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Battery Backup Only, No solar, for power outages

CobraMarty

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May 8, 2022
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Hi everyone, new here, watch most all of Will's videos.

I get several, frequent power outages. All have been less than 24 hrs. I am looking for help on an automatic switching grid charging batter backup system to power house when grid power is out. No solar.

House is a single wide, 1 person, oil heat. Need power for oil pump and fan, water heater, water well pump, lights, refrigerator and freezer, computer and TV.

So I guess I need a battery pack, charger, inverter and automatic switching. Would like Bluetooth status info.

I want to charge the batteries while the grid is working, and run the house off batteries when the grid is down.

I don't want to use a fuel generator. I have that now and it is quite cumbersome to use. I want a seamless battery based system.

Thanks
 
Your first task is to figure out how much power you need. If you can get watt hours that you want to use, it’s easy to recommend a battery and equipment.

And is everything 120V?
Where/how do you tap into you house with your generator?
 
Generator is just free standing with extension cords.

Have 120 and 220 but house only runs on 120. 220 to garage. Would like for future 220 for mini split system.

Single wide trailer/home, 1 person, usual stuff, all led, gas heater, electric pumps, need for only 24hr max backup.
 
For a 24 hour requirement, that will be expensive to build, and once done probably ought to use it all the time to payback. This solar for 24 hours will likely cost 10 X the cost of getting a generator. That's kind of like when you own a perfectly good paid off car and trade in to buy a Tesla to save $60 per month on gas, but then get a $700 a month payment for six years.

As an example, to get through 48 hours on my propane heater with the electric blower in a 35' RV on the coldest day of the year, I would need 4 golf cart batteries charged up, and would go through one golf cart battery the first night, and in the cloudy day would slightly recharge or keep up the power and would use the second battery on night 2, and then I'd brought my bank down to 50% and could not use it anymore. 600 - 1000 watts of panels depending on location, wiring and SCC. My guess is the real cost to run that alone would be more than $2k once all the hidden costs like wiring mounts, etc.

I think your trailers heater would use more power than mine.
 
Just wanted to throw a little more into the mix about battery only back up, no solar.

OutBack Power Mojave Energy Storage System, with 11.8kWh usable cost $15,800 for one unit. It does come with its own inverter and can be charged by grid or generator. Could not find anything saying it was expandable. Plus installation by professional required.

So I took the highest electrical use month for me, December. Total usage about 1200 kWh. That is around 40 kWh a day. The Outback ESS would not last one day.

After the holidays monthly use drops to about 27kWh. The following would cover one day with no changes in habits for me.

Trophy batteries 3 each for a total of 33kWh, total cost $10,785. Still need to buy an inverter and battery charger.
EG4 Lithium 5.12kWh server rack battery, 6 each total 30kWh, total cost $9,000. Also still need to buy an inverter and batter charger.

If you got the money and can't have solar panels, it can be done. Payback depends on location and use requirements.
 
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