Well you can discuss it and discuss if it is cost effective or not. Or you can shut the whole thing down by saying it isn't possible and no further discussion.
I didn’t say I was going for a 12kwh water heater (even I know that’s not going to work), it was primarily about an electric flow heater, which can be as low as 2kwh. That said I take your point and will see how I get on, if indeed I do anything at all
Indeed. My son has 2 kW of solar on his old motor home, along with a 9,000 BTU-hr mini split (EER=16.5). On sunny days his batteries are usually topped off early enough to get a few hours of heating in before the sun is down. This is in fall and spring on the CA west coast. If the forecast is for sun, he will also run the mini split for night heat (set at 50-55F).
I did the same thing with resistance heaters and window AC units until I got a mini-split - now I run that in heating/cooling to assist the central system. Everything in my house runs off-grid except the electric clothes drier and the outdoor central AC compressor. During the summer I'll always have a "cold room" if the main power goes out.
Nice I could see myself throwing something like this in my garage at some point. I've got a wifi controlled 1.5 KW heater in my shed to keep my batteries warm and love it.
Nice I'm defiantly going to install some mini splits at some point. I've thought about changing my electric dryer for a gas unit at some point. Just because I would not have anything using split phase. Then again a 220 volt hot tub sure sounds nice. ? Even though its a total waste of power.
I’m not allowed to cut the cord in my suburban environment (albeit in the middle of the desert in the same climate as Las Vegas), so my goal is to get the best ROI for as little as possible, while still having a reasonable amount of independence if everything goes sideways. I’ve found it’s pretty easy to deal with 90% of my load 90% of the time. To deal with the other 10% would require like four times the size of system than what I have.
Ding ding ding! winner of the smart post award.
add a wood fired stove and set a saw off to the side. even if its currently looked down upon, when the SHTF and you have a chainsaw a wood stove and firewood, you can heat, cook sterilize and bathe. FTMFW. BTW the chainsaw can be run on a mixture of animal fat and alcohol.
good answer sir, good answer!
I have a battery operated chainsaw which is brilliant power wise & I can charge off my solar panels!!
I am a chainsaw enthusiast. I have been waiting for the batteries to come up a little more in capacity before i commit, but I have been watching the batter ones real close lately. currently i use about 7 meters³ per year to heat on the weekends and the occasional long stay at the cabin. I split using a hydraulic splitter I built from scrap with a 8hp petrol engine, but I have a spare electric motor and a smaller pump that I could change and still use the splitter. it would a lot slower in comparison to the gasoline engine, but I have the parts already stocked.
I know it's off topic, but as an enthusiast what's your opinion on the Einhell Power X-Change 10 inch 18V Cordless Chainsaw model GE-LC 18/25 Li With 3.0 Ah Battery (it's the one I have)
just add a small stove as an emergency backup. even fed with dead fall scraps it can put out a lot of heat during the coldest hours, as well as cook. one of my favorites is deer stew on top of the wood stove. takes about 5 or 8 hours on low heat, but its free, heat and food at the same time. and you can do that bare minimum just off of scraps that fall through the year. That coupled with a geo thermal heat pump and you can heat and cool the house even with a small battery bank. mine is only 30kw (48 volt) and I manage pretty well. never below about 23°c in the coldest months. I only use the heat pump in the spring to dry out the house from humidity, but I could heat the house to about 15°c in the winter even without fire wood. Its all about balance. I just wish I had a good spring or stream next to the house... thats 24/7 power for free, even if its low output.
