how much inverting power would you need to run your whole house 100% of the time

[1201]

just curious what everyone's peak demand is and how much it would take to be completely on inverter.

for me the highest demand I've ever had was 19.8kw so I can confidently say that I could run my whole house "off-grid" with 20kw of inverting power.

 

[hwy17]

I run 2 houses off a 6.8kW XW and it's just right for now. I've seen about 7-8kW max so far.

That's with propane water heaters, stoves, and dryers. Heat pump water heaters and dryers could probably work without expanding, but electric stove in either house would be too much. Both already have mini split HVAC.

 

[Mattb4]

Peak load could be massive at my place if I was to use the Electric range with oven and top burners, while drying clothes in my electric dryer, meanwhile washing a load of dishes with the water heater cycle , having the electric water heater going to serve a shower which means the water pump is running also, having the 2-3500 watt electric wall heaters going because it was cold outside, start up the microwave and the pizza oven, have my 3 freezers cycle on and a few more things depending on need.

If I don't plan load management I might need the full 200a (48kW) that the utility provides. Running PV off grid I am doing OK with 2-3kW 120vAC inverters plus a recently added 5kW split phase unit that is a strictly on demand setup.

 

[1201]

I run 2 houses off a 6.8kW XW and it's just right for now. I've seen about 7-8kW max so far.

That's with propane water heaters, stoves, and dryers. Heat pump water heaters and dryers could probably work without expanding, but electric stove in either house would be too much. Both already have mini split HVAC.

Oh yeah I forgot to add my house is all electric so all my large loads are electric

 

[1201]

Peak load could be massive at my place if I was to use the Electric range with oven and top burners, while drying clothes in my electric dryer, meanwhile washing a load of dishes with the water heater cycle , having the electric water heater going to serve a shower which means the water pump is running also, having the 2-3500 watt electric wall heaters going because it was cold outside, start up the microwave and the pizza oven, have my 3 freezers cycle on and a few more things depending on need.

If I don't plan load management I might need the full 200a (48kW) that the utility provides. Running PV off grid I am doing OK with 2-3kW 120vAC inverters plus a recently added 5kW split phase unit that is a strictly on demand setup.

Even without load management 48kw? That's hard to do.

 

[billvon]

10KW if I sequenced loads
16KW if I didn't

 

[1201]

10KW if I sequenced loads
16KW if I didn't

So two victron 8kw units would be perfect for you

 

[OffGridInTheCity]

Our house has a 200a service. I built my system with 2 x 12,000w inverters (24,000w) which is equivalent to a 100a @ 240v service and hooked up about 80% of my home circuits. In practice, I've never exceeded 16,000w and typically spike out at 10,000w here and there in a month but it's theoretically possible to go >24,000w. Let's say we had large Family Christmas with lots of people with EVs and RVs in the driveway AND I start running a bunch of tools in the shop - in this abnormal use pattern I could blow thru 24,000w for sure.

My best advice is to plan for something practical but don't count on serializing power use around the house for normal living. Even if I asked my wife to avoid running the dryer and the cooktop at the same time - she would invariably forget and I wouldn't advise setting up a system that is prone to overload. For example, I skipped the oven and the hot-tub as I could jury rig these in a true emergency.

And then leave room for expansion... these days, if you have room, there's no reason one can't parallel some of these systems to eventually handle whatever.

 

[grebaba]

I average about 161 KW a month but that includes my paint booth and full auto shop.
I don't have near enough room for the panels I would need to go all solar.
I have seen 180 to 200 KW a month when I am busy.
Greg.

 

[timselectric]

just curious what everyone's peak demand is and how much it would take to be completely on inverter.

A lot, according to my future plans.
Hopefully 72kw will be enough. lol

 

[DIYrich]

90% of the time under 5kw.
97% of the time under 12kw (one solark 15k)
99% 2 15k's would suffice.

That last 1% i would need 3. But, that is if I am not thinking about it. Not hard to turn off a large load to keep within 100 amps.

 

[rpdom]

Generally my peak is around 9kW (8.5kW shower), but I have used 20kW in exceptional circumstances. My usual load is more like 0.3kW

 

[OzSolar]

just curious what everyone's peak demand is and how much it would take to be completely on inverter.

for me the highest demand I've ever had was 19.8kw so I can confidently say that I could run my whole house "off-grid" with 20kw of inverting power.

You might also ask people to detail if they are all electric or not. EG: An average in house in the US with a gas furnace and gas water heater would probably never get past 6kW and certainly for not more than a few minutes when it does. Same house in the same zip code but all electric will hit 20kW when the heat pump can't keep up in the winter and the strips kick in at the same time the water heater is running.

 

[HalfBaked]

2kw, off-grid house built for solar, use an MP2 3kva.

 

[Hedges]

I average about 161 KW a month but that includes my paint booth and full auto shop.
I don't have near enough room for the panels I would need to go all solar.
I have seen 180 to 200 KW a month when I am busy.
Greg.

kWh?

How small is your shop & roof?
My peak production has been half what your peak consumption was. Just the panels I have up so far.

[edit, I mean I've reached ~100 kWh/day peak production. I was thinking you meant kWh/day.
200 kWh/month is an almost trivially small system, like 1500W of panels & inverter.]

 

[Wessss77]

I run my whole house now off grid. 51kwh battery pack, 23 405w panels (I have 36 but have to make room for the last 13) two SP6548 in split phase. I reduced loads by switching from 4500 watt hot water element to 2500w on the lower element only. I run electric 220 dryer, induction stove top, 2500w 220 wall oven. In the winter I heat only with infrared panel heaters 4 of them are 750w, 1 is 1020w and two 400w in the bathrooms.

I am stepping up to 20kw system from the 13kw just so I don't have to constantly rebalance the loads in the winter.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

We have a medium sized farm in Thailand the majority of which has low energy appliances (Panasonic fridges are extremely efficient) though the data below doesn't include our garage(mainly a few lights) and our well pump/boost pump(meter to be fitted soon) we average 20kwh a day I'm hoping I can cover it all with a 5kw system and 48kwh of battery.

 

[Wessss77]

We have a medium sized farm in Thailand the majority of which has low energy appliances (Panasonic fridges are extremely efficient) though the data below doesn't include our garage(mainly a few lights) and our well pump/boost pump(meter to be fitted soon) we average 20kwh a day I'm hoping I can cover it all with a 5kw system and 48kwh of battery.
View attachment 223246

During monsoon season you may need to use the grid or up your pv to double... Otherwise sounds good...

 

[dougbert]

I started with a Trace SW4024 24v inverter 120v AC, 24 years ago, 4000 watts
(still own it and loaned it to a friend who is using it, while building his house)

then in 2016 upgraded to a Xantrex SW+5048 48v inverter, 120v AC, 5000 watts
(still own it)

again in 2022 upgraded to Schneider XW Pro, 48v inverter, 240v AC, 6800 watts.
8500 watts for 30 minutes and 12,000 watts for 1 minute

OFF Grid March to October - grid breaker is off

I plan on adding a second XW Pro, for 13,600 watts continuous, 17,000 watts for 30 minutes and 24,000 watts for 1 minute

as such, the XW Pro feeds the Critical Loads Panel which is a HOMLine 125a panel with 100a MAIN breaker and wiring

My service is a 125a I installed in 1998, with a future 200a service designed and planned, just need the fee of $2500, and I will install that as well

nat gas for furnance, dryer and tankless water heater.

When my battery is full, I then use solar AC power to heat 100 gallons of water to 125F that then feeds the tankless heater - in the summer it rarely consumes nat gas

daytime idle is 1k to 2k, 3k to 4k when heating water (3000w water coil)
range is electric and on solar/battery
night time idle is 400w to 700w

spent years reducing loads - watt hunter, in training

 

[ThaiTaffy]

During monsoon season you may need to use the grid or up your pv to double... Otherwise sounds good...

Sadly 5kw is maximum allowed for on-grid here in thailand. I'm struggling with placement and some weird ideas as far as battery cooling and solar tracking but currently with my small system (760w) I'm averaging 2kwh per day on really crappy days, the main issue during monsoon season as far as I can tell is declination as the sun is mainly north of my south facing panels.

 

[ricardocello]

Peak AC Consumption? That’s a job for Victron VRM.
I never thought to look, but since 1 Jan 2024 it was almost 30kW!

 

[dougbert]

Sadly 5kw is maximum allowed for on-grid here in thailand. I'm struggling with placement and some weird ideas as far as battery cooling and solar tracking but currently with my small system (760w) I'm averaging 2kwh per day on really crappy days, the main issue during monsoon season as far as I can tell is declination as the sun is mainly north of my south facing panels.

are you saying you can only pull 5kw FROM the grid

or

You can only generate 5kw from solar, since you have the grid?

 

[ThaiTaffy]

are you saying you can only pull 5kw FROM the grid

Depends on your tariff, some people are only allowed 2.5 Kw average, 7.5kw peak

You can only generate 5kw from solar, since you have the grid?

You are only allowed a 5kw grid tie inverter to be connected at single phase.

 

[1201]

I started with a Trace SW4024 24v inverter 24 years ago, 4000 watts
then in 2016 upgraded to a Xantrex SW+5048 48v inverter, 5000 watts
again in 2022 upgraded to Schneider XW Pro, 48v inverter, 6800 watts.

Actual apples to apples comparison 40c , the xw pro is 6000w at 40c

A lot, according to my future plans.
Hopefully 72kw will be enough. lol

Are you starting a factory?

 

[1201]

Peak AC Consumption? That’s a job for Victron VRM.
I never thought to look, but since 1 Jan 2024 it was almost 30kW!
View attachment 223255

What's your average consumption in this graph? Looks like a lot!