Backup power question

[Rob72]

We live in Galveston and I'm looking for a basic power option. I would love one of the Generac/similar systems, but our home is just over 1000 sq feet, with small north & south facing porches, so I'm not interested in running a gas line, adding elevated deck space THEN getting a generator.

I was wondering if anyone had an Ecolab or Anker unit and could offer some feedback. I'm most interested in the dual solar/generator rechargeable models.

Any info is much appreciated!

 

[ctr]

No info on those options.

Have you looked into the battery bank solutions? Have heard a few people who don't want to go the generator route are interested in them. Rack of batteries charged until power loss then switches over via transfer switch.

 

[BradWorld]

The pre configured power generating units are not cost effective in my opinion. If you have lots of money, or desire a very small system, by all means, buy something off the shelf. But building your own solution from quality components will give you something more cost effective and scalable.

I personally would go with a combination of solar panels, and a bank of lithium server rack batteries. Watch the YouTube channel of Will Prowse. He is the DIY off-grid solar and battery guru. And he is incredibly entertaining as well.

I did a solar and lithium battery build on my RV (in which we live full time) last year, and Will’s videos were indispensable for me. Saved me lots of money on the build too, as there are places to spend and places to potentially save money. Just keep in mind that if you don’t have room for solar panels, a big battery bank is only good until it depletes. Then it’s back to no power. A properly sized solar and battery combo can keep you going for a long time. Potentially indefinitely.

We made a lot of compromises with our build to accommodate the space on the RV, weight restrictions, and the budget. And as a result, we opted to cut cost in two ways. First, our system size (battery and solar panel) can power our unit indefinitely if we don’t run the AC or the Microwave. Unless there is no sun. Then we have to look ant other options. And second, we have opted to not plumb our inverted solar AC to the RV’s house AC wall outlets. We have the inverter power separate from the house system, and move plugs over as needed. Both of these these have allowed me to keep my system smaller and lighter (good for an RV), and cost effective. By keeping my inverted power separate, I did not have to rewire my RV to integrate the inverter into the main house systems. I would have had to replace the RV’s power controller/charger with a new unit that inverts (expensive, heavy, and labor intensive).

In my system, the solar feeds the lithium battery bank. The batteries feed all the DC powered stuff in the RV, and feeds the inverter. The inverter feeds any AC devices I care to move over to the separate inverted power receptacles. This works for my available space and budget. And I can always upgrade the main charge controller down the road and feed inverted power to the house. And I can add more solar panels and lithium batteries at any time.

A house scenario is no different. Except you probably don’t have DC appliances like we do. But the concept and potential cost saving scenarios are the same. How much solar, plus how much battery capacity. And do you want to plumb the inverted power back to your main house power system, versus moving plugs over to the inverted power when needed (which is what you’d be doing with an anker or eco flow anyway).

By the way we also keep a small suitcase style dual fuel generator on hand just in case. Again, just enough power to run a few things if we lose grid power. We can run one AC on the genny if we have to. It’s that space versus weight versus budget thing again.

Hope that helps. Watch Will Prowse’s DIY solar youtubes.

 

[njpaddy]

We came very close to our finished basement flooding after Irene, when we lost power to the sump pump for 40 hours. We only avoided a foot of water, like our neighbors, because we were able to run extension cords from my sump to the house behind ours, who had back-fed his house from his portable generator. Afterwards, I bought a Honda gas generator and later had an electrician come in to evaluate the possibility of a whole house generator. He recommended against a whole house generator, saying that, in my area, we would never use it enough to justify the cost. He instead recommended a 10 circuit transfer switch to be used in conjunction with the portable generator, which could power appliances as well as sump pump, well pump, furnace and lights. It worked well a year later with Sandy, when we lost power for 10 days. Temps dropped into the low 50s at night, but we had heat, water, fridge, appliances and lights. We had neighbors and friends coming over in the mornings to warm up, have coffee and breakfast. The only downside was not stockpiling enough gas to run it 24 hours, so we ran it 3 hours off and on, and occasionally had to travel out of the area for gasoline to power the generator. After that I stockpiled gas in 5 gal metal cans before storms, using it in our cars if not needed. We have a long-time B&B member that raved about his whole house generator, but I also have a friend in another county who has had problems with his and the installer is no longer around.

 

[Bobbers]

In my last 4 houses over the last 25 years I have put in a 30amp generator transfer switch with between 8 and 14 circuits. I have had used a 5500 watt Coleman, a 6500 Briggs and Stratton and the latest a Generic XT8000E. While living the the mid west for about 16 of those years never needed it much mostly just short outages. The longest I used it was 3 days. I had power for a well pump, gas furnace blower, refrigerator, freezer, tv, microwave, garage door opener, radio, lights and ceiling fans.
Then we moved to Louisiana and that changed. After a hurricane we we out for almost 2 weeks. I lived in the country and had a stock pile of over 30 gallons of gas, I do not even remember how many gallons we used during the outage. I was using the Generic XT8000E which had plenty of power but still feed it thru a 30 amp transfer switch. We run most of the stuff listed above and a small window a/c unit. Used the Generic during the day and I did not run it constantly because that would just waste gas. It used a little under a gallon an hour. To run the a/c unit overnight I used a 2000 watt Craftsman inverter, this unit is very quiet and used less than 1 gallon of gas to run overnight.

I just recently mover to norther Georgia and will be setting up a transfer switch in this house shortly.

From the several power outage I learned a few things. Portable generators are loud so everyone hears them, never had a problem but some people had them stolen while running them. Some electronics do not like the electricity that is produced by a standard generator. I had had issues with a garage door open at 1 house and a refrigerator at another house. I usually did not use any sensitive equipment while on generator power. I am glad I have the Craftsman inverter because it can be used with electronics, it is quiet and uses very little gas. I will be getting rid of my Generic because it is larger then I will need at my old or new house. I will be buying one that is more closely sized for my power use needs so that when it is running I will not be using as much gas.

Things to also consider is gas storage and maintenance kits. During that long outage I had to change oil in each generator once while the power was out and when again when the outage was over. My Generic has to be changed every 100 hours. I also have a spare spark plug and air filter for each just in case.

The transfer switch has always been a safe, economical and easy solution for my family.

 

[luvmysuper]

have a friend in another county who has had problems with his and the installer is no longer around.

Don't spend the $$ on a generator and cheap out on the contractor.
Do purchase AND installation through an authorized big name distributor.

 

[Rob72]

Thanks, gents! You're helping to clarify my thinking.