Central Air Off-Grid!!??. What I've Learned.
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- Thinking about going off-grid but worried about giving up central air? In this video, we share our experience running conventional central air Off-Grid! I explain what type of system we have, how we manage loads and things to consider for efficientcy. Just balance your appliance usage with solar production to keep your home cool and comfortable even when you need to do laundry, run the dishwasher, the microwave or water heater.
I wouldn't go to as many extremes as you do, but that's a good plan. Nobody produces unlimited power, you always have to use it wisely if you don't want to spend a lot on it.
LOL, when I talk to people in person I sometimes see some eye rolling. I get it, I can be a bit over the top. But this stuff isn't cheap and I want to keep my batteries and inverter as healthy as I can, while still assuring my wife live with the comforts she should.
Sounds like you need another solar array. I'm looking for land in the high desert I've lived in Phoenix for 37 years looking to retire up north. I have found 50 acres with wells and septic already I will go with DIY off grid system won't need AC everyone uses evap cooling up there it's so dry about 5-10% humidity at 5900 feet. I want to be 100% off grid where I can run without any propane either.
We are getting ready to put up a small 1600w turbine for winter and I think that will make the difference in the summer evenings, if not I will put up a 6 panel / 400w array for evening sun next spring. Sounds like a nice place you found! I had kin out by Snowflake, AZ. Real pretty country!10% humidity sounds much better than my 90%. Good luck Sir!
Don't know if your an electrician, but warranties on some equipment are void if not installed by an electrician and if there is a fire or some related issue your homeowners insurance carrier may argue about your coverage. Professional Labor and parts are covered by the 30% tax credit too....Just to make sure you knew.
I wouldnt do that, the drought that is coming is going to be epic these next 20 years water is going to be hard to come by out there dont you thin, how much for the 50 acres I want to go off grid too and dont have much money so might ahve to go that route too
We too are on a well which feeds a cistern, there are no water lines where I live. I also catch 2,000 gallons of rain water off my outbuildings for my garden and animals. I have videos on those too.
We have a 2 ton Mr cool universal heat pump but then added a 9000btu 38 seer blueridge mini split in our living room that we use all day and then only use the Mr cool at night to help in the bedrooms, this set up is using a lot less power.
Thank you! This is good info for those struggling with options.
Mini splits are amazing as an hvac and plumbing guy ❤ looking to switch to solar specialist but know nothing about solar,
Mini splits have EXCELLENT capabilities/benefits in specific applications,
The more I look into solar they tie right in(so yeah you should definitely investigate)
Btw I do electrical
So the learning is coming along nicely because of people like you and diy will, thanks and best of luck ❤
JerHAMM, you are in a good place! See if you can do some part time work with a solar crew and the solar customers could become mini split customers too. You could have a foot in both trades!
It's good to be mindful of power generation/consumption but just buy another 60kwh of eg4s matching the 30kwh you already have and you can move on to think about bigger and better things. BTW, you have a nice clean install. Good job.
LOL!! People are suggesting what I already have is too expensive. As time passes and I play with our settings, I find what we have is working great. But I'm still not going to take warm showers! The turbine I have coming should be up and running in a couple weekends, I think it will make a big difference in keeping the batteries full. And Thanks!
@@goingoffgridatgreenshireho435 There is allot of evidence to support that cold dips or showers are good for you in many ways. I have a tiny blow up hot tub on my bedrooms balcony that I dip into most mornings....all that aside... Yes it's expensive, but the piece of mind you enjoy along with the fact you will get a return on your investment over the long run makes it worth while as I'm pretty sure all ready know.
Just went for a run and per your comment, I thought about 4 more batteries...pulling 1 out of my current cabinet and having 2 cabinets of 5. 50wk is more than we would need. I'll get the turbine up and we'll run through fall and winter and see how it goes. As you know its good peace of mind just being off-grid!!
@@goingoffgridatgreenshireho435 Oh, you have a turbine too? Now I'm a bit jealous. lol...I have 22k solar and 130kwh of diy 280ah cells in Ell boxes with jk BMSs and I still need to run the genny a bit in the winter...I burn 200-300 litres of diesel a year. I went with two eg4 18ks and victron busbars.. If I had a little turbine, even 500 to 1kw...that would make a huge difference and could have got away with quite a bit less solar/battery and no diesel needed. Are you planning to do a few vids on the turbine? If so, I should subscribe and turn on notifications. Cheers.
Its a 1600w and should get here this week. Hoping to have it operational in 2 to 3 weekends. Will do a video on the install when I'm done and one a month or so later to speak on how its working.
I've found it's makes more sense to me to use & store my extra solar power than to sell it back to the power company. I increased my battery bank. I added an electric hot water heater that feeds my propane water heater . I purchased an ecoflow Delta Pro to put some of my excess solar power in, and I charge my Ford lightning with my excess solar.
As far as air conditioning, I use split inverter units. They have built-in soft starts, and instead of the compressor starting and stopping, it just slows down and speeds up as needed .
If I get several really cloudy days I connect my home to the 240 volt 7200 watt inverter that's in the bed of my truck. When it's fully charged I have 131 kwh of power from my trucks battery.
I agree! When my old power company, (who I got along with just fine), changed the rules on credits and peak time, I explained to them, you are forcing me to go off grid. I like what you've done there, we are considering an EV... in time.
I have run my 2.5 SEER 16 central air con with a soft start off grid for 5.5 years.
Good to know can't wait till I've done it 5.5 years.
Can you comment on why you took the risk of that high frequency MOSFET inverter? If you are off grid why not Victron or Schneider which are both transformer based units and are known to be very robust handling L1/L2 load differences
An excellent question! When I first started this journey I planned to use the Sol-Ark then I saw the power of the Schneider and I started to lean that direction. Then Victron caught my attention....I went back and forth so many times between the three it drove my wife crazy at the supper table. Ultimately I decided on Sol-Ark because of its power, ease of installation, and ability to grid tie seamlessly. If I die, my wife will go back to grid-tied and with 5 minutes of programming the Sol-Ark will sell power back so she can have this system in place with no power bills but the meter fee.
Good job!
Training, experience and the totality of the circumstances!
How many kWh of energy do you consume each day? What is the SOC of the batteries in the morning before the solar starts kicking in?
On an average , no A/C day, we use about 15-20kw a day. With the A/C running we use about 30kw. When we were grid tied we used less power, sending more to the grid to increase our credits. Now we use more power because any solar we don't use is waisted, so we are not as careful off-grid as we were grid-tide. A/C on, the SOC is 75%ish in the morning. No A/C 85%ish in the morning.
The above power used includes what solar sends into the batteries to bring them back to 100% soc.
@@goingoffgridatgreenshireho435 if you had more solar production you could afford to discharge the batteries more than 15-25%. I have 12.96kWp and 29.6kWh of lithium batteries. Two ground mount arrays. One at 180 degrees and the other at 230. 8s2P on each. I produce solar power for ~ 11-12 hours a day in the spring/summer. Panels are cheaper than batteries.
I was going to add another 2.4k array for more evening summer sun but I'm putting up a small turbine instead, ($3000). We live on a hill top overlooking a vast flood plain with lots of breezy days all year round. I think, especially in winter, this will make a big difference. It should arrive first part of August and take a couple weekends for me to install. I will post a video when its done. I may end up adding the 2.4 array too, we'll see how it goes.
@@goingoffgridatgreenshireho435 most MPPT can’t handle wind turbines very well. It might be a challenge to realize any significant power from it. $3k would buy a lot more solar panels.
No hot showers?
Haven't for a year and a half even at a hotel I take em straight cold. My wife still takes warm showers!
maybe i missed it. what are the details of your solar array?
7k array (6.9) / 24 panels in 3 legs of 8 going into the Sol-Ark. We plan to add a small 1600w turbine in July to keep the batteries charging at night.
Yes, you can but only for a few hours unless you install $10k for batteries.
The batteries with cabinet are $10,000 but with the 30% tax credit they are $7,000. You just have to wait for the tax return.
you can do anything with enough money. . .
Unfortunately if you want to go off-grid without changing the way you live you have to have proper equipment. EVERYTHING including labor has a 30% tax credit. That's why I drive old cars, the money people spend on a new car, I spent on a complete off grid system.