diy solar

diy solar

Female newbie questions

Jenna

New Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2021
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14
I'm a female with no solar experience except for watching Will's videos (;)). I live in a small home in North East PA and want power backup in case of a lights out. Looking to keep my standard size refrigerator and possibly a small plug-in heater going if in the winter & charge my mobile phone. I'm considering Will's 3 recommendations - Rich/Bluetti/Delta. Thank you !!

My questions are -

1. Do I need to keep the solar unit charged when not in use or keep a low charge when not in use ?
2. How long can a unit sit without being used ?
3. Are off brand solar panels compatible with Bluetti ? (their panels are expensive)
4. Which would be the cheapest unit for me ? I don't RV or camp either
5. Is there another brand that would be better for my needs ?
 
You would most likely be better with a generator. Panels and heaters can gobble up a lot of power. Let's see what others say.

P.S. can you post link to the Rich/Bluetti/Delta solution?
 
A Honda EU2200i small generator and several gallons of none ethanol fuel (sold as True Fuel in metal cans, in hardware stores), will sit without any maintenance, in the corner of your garage for years, yet be ready to go when you need it and run a week solid. All for about $1,500.

Or you can spend $4,000 on a solar battery system, and keep it charged, hope when your power is out it's not due to bad weather there is sunlight for the panels to work, keep an eye and test it now and then, etc.

If you still want to go solar with a battery, get a Kill-a-Watt meter and plug it into the refrigerator for a few weeks and get a good reading on how many wh/s (watt hours a day) it uses on average. How much refrigerators draw very greatly, and it's a matter of spending several more thousands on batteries and panels or not.
 
A Honda EU2200i small generator and several gallons of none ethanol fuel (sold as True Fuel in metal cans, in hardware stores), will sit without any maintenance, in the corner of your garage for years, yet be ready to go when you need it and run a week solid. All for about $1,500.

Or you can spend $4,000 on a solar battery system, and keep it charged, hope when your power is out it's not due to bad weather there is sunlight for the panels to work, keep an eye and test it now and then, etc.

If you still want to go solar with a battery, get a Kill-a-Watt meter and plug it into the refrigerator for a few weeks and get a good reading on how many wh/s (watt hours a day) it uses on average. How much refrigerators draw very greatly, and it's a matter of spending several more thousands on batteries and panels or not.
Thank you ! I would consider a gas generator, but I've heard gas will be sky rocket soon. CA is outlawing lawn gas motors, weed eaters, power washers, etc within 2 years. I'm afraid gas generators will be outlawed in the near future. I will def look into the Honda generator. I buy canned gas from Home Depot for my power washer. Purrrs like a baby !! hehehe Thanks again !!
 
Or you could change your heat source to?

Combination of solar/battery and propane?
 
Consider getting an estimate from a home solar installer. Include the battery for backup. OK yes this costs more however it will save money every day on your electric bill and allow you to use the existing heat system.
 
Consider getting an estimate from a home solar installer. Include the battery for backup. OK yes this costs more however it will save money every day on your electric bill and allow you to use the existing heat system.
I'm actually thinking about selling my current house and might down size in the near future. Will def consider the roof solar system. I think they are about $4k
 
Thank you ! I would consider a gas generator, but I've heard gas will be sky rocket soon. CA is outlawing lawn gas motors, weed eaters, power washers, etc within 2 years. I'm afraid gas generators will be outlawed in the near future. I will def look into the Honda generator. I buy canned gas from Home Depot for my power washer. Purrrs like a baby !! hehehe Thanks again !!

So they may ban buying new gas equipment, but no way they can outlaw existing equipment. And in an emergency situation, power is out for days, the police are not going to drive around confiscating generators from people leaving them to freeze in their house.

Also, you are buying a small (maybe 5 gallons) of gas for an emergency use. Even if the price doubles, it's not a big financial cost to you as it's something you will be buying every few years, if that. If the price of gas gets so high you can't afford to burn 1 gallon every 24 hours in an emergency situation, the entire US is in a major crises.
 
I'm actually thinking about selling my current house and might down size in the near future. Will def consider the roof solar system. I think they are about $4k
Depends greatly on size, but for sure, that is not counting a battery.
 
So they may ban buying new gas equipment, but no way they can outlaw existing equipment. And in an emergency situation, power is out for days, the police are not going to drive around confiscating generators from people leaving them to freeze in their house.

Also, you are buying a small (maybe 5 gallons) of gas for an emergency use. Even if the price doubles, it's not a big financial cost to you as it's something you will be buying every few years, if that. If the price of gas gets so high you can't afford to burn 1 gallon every 24 hours in an emergency situation, the entire US is in a major crises.
Well, when you look at it that way. I guess a gas generator is def an option. I'll look into the Honda. I've heard the Harbor Freight units are good too. Thoughts ?
 
As I understand it they're banning GASOLINE generators, but PROPANE will still be good to go.

But California gives me hives so I avoid it. :)

Well, when you look at it that way. I guess a gas generator is def an option. I'll look into the Honda. I've heard the Harbor Freight units are good too. Thoughts ?

I have the 2000w HF model and I love it. I had to upgrade to the 3500w when I replaced my fridge with a 120v version but considering my big generator is 1gal/hr and my 2000w was 2gal/day or less, paid for itself in less than a week.
 
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I'm actually thinking about selling my current house and might down size in the near future. Will def consider the roof solar system. I think they are about $4k
OK you want to move the systems with you.... Consider just building a sizable battery and connecting a simple inverter. Need to calculate how long you expect to run the fridge as a baseline. phone and laptop are negligible. Skip the electric space heating and stuck with the buddy heater.

Charge once a year is fine as you head into the cold season.

A few solar panels and a separate controller will extend the run time. Set them out if and when needed.
 
Well, when you look at it that way. I guess a gas generator is def an option. I'll look into the Honda. I've heard the Harbor Freight units are good too. Thoughts ?
So if it's something I need to depend on, I don't trust Harbor Freight quality for that. I have had far too much of their stuff burn out, including generators.
I got a small Harbor Freight generator for free. A guy bought it, and on first pull of the rope, a plastic bit in the rope pull snapped and the pull rope did nothing from then on. He tried to return it to the store, but he didn't bring the receipt, so he left it next to the trash can since Harbor Freight does not repair anything or sell parts, so it could not be fixed. So I grabbed it. It's till broken.

The little Hondas are well proven to be good, reliable, and built really well. Many RVs use them when camping away from power. Instead of running their big generator all the time, they have this little Honda putting around back, keeping the batteries charged and the microwave working. A tank of gas last 24 hours, so they just let them run all day.
I even have a Honda EU2200 new in box, as my emergency generator. I have other generators, and a 7kw off-grid solar system, but if the worse happens, I can fire this thing up and have power.
 
Although from what I've heard you'll get a chance to try it out in a couple days. I think they're planning on turning the state off and back on again to see if that fixes the problem of Being California. :)

Plus, any generator you buy should be CARB compliant which they aren't even looking at until after 2024, "If Feasible" from what I read.
 
As I understand it they're banning GASOLINE generators, but PROPANE will still be good to go.

But California gives me hives so I avoid it. :)



I have the 2000w HF model and I love it. I had to upgrade to the 3500w when I replaced my fridge with a 120v version but considering my big generator is 1gal/hr and my 2000w was 2gal/day or less, paid for itself in less than a week.
Could I run my frig with the HF 2000 inverter ? It's on sale now - $30 bucks off
 
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