A plug-in battery is a battery pack that charges from a normal 13A socket and powers devices from its own outlets, like a large timed power bank. That is different from a whole-home battery that sits behind the consumer unit and shares power with the house circuits under G98 or G99.
Search results often mix three different products: a socket appliance (such as the announced Octopus Nook Cube), a balcony plug-in solar kit, and adverts that claim a pack can push power back into the ring main to run the house. Only an electrician-wired install is a legal whole-home battery route today.
Ofgem's decision on Distribution Code modification DCRP/MP/26/02 (11 August 2026), approving a G98 amendment for plug-in solar PV, is explicit that plug-in electricity storage devices will therefore remain prohibited from being sold, supplied, or used in the UK once DESNZ's current proposals are implemented. Never treat a socket battery as a legal whole-home feed.
What it means for a home battery
If you want overnight tariff shifting across the house, you need a hardwired pack notified to your DNO, not a pack that feeds the ring main from a plug. Habo's Octopus plug-in battery guide covers the Nook Cube versus a hardwired pack, and the plug-in solar guide covers solar-only kits. Leave product prices and savings maths to those pages. Habo's offer is an electrician-wired EcoFlow STREAM from £2,499. Join the waitlist.
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Frequently asked questions
No. Ofgem's 11 August 2026 G98 plug-in microgeneration decision states that plug-in electricity storage devices will remain prohibited from being sold, supplied or used in the UK under DESNZ's current proposals. A whole-home battery must be electrician-wired under G98 or G99.
No. Habo's Octopus plug-in guide describes the Nook Cube as a small 13A appliance for 2027 that does not back up the whole house. See that guide for product detail.
Plug-in solar (balcony-style kits) is a separate product class from plug-in storage. Habo's plug-in solar guide covers the solar-only rules.
Simple battery, simple install
Electrician-wired EcoFlow STREAM from £2,499. Habo will try to serve anyone who registers in an area where we have an electrician. Nothing to pay today.
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