Power Preparedness: Picking the Best Home Backup Option
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- Опубликовано: 8 июл 2024
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Portable power stations have come a long way in the last 5 years and now are a practical solution for running your critical appliances and loads during a blackout. I will walk you through how to assess the amount of power and energy storage you need to get through the next storm.
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Late last year I purchased the Delta 2, having used the exact same analyzer you have to determine loads and current draw for my refrigerator and furnace blower. Recently Ecoflow had a deal on the battery expansion so I jumped on that too. 😊
I have actually been wondering about this. Technology has came a long ways! Very good comprehensive video. Thanks for sharing Scott!
My family got a Automatic full house generator like 2 years ago, its been really good during severe storms
Sounds awesome. I have my whole house generator coming in September. I can 't wait to get it installed. I live in far northern Illinois and last year we had an ice storm that took out all power up here and we had no power for over two days. We froze our butts off for two days before power was restored. The power came back on just as the sump pump battery had failed. Never again. It's expensive but my family is worth it. And yeah, I had to throw out $400.00 in groceries. Sheesh.
Same here. Tropical storms/hurricanes can take out your power for days here in Florida so we had a Generac 24kW full home generator installed. It does a 5 minute self-test of the system every Monday so we know all is in working order. I change the oil and filter once a year if it needs it or not just because the temperatures here easily top out in the mid-90s which can't be very good for any mechanical engine.
I have a Tesla solar system with two “power wall” batteries. Lets me take the house off-grid during thunderstorms, which I like. However it has led me on a big chase trying to find all my house’s source of mystery power draws, which has been useful but also very frustrating!
@@eddiea3782you had to throw out groceries but were freezing…
Timely! We're trying to decide how to keep our fridge alive during our not infrequent power outages. Very helpful! Thanks.
These are still way too expensive for the amount of time you can use them. They're probably good to work in tandem with a gas or dual fuel generator. Maybe use the Delta at night. Anything longer than a couple hour power outage you'll be out of luck
You do a great job on these Thank you
Don't forget about the defrost mode that the freezer goes through, which typically twice the wattage of the running wattage.
here on the northside of Chicago we had a planned power outage last week, supposedly for tree trimming. they said it was going to be for one hour from 9 am to 10 am. It lasted one and a half hours. Good thing they told us a month ahead of time. this would have been the answer. in all my 53 years i have never been in a power outage in my city kinda scary if you think about it.
Great video! Having never owned (or needed) a generator before, these are a great emergency item to have for the rare instances that power does go out. That said, i have a GoLabs R300 unit which is very similar to the Jackery 300Wh rated unit. At the time I got mine just over 2 years ago, Bluetti wasn't on the market yet and Eco brand was quite expensive for even a comparable model to what I got. At the time mine was one of the only ones to offer 2 USB-C outputs, allow for USB-C recharging of the power station rather than rely on the included DC wall wart which doesn't deliver as much power as the 60w max USB-C charging provides, and it was also one of only a few on the market at the time to feature LiFePO4 battery cells which evidently don't have a power drop off like normal Li cells as they deplete and can last many more charging cycles, more units are featuring that type of battery cells now. When I did recently have to use mine, it was able to power a 24" monitor that was only pulling about 12w for 8 hours and still had 50% power left in it. Again it's great for those emergency situations, and unlike a fuel powered solution (which is 100% better), these units you can at least keep and have inside your home, require far less maintenance by simply only having to charge them and the smaller units are super portable.
I totally appreciate your channel content! You are my handyman - I watch your videos and try to complete the task myself.
Perfect timing for this video... Just a couple weeks ago here in KC, our power was out for about 3½ days. We managed - a gas stove, and thankfully not too hot to be without AC. We did lose most of our refrigerated goods but it needed a thorough cleaning anyway, right? My solution was like when camping - charging the phones and laptops in the car! Not an eco-friendly solution to use my vehicle as a power generator. I would choose the mid-range - I like the solar capability and would take it camping!
You know when people start talking watts and amps and volts - I kinda glass over. I'm pretty decent at math but don't know why those concepts are so mystifying to me - do you have a 101 course on Electricity?
Again, thank you very much for making day-to-day problems less expensive and easier to solve myself or decide to hire a pro!
Thank you. Very informative
Have always been a DIYer.Built my own house at the age of 28 many years ago. Literally did all the labor except electrical and concrete. Now have emergency power using a $ 700.00 4500 watt 120 volt Wen dual fuel inverter generator using Scott's "magic box"assembly to direct generator power to separate legs of my circuit box. Installed a 30 amp inlet box , generator breaker and interlock by learning from Scott's videos. Also rearranged some circuit breakers so all of my essentials are on one leg.I have run lights,TVs,2 refrigerators,a deep freezer,and furnace blower motor,etc.simultaneously during outages several times in the past year. I'm sure I could run a window unit ac for part of the house as well. Indicator lights on the generator show only one half draw normally and never over 3/4. If we need to use the microwave I do unplug a refrigerator. I have a propane water heater, furnace and range. The generator is rated at 3150 Watts using propane and that is what I have fueled it with so far. This is an 1850 sq.ft. 3 person home and this setup has worked perfectly for us. A bigger is better philosophy is not wise when preparing for an emergency when you may not be able to buy fuel for an extended period. I have a 48 volt electric golf cart that I plan on installing an inverter on to supplement this system. I literally grew up on a construction site and have always been able to figure things out for myself as many people could if they only had the confidence to do so. Thank you so much Scott and "Every day home repairs". You have been a valuable resource. Any recommendations for a 2000 watt inverter?
Very helpful👍
less than 400 watts startup on that fridge is increadable! the 3.5 CUFT mini fridge i have in my campervan takes like 600 watts on startup, it idles down to about 65 watts.
As usual, this is useful information. Even so, it's a bit odd to consider what people would rather spend on products than on taxes for more reliable infrastructure--particularly in a democracy. Shouldn't we be angry that these devices are needed? Technology is no substitute for accountability.
That is, we've evidently shifted from (a) investments and accountability for public utilities to (b) privately owned coping mechanisms. This seems true for electricity, water, healthcare, and public security. I wonder what "promote the general welfare" means to Americans these days, let alone "to secure the blessings of liberty to ... posterity."
Granted, a person can buy a generator *and* support investments in public infrastructure, but increasingly, we seem to have adopted a contempt for the common good, which we tell ourselves is pragmatism or prudence.
I live in central Florida and last year after Hurricane Ian our community was without power for 5 days. I have a 1000 watt solar generator that I used to keep all of the food in my frig safe and cold during those days buy running my refrigerator one cycle every 8 hours and then I would charge my solar power generator with my solar panel the next day. within 6 hours ready to be used once again. As for my cell phones I charged them with a portable solar powered cell bank so I did not have to use my solar generator for that purpose. My neighbors all lost their food.
For the fridge/freezer, what is "well over" 377W? If 377W does not include surge On power for both the fridge and freezer, then what's a reasonable multiplying factor?
Can these EcoFlow units be configured to run like a UPS? When utility power goes Off, the UPS powers the things connected very quickly. In the case of EcoFlow, utility power is passed through the EcoFlow to things connected to its outlets, like a bypass mode, and the EcoFlow powers them quickly when utility power goes Off. And being run that way in any configuration, will leaving them on charge continually hurt battery life? One cannot fully charge them and unplug them to be turned On when utility power goes Off and still act like a UPS, so does turning them Off also turn Off charging, which is likely not typical, and do they have a bypass capability with a auto-On when utility power goes Off?
You may have covered this, but it would be like having a portable generator, say running from natural gas so it's always ready and fuel is not an issue, but is there a way to have the switching automatic with power applied fast so it operates like UPS? I don't know if a portable generator could turn itself On when utility power goes Off or not, but that's what I'd like to have. Like solar panels with a large battery bank. But thinking about it, some household items need to be turned Off for the powering devices' load rating and its operating longevity, so I'm back to individual units running like a UPS, with an EcoFlow sized for various loads in various rooms. I am attracted to a portable generator running on natural gas with a connection to the circuit breaker, but the switching or at least the load balancer would require an electrician for installation.
Have you covered this or is any of it even possible?
great question
Is there a battery that can power to ac central unit?
I prefer generators…but good comparison video 👍🏼👍🏼
Your appliances do too 😂
For multi day blackouts I was thinking using one of these in conjunction with a cheap small generator. The generator would be used mostly to recharge that power station, perhaps in tandem with a solar panel if there is enough sun. The goal here is to use the generator as little as possible. Would that work or am I missing something here?
I am interested in the answer to this question, as I would like the same setup.
(Not an expert) I'd say the solar would be the key part of that equation. There is always loss transferring power from one thing to another. So the laws of thermodynamics would say that if you just had the generator charging the battery, and using the battery to power a fridge, then you'd use MORE gas and generator time than using the generator directly. I could be wrong, tho - I'm not factoring in wastage due to idle time where the generator has to keep chugging even if there is little to no load.
Power stations are a waste of money for this use, if you want to save your food and cool or heat your house a generator is the answer. Power stations are a very short-term answer a few hours at best and then must be recharged.
A generator isn't always a practical solution, but these units are similar to the UPS units installed to allow critical systems to run or at least be powered down correctly
@@michaeldunham3385, these products should not be confused with UPS devices. Seriously. They work well for very low power devices and to recharge phones or laptops. The large devices have larger batteries and more powerful AC inverters, but they are very expensive. People underestimate how much power some devices need: coffee maker, hair dryer, microwave oven.
They are temp soloutions as I said a few hours at best. You can go 12 hrs with your freezer by limiting the amount you open it without them. @@michaeldunham3385
I know of instances of people using these as a replacement for a UPS. They eventually failed. If you need a UPS, get a real UPS. If you need backup power, it's not bad to have one of these around for specific use cases, but you really need a generator powered by fossil fuels unless you've got a couple of acres for solar panels.
Can you charge via solar and still use the devices plugged in?
Can you switch between solar and mains feed through power on the app or automatically?
Ie it's overcast today, battery is low, switch to mains via app and let battery charge.
Isn’t good idea to have a couple of Delta 2 instead of the Delta pro. Unless I am missing and not understanding well. I am really want to have one before we get hit with some kind of a hurricane. It is unbearable when we had an outage of 4 days. Thank you for sharing
Does the app work without internet (connect to WiFi but on a VLAN with internet blocked)?
Is Surge wattage the same as starting wattage?
How easy is it to service the batteries/battery packs in these when they inevitably go bad?
Mister delta pro! LOL. YOU MUST BE GETTING THESE FIR FREE.
Would there be a 'power' disadvantage to buy 3 Delta2 instead of 1 delta Pro for similar cost but more convenience to place around the house at different locations ? thanks for the video.
Just did a test with a watt meter and my medium sized fridge used almost 2000kwh in a 24hr period. So, I'm good for a single day with no solar with my Anker 767 powerhouse really but to make it two days I need to upgrade from my 400watts of solar panels or I'll never keep the battery charged and supply the load. Also, keep in mind, your power source's rated kwh (2048 in my case) is not going to be 100%. I've seen tests on RUclips that you can only expect to get about 88% of rated value or so. So....my 2048kwh battery can only be depended on for just over 1800kwh in practice. So, I have to make up the 200kwh (2000used - 1800kwh available) deficit with solar in my case.
Good point on taking off 10% or so for losses at the inverter. Something to take into account for sure.
You should start reviewing Solid state battery backups, like the Yoshino. Liquid batteries are doomed to fall out of grace given the solid state battery revolution that is just starting. Yoshino has more than the capacity of the delta pro with half the weight and half the size.
thank you for the suggestion / information
I'm interested in a different application for battery power.
I would like to run some devices off of battery permanently, then have batteries recharge at time of day when electricity is cheapest, as I am on a Time of Day plan, where certain hours electricity is expensive and other times cheaper.
Q: Does this battery system allow for charging at a specific time of day?
The power companies should figure this out and make whatever investments and installations needed to provide residential neighborhoods with backup power options. They have the money(our money) and the influence to get government funding (also our money) as well if needed. Spending thousands of dollars to be prepared for their equipment to fail is not feasible for most people especially seniors and low income areas.
I thought of using my portable jump starter that’s been collecting dust in my car for years but that died and couldn’t be recharged.
I always say get the biggest and the best. Next, what can you afford ? Always get the biggest and the best if you can. And 100 lbs is a lot of weight, but the more, the better and recharge them with the sun... Can always strap them to a hand truck, and wheel them around that way if you need to move them. Ideally, I would want the biggest and the best for each item, or at least for each room of my home powering the most needed item. I'd say heating, AC and refrigeration would be first. Cooking second, computer and cellular devices third, then luxury or things like TV and pretty lamps or mood lighting all last on a list of priorities. Right now, it remains a dream for me, but maybe one day, I won't have to be asleep to believe it.
100 lbs of battery- especially if lithium ion - isn't that a fire hazard?
Those are toys. Not serious backup power.
Did bro just say onker? (Anker)
Much cheaper to just buy LFP's, an inverter...... and so on. This video seems like an ecoflow ad and there are a lot of other more affordable solutions out there.
Yeah, I can see arguments from both sides depending on the use case.
Use case #1: You have unlimited funds without being concerned with a budget --- EcoFlow will win every time. @@EverydayHomeRepairs
love your content ,bro but sorry those eyes are distracting 🤩😍me!! 🤣
just joking great content though, i share it with those who can use it and appreciate it.
These are a very expensive gimmick. Gas or propane generators are useful and so are off-grid battery systems that are grid-tied, these are very limited.
I get that you have to shill for EcoFlow like every other RUclipsr who got one but these are not great because they use batteries which require maintenance and periodic cycling to keep the cells alive.
"...are not great because they use batteries which require maintenance and periodic cycling to keep the cells alive."
Well sure. But gas generators also require maintenance to keep them running and ready to use. And to keep the battery charged if it has a push start like most do nowadays. So pretty much just like any engine. You can most certainly not like these solar generators but needing to do maintenance is not a valid reason why. I run my gas generator once a month to keep the battery charged and everything in running order. And if I did not have to use it throughout the year I change the oil, check the spark plug and air filter and change out the fuel in December. So yeah, maintenance.
One hundred eighty w.h
THESE ARE NOT WORTH IT. LOW POWERS! TOO EXPENSIVE!! WON'T POWER A.C!!
For the most part the only thing that would power an air conditioner, and I'm assuming you are talking about a central style AC, is a whole house generator. I have a pretty big portable generator (9500 watts) and I can't run my AC without straining the generator and burning through a lot of gas. And then I can't run anything else such as my refrigerator or freezer. I see these solar generators as useful for keeping electronics charged, powering a TV and such. They are not for full time, heavy load use. But then again neither are fueled generators except for the very large ones. And you had better have a dedicated fuel supply for one of those.