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Author here. It was $20K installed total I also have 17kw of solar on my roof, and overproduce. I have 1:1 net metering, so a battery will not help financially

Author here. It was $20K installed total I also have 17kw of solar on my roof, and overproduce. I have 1:1 net metering, so a battery will not help financially unless that ends. the only utility a battery provides is backup power In the middle of summer I will use around 80kwh a day with lots of AC usage (Yes, I could get more insulation, better ducts, switch to minisplits. all in progress) A lot of that is at night, because it doesn't get any cooler at night really. It still stays hot and humid. Between sun I'm using around 30kwh, so I'd need 3 x Tesla Power Walls JUST TO MAKE THE NIGHT and hope it was sunny the day before to fully charge, and sunny the next day The cost for that is over $30,000, only makes the night, and still only outputs around the same as the generator. If it's not sunny but it's still warm, I'll be without power in a short time. If I'm spending that amount of money, I want power to stay on no matter what I'm waiting for Enhpase or Tesla, or someone to come out with an AC Coupled grid tie battery that has full generator support. That is the dream. Then in low solar days it could pre-charge the battery with the generator for night time. I don't want to drop a ton of cash now, when that is surely on the horizon. Either that, or the ability to use a car as a battery. If I could use a Tesla as a battery, I would probably go buy a 100 model Tesla. That would be 100kwh! much better

AdrianB1 5y ago
Until now I felt bad by consuming ~ 10kWh per day on average, now it is more clear why the climate warming discussions are a waste of time.
- monstermunch 5y ago
  If it helps, I have solar and overproduce so I'm net negative on carbon for electric at least
jqcoffey 5y ago
> Either that, or the ability to use a car as a battery. Not sure if it fits the bill for you, but the new Ford F-150 lightning can supply 9.6kw of continuous power: > With the ability to offload 9.6 kilowatts of power, Ford Intelligent Backup Power keeps the lights on during an outage while providing security by powering home appliances, security systems and more Ref: https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/05/19/all-electric-ford-f-150-lightning.html https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021...
ComputerGuru 5y ago
Humidity is indeed the problem! You can live with dry heat but humidity just makes it hard to breathe and it’s such an oppressive, overwhelming presence. And it’s expensive to dehumidify a room via any of the conventional means.
mindslight 5y ago
I think what's driving a lot of the questions is not knowing how much instantaneous power (and startup current) your AC uses when it's on. 80kWh/day is only 3.3kW avg, but assuming most of that is your AC (with 30% duty cycle) and it seems your system is at most oversized by a factor of 2. There is a 22kW model in the same product line, so presumably you had a good reason to go with the next one up. Given that Texas's electricity problems involved a problem with the natural gas supply, are you not worried about that going out as well? I just got a generator, but aimed for a small one that would be more efficient so that I would need to store less fuel. Although I still need to figure out some solution for intelligent load management so that I can run (fridge,freezer,boiler,etc) sequentially rather than simultaneously.
- monstermunch 5y ago
  The 22kw is $500 cheaper than the 27kw, no point going for the 22
bbatchelder 5y ago
Speaking of HVAC on a generator - have you heard of the Hyper Engineering SureStart devices? They put less stress on the generator and compressor when starting up. I got them installed on both of my AC units, and they work great on the generator, and the generator doesn't bog down when they start. https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Hyper-Engineering-SS1B16-32SN-V230/p99614.html https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Hyper-Engineering-S... This video is illustrative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApscKchMybM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApscKchMybM
- monstermunch 5y ago
  Yes! I have one. It lets me start my 5 Ton AC on my 7kw portable generator without issue
nybble41 5y ago
> I'm waiting for Enhpase or Tesla, or someone to come out with an AC Coupled grid tie battery that has full generator support. Enphase either already supports this, or is very close. Their current gateway device (smart transfer switch) for their Encharge 3 / Encharge 10 AC-coupled batteries has connections for a generator and I know the installation manuals on their site describe what kinds of generators are supported and how to wire them up. If they don't officially support that configuration yet it's only a matter of time.

AdrianB1 5y ago

Until now I felt bad by consuming ~ 10kWh per day on average, now it is more clear why the climate warming discussions are a waste of time.

monstermunch 5y ago
If it helps, I have solar and overproduce so I'm net negative on carbon for electric at least

jqcoffey 5y ago

> Either that, or the ability to use a car as a battery. Not sure if it fits the bill for you, but the new Ford F-150 lightning can supply 9.6kw of continuous power: > With the ability to offload 9.6 kilowatts of power, Ford Intelligent Backup Power keeps the lights on during an outage while providing security by powering home appliances, security systems and more Ref: https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/05/19/all-electric-ford-f-150-lightning.html https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021...

ComputerGuru 5y ago

Humidity is indeed the problem! You can live with dry heat but humidity just makes it hard to breathe and it’s such an oppressive, overwhelming presence. And it’s expensive to dehumidify a room via any of the conventional means.

mindslight 5y ago

I think what's driving a lot of the questions is not knowing how much instantaneous power (and startup current) your AC uses when it's on. 80kWh/day is only 3.3kW avg, but assuming most of that is your AC (with 30% duty cycle) and it seems your system is at most oversized by a factor of 2. There is a 22kW model in the same product line, so presumably you had a good reason to go with the next one up. Given that Texas's electricity problems involved a problem with the natural gas supply, are you not worried about that going out as well? I just got a generator, but aimed for a small one that would be more efficient so that I would need to store less fuel. Although I still need to figure out some solution for intelligent load management so that I can run (fridge,freezer,boiler,etc) sequentially rather than simultaneously.

monstermunch 5y ago
The 22kw is $500 cheaper than the 27kw, no point going for the 22

bbatchelder 5y ago

Speaking of HVAC on a generator - have you heard of the Hyper Engineering SureStart devices? They put less stress on the generator and compressor when starting up. I got them installed on both of my AC units, and they work great on the generator, and the generator doesn't bog down when they start. https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Hyper-Engineering-SS1B16-32SN-V230/p99614.html https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Hyper-Engineering-S... This video is illustrative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApscKchMybM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApscKchMybM

monstermunch 5y ago
Yes! I have one. It lets me start my 5 Ton AC on my 7kw portable generator without issue

nybble41 5y ago

> I'm waiting for Enhpase or Tesla, or someone to come out with an AC Coupled grid tie battery that has full generator support. Enphase either already supports this, or is very close. Their current gateway device (smart transfer switch) for their Encharge 3 / Encharge 10 AC-coupled batteries has connections for a generator and I know the installation manuals on their site describe what kinds of generators are supported and how to wire them up. If they don't officially support that configuration yet it's only a matter of time.