Martha's Vineyard
RoseWater Energy systems for island homes that have to run well when you are a ferry ride away.
Boston Backup Power designs RoseWater Energy systems for homes on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, from Edgartown and Chilmark to Nantucket town, Siasconset and Madaket.
An island house is far from help when something breaks. Parts come over on the ferry and service calls take planning. A RoseWater HUB is built to cut down on those calls. It conditions the power the house uses every day, carries your essential systems through an outage with no gap, and reports its status to you, to us and to RoseWater wherever you are.
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Power on the islands
Both islands get their power from the mainland through undersea cables, and both take the full force of coastal storms. Eversource serves Martha's Vineyard and National Grid serves Nantucket. When a hurricane or nor'easter comes through, as Hurricane Bob did in 1991, the islands are among the first places hit.
Island outages also tend to be harder to fix quickly, because crews and equipment have to come across the water when the weather allows. That makes the time between the power failing and the house noticing it even more important.
A HUB is always online. The house runs on conditioned power every day, and when the grid fails the circuits it serves keep going with zero transfer time. With a generator or solar, it can keep going through a long outage.
Island homes
Island houses run from historic captains' houses in Edgartown and Nantucket town to large shingled homes on the ponds, the bluffs and the south shore beaches. Many are second homes, open part of the year and watched by a caretaker the rest.
These houses carry a lot of technology: lighting control, shades, a network, security cameras, refrigeration and wine storage. Every one of those systems is a service call if a surge or a brownout takes it down while you are away.
Space is often tight. Historic houses rarely have a mechanical room, and the garage or an outbuilding is often the best place for the equipment.
Salt air, historic districts and where the system goes
Inside is the right place for the HUB on an island lot. RoseWater designs HUBs for indoor installation in a garage or basement, without air conditioning, in a space about 3.5 feet wide, 3 feet deep and 8 feet high with 36 inches clear in front. Keep it out of any basement that has ever taken on water, because RoseWater's warranty does not cover water damage.
An outdoor cabinet is an exterior change, and both islands review those carefully. On Nantucket, exterior changes across the island go before the Historic District Commission. If the HUB40 outdoor enclosure is the right answer for your house, we plan the location and the paperwork with your builder or architect early.
Getting the cabinets there is part of the plan. The HUB20 is a single cabinet 84 inches tall, and the HUB40 is two cabinets, each 52 inches tall. They come across on the freight ferry, so we book that ahead and line up the island electrician and RoseWater's technicians for the same window.
Cabinet sizes and specs for each system are on the HUB20, HUB40 and 3-Phase pages.
Homes we design for on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket
Second homes with caretakers
Alerts can go to you, to us and to RoseWater, and we can include your caretaker in the plan for what happens when one comes in.
Historic houses
Captains' houses and older homes in the historic districts, where the equipment has to fit inside without changing the outside.
Large waterfront homes
Newer shingled homes on the ponds and bluffs with a full set of systems to protect. These are often HUB40 projects, sometimes with a generator.
Guest houses and outbuildings
A guest house or barn is sometimes the best place for the equipment, and sometimes another building to protect. We plan both in the Power Plan.
Towns we serve on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket
- Edgartown
- Oak Bluffs
- Vineyard Haven
- West Tisbury
- Chilmark
- Menemsha
- Aquinnah
- Chappaquiddick
- Nantucket
- Siasconset
- Madaket
- Polpis
- Surfside
- Monomoy
We cover both islands. Island projects are scheduled around the ferry, so tell us early if you are working toward a date.
How a project runs on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket
Island projects take more planning than mainland ones, and we plan them that way from the first call. We do the site visit in one trip where we can, work with an island electrician for the tie-in at the main panel, and coordinate delivery on the Steamship Authority freight boats from Woods Hole or Hyannis. RoseWater technicians commission the system with us, and remote monitoring means much of the support afterward can happen without a boat ride.
Build your Power Plan
Use the Power Plan on this site or call us. You pick what has to stay on, from the network and lighting control to the well pump and the wine room.
Site visit
We look at your electrical service, the main panel and subpanels, and the rooms that could hold the cabinets. On new builds we work from the single-line diagram, riser diagrams and panel schedules.
Design with RoseWater
We register the project with RoseWater's engineering team, size the HUB and battery storage to your plan, and send you a written proposal.
Electrical tie-in
A licensed electrician connects the system at the main panel. We coordinate your electrician or bring in one we trust, along with any generator or solar partner.
Commissioning
RoseWater technicians deliver the cabinets and commission the system on site with us. Commissioning by RoseWater-trained personnel starts the three-year warranty.
Integration and support
We set up monitoring and alerts, tie the system into your home's other systems, and stay your first call for service and warranty questions.
The first step is the Power Plan. If you would rather talk it through, use the contact form or call (781) 333-8003. You can also read about our backup power installation and design services and whole-home battery backup for homes.
Questions about backup power on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket
Do you work on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard?
Do you work on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard?
Yes. We design the system, coordinate an island electrician for the electrical connection, and arrange delivery and RoseWater's commissioning visit around the ferry schedule. We support the system afterward, much of it remotely.
How do I know my island house still has power when I am away?
How do I know my island house still has power when I am away?
The HUB's built-in monitoring tracks outages, voltage swings and battery status, and it can send alerts to you, to us and to RoseWater. You see what happened without anyone having to drive over and check.
Will an outdoor cabinet need approval on Nantucket?
Will an outdoor cabinet need approval on Nantucket?
Most likely. On Nantucket, exterior changes across the island go before the Historic District Commission. We try to fit the HUB inside first. If the outdoor enclosure is the better answer, we plan for the review with your builder or architect.
Protect the Island House
Tell us what has to keep running when you are not there. We will plan the system, the delivery and the people around it.