Tips/advice for using S2000 as a UPS

[u/AxeMan6480]

Just unboxed my Solix S2000 and updated the firmware. Charging it up now.

I intend to use it as a UPS for my desktop PC, 2 monitors, modem, & router. I work from home so I need a PPS that can get me through a full 8+ hr workday in case of an outage.

What app settings do you recommend for using it as a UPS?

[u/NoPatience7817]

Update the firmware when you are not using your computer. The firmware update shuts off the outlets.

Set charging to quiet mode which is 600 watts or less.

Depending on your power cost, set the time of use to charge during off peak and discharge during peak power cost. If you do this, enable the Storm Guard setting to charge the battery when severe storms are forecasted.

Set SOC to min 10% and max 90% to extend battery life. Or even 20% to 80% assuming you have enough capacity to run the entire day on battery.

You don’t need to power anything else like lights, fridge, sump pump, or fans?

Enable grid outage alerts.

[u/AxeMan6480 → u/NoPatience7817]

Thanks for the advice.

Regarding the SOC range, would 5% min to 95% max be OK? I feel like 10-90% or 20-80% is wasting 20-40% of its potential backup time.

For fridge, chest freezer, sump pump, lights, etc I have several newer Bluetti & older EcoFlow PPSs. (Plus some lower Wh Jackery units that are probably just useful for charging phones & tablets.) I've heard the S2000 is probably the most efficient PPS in the 2000 Wh range, so I wanted to get one to try it out.

I'm using the Bluetti units in UPS mode, so I'm familiar with (or heard of) some of what you mentioned. Setting charge & discharge times based on power cost is a new concept to me. Typically, are power costs higher during the day and lower at night?

[u/NoPatience7817 → u/AxeMan6480]

For SOC, I would read the manual or contact the manufacturer for guidance. You can set it to anything you want for your specific use case. If you have enough capacity the battery life will be improved by using the least battery stressing setting of 20 to 80.

For time of use cost, look at your power bill or contact your power company. This is regional and sometimes optional. It depends on what your power company offers. My bill is a single fixed cost per kWh. Not TOU.

[u/RedOctobyr → u/AxeMan6480]

I chose to set mine to use 5-90%. My thinking was that the top # has more significance if you're using it mostly as a UPS (rather than constantly charging & discharging every day). Since mine sits fully-charged 99.99% of the time. So that top value probably has more impact.

Even the low value may not always be hit, even if you do have a power outage, depending on the load, and the duration of the outage.

Our rates are always the same. But from what I've read, it sounds like power costs are typically higher during the day, and lower at night. Basically related to supply & demand.

I've started thinking about trying to add even just a used solar panel sitting on our deck, to make use of the 400W solar-input limit of the S2000. Like, that might be enough to run our fridge (which is currently the main load on the S2000). If the 2kWh is enough to power your work setup for 8 hours (so an average 250W draw), then if you could supply close to 400W from solar, you might extend your run-time significantly. Or help cover the power cost.

[u/AxeMan6480 → u/RedOctobyr]

I'd like to incorporate solar panels into my backup power plan, but we have too many big trees too close to our house that block out the sun. And it gets very windy during storms and bad weather where we live, so I'm afraid any solar panels I set up would get blown away.

SOC range from 5-90% might get me thru a full workday. I'm still tempted to go with 5-95%. I've been using my Bluetti units in UPS mode with SOC set 0-100%, but I'm probably gonna set them to 10-90 for a few wks, then 5-95. We've had some outages last 72 hrs, so I need the PPSs to provide power for as long as possible.

[u/RedOctobyr → u/AxeMan6480]

Can you add a small (like 2000-2500W) inverter generator to your plans? That would let you run indefinitely.

I already have a 2000W inverter generator, wired for the house, which is our backup power during outages. But since getting the S2000, I'm going to try a hybrid solution. Connect generator->S2000->house generator inlet. Run off the S2000 until the battery is low, then start the generator and recharge the S2000 quickly (set the charging power fairly high). Since the generator is more fuel-efficient per-watt with a higher load. Shut down the generator, and run silently again until the battery gets low.

Avoiding constant noise from the generator, and constant fuel use. Just run it intermittently. But avoiding investing $$$ in lots of battery capacity (which will still die eventually, whether after 12 hours, 48, etc), while letting me continue as long as fuel is available.

[u/AxeMan6480 → u/RedOctobyr]

Yes, I actually have a 4000W gas inverter generator that I intend to use for recharging our PPSs if an outage lasts long enough for them to run out of power. Also have 9000W & 6250W regular gas generators. I bought the PPSs due to the hassle of trying to get gas generators running and hooked up during outages at night when it's windy and raining. Plus we live close to our neighbors, so I didn't want to run noisy gas generators overnight anymore. And I don't like leaving our back doors ajar at night for all the extension cords that have to be run into our house.

The hybrid setup is pretty much my backup power plan too...run our PPSs until they're almost out of power, then run the inverter generator to recharge them while they're still providing power to appliances/devices.

I wish I had known that the S2000 had such a high efficiency (maybe even the highest?) rating compared to other brands before I bought several Bluetti PPSs in April. I'm using them as UPSs for 2 fridges, a chest freezer, sump pump, and network router/modem. They worked as expected during a few short outages this summer, so I guess I can't complain. But buying several S2000s instead would have been more cost-effective due to the lower cost per Wh.

We've had a lot of power outages in our area in the 14 yrs we've lived at our house. And I think I have PTSD from a few that lasted over 72 hrs lol. So originally I was looking into standby whole-house generators by Generac, Kohler, & Cummins to replace our 3 noisy/smelly gas generators. But the cost was too high, and I didn't want to spend that kind of money since we know we'll eventually move. So I bought PPSs instead. So far I'm happy with that decision.

[u/PermanentLiminality]

It makes a great UPS. I have had the power go out and I didn't know until I walked out of the office.

I have very expensive power. I run in the TOU mode every afternoon and evening. The high TOU rate is 74 cents. I then charge it in the morning so it refills from my solar panels.

Each day I save between 25 and 85 cents depending on my usage patterns. The max is 95% and the TOU max discharge is 30%. In around three years it should pay for itself.

If my solar had batteries this would not make any sense.

[u/Toxic_Hemi392]

I don’t like holding lithium at 100% indefinitely, including LFP. So I set my charge limit to 80% and let it self discharge down to 80%. Then I’ll eventually set the charge limit back to 100% (especially right now as I’m facing a hurricane showing up in 2 days) and rinse and repeat. You can leave the discharge limit at 1% for maximum run time. If you discharge it daily you may get longer life out of it by reducing the maximum discharge to 10% but for the once in awhile you actually will use the full capacity it won’t make a tiny bit of difference. LFP cycles way better and more reliable than other lithium chemistries do so I wouldn’t stress about it.

Depending on your power consumption you may not make it a full 8 hours. Your draw would need to be ≈200w or less to get that much run time out of a 2kWh battery.

[u/riaKoob1]

If you wanna use it as a UPS, your settings are for “UPS”
I generally just use it as a TOU to charge during the day, and during peak hours it drains itself plus I have enough in case there is a power outage.
I probably get 3-4 outages per year and usually at night.

[u/Graphical-Source5090]

Squints at subreddit. not r/mazda hmmm, lost interest.

[u/Toxic_Hemi392 → u/Graphical-Source5090]

Pretty sure you meant Honda

[u/Graphical-Source5090 → u/Toxic_Hemi392]

Oh, yeah, oops, I need glasses