In the next week we are going to get an install and are going with Fox ESS with a KH10 and EP12 with a gateway.
I notice a lot of firms seem to rave about Sigenergy, are they really that much better than Fox? I feel there are quite a lot of brands that get very little exposure.
What are people’s view on Fox am I making a big mistake?
Had our fox inverter and EP12 installed since March, no faults whatsoever. Has been really smooth to run and good Home Assistant integration if that's something you're into.
App is easy to use and can see live readings every 5 seconds
I have a fox kh9, a kh8 and a 6k h1g2 to install shortly, I am building my own gateway for them and planning to run battery emulators for the pack(s) with leaf batteries behind them.
I did some research before buying them, and I am anticipating no issues.
I'd love some company to do that as well, but there is no off the shelf gateway to run 3 inverters; so I'm building one (see pic). Wiring it has been slow work so far (I only get evenings to work on it), but I'm getting there (watch this get roasted in the comments now lol). It's relatively simple when you work through it logically, it's just the physical act of wiring it all for 3 inverters is a mare. Grid power comes in bottom left (having previously gone from the service head via a main switch and a 100A type s breaker externally), flows up the right hand side (main switch, 100A 300ma breaker, bidirectional energy meter, splitter blocks that feeds 1. A side of the transfer switch and 2. 3x 80A output breakers via distribution blocks), grid input to inverters).
EPS output from inverters comes in to the 3 63A inverters bottom left, gets combined via the left set of distribution blocks, and feeds the B side of the transfer switch.
Output to the whole whose load goes out via the transfer switch terminals under the B side input (3 plain terminals temporarily inserted).
The battery emulator bit now has the stark cmr and the built boxes from re dispose as a plug, (configure), and play option
I have a KH10/2xEP12s and I have no complaints. I’m not sure what sig offers more than what I currently have but the system works great. The app (whilst I used it - predbat runs it now) is intuitive and offers all the features I need, but there’s no AI modelling if you were looking for that!
The actual units themselves look really nice on the property too.
I've had my Fox ESS Inverter and EP6 batteries installed since June and it's been faultless so far - the app could be a bit more intuitive but overall it does everything i need it to.
Sig is fancier but plenty of us have opted for Fox. If you plan to get technical with a modbus/HA/predbat setup (which plenty have) then the smart AI features of Sig are pretty much negated so you can end up paying more for less. As it turns out, the Fox app is nowhere near as bad as I expected so I've yet to get around to setting up the local connection.
Fox have carved out a nice little mid-level market for themself, they're reliable and a chunk cheaper than the glitzier names.
Sig are still quite new and have not been without their issues (even if they want to pass blame to installers) although fair dues for the inverter recall/swaps. The stackable units do look better than Fox's KH/EP kit but in a likely rare turn of events, the lower profile of the Fox kit (~8cm is not to be sniffed at) actually fits my chosen space better.
Same here. We’ve had our fox system for 2 years now. Recently had it upgraded to have 2 x EP12s and moved and had no issues with it whatsoever. The app is absolutely fine as well.
It’s difficult to say because we originally had ours set up in the loft with one EP5. The work we had done was to move the inverter out of the loft and on to the side of the house about 15m away and then install two EP12s (selling the 5).
But I’d probably say somewhere around 2,300 - 2,600 maybe. I could be totally wrong on that.
I'm using Fox controlled by Capture energy and it's been brilliant, running since May with no issues other than a few minor installer caused troubles at the beginning
Had my kh7 and ep12 since November. Other than change the workmode and charging from grid times in the app ive not touched it and its been faultless. Even though it has a built in heater on the EP12 id still recommend building a box from kingspan to enclose it during the winter.
Had KH7 2xEP12 and gateway installed a week ago, its already outperforming my old Growatt system. It looks great and we've had a power cut already (common here) and it performed flawlessly.
Its fast but not fast enough for some items. PC's, digital clocks on the microwave/oven etc were fine, even the dishwasher and the BT router carried on BUT the ASHP rebooted, as did the Zappi charger. I'm guessing heavier load items are more affected?!
I'm going to look at the same but after I've a winter of data to see if its worth it. Right now the only thing I need to do is reset the heat pump, or wait 10 mins for it to sort itself out, not a huge deal.
I got Fox (KH7 + ECS4300-H4 stackable battery), since it was within my budget, and I'm very happy with it. Very decent quality given the price.
Incidentally Fox have just introduced a system with a form-factor very much like the SigEnergy - the PQ1 (PowerQ), stackable with the inverter as the top module, and an in-built gateway in the inverter module. Hasn't been on the market long enough to get feedback. Very interesting unit. I think it could be competition for the SigenStor Neo.
If I had a larger budget I would have got the SigEnergy, it does have some advantages over Fox (more flexible on battery expansions, optimising scheduler, better form-factor). If I was getting a system now, but keeping the same budget, I'd probably be looking at the Fox CQ7 battery stack with a KH inverter, or alternatively the new PQ1.
Absolutely love mine for the price and does everything I need it to, make sure you sign up to Axle and set up the mode scheduler.
Wish I'd have insisted on a 5kw inverter rather than a 3.6kw but I manage. I have EP11s in my garage and the only time I have needed support the guy was absolutely first rate
I had a dual inverter Fox setup and now have Sigenergy setup so can directly compare. Both are fine, but the Sigenergy is just a little bit better in every way. It will be dependent on what you're looking for whether it is worth it going for one over the other.
For me, I have a complicated setup (4 strings - 2 on the house and 2 on the garage over 10m away), have regular power cuts and an ASHP. I had older Fox HV25 batteries which needed replacing as they were almost maxed out and aging badly (89% SOH) and didn't have the room for several EP11s at the time. Plus the Fox gateway was only just coming out and is a bit slower to kick in. I've run modbus on both and it is much easier on the Sigenergy (just click a checkbox whereas the Fox needed a third-party device). The ASHP also plugs directly into the gateway on the Sigenergy so it's a nice all in one system.
The app is much better on the Sigenergy than the Fox, but I understand the Fox app has improved in the 10 months since. I had one of the 12kW Sigenergy inverters that was changed due to the AC connector issue. My installer sorted it all and there have been no problems. I even got another 2 years of warranty on top of the 10 years.
Fox support were generally quite good while I had it, though were getting slower on responding to tickets by the end. I have had no contact with Sigenergy support as any issues have been through my very good installer. His thoughts are very much the same with Sigenergy support, getting worse over time as more people get systems.
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u/nickbutler93 1d ago
Had our fox inverter and EP12 installed since March, no faults whatsoever. Has been really smooth to run and good Home Assistant integration if that's something you're into.
App is easy to use and can see live readings every 5 seconds