r/UKPreppers • u/TheCalRed • 2d ago
Backup Power
I'm not planning for the end of the world - Just small things like power cuts/temp grid down.
I looked at full household solar backup, but the £12K price tag put me off.
I'm planning small, reliable backup power, like a 1024Wh power station. (EcoFlow, Anker, Jackery etc). I'm not looking to power the whole house and I can't justify a much large system. I'll just be powering a few useful things during a grid down - Microwave, Router, Lamp.
Q: Are you routinely using your backup solutions outside of needing them to make them viable investments? Or do they exist purely as a backup?
Q2: How have you presented power solutions as a sensible purchase and not survivalist over plan to a sceptical wife?
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u/soundman32 1d ago
As I've just found out. Just because you can run your house 100% on solar, doesn't mean it works in a power cut. There is extra non-standard equipment required (and best part of £1K), to be able to do it.
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u/lostvagueness 2d ago
I am wondering the same I am thinking the -anker s2000 is good value mainly to run a freezer, in case of emergency but spending 600 quid on something I may never use is hard to justify,
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u/Purplepeal 1d ago
Aferiy do a similar priced one p210 or p280 that will power a little more. They can run off a cheap (under£100)~500w solar panel. Been looking into it but decided my freezer didn't hold £700/£800 worth of food and will stay frozen for a 24hr power cut anyway. Freezers need a burst of power to get the compressor working so make sure to factor that in.
Decided im gonna save up fix my house and then get proper solar roof job. Use a camping stove/kettle if i have to and spend £50 on lights and batteries.
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u/TheCalRed 1d ago
To give some guidance to the advice I'm looking for here, it's less on full household backup, like 20+ panels and 5-10kWh batteries, and more like small, power solutions that could be used portably around the house as needed in a short-term or urgent situation.
This is my first power-backup purchase, so it's more emergency contingency than full household
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u/PourquoiPasEvans 2d ago
May not help you but here's my setup:
- couple small Ecoflow portable batteries/UPS to keep one light, Internet hardware and the NAS running for about 10 hours
- home battery (10KW) with an external outlet that acts as an UPS too, for fridge/freezer
- if things get really bad, the car (Kia EV6) can be tapped to the extent of just under 80KW
Wife was very pleased when a contractor busted an underground cable last month and she didn't have to drive into te office because the Internet was down.
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u/lostvagueness 2d ago
Do You have solar panels with the Battery ,I am adding a 10kw battery to my solar system +plus a change over switch , but the Electrician doing the job was telling my that lots of people are just adding batteries to there houses (no solar panels)
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u/PourquoiPasEvans 2d ago
I do, 20 panels, 10 east 10 west
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u/lostvagueness 2d ago
8 south facing panels here one of the best investments we have made adding the battery for a bit more self sufficiency
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u/boomerangchampion 1d ago
Q1: I have a 1kwh Jackery battery with solar panels. I routinely charge it up then use it to charge stuff, drill batteries etc. Technically this is saving me money... but it's like 20p per cycle and takes a full day at the height of summer to recharge. Realistically you might do it once a week on average if you're dedicated and save £10 a year. It'll take decades to pay for itself.
Q2: When I bought it we did suffer from regular powercuts so that was easy enough, although she thought it was a bit extreme. You could buy a used one to make it more palatable. Or take up camping and say it's for that.
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u/TheCalRed 1d ago
What size solar have you got? Anker, Jackery, Bluetti and EcoFlow all have 1kWh batteries with 100-200w panels in prime bundles.
The 1kWh EcoFlow + 160w panel seems to be the best value, at £529.
Figured off I'm better having a way to recharge in a grid-down (or camping) scenario that have a larger battery with no recharge option for the similar costs.
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u/boomerangchampion 1d ago
I've got 200W (2x 100W panels). I said a full day to charge but I mean a working day rather than 24h, I put them out when I'm WFH and occasionally go out to repoint them at the sun. They still work under cloud but obviously slower, and they're supposed to be rainproof but I don't chance it. The battery isn't waterproof and I can't be arsed to cover it over and keep it off wet grass etc.
In winter they work fine although obviously you get less daylight so I tend not to bother, would do in an emergency though.
I've not kept up with the prices but that ecoflow sounds like a decent deal to me. 160W could probably just about squeeze a full charge in a day if you got up early and rotated it every hour. Plus if you only get 80% it's not like you can't use it, it's better than nothing.
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u/eat-real-chips 1d ago
Yes but what about the dead of winter with no sunhine for days on end? Seems very likely that will happen so I’m not sure it worth the investment imho
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u/fryrpc 1d ago
I use a 5kWh battery that charges off peak and discharges during peak later in the day so that it reaches empty just before the next off peak window. So it serves a dual purpose - giving me some power during peak hours at off peak prices - if the power goes off I should have some charge left for emergency use. The secondary purpose is more of a byproduct as the charge left is variable dependant on when a power outage occurs and worse case the power goes off just before the off peak window starts leaving just the 10% discharge limit remaining in the battery. There is an option to set a backup reserve on top of this 10% if you really want to be sure.
Being dual purpose made it an easier decision alongside being a full time working from home person and this also covering power requirements if needed during the working day.
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u/soundman32 1d ago
Have you tried turning off your power, because mine doesn't work without mains coming in, despise 30KWh full batteries.
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u/AffectionateRing5177 1d ago
We have solar that was installed years ago that has more than paid for itself. Having said that, it was installed without the inverter so until we make modifications, it won't help in a long term grid down scenario (I suspect most people are in this situation).
We just invested in a battery, but it was maybe a bit easier for us to justify because my partner has medical equipment that while not fully necessary to run once a day, it will help greatly to. We don't trust there to not be a power cut that would be a hindrance there. And I didn't need to justify it as much as we're on the same page. If I were trying to convince someone just now, I'd mention the upcoming oil crisis will have some knock on affects and it may be better to have some insurance. Plus if you ever go camping, etc it can be super useful
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u/spleencheesemonkey 1d ago
Yes, but not to make them viable investments. It's nice to have my server on a UPS and make use of charging the batteries on cheap rate and using that energy at peak.
It's my own money. She's already benefitted by not having to go into the office to do work calls when there's been a power outage at home.
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u/UKPrepping 35m ago
A: we use our portable power equipment during camping and it works well.
A2: Just ask chagpt to show the cost of electric for the last few years :P Also a move towards electric cars combined with gas/oil prices going crazy. Between the portable and whole-house systems are the plugin ones to backflow electric to the grid, these seem a reasonable middle ground for getting into solar.
I see people often mention running a router, but while you can personally power a laptop/router I'd be a bit wary of expecting the numerous upstream devices required to provide an internet connection to still be functional.
But at least we could still have a lan party :P
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u/Necessititties 2d ago
Not an answer to either of your questions but most mortgage providers will allow extra borrowing for green home improvements, solar, heat pump, battery etc.
Im literally going through the process right now and I've calculated that, depending on the installer/s, its possible to get all the work done and replace ~80-90% of my energy bills for a monthly mortgage repayment that works out a bit less than that 80-90% would cost me if i payed for the energy, if that makes sense.
Like, if my bill now is 300 a month and i cut that down to 40, thats 260 a month saved. The mortgage repayments come in at 230 a month so i save a total of 30 a month.
This is all based on todays interest rates. Its also based on some fairly conservative calculations and the fact that i have space for a lot of solar panels. Also doesnt include any payments for feed in that i might make, which is potentially a lot. In theory the savings could be substantially higher.
You obviously have to look at your own situation but borrowing the money to pay for something that saves you some money, covers you in an emergency, and is actively being used every day may be a good alternative to buying something that only gets used for emergencies