A Hackaday feature published on November 6, 2025, describes a home battery assembled from 500 lithium cells salvaged from disposable vapes. But the headline’s claim that it blows commercial competition “out of the water” is not backed by comparative measurements in the reported details: capacity, delivered energy, output, efficiency, cost, and lifespan are not stated. The build is an intriguing reuse project, not evidence that a salvaged-cell system is cheaper, better, or suitable for home installation.
What the 500-cell build contains
Hackaday reports that Chris Doel assembled a Powerwall-like battery using 500 cells recovered from disposable vapes. The feature describes several screening and construction details, but does not establish that the finished system was independently tested or certified.
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- Cell screening: Doel reportedly rejected cells discharged below 3 V. This was his selection threshold, not a general lithium-cell safety rule or recommendation.
- Airflow-and-light check: A homemade device used airflow through a vape to check whether its light activated. Hackaday says a CPAP-machine pump was used in the test device. The report does not say that this check measured cell capacity or internal resistance.
- Pack construction: Hackaday reports individual fuses on every battery and links between 3D-printed packs. These are reported design features; they do not by themselves demonstrate that the installation is safe.
Read Hackaday’s account of the project.
Does it beat a commercial home battery?
The published details do not provide the figures needed to answer that. A count of 500 cells does not reveal usable storage: cells may differ in condition, and cell count alone says nothing about the assembled pack’s delivered energy or output capability. The report gives no verified system capacity, usable energy, output power, round-trip efficiency, installed cost, or cycle life, and it describes no controlled comparison with a commercial product.
A fair comparison would need measured usable energy and power, efficiency, total installed cost—including controls, enclosure, protection and installation—warranted service life, applicable safety testing and requirements, and repairability and recycling options. Without comparable values for those measures, “blows the competition out of the water” remains headline language rather than a demonstrated result.
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Why cell screening and fuses do not settle the safety question
Testing salvaged cells and adding fuses can be parts of an engineering design, but the feature does not establish that its airflow-and-light check assessed the properties needed to determine cell condition for stationary storage. Nor does reporting fuses prove the safety of the complete installation, including its cell matching, wiring, controls, enclosure, charging, and protection.
UK government guidance warns that lithium-ion batteries can cause serious, rapidly developing fires and toxic fumes, particularly if they are damaged, poor quality, or used improperly. In separate guidance for marine electrical installations, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency describes a general lithium-ion hazard: “A key hazard of lithium-ion battery installation is that a single cell defect may cascade through a module, and an entire battery system, quickly turning into a thermal runaway event and a full fire incident.” That is a general risk statement, not an assessment of Doel’s build.
GOV.UK battery-safety advice for e-cycle users and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s MGN 550 guidance address general lithium-battery hazards, not this particular project.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to dispose of vape batteries in the UK
Do not put loose or built-in lithium-ion batteries in household rubbish. The Office for Product Safety and Standards warns that batteries can catch fire in household waste, particularly when wet or damaged. Its guidance directs consumers to appropriate battery collection points; it says lithium-battery terminals should ideally be taped before collection. If a vape’s battery cannot be removed, handle the vape as an electrical product and use an appropriate collection route.
GOV.UK guidance on recycling batteries and electrical waste explains the disposal routes. For context, Electrical Safety First says disposable vapes have been illegal in the UK since June 2025. The same page reports Biffa data that more than 840,000 vapes were found at four waste sites between June and September 2025—an average of more than 7,000 per day. Those figures are attributed to Biffa, as reported by Electrical Safety First, rather than presented as an independent study by the charity.
Electrical Safety First’s advice on vapes and e-cigarettes covers safe handling and disposal.
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