Theoretical question: (If you were 100% off-grid.) Could you have a set of solar panels (how many watts would you recommend?) that only powered the EG4 during the day and another set of independent solar panels that charged only the Bluetti during the day and the Bluetti was permanently connected to the EG4 as the 120 VAC in, ....... could you just leave it that way and let it run all summer or would the EG4 be damaged as/if the Bluetti ran out of charge on a super hot night at 3:00AM? (I want to know if I could hook it up that way and just "plug and forget").
Yes that's a great way to hook it up, when the Bluetti died everything would just shut down and come back to life the next morning when the sun came up. The EG4 would run all day while the Bluetti recharged, and the Bluetti takes over after sunset.
@@SmitHVAC. that's what I plan for my channel's solar sea container. I have wired up an Automatic Transfer Switch and am ready to put up panels, but have a question about these "floating neutrals" and if it needs to be dealt with somehow. I have a distribution box in the container running the grid in from the house, so I guess it's technically a sub-panel. When I plug in my Bluetti then the outlets ground disappears...is it an issue? Things like the a.c. mini split I have just installed won't be affected by no ground..,or would it??
@@ebikecnx7239 I don't think the mini split will be affected. Certain appliances like modern gas furnaces are affected by this and I've made a grounding harness to satisfy the furnaces control board, otherwise it throws an error code. I was thinking about making a video on this actually..
@@SmitHVAC. thanks for the quick reply! Good to know, so I am about to test if the Bluetti AC200 Max runs the a.c. as the sockets all show good except for no ground as mentioned. Please do make a video about this as it's a question coming up for many tiny house builders, no doubt!
Hello… I am trying to live off grid in my bus build as a travel nurse. I have 850 watts of solar on my roof powering my BLUETTI ac200L. We just installed a mr cool 9000 btu mini split. What we can’t find is a diagram or info of how to wire the mini split via a breaker to receive power from our BLUETTI. Can you advise?
Loved the thermal image addition to the torture test. Now I’m wondering how I could use this for heating water for hot showers off grid. Any suggestions? I have a Jackery 1000 and I’m wanting to make sure my next purchase can do it all.
Nice! External batteries can be used (bluetti and regular lifepo4 - 24v-48v works better). I’d use it as supplemental cooling during the day with solar maxed out. Let the main system run during the night when it’s not on that much. Going to try this when my bluetti arrives. Main purpose is to have a cooling/heating option when the power goes out which seems more frequently these days. It sure isn’t going to become more reliable in coming years. Certainly seeing the decline. It’s a good starter system for those wanting to get started with solar.
I see where you have plugged the mini split into the Bluetti. What about the other end? Does the unit come with a cord with a plug? Asking for a friend. 😉
Hey, love the videos on the eg4... Dumb question, but how'd you switch the remote from C to F? Directions say to hold temp up and fan for 3 seconds. Doesn't work for me. Thanks!
Thanks for another great video. Giving serious thought to adding an EG4 heat pump to the house within the next year. How much has the main house AC run this summer? Have you noticed a huge difference in your cooling bill?
Thanks for watching Damon! The main Ac has run significantly less, it used to run 8 to 10 hours a day on the thermostats history, now its about 2 hours per day. Usually just after we've gone to bed and all the doors are closed we run the main system. The savings haven't been huge but definitely noticeable. It's already a very efficient Ac and the house is well insulated and easy to cool. If you had an older house with a big 4 or 5 ton Ac the savings would be substantial!
@@SmitHVAC. Scoping out the MPP PIP 2724 with the about 750-1000 watts of solar as the AC load to supplement the EG4 and its solar panels. I was going to install the system in the great room of the house since that’s where the family is most of the time. I’m hoping this would make a difference in Georgia. Plus having a back up in case the power were to go out after a hurricane or other summer storm would be a bonus.
Great info..but I have a question about my Bluetti AC200 Max and EB70. Like all solar generators they have no ground out. Only live and neutral. My solar powered sea container tiny house has grid already installed through a distribution box and I put an Automatic Transfer Switch in with solar priority. There is a ground rod buried 6 feet in soil outside the container. With plug in tester and on grid it shows normal sockets wiring, ground/earth and live wire correct, no live neutral reverse. On the Bluetti AC200 Max I used the plug in tester to distinguish live from neutral as it's not marked on mine as the cord plugging into the Bluetti AC200 Max and going into the distribution box shouldn't have live and neutral reversed (that would be easy to do with only a two pin plug going into the Bluetti). So before I go further is the floating neutral going to have to be dealt with??? When I test the sockets with Bluetti on, it shows no ground now, of course, and my grid when switched over shows ground. I am using a plug in tester.
Could you please clarify: How many Watts of rated solar are you using and how much would you recommend the rest of us use (in the USA) and at what latitude are you? (Just for the EG4)
I'm using 1200w of solar and would recommend anywhere between 1100 to 1700w. I will be upgrading to 1600w before winter. I don't know my latitude off the top of my head but I'm in Ontario Canada if you'd like to look it up
I have a shuttle bus that's going through rv conversion. Would you build your solar/power system around this product or go the more traditional way of batteries and inverters? Do you think the bluetti could be enclosed with the front out? Would it overheat?
If eg4 needs 1200w but your only producing 500w dc does it still use the 500w of dc power and the grid supplements the last 700w with ac power Or do all 1200w come from ac power when the solar is generating less then the needed capacity. If it switches to ac and only used ac power what happens to the generated power do it go back in the grid or is it lost?
I am not having good luck at all getting my compact (Backback) mini split to work with my 200max…and I have B300 expansion battery. The Max is limited to 30 amps, so I bought a plug in converter that converts the 110v to 12v and offers 100amps. Still faulting out. I used 8awg wire to expand the units cable distance. I am at a loss. The weird thing is if I wire direct to my fuse panel and run off BLUETTI 12v, 30amp output it will run on lowest two fan speeds and blow cool. If I wire to the converter I bought it will run up to all 5 fan speeds but only blow warm outside air. I am ready to drive the van into the river!
Why would the compressor run at all? This is confusing if the house is at 69f why is the compressor running when set at 72f? My inverter ac turns off the compressor completely if the temp is under whats set
@AliYassinToma it's probably more efficient for it to ramp all the way down to 200 watts than it is to shut off and turn itself back on 10 minutes later and have to ramp back up to 600 watts. Maybe, maybe not. I'm not the engineer. It's also less start / stop wear on the compressor.
I have the same AC200P little over a year. NOT happy with it! Try leaving the unit on (Display on) and see How much that draws? I have Complaining about my unit since February 2023. They had just now August 20, 2023 replacing it. What a hassle. Also #3 of there 350w panels FAELED! If you read their pamphlet, It says hassle free warranty far from it LOL. On Aug,24 I received a e-mail they are sending me a new unit along with a 4th 350 Watt panel. See how long that one last LOL. BS on sending the old one back, I have many hours in to this. Stay Ture to the people. Thank you
That sucks. Mine doesn't use much power if only the screen is on. If the DC or Ac is on that's a different story but they all do that. What kind of use are you using it for? Is it daily? What type of loads?
@@SmitHVAC. yeah works great. Haven't used it on regular basis. I also have a pallet of 10 250 watt panels I got nearly 2 years ago. I haven't even uncoated them yet. Been running behind on my need to do's. Because of other things come up. Planning on using on my solar mini split. Hope to get 5-6 of them eventually. As well as a large solar Arata set up from Signature Solar. They are about an hour away from me. Should be getting first mini split next couple of weeks. ... Jeff
@@SmitHVAC. sure will. Hope I won't need your help, seeing as I will be getting the plan n Play model. The only drawback to that one is the excess line have to be coiled and put away somewhere.
The Jackery does not at least the small one doesnt. I use them for my recliner. Bluetti is dead after a few hours just sitting there idle no use. Jackery will sit for days
@@DavidCarreau unless the jackery has an automatic on/off it will use power anytime the inverter is on. You can't convert DC to AC without losses/ consuming power. The smaller the inverter, the less it will use and may not be as noticeable as on large inverters.
Most inverter mininsplits run this way. They ramp down as far as possible instead of shutting off, they will usually turn off if they get 4 or 5 degrees below the set point.
Will you please please please please please please do a tutorial on exactly how to connect Accord to the mini split so we can plug in to a power station. This would be so much easier than having to pay an electrician to come out and run something to the panel box in the middle of nowhere LOL I have enough solar panels to run the air conditioner and to charge my power station I have that part figured out.
@@SmitHVAC. yes and pictures would help. And even a little video of the mini split and where to find the connections. Trying to figure this out is what's holding me back from buying one. Now signature solar does have a really good step by step instructions for basic install with the lady that's doing it the guy talks way too fast you can't see around his hands to see what he's doing but her video was awesome. I have a growatt Infiniti 1300 it's supposed to be an 1800 w inverter. So it should handle this no problem from the wattages I was seeing in your video where you hooked it up to the Bluetti and then the other one I don't remember the name of that power station. I hesitate to ask questions in the groups because people get very condescending and they want you to hire a professional like nobody's ever supposed to learn anything ever again and they seem to forget that at one point they knew nothing either.
@@mycabinlife1291 The unit comes with a manual that shows you where to wire the AC voltage. There are 3 terminals, L N & G, the black wire of the cord or Romex goes to L, white goes to N and green goes to G. If you watch some videos on how to wire a 120v light switch or outlet it will give you a better understanding of what L N G represents. I hope you end up buying one! They're awesome.
@@SmitHVAC. now could I leave my solar panels plugged in all the time and leave this plugged into the power station simultaneously? My power station also has the pass through charging so I would also have solar panels hooked up to my power station. I would also have a set of four 455 watt panels or three if it's enough hooked up dedicated just for the mini split.
@@mycabinlife1291 yes you could leave both connected at all times. 3 panels at 455w would be enough as long as the voltage was high enough, it needs at least 90vdc on the solar side
@@balls7973 is that hot or cold to you? Mine (old school AC)stays on 76 all day. With ceiling fans it’s perfect. 67 in the winter - put on a flannel - just right.
Congratulations on the sponsor, and a good one too. Great info as usual.
Thanks David!
That's one nice thing with the 120v units. You can just put a plug on it and use different sources easily.
Yea they're pretty versatile!
Theoretical question: (If you were 100% off-grid.) Could you have a set of solar panels (how many watts would you recommend?) that only powered the EG4 during the day and another set of independent solar panels that charged only the Bluetti during the day and the Bluetti was permanently connected to the EG4 as the 120 VAC in, ....... could you just leave it that way and let it run all summer or would the EG4 be damaged as/if the Bluetti ran out of charge on a super hot night at 3:00AM? (I want to know if I could hook it up that way and just "plug and forget").
Yes that's a great way to hook it up, when the Bluetti died everything would just shut down and come back to life the next morning when the sun came up. The EG4 would run all day while the Bluetti recharged, and the Bluetti takes over after sunset.
@@SmitHVAC. that's what I plan for my channel's solar sea container. I have wired up an Automatic Transfer Switch and am ready to put up panels, but have a question about these "floating neutrals" and if it needs to be dealt with somehow. I have a distribution box in the container running the grid in from the house, so I guess it's technically a sub-panel. When I plug in my Bluetti then the outlets ground disappears...is it an issue? Things like the a.c. mini split I have just installed won't be affected by no ground..,or would it??
@@ebikecnx7239 I don't think the mini split will be affected. Certain appliances like modern gas furnaces are affected by this and I've made a grounding harness to satisfy the furnaces control board, otherwise it throws an error code. I was thinking about making a video on this actually..
@@SmitHVAC. thanks for the quick reply! Good to know, so I am about to test if the Bluetti AC200 Max runs the a.c. as the sockets all show good except for no ground as mentioned. Please do make a video about this as it's a question coming up for many tiny house builders, no doubt!
Hello… I am trying to live off grid in my bus build as a travel nurse. I have 850 watts of solar on my roof powering my BLUETTI ac200L. We just installed a mr cool 9000 btu mini split. What we can’t find is a diagram or info of how to wire the mini split via a breaker to receive power from our BLUETTI. Can you advise?
Loved the thermal image addition to the torture test. Now I’m wondering how I could use this for heating water for hot showers off grid. Any suggestions? I have a Jackery 1000 and I’m wanting to make sure my next purchase can do it all.
Check out my recent video on the water heater, it's not as efficient as a heat pump WH but it's small and cheap
@@SmitHVAC. Haha well good thing I subbed. You mentioned water heater and peaked my curiosity to add that to my dream list. Will watch now.
@@mimiseeyou I'm planning to build a heat pump water heater at some point too, thanks for the sub!
Nice! External batteries can be used (bluetti and regular lifepo4 - 24v-48v works better). I’d use it as supplemental cooling during the day with solar maxed out. Let the main system run during the night when it’s not on that much. Going to try this when my bluetti arrives. Main purpose is to have a cooling/heating option when the power goes out which seems more frequently these days. It sure isn’t going to become more reliable in coming years. Certainly seeing the decline. It’s a good starter system for those wanting to get started with solar.
Absolutely, which Bluetti do you have on order?
I see where you have plugged the mini split into the Bluetti. What about the other end? Does the unit come with a cord with a plug? Asking for a friend. 😉
Yes I would like to know exactly how he did this with a very slow tutorial LOL
@@mycabinlife1291 Exactly! Kind of like How To Become A Millionaire. First: Get a million dollars……😂
It's just a 14 gauge extension cord with the female end cut off. Hot, neutral and ground connected to the AC input terminals on the mini split
@@SmitHVAC. pictures are worth a thousand words LOL you forgot you got newbies in here LOL
Nice @ Bluetti sending this out to you!! Pretty dope
Yea man!!
Perfect! I’m a dummy when it comes
To this stuff, but I think can handle this one!
Hey, love the videos on the eg4... Dumb question, but how'd you switch the remote from C to F? Directions say to hold temp up and fan for 3 seconds. Doesn't work for me. Thanks!
Oh man it's been a long time.. I think I had to hold it for closer to 10 seconds. I'll play around with it later and let you know
No worries just thought I'd ask... Just got mine installed this past weekend. Your videos were helpful!
@@BigPineOffGrid Glad to hear it, hopefully it's working well for you!
Hey, awesome video, do you have one showing how you wired that extension cord on the other end?
No I don't but it's pretty simple on a 120v heat pump like this. Line to line, neutral to neutral, ground to ground!
Are you wiring straight onto the side of the heat pump?
Yes essentially, it goes through a disconnect first
@@SmitHVAC. thanks for the info, I just went and checked mine out, but both mine are 240v
Thanks for another great video. Giving serious thought to adding an EG4 heat pump to the house within the next year. How much has the main house AC run this summer? Have you noticed a huge difference in your cooling bill?
Thanks for watching Damon! The main Ac has run significantly less, it used to run 8 to 10 hours a day on the thermostats history, now its about 2 hours per day. Usually just after we've gone to bed and all the doors are closed we run the main system. The savings haven't been huge but definitely noticeable. It's already a very efficient Ac and the house is well insulated and easy to cool. If you had an older house with a big 4 or 5 ton Ac the savings would be substantial!
@@SmitHVAC. Scoping out the MPP PIP 2724 with the about 750-1000 watts of solar as the AC load to supplement the EG4 and its solar panels. I was going to install the system in the great room of the house since that’s where the family is most of the time. I’m hoping this would make a difference in Georgia. Plus having a back up in case the power were to go out after a hurricane or other summer storm would be a bonus.
I think it would definitely make a difference! And having it during an outage makes it instantly worth it.
Great info..but I have a question about my Bluetti AC200 Max and EB70. Like all solar generators they have no ground out. Only live and neutral. My solar powered sea container tiny house has grid already installed through a distribution box and I put an Automatic Transfer Switch in with solar priority. There is a ground rod buried 6 feet in soil outside the container. With plug in tester and on grid it shows normal sockets wiring, ground/earth and live wire correct, no live neutral reverse.
On the Bluetti AC200 Max I used the plug in tester to distinguish live from neutral as it's not marked on mine as the cord plugging into the Bluetti AC200 Max and going into the distribution box shouldn't have live and neutral reversed (that would be easy to do with only a two pin plug going into the Bluetti).
So before I go further is the floating neutral going to have to be dealt with??? When I test the sockets with Bluetti on, it shows no ground now, of course, and my grid when switched over shows ground. I am using a plug in tester.
Could you please clarify: How many Watts of rated solar are you using and how much would you recommend the rest of us use (in the USA) and at what latitude are you? (Just for the EG4)
I'm using 1200w of solar and would recommend anywhere between 1100 to 1700w. I will be upgrading to 1600w before winter. I don't know my latitude off the top of my head but I'm in Ontario Canada if you'd like to look it up
I have a shuttle bus that's going through rv conversion. Would you build your solar/power system around this product or go the more traditional way of batteries and inverters? Do you think the bluetti could be enclosed with the front out? Would it overheat?
It's a good bang for your buck, but if your going to be in it for a long time you may want to build your own. More upgradable if plans change.
No issues from running mini split on open ground/floating neutral of the portable power station?
No, it hasnt given me any issue
If eg4 needs 1200w but your only producing 500w dc does it still use the 500w of dc power and the grid supplements the last 700w with ac power
Or do all 1200w come from ac power when the solar is generating less then the needed capacity. If it switches to ac and only used ac power what happens to the generated power do it go back in the grid or is it lost?
It can't back feed into the grid but your first statement is correct, it will use all the available solar and add whatever grid power is necessary.
Can you hook up your solar to this and show it charging? And maybe run the AC though it while it is solar charging.
That's going to be the next video! I just got 400w of portable panels.
I am not having good luck at all getting my compact (Backback) mini split to work with my 200max…and I have B300 expansion battery. The Max is limited to 30 amps, so I bought a plug in converter that converts the 110v to 12v and offers 100amps. Still faulting out. I used 8awg wire to expand the units cable distance. I am at a loss. The weird thing is if I wire direct to my fuse panel and run off BLUETTI 12v, 30amp output it will run on lowest two fan speeds and blow cool. If I wire to the converter I bought it will run up to all 5 fan speeds but only blow warm outside air. I am ready to drive the van into the river!
How many amps is the AC pulling on startup? Do you have a link for it?
Maybe my mistake was buying a 12v, 60amp back pack mini split?
Why would the compressor run at all? This is confusing if the house is at 69f why is the compressor running when set at 72f? My inverter ac turns off the compressor completely if the temp is under whats set
It stays running unless it exceeds the set temp by 5f, probably to avoid short cycling. My garage mini split acts the same way as yours.
@@SmitHVAC. 5 whole degrees? also its an inverter unit it should be able to handle short cycling very well
@AliYassinToma it's probably more efficient for it to ramp all the way down to 200 watts than it is to shut off and turn itself back on 10 minutes later and have to ramp back up to 600 watts. Maybe, maybe not. I'm not the engineer. It's also less start / stop wear on the compressor.
can you show how you wired the mini split to the power station
Just a 14 gauge extention cord to the line, neutral and ground connection on the mini split
that to a powerstation, like an ecoflow?@@SmitHVAC.
Yes. This is a 120v mini split so it can go to any 120v power station
@SmitHVAC. is it a plug on the end or some wiring needs to be done
@@placezplacez5351 plug on one end, wired to the 3 terminals in the other end
Keep it up! Thanks
Where do you buy the EG4 mini split ac?
signaturesolar.com/?ref=_KvVrzchAclARI
I have the same AC200P little over a year. NOT happy with it! Try leaving the unit on (Display on) and see How much that draws? I have Complaining about my unit since February 2023. They had just now August 20, 2023 replacing it. What a hassle. Also #3 of there 350w panels FAELED! If you read their pamphlet, It says hassle free warranty far from it LOL. On Aug,24 I received a e-mail they are sending me a new unit along with a 4th 350 Watt panel. See how long that one last LOL. BS on sending the old one back, I have many hours in to this. Stay Ture to the people. Thank you
That sucks. Mine doesn't use much power if only the screen is on. If the DC or Ac is on that's a different story but they all do that. What kind of use are you using it for? Is it daily? What type of loads?
How many hrs on the mini split?
Theoretically, I bet you can. The biggest question is how long before the Bluetti shits the bed?!?!
What's your guess? I'll let you know
@@SmitHVAC. I am on my 3rd ac200max in one year. Two of them dead on arrival.
@@justink1209 Yikes
How much amps does your AC draws.
Anywhere from 2 to 10, it's an inverter compressor
I have that exact model. Had for about year and a half.
How do you like it? Is it still working good?
@@SmitHVAC. yeah works great. Haven't used it on regular basis. I also have a pallet of 10 250 watt panels I got nearly 2 years ago. I haven't even uncoated them yet. Been running behind on my need to do's. Because of other things come up. Planning on using on my solar mini split. Hope to get 5-6 of them eventually. As well as a large solar Arata set up from Signature Solar. They are about an hour away from me. Should be getting first mini split next couple of weeks. ... Jeff
That's the way it goes in life, let me know when you get it hooked up!
@@SmitHVAC. sure will. Hope I won't need your help, seeing as I will be getting the plan n Play model. The only drawback to that one is the excess line have to be coiled and put away somewhere.
@@JWTX Yes that's the only drawback, I'll be installing one soon and I'm curious to see how it works out.
So the bluetti drains power as it sits plugged in. Even if your not using power
If you have the inverter switched on, all power stations use power while idle
The Jackery does not at least the small one doesnt. I use them for my recliner. Bluetti is dead after a few hours just sitting there idle no use. Jackery will sit for days
It's small detail but huge issue.
@@DavidCarreau unless the jackery has an automatic on/off it will use power anytime the inverter is on. You can't convert DC to AC without losses/ consuming power. The smaller the inverter, the less it will use and may not be as noticeable as on large inverters.
I bought a 12V DC AIrconditioner, I was wondering if it can power it.
How many amps does it draw?
@@SmitHVAC. 355-60 amps.
35-60.
If the set point on the eg4 is at 72 and the house is at 69 why would it still be running
Most inverter mininsplits run this way. They ramp down as far as possible instead of shutting off, they will usually turn off if they get 4 or 5 degrees below the set point.
Will you please please please please please please do a tutorial on exactly how to connect Accord to the mini split so we can plug in to a power station.
This would be so much easier than having to pay an electrician to come out and run something to the panel box in the middle of nowhere LOL I have enough solar panels to run the air conditioner and to charge my power station I have that part figured out.
I just commented on your other post, but I can explain further in the Facebook group if you need me to
@@SmitHVAC. yes and pictures would help. And even a little video of the mini split and where to find the connections.
Trying to figure this out is what's holding me back from buying one. Now signature solar does have a really good step by step instructions for basic install with the lady that's doing it the guy talks way too fast you can't see around his hands to see what he's doing but her video was awesome.
I have a growatt Infiniti 1300 it's supposed to be an 1800 w inverter.
So it should handle this no problem from the wattages I was seeing in your video where you hooked it up to the Bluetti and then the other one I don't remember the name of that power station.
I hesitate to ask questions in the groups because people get very condescending and they want you to hire a professional like nobody's ever supposed to learn anything ever again and they seem to forget that at one point they knew nothing either.
@@mycabinlife1291 The unit comes with a manual that shows you where to wire the AC voltage. There are 3 terminals, L N & G, the black wire of the cord or Romex goes to L, white goes to N and green goes to G. If you watch some videos on how to wire a 120v light switch or outlet it will give you a better understanding of what L N G represents. I hope you end up buying one! They're awesome.
@@SmitHVAC. now could I leave my solar panels plugged in all the time and leave this plugged into the power station simultaneously? My power station also has the pass through charging so I would also have solar panels hooked up to my power station. I would also have a set of four 455 watt panels or three if it's enough hooked up dedicated just for the mini split.
@@mycabinlife1291 yes you could leave both connected at all times. 3 panels at 455w would be enough as long as the voltage was high enough, it needs at least 90vdc on the solar side
The AC200P gets 85% AC efficiency - so 1700wh of useable battery. Just think of every 1% of bluetti battery = 17wh.
Good tip
the Bluetti is not going to run that a/c for long down south
Not without solar. The AC200max is a little better and maybe about $200 more on sale.
Obviously it depends on your climate, building envelope, insulation values, lots of different factors. It works for me, that's why I'm using it.
@@BeefNEggs057 I'll be running it on portable solar panels soon
U keep ur house on 75 😮
@@balls7973 is that hot or cold to you? Mine (old school AC)stays on 76 all day. With ceiling fans it’s perfect. 67 in the winter - put on a flannel - just right.