> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://learning.kent.co.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Battery Expectations: Five Things Customers Must Know

> Set the right picture at handover: SOC as a fuel gauge, load-dependent autonomy, reserve behaviour, grid-charge defaults, and post-outage recovery.

Most battery complaints are expectations colliding with reality. Five minutes of honest expectation-setting at handover — in plain words, at the display — keeps the phone quiet for the life of the system. Say these five things before you hand over the keys.

<Note>
  This page applies to systems with the Kent Lithium Battery on either the Kent M1 or Kent G3 platform.
</Note>

## The five things every customer should hear

<Steps>
  <Step title="The percentage is the fuel gauge">
    Point to the number on the display: *"That is your battery. Watch it for a week and you'll know your house's rhythm."*

    Where the number lives depends on the platform — show them before you leave. The tour is at [Display Walkthrough](/handover/display-walkthrough).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Hours depend on what's running">
    *"A battery is a bucket — big loads empty it fast. The essentials we wired give you your evening. Add a heater and it's a fraction of that."*

    Do not promise a fixed number of hours. The load decides. Give a lights-and-fans illustration instead of a kWh figure.
  </Step>

  <Step title="It may stop on purpose — that's protection, not failure">
    *"The system keeps a floor under the battery. On grid it may hold some charge in reserve for outages, and at a low floor it stops discharging to protect itself — then recharges. That pause is design, not a defect."*

    The thresholds behind that sentence are configured on this site's platform settings. Say what *this site* is set to do: reserve percentage, overdischarge floor, or both.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Grid charging only if it was set up that way">
    *"By default this system prefers solar. If you want the battery topped up from the grid before outage-heavy evenings, that is a setting we enable deliberately — tell us and Kent configures it."*

    On the Kent M1, grid-charge ships **disabled by default**. Enabling it is a conscious design choice, not an automatic feature. If this is an outage-first home and grid-charge is off, the pack may be part-empty when the first evening cut lands — set it deliberately or tell the customer explicitly.
  </Step>

  <Step title="After a long outage, let it recover">
    *"If a long cut runs the battery to its floor, let the system recharge it promptly — don't leave it flat for days, and don't switch the system off with an empty battery."*
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Battery-friendly habits

Leave these habits with the customer — verbally and on the DO/DON'T card:

* **Glance at the SOC** now and then. Know your evening number before a bad weather week.
* **Report a battery alarm with a photo** and call Kent. Do not power-cycle repeatedly — it makes diagnosis slower.
* **Don't stack cartons against the battery pack** or block its ventilation clearances.
* **Leaving the house for weeks?** Tell Kent. The right idle configuration exists and avoids unnecessary deep discharge.

## What not to promise

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Fixed backup hours">
    The load decides. Give a lights-and-fans illustration: "a couple of LED lights and the router for most of the night." Never quote a number in hours.
  </Card>

  <Card title="'It will never stop'">
    Protection floors exist precisely to stop discharge briefly. That pause is correct behaviour. Promising it will never stop sets up the first floor-hit as a complaint.
  </Card>

  <Card title="A DIY settings tour">
    Thresholds are installer and Kent territory. The customer's control is one phone call. Don't walk them through menus "in case" — they will remember just enough to cause problems.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Nameplate kWh as nightly usable">
    Reserve floors, overdischarge protection, and the day's solar harvest all affect what's actually available. The nameplate is a ceiling, not a nightly promise.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Common mistakes

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Promising nameplate kWh every night">
    Reserve floors reduce what's usable. Quote the realistic evening scenario, not the spec sheet.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Leaving grid-charge at default on outage-first homes">
    On the Kent M1, grid-charge defaults off. If the home relies on backup, enable it deliberately — or tell the customer the pack may be partly empty when the first cut hits.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Explaining thresholds in jargon">
    "SOC floor", "DOD limit", "overdischarge cutoff" mean nothing to a customer. Say "it saves some for emergencies" and move on.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Not mentioning recovery after long outages">
    A customer who leaves a flat pack off for days, thinking it is broken, can cause real harm to the battery. Say it once, clearly, at handover.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## When to escalate

<Note>
  **Escalate to Kent New Energy service only** — through your registered Kent partner channel or the Kent service desk details on your work order. Do not contact any third-party or component-manufacturer support line for a Kent-branded system: tickets outside the Kent channel are not tracked, not covered, and can void warranty handling.
</Note>

## Related pages

* [Battery Not Charging / Not Discharging](/battery/not-charging-discharging)
* [Backup Can & Can't](/handover/backup-can-and-cant)
* [Display Walkthrough](/handover/display-walkthrough)