H2OME

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Snowed in at the club lodge with the power out

Club ski lodges sit at the end of steep access roads, often with fragile power lines. When a storm brings both down, people are stuck. This page looks at what a backup has to carry.

Warmth and water at altitude

A snowbound lodge needs to keep people warm and keep pipes from freezing. Heat pumps or heaters in the common room, trace heating on exposed pipes, the water pump and the hot water cylinder are the critical loads. The kitchen fridges and an induction hob or two keep meals going. A 15 kW system covers that mix for a club lodge, though not a large commercial base building.

What it would keep running

  • Common room heating
  • Pipe trace heating and water pump
  • Drying room for wet gear
  • Kitchen fridges and induction hob
  • Radio and internet link

Lifts are a separate world

Ski lifts and snowmaking are big industrial loads far beyond 15 kW, and they are not what this system is for. Its job is the lodge: the bunkroom, the kitchen, the drying room for wet gear, and the radio and internet that let people report they are safe.

A commercial field's base building with cafeterias, rental shops and ticketing would need a larger, multi-unit setup sized in the pilot, if it fits at all. We would say that plainly rather than oversell. For a club lodge sleeping a few dozen members, though, the loads are household scale and fit well within what the system is designed to give.

How it works →
The H2OME loop: an electrolyser splits water into hydrogen, the hydrogen is stored in a tank for weeks, a fuel cell turns it into electricity for your home, and the water returns to the loop.

Cold weather and stored hydrogen

The system would sit in a sheltered, ventilated enclosure protected from snow load. Hydrogen stored at 30 bar or less keeps for weeks, so a lodge used mainly on weekends can stay topped up on off-peak power between visits. How the system handles sustained alpine cold is something the pilot is designed to test. Round trip is 30% or less, so it is backup, not a cheaper bill.

Questions

Can it run the ski lifts?

No. Lifts and snowmaking are large industrial loads well beyond 15 kW, and they are not what this is designed for. It is sized for the lodge itself, keeping people warm, fed and in contact while the road is closed.

Will cold temperatures affect it?

The system would be installed in a protected enclosure. Its performance in sustained alpine conditions is one of the things pilot installs are meant to measure, and we will not claim results before then.

Does the lodge need to be staffed?

No. It switches over automatically and runs from stored hydrogen without anyone starting it, which suits a club lodge that sits empty midweek. Redundant leak sensors trigger shutdown and venting if there is a fault.

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