Our homestead is nestled deep in the Appalachian mountains surrounded by 15,000 acres of unbroken, protected wilderness! No grid power here. All solar power baby!
The main focus of the channel is solar power and off the grid living!
Don’t like solar? Don’t worry. Other video topics include; DIY topics, how to guides, electronics, automotive, alternative energy, gardening, rabbits, chickens, preparedness, survival, product reviews and more!
Thanks for watching!
#theoffgridmountainhomestead
THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD@gmail.com
This channel is a member of Amazon associates. I may post reviews and links to products on Amazon. I may earn a small commission with qualified purchases made through my Amazon links. This helps support the channel at no cost to you! Thanks!
All content found on this channel is for entertainment purposes only. If you rely on information portrayed on this channel, you assume responsibility for the results.
OK, I get the thoughts of the lower efficiency of under 80%, but that is why I would look at as a 1800wh power station. Price wise it compares very well with other brands that have about the same actual realized wh output. I just ordered one, as it checks off many of the features I seek. Lifepo4, variable wattage charging, and it has an xt60 12v25a output, so it will work well for a diesel heater. The quick charging of 1100 watts means I can charge it from my 2000 watt generator in about 2 hours. Having recently lost all my refrigerated goods due to a 10 day power outage from Helene this is very doable. Fully charged, it should run my fridge about 12 hours. Recharge 2 hours while fridge is on another power pack, then run 12 more hours. Hope this meets my expectations.
No smells on the discharge air. It’s just a micro oil furnace similar to what was used in many homes circa 1950s-1980s. About the same efficiency as well. Should work good on a tent due to constant heat losses. Hope this helps
Are you referring to portable power station? If so, my favorite in the 2KWh size class is Oupes Mega 2. Flawless performance so far. Bluetti I have is also excellent. Really comes down to better price between these two. I don’t have anything larger than 2KWh class so I can’t speak on the larger capacity (3-7KWh class) units. Smaller size (1.5KWh) the AllPowers S2000Pro (video coming soon) surprisingly has been a real trooper and have absolutely beat on it and it’s not complained yet…
What a mess! Glad your mom is ok. I live in Augusta, GA and work in SC. It's really bad, but we did not get that flooding. We are all lucky to still be here. I hope everything gets restored soon. 🙏
Yes definitely a mess! Glad you folks didn’t have any flooding! Definitely blessed no one was injured! My mom lives in a valley at base of the mountains so they got the fast water rise from all the runoff. Appreciate you take care down in Augusta!
Great setup! I see you and I have the same OCD / Attention to detail when it comes to wiring. I can't stand a mess. Also glad you like the BougeRV inverter. I just ordered the 2000W version of it to upgrade the 1000W Renogy that I have in my charging shed but haven't seen many reviews on it and probably won't get it in for another week or so.
Thanks! I’m impressed with the inverter, ran it more this evening after work, loaded @ 2200W (43.8V and 58.4V chargers for loads) for about 4 hours. Held 42-43°C internal temp easily! Take care, be safe!
You have a nice system. Thanks for sharing this with us. This is what I sent out to our family ahead of the hurricane. Good Morning, family and friends. We live on the ground floor in our condominium. We are in East Tampa several miles from the water. Growing up in Alamosa, Colorado we had to deal with the 40 below Zero temperatures, wind & snow. Boy Scout Training has really paid off throughout my life. We have taken the following precautions for the hurricane. Most of the Tampa Bay region is shutting down operations Tuesday morning. We have a portable radio, plenty of batteries, several led flashlights. 2 Led lanterns. We have 2 WattCycle LifePO4 12 volt 200ah batteries connected to a pure sine wave 2000 watts inverter. I have 2 435 watt solar panels to charge batteries with a MPPT controller. We can keep fridge connected and a couple of fans. We also have our 1 & 2 burner Coleman camp stoves and Peak 1 lanterns with 2 gallons of fuel. Plenty of bottled drinking water, we have two bathtubs to fill with water for cleaning, & toilet flushing. I have put tape on windows to help control breaks. I have 4 large heavy duty tarps & nails to cover windows if broken. Plenty of food, dry & frozen. 2 large excellent quality coolers. Several candles. Our important papers are sealed in ziplock bags. Along with cash, weapons & extra ammo. We were fortunate and didn’t lose electricity. There are several large oak trees down and the water is on the sidewalks. Our driveway is under 12-16” of water. Our vehicle is on higher ground and is safe. Our daughter has been without power for 5 days in North Tampa. At 75 years old there isn’t anywhere I need to go for several days. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🫡
Appreciate you! Glad you made preparations before the storm and sounds like they have paid off! Glad you kept power and at least vehicles are good! Did any water come inside your home during the storm? Praying for quick recovery for all in the south that have been through difficult times from these storms of late.
@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD we had several water leaks, the wind was blowing the rain so hard that it came in through the dryer vent and vents in the roof. Lots of cleaning still.
Sorry to hear about the leaks! ☹️ Glad no one was injured though! When Helene came over it’s the first time I’ve ever seen truly horizontal rain so that was interesting, even more interesting is the sound of this horizontal rain pelting the house mixed with tree limbs and various other projectiles. Proceeded to look out through the woods with flashlight, immediately turned off flashlight because I didn’t like what I was witnessing 😔
Wow what a waste. Clue: server rack battries and eg4 all in one enverter. I have 30KWHs of lifepower4 battries and 4800 watts of solar pannels and a EG4 6000 watt all in one inverter all for less than $10k and I don't need all those breakers, buss bars, gaint cables, charge controllers, heat shrink, wire terminals, ect. When you start adding up the cost of all those little parts it really really adds up. But I will give you this, your systom is well laid out.
Thank you for your input. I have 48V powering the house. 12V is prepper power. This is a backup system. Billions if not trillions of 12V components out in the world to be had and able to be used in a worse case situation. 30kw is a good starter battery bank. My RV has 32kw.
@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD Agree, 30kw of battery doesn't go as far as people might think, even with load shedding, especially in inclement weather where solar can't re-charge the bank. EG4 does have some great products though. I have 70kwh of their rack mounted batteries and it's not nearly enough. To go off-grid, I'd need another 17kwh of solar and probably 300Kwh of battery storage.
Unfortunately the prices change up and down and it’s hard to nail down exactly what they will be especially if I film a few days before posting live. I try to get close when filming. Just like the inverter had a coupon then by time I posted it had went up in price!
Appreciate the kind words my friend! I have 4/0 to my 48V inverter. Batteries go to DC combiners, with midnite solar breakers then tie to common + and - bus. All cabling is 1/0. With exception of the 4/0 feeders to inverter as mentioned. Mission critical system so everything is overkill. Oversized wiring also helps some with current sharing between each bank of batteries. My house rarely demands more power than the Zendure was using while charging. If that BougeRV was 120/240V I could easily run my house on it. (I do have a propane Rinnai, and gas clothes dryer so a little hydrocarbon crutch there) 🙂
Okay I just found your video and it comes up with the same code. So my Model # is PDT825SGJ0BB and serial # is LG103599B how do I know which one to buy on your link? I think the dishwasher is a 2005 but I don't know as I'm the second owner of the mobile home it is installed in.
I’m sorry but I don’t know which part# you would need? Could you take the switch out first and look for the part# on it to verify before ordering any parts? Should have the part # printed on it so you can verify. Or possibly find parts diagram for your model washer and verify the switch part number this way? Hole this helps!
What would you like me to cover to help you? This is partly why I put this system together for demonstrating components and how they work. I can cover basic concepts of you like. Let me know I’ll be happy to dedicate a video for questions! 👍
@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD Oh, God bless you! You’re so sweet! But I’m an older lady and I’m afraid I’m a lost cause on stuff like this. You’re so blessed with this knowledge and experience! It honestly sounds like a foreign language to me. Don’t worry; God will take care of me. He always has!🙏🏻😇. I’ll keep watching and hope some of it sinks in. Thanks!
Yes ma’am I try to help when and where I can. If you’re needing backup power for storms and aren’t comfortable with electricity, one of the power stations may still be a viable option. They are plug and play. Yes they aren’t really serviceable and can be expensive but they have been getting better and better since first coming out. The one I showed in the video the Zendure, has been used and abused daily for almost 2 years now! I hope you have a blessed evening if there’s anything I can ever help you with, just let me know!
The sample shunt I’m using to measure the energy that comes out of the battery has a predetermined resistance and the battery monitor (display) basically is a tiny computer that measures and calculates the energy in or out of the batteries through the matched shunt. Hope this helps!
What you have built so far, it exactly what I am acquiring right now to build in my emergency power location here. I too, am always looking for sales discounts on materials for my prepper energy products plan that will be for my preparedness bunker here. Yours is spot on. I do have plans to built a mirror backup system in the event that I need to feed others in my direct area limited power as barter. Keeping neighbors refrigerators running keeps them happy to help my prepper onion succeed that much more. Helping myself before helping others right now seems logical..
Thanks for the kind words! Several folks I know are now wanting an off grid or backup system after the hurricane. Sitting in the dark is not fun. Not having refrigeration is a bummer. All can be worked around of course but electricity is that labor saver we’re all addicted to. Many rely on it for medical issues. This is where it goes from an inconvenience to life endangering. Keeping refrigeration seems to be priority 1 for the vast majority though. A much smaller system than what I demonstrated could provide this or power medical devices. Good to know you’re working on a backup power solution. Electricity is one of those things most people don’t think about until it’s not there.
Ya answered all the Q? i had,, im only going with 12v also,, ive priced 24 and 48........ i have nothing like your setup,, but i will add batterys and panels as i go. Only thing im missing is battery to battery charger.. in a pinch i will use a generator.. And I double sized ALL the cables also,, future proofed....
Awesome! Glad to hear you have a backup power solution! You wouldn’t necessarily need a DC to DC charging option but it’s nice for certain occasions. It’s got a PV input too that’s a nice feature. I needed it for tie in the lead batteries. Energy storage is energy storage. I still have to provide generator input and some 80A AC to DC chargers/converters too. I forgot to mention that in the video. Plus the whole charge system for the lead batteries etc. still lots to do.
This is a setup I like. A base powerbank that can charge mobile battery banks. I have small 24v system and 200w/4000w inverter and it is mostly charging (AC) DIY "carry around" battery/inverter systems. ..and a Ecoflow River 2 Pro.
Thanks! That’s how I’ve been using it so far, mainly as storage due to small PV array. It still pushes in 1.7-1.9KWh per day on 400W of glass. Plenty for my golf cart and power station charging. Will need 3000-4000W of PV and a 4000W 240V inverter before I will actually be able to daily cycle it for the house.
Nice setup!! Don’t let anybody give you any crap on those thermal circuit breakers T-Tocas are legit good breakers. Way better than off brand. Unfortunately people see those and start complaining cause they went with cheap ones. Again sweet setup!!!!
Thanks! T Tocas is as good as blue sea for a fraction of the cost. They actually trip accurately and follow their stated trip curve. Plenty sufficient for 12V. I never plant to come even close to their rating. Ones to avoid are the red lion and ones just marked “waterproof “ lol.
Well you answered one of my questions by just building this system. I see a lot of battery manufacturers saying that you need to buy all your batteries at one time or in close proximity in time to make a good system, I know most of the batteries you're using probably had a lot of time difference between them (correct me if I'm wrong) are all the batteries 100 amp hour batteries?
All are 100Ah. All are different ages and cycle counts. Of course manufacturers want to go with their brand exclusively. Parallel systems can be very large but need individual overcurrent protection devices when putting together. This system is grouped by same BMS. Hence the 4 watt cycles are on one breaker from the system. The 4 Cyclenbatt are on their breaker etc. The GOLDENMATE are cylindrical cell so they are on their own breaker. Really issue with mixed banks is when you run them near low voltage cutoff and some may drop out sooner or small mixed bank under loads near max of the battery capability. This is where oddities can occur. I never run below 12.8V except for capacity testing. I charge to 3.55V/cell or 14.2 on occasion for balancing but normally charge to 14.0 and “float” setting 13.4-13.5 for standby or 13.6 for daily cycling/max capacity for overnight. LiFePO4 will actually be full at 13.8 if held long enough at that voltage but won’t always activate the balance circuit in some BMS.
I have this unit in as my primary power for my travel trailer and i have oupes portable solar which i connect through MC4 connectors hidden in the sidewall so far after 6 months, runs perfectly. My only complaint is the App sucks
Great to hear your feedback with the Oupes! I didn’t use the app! Many 3rd party apps have their share of issues! Oupes is my favorite machine in the 2kw class no doubt! Take care and be safe!
Looks like a nice organized system. You put a lot of thought and effort into it. I've been building up my system for about the last 6 years. What's frustrating is that as soon as you invest in a system or product a new and improved system or product is introduced. Especially true for panels and batteries. I still have my 6 Windy Nation SLA's but long since moved on to Lithium.
Thank you! This is definitely still a work in progress. Lots to still do and add to. Eventually plan to have a 4000W 120/240 low frequency inverter and be able to run the house on it if needed. The main 48V system is as far as I want to take it. A tree almost took it out during the hurricane. Don’t want all my eggs in one basket so to say. Two is one, one is none and all that… 🙂
Great Job, looks great. I actually run 2 inverters on same batteries one big one and one small one. Just dont over pull the batteries. Mostly just to conserve power when I do not need alot. Check out the Victron 1200 with bluetooth add on for your small inverter. Great video. Really like the DIY small setups. More redundant.
Thank you! I plan to eventually have a 12V 4000W 120/240V unit to actually run the house on from time to time. I was planning to keep the BougeRV 3K unit off to the side for 120V loads when not needing 240V. The low frequency 240V capable units have seriously high idle draw and waste capacity for the small items I’m powering currently with the 120V unit.
WOW! Very nice build! Very clean wiring and well laid out. I am looking to build a new power house. I didn't notice if you had cooling fans or air conditioning. I am going to insulate it to protect from the cold but heat down here in South Louisiana heat is the problem. Do you think just using temperature control fans would be enough? Just curious what you think. Thanks for the great build video! Definitely a very nice build. If you get slow you can come help with my build, lol!
Appreciate it! I plan for a 12V mini split heat pump for climate control. Currently have a 12V fan and ducted exhaust/screened intake. RV gets about 90°F in summer when it’s sitting or when AC is off. But batteries rarely actually get above 80F due to thermal mass. Cool right back down overnight. Batteries are tougher than most give credit.
I have the 40 amp charger by this company. It seems that a full 40 A goes into the battery during the full charge. I thought that the amperage was supposed to ramp down at the last 80 or 90%. It did drop to about 37 A at 90% but that is close enough to 40 for me. Any advice?
Mine does 25A +\- until 14.0V (3.5V/cell) then the yellow indicator 80% comes on and current tapers down from 25A slowly to 10A stays at 10A as the voltage increases in the battery until 14.6V where it stops charging and indicates full. Hope this helps. BTW also have a 20A brick version and charge algorithm is the same.
@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD OK great Info. Thanks. Maybe I’ll set up my iPad to screen record while this thing charges. Then I can look back and see what the activity was. Thanks much.
I have the 40 amp charger by this company. It seems that a full 40 A goes into the battery during the full charge. I thought that the amperage was supposed to ramp down at the last 80 or 90%. It did drop to about 37 A at 90% but that is close enough to 40 for me. Any advice?
i just picked up 4 of these for $133 each on prime day. Do you know of any off the shelf container that 4 of these would fit into nicely to make a 48v battery?
Dang brother I sure hate that for you and your family man, our thoughts and prayers are with y’all! Sure glad they took your advice and got out before the storm, if we can help in any way please let us know. Man I’m gonna be honest with you, I’ve been through a bunch of major hurricanes in Florida and seen some things over the years. This one was just different, maybe because of the fact of you just don’t get this kind of weather here and it caused so much major damage. Definitely has been difficult to see how everything has been playing out everywhere. So many people around us were not prepared for this kind of thing and it has been difficult to see. Y’all stay safe out there!
Appreciate you so much my friend! Never seen anything like it, first horizontal rain I’ve ever been in. Took down trees like a tornado does! Crazy! Don’t want that again!
Great video. Good to see you survived the storm. Too bad about those solar panels that failed after one year. I won't be buying that brand anytime soon.
Thank you! Definitely can’t recommend those panels. I’m going to replace with two 500W commercial bifacial on same mount when I get some spare funds. Should have done that to start with lol.
Sorry to hear! maybe yours won’t fail, or maybe they might make close to advertised power, it’s hit or miss quality wise with some of the lower tier brands. Thought they were going to be great, but was wrong ☹️. Pop them out of the box and check them, might get lucky!
whoops.... i had deleted my comment figureing i'd just keep on doing my own research and not bothering you. communicating with power queen has been useless for me. they just keep sending picture of the manuel and telling me they don't recommend simultaneously charging battery with dc charger and solar panels using my charge controller. the bottom line for me is, not sure how to wire it with their solar panel input plug and my own charge controller....thanks for responding.
Not bother at all, I want everyone to know how to use the equipment they purchased. I’ll show you how to connect everything. I’ve been working on my new 12V system and this is actually a great topic for a video!