass on that. As far as a truck EVSE for charging, it does the job.

 

[chl]

EG4 Chargeverter - this can charge an already installed battery at your house from the 30amp plug in the bed.

EG4 Gridboss - has a generator port built in. Hook the truck up to this generator port from the 30 amp outlet in the bed.

Either solution requires the truck to be on.

Does the generator port on that system cause a GFCI trip in the Lightning? I have seen reports about other systems having that issue because their gen port is for an unbonded generator.

 

[CrimsonGhost603]

This is one of the best vids I've seen breaking everything down if you go the transfer switch route:

Ultimate Guide to Ford F-150 Pro Power Onboard! (How to Power Your Home During an Outage)

 

[chl]

This is one of the best vids I've seen breaking everything down if you go the transfer switch route:

Ultimate Guide to Ford F-150 Pro Power Onboard! (How to Power Your Home During an Outage)

Not bad, but you can actually use 10 circuits with the GENERAC transfer switch per the Generac literature by using dual 15A and swapping out breakers as need (I didn't need the 30A 2 pole), not limited to the 8 it comes with, but limited to a 30A load.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Siemens...eyword&utm_adtype=pla&utm_category=Electrical

And the GENERAC kit comes with an inlet box and short cord for the $400

Generac 6853 HomeLink Upgradeable 30 Amp Transfer Switch Kit - Reliable Power Solution for Homes - 10' Cord and Resin Power Inlet Box

https://www.amazon.com/Generac-6853-Upgradeable-Transfer-Switch/dp/B00V4NDG12?th=1

 

[Zprime29]

Does the generator port on that system cause a GFCI trip in the Lightning? I have seen reports about other systems having that issue because their gen port is for an unbonded generator.

I have the EG4 6000XP, the neutral-ground bound is SW controlled on the inverter. I have it set to unbonded and use a 30A extension cord wired into the generator input. When I plug it into the truck, I have no problems cranking full power into the inverter. It will redirect the power directly to loads first, then battery with any remaining power. Works great, shout out to @RLXXI for the idea.

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