What’s your ideal split between home and EV power use?

[Maribel_Mayde]

Now that the days are getting shorter here in Illinois, I’ve been keeping an eye on how much power I reserve for the house compared to what I let the EV take overnight. I usually hold back around 25–30% of the battery for home use, especially since we’ve had a few short outages lately, but I’m not sure if that’s the best approach. How do you guys balance it? Do you prioritize charging the EV first or keeping more backup for the house? I’m curious what setups people are running, especially if you’re using time-of-use plans or solar charging during the day.

 

[Skuld_Union]

I usually keep about the same reserve like 25% or so especially during fall when outages are more common. My rule is simple: if the car needs juice for the next day, it gets priority early evening, then I top off the home battery overnight on off-peak rates. It’s not perfect, but it keeps both sides happy without hitting the grid too hard.

 

[BioMech_Deus]

For me it’s more like 40% home and like 60% EV lately, because outages freak me out and I’d rather keep the lights and fridge on. The trade-off is you’ll charge the EV slower or less overnight. One thing I found like using your home battery to service the EV actually may mess with how smart your system treats home loads. How many nights do you expect a real outage and what backup duration do you need?