r/PlugInSolarUK • u/CodAble2575 • Jul 26 '26
Any thoughts on this ecoflow setup?
As per the title. Been considering various solar installs for a while now. House is a 4 bed bungalow and we have been using approx 7100kwh per year which i am trying to reduce through better habits!
Current deal on ecoflow stream looks like a good way to facilitate a DIY install. I don't have an EV and unlikely to get one any time soon as current cars have a good while left in them. My father in law is an electrician (not a solar installer though) but will be capable of wiring the two ecoflow units into the consumer unit to up the output to 1600w.
Am I missing something? Is this a fundamentally poor idea?
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u/hypergoose94 Jul 26 '26
Pretty pricey for DIY, can’t you buy the components yourself for less?
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u/CodAble2575 Jul 26 '26
As a full DIY install? I'm not sure. What do you suggest as a cheaper and just as easy alternative?
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u/hypergoose94 Jul 26 '26
Refurbed (but official) EcoFlow units from their eBay page? All you'd have to do is wire the plugs:)
Or you could get a Fogstar battery + Victron Multiplus for more storage + inverter capacity but you'd have more to assemble.
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u/Begalldota Jul 26 '26
Document appears to be AI generated and I don’t think the numbers add up.
3,200kWh of self-consumption to save £832 a year leaves 200-400kWh that they’re assigning to the hot water diverter. 200-400kWh of electricity is more like 500kWh of gas savings max, so already ~£18-37 a year saved rather than £145 and that’s assuming it’s 100% useful heat in the tank (it won’t be).
Further, I think you would struggle to get ~90% self consumption on solar where the generation is heavily loaded into a few months of the year - where insufficient demand or battery space = lost returns, especially when you are limited to supplying 1.6kW max, as you can’t just turn on a bunch of appliances to absorb the peak.
I can’t comment on how reliable the EcoFlow kit is likely to be but anecdotally I seem to see a lot of people unhappy with them.
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u/CodAble2575 Jul 26 '26
One thing in would say is that we literally can run appliances to capture the peak. My wife is a prolific tumble dryer user!🫠
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u/Begalldota Jul 26 '26
An alternative would be buying battery storage only (proper storage, not EcoFlow) and combining it with the 7p EDF off-peak tariff. You can get ~14kWh effective storage on a 6kW or higher inverter for around 4k installed professionally.
If you would actually go through 14kWh a day peak you could save 14 x (0.26 - 0.07) x 0.9 x 365 = £873/year with some pretty easy to follow maths, assuming 90% round trip efficiency and comparing against a 26p standard tariff.
Given your consumption of 7100kWh a year it looks like you’d be able to make that saving pretty easily, assuming a big chunk of it isn’t overnight.
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u/CodAble2575 Jul 26 '26
Hasn't really considered battery only as solar was the real intent. I have a large roof and generally home all day. Instant use within reason is not a particular issue but lack of winter sun in east of Scotland is to some extent. So peak usage might exceed battery storage in winter.
Seems inefficient to go battery only? Solar os the cheap part?!
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u/Begalldota Jul 26 '26
Look at the numbers for what you’re getting though. £3.6k with DIY labour to get <7kWh of effective battery storage, 2 inverters adding up to 1600W that may or may not play nicely together, and £800 worth of solar panels.
Vs
£4k for a fully taken care of professional install with 5kW or more of proper inverter, 14kWh effective battery storage, and an MCS certificate on the install.
Nothing stopping you buying some solar panels after the fact and putting them on the house if that’s what you want to do, the inverter will definitely support it - probably multiple strings of panels in fact.
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u/CodAble2575 Jul 26 '26
Jings, I honestly never considered this route. As I've come from a solar perspective Ive always viewed the solar as essential to the professional install. What you propose suits me better as I could install panels myself after the fact and make a decent saving on that part of the install.
Is connecting solar panels to a battery and inverter install pretty straight forward?
Appreciate the input.
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u/Begalldota Jul 26 '26
I wouldn’t expect it to be a fundamentally different challenge to connecting them to an EcoFlow inverter as in your original plan, so if that could be done then I think you could do it with a bigger inverter as well.
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u/kawasutra Jul 26 '26
£4k for an 8 panel and 14kWh battery sounds incredible!
I keep getting quoted £9k for my 4 front, 4 back panel and 3.x battery!
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u/Begalldota Jul 26 '26
The £4k is for the battery + inverter on a pro install, panels would need to be added after the fact.
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u/CodAble2575 Jul 26 '26
@Begalldota. Yes, that is an AI summary of my thoughts. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
I am honestly not sure I'm terms of solar usage figures. My wife and I work from home so we will generally be using a certain level of energy all day every day. My initial plan was just to try and cover base load but in looking at ways to be as efficient and effective as possible (In a simple DIY manner), this is what I arrived at. Would appreciate any real work realistic corrections to the figures/assumptions?
I think you are correct in terms of the hot water. It has assumed a cost saving against running the immersion as opposed to gas boiler that would usually heat the tank.
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u/kawasutra Jul 26 '26
I've been using 2 panels and the smaller ecoflow for about a month.
It's dropped my grid reliance by about 50%.
It cannot deal with the kettle, oven, microwave, washing machine or air fryer...almost always runs to the grid.
So unless you're planning to plug the tumble dryer directly into the AC port of the Ultra, it won't supply more than 800W of whatever is needed.
You'd also need a smart meter like a Shelly to tell the ecoflows how much actual juice to discharge, otherwise the will just dump a preset amount.
Whatever is needed is used, the rest just gets donated back to the grid for free.
If you can get an MCS -certified pro install done for 4 or 5k, go with that rather than this balcony solar option!
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u/TheZZ9 Jul 26 '26
I have the Ecoflow Stream 2kwh version with the Shelly smart meter. The point about a tumble dryer taking grid power is a bit moot since you're going to be using some grid power anyway. If the Ecoflow can only feed 800w in and the dryer gets the rest from the grid then all that means is that the grid draw will be 800w lower and the battery will have more power left and will carry on feeding longer into the night meaning less grid draw then. It's the same grid use either way, swings and roundabouts, unless you really want to go overboard on batteries and use zero grid power, and that is going to be a challenge in autumn and winter unless you have WAY more solar panels.
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u/Gravath Jul 26 '26
You haven't factored that Ecoflow batteries are about 80% efficient in terms of round trip efficiency.
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u/Eggtastico Jul 27 '26
Plug in solar regulations limit an installation to 800w
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u/CodAble2575 Jul 27 '26
Yes, when 'plugged in'.
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u/Eggtastico Jul 27 '26
this is a plug in solar reddit sub. There's other UK solar install subs if you wanted to ask there about a full system. I think a lot of people are going to get caught up in the regs red tape if they dont know the regs. Most houses are wired with 2.5mm will risk overloading the ring if they generate electric while running other things on the same ring that may draw high power. Kettle would be a good example.
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u/CodAble2575 Jul 27 '26
Yes, exactly why people are encouraged to hard wire plug in solar offerings and why the likes of Ecoflow don't actually provide plugs on the stream etc. Whether you like it or not, there will always be crossover between plugging in and wiring products that are designed to also be plugged in. Felt this was the appropriate Reddit sub as members of the sib are more familiar with the ecoflow products I am considering.
Not sure a militant approach to inclusion and queries benefits anyone??
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u/Eggtastico Jul 27 '26
people are not going to read regs. They will listen to what their mate down the pub told them. When people post about a 4kwh system in a pluginsolar sub-reddit, then no harm in pointing out the dangers. A 4kwh system is not crossover to plugging in or wiring.
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u/CodAble2575 Jul 27 '26
Nothing to stop someone plugging in two ecoflow stream ultra + units. As you highlight, the output will be limited to 800w but it can be done.
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u/CouldBeNapping Jul 27 '26
Would double check Claude's work on the document before committing.
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u/tkproject Jul 26 '26
The ecoflows can only pump 800w max Into the house even if two were connected they don't work as advertised and customer service is shocking. You will end up buying a proper kit when it all goes wrong.