Adding More Batteries & Load Testing the EP Cube Solar Power System. Will it power everything?

[@deborahsimmons2414]

So Evan, I think its pretty clear at this point that you have electrical expertise beyond most people. I have never heard what your day job is. Hopefully you are nit trying to keep that part of your life a secret…but maybe???? In watching your videos for more than a year, possibly 2, I realize now that you are way MORE than a daily homesteading Joe just showing up. So can you just tell us what your educated background is in…please!!?? Taking bets on electrical engineer. I am a 47 year career retired Nurse now…yes, I am old…65 years on now. I started Nursing at a very young age, possibly among the very youngest where I grew up in upstate NY. I can see the Nurse in Rebecca, but I can also see an engineer in you as well. SO PLEASE…DO TELL

[@kingkong7617]

Evan, I am really impressed with your knowledge of all of the solar and electrical devices that you have installed and you are going to be self sufficient before long and the farm is just growing and looking better all the time but it is because of all the hard work that you and Rebecca put into the farm. Great job.

[@carlthor91]

I believe that Evan is an industrial electrician.

[@VirginiaBronson]

A cost analysis when you're finished with it entirely would be really neat.

[@punksjutgbd]

Awesome work. You are literally helping me get my EP Cube system up. Appreciate the good content and the assistance. 🏆

[@duaneklein4924]

That system will give you additional independence. Along with your garden and animals you will be putting up you and Rebecca can handle a sustained shortage if it ever came about. Very smart. Appreciate you taking us along. Videos are informative and the way you demonstrate how neat and tidy everything is is very impressive. Nice job!

[@vincei4252]

I've been running off grid for almost 3 years. zero export to grid. I watch what loads I put on the system i.e. I don't run the 6KW dryer at the same time as I run the AC which draws about 2KW. I have 56KWh of battery storage, adding another 32KWh in July this year. I try to run the dryer on sunny days so that the batteries aren't being drawn down. On really crappy days there's enough power to run the house with not too much left over to charge the batteries but will be able to go several days without sun once the system is expanded in July. My AC also has a soft start as the power draw from the AC shuts off the Solark almost every time. Since I installed the soft start I've not had an issue with AC initial surge issues. Good job. Looking forward to more of your journey.

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Hi Evan, enjoyable video. You're really in your element doing this kind of work.

[@CountryViewAcres]

Thanks Pete!

[@stevensaxon8888]

​@@CountryViewAcresEvan what size battery bank would I need if my power bill says I use 24kwh per day?

[@wientz]

Wow thanks for all that...I have never ever seen anyone actually try and brown out their system....trying it with no solar back up and everthing plus the kitchen sink running until it overloaded... and immediatley resetting itself after power was lowered and then re-testing it with a bit less....wow great, practical simulation. Thanks! I have been an electical contractor for 40 yrs now and that was a great job! I want to install this at my cottage and i hope you make your next video on how long loads can be run on your system. I know you will test everything to its limits and really appreciate that....I am sick and tired of seeing wannabes powering things with no battery back up and no hard tests!

[@None-xk7by]

That is fantastic to have all that ampacity with zero fossil fuel and zero noise. Way better than your standard standby generator system

[@howdyshaun6139]

If you need to run your A/C and dryer at the same time, you should probably invest in a clothesline they're cheaper than batteries 🤣

[@jason27swg]

Glad you drained the batteries ...otherwise they would have been so heavy you would have needed help lifting them !!!

[@edhansen8531]

Lol, good to have humor, to me I just pay the bill.

[@terrya6486]

You can never have to much battery capacity or to many panels ! I have 56kwh's of chevy volt batteries and adding more this year. Only 16000w of panels still have more to install this year also. I have been off grid 6 years now.

[@ianhaggart1438]

Well done sir.. very tidy installation and very well explained 👏... love the way it works keeping you using your own power first... 🫡 but......... There is always someone 😅... Why do you need those power-hungry dryers for your clothes? If your air con is on surly its warm enough outside to dry your clothes for free... 🤔 or is that just somthing we do different over the other side of the Big pond😊😜 . Nice work, sir. always love the videos from you both... stay safe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@AfterTheRains]

Goes to show that it’s good to use the sun and wind for drying laundry. So nice to have fresh sheets dried in the sunshine. Congratulations on passing the inspection.

[@sroberts605]

Lol, I was going to say, next project, a washing line. But that would be cheeky! edit: I felt strangely uneasy writing this and realised I hadn't seen Americans (I'm in the uK) hanging clothes out to dry for a really long time. So... googlepants makes it clear that there's a different viewpoint in the US ie it's BAD lol. Who knew.

[@billmorden4853]

Soft start is very important. It will help the life expectancy of the air compressor. We’ve used them for 30 plus years.

[@sroberts605]

Out of interest, why is it not standard in the unit?

[@donb1082]

@@sroberts605 Probably cost. I added a Micro-Air soft start to my 5 ton AC unit (makes it easier on the 24k Generac generator when the AC starts); it cost ~$320 and I installed it myself. Surge was about 150 amps and the soft start reduced it to 40-50 amps.

[@dakota4766]

Soft starts are cool but I am not convinced they will make a unit last longer. I have seen so many compressors that are 30 years old still rocking. No soft start.

[@rayopeongo]

I was wondering if you had any future plans to upgrade to heat pumps: Heat pump clothes dryer, heat pump hot water heater, and especially a heat pump furnace/air conditioner. And how about a geothermal system for the heat pump furnace/air conditioner? I know that they are not cheap, but they would all reduce your electricity load, and save you from having to increase the size of your solar array and battery storage pack.

[@douglasgatian1401]

Please do the full off grid test! Send the wife to a spa vacation and let er rip.

[@dropshot1967]

These tests are very informative and it is nice to not be totally without power when the grid goes down. However, I think you should size the system with enough solar panels so that you can run it in the wintertime when your solar production will be lower. As your system is now, you will probably not be able to charge the batteries fully from your panels. However, as you are now you are covered for at least part of the year. Another factor to consider might be that your electricity demand might change from summer to winter. I suspect that the airco running in the summer will be the biggest draw on your system. Thats what you get for reacting before the video is down. Judging by your closing remarks about further testing and adding another string, I suspect you have thought about all of this. 😁

[@valramsingh8360]

this is real life..cant argue with the demonstratable results!!

[@larrysmith2481]

Evan...now you have a side hussle...installing these systems...becoming more and more in semi-retirement mode

[@jimgable2422]

What is the estimated life span of the batteries?

[@kd5inm]

Run things like your washer and dryer during the day when you have more solar panel capacity during the day if you can. Bank your power like for lights and things you run at night so you don't run your bill up. You can put smaller systems up in the animal barn with battery backup and run things out there.

[@sandratalbert9578]

Wow. Impressive how much you have learned about solar systems. How reassuring it must be to know you are self sufficient living off the grid’ during an outage. Great for the Homestead. Kudos!!! 👍👍👍

[@SanaagSomaliland]

Your dryer is a beast. When you are shopping for an upgrade try Heat Pump dryers, they will run on fraction of the energy but may take little longer to finish jobs.

[@michaelhardy195]

EMP electric shield proof your system great idea 💡

[@jjohnson2553]

If you are looking to get the most "bang for your buck" out of that system, I would think you would try to do something with the panel mounting to get them to a more optimal angle to the sun.

[@markpriddy1]

Excellent job. Thanks for sharing. 😎

[@amgstiernon1]

The best way to dry most of your clothes is to hang them for the sun to do it's thing free.

[@richqualls5157]

What do you do when there is heavy snow/ice on the solar panels if your power is off for a long time?

[@arosenberger87]

I noticed that your air vents are behind doors. That is not good. It restricts air flow and actually makes the HVAC system work harder to heat/cool the room. Suggestion: if you are running the HVAC system, pull the doors away from the vent openings. Air circulation is important. Be sure to use something to keep the dogs from bumping the doors open. I recently renovated my house and moved an air vent out from behind the door and it's amazing how much better the room heats and cools, plus I use less electricity.

[@johnmarquardt1991]

Never ending ... more solar panels, updating batteries.

[@kd5inm]

If the panels were on a solar tracking mount they would be more efficient in the amount of power they can create. A tracking mount follows the sun and keeps the panels in a maximum of solar energy.

[@52gulfpapa]

Installed the Hyper Engineering Sure Start 5 years ago, have had zero issues.

[@skrtskit1521]

Send her on luxurious vacation, while you tough it out-lol. You explain things so well-I am still clueless on solar, but you have given me a better understanding.💖💖💖💖🎶🎶

[@terrypirius2814]

Please , so what would the normal retail cost of this system, ad are they vendors that would install it for someone without Evan's skill level?

[@punksjutgbd]

There are complete kits or standalone systems on Signature Solar.

[@novaka240]

Next you need to find a way to prioritize loads so the dryer (or whatever low priority you choose) kicks off rather than the entire system. You'd be a rich man!

[@John_thetrader]

if you cant scale your batterys up more that 20kw per inverter ...damnn ... tsss then you would have been better of with a Victron system ..and home build your own batterys 16s packs 280ah EVE give about 14kw for about 2500$ building cost per pack ...i can imagine you payed 3x that for this 19kwh pack ... so imagine haveing a 3x 14Kwh a simple inverter Quatro 5000... for a smaller price eh go for 2 quatros and 4packs of 14kwh ... 56kwh 10k$ batteryes ...and 6k$ for 2 inverters ..16.000$ for 56KwH 10.000w continious output without any problems ...giving you plenty of solar power you can add also ... and a cool app you can show of in the bar to your friends how much batteries you have at home ...

[@workhardforit]

Replace your air conditioner with an inverter Daikin or Mitsubishi and you no longer have to worry about power draw. We have a 2.5 ton mitsubishi heavy industries split AC, another 1 ton mini split mitsu as well and two hitachi thru the wall units - both are 11,000btu/h units… …on top of dishwasher, 4 inverter air purifiers, 2 inverter fridges, inverter hot/cold water purifier, induction cooker, etc. I only have a 5kw solar array and 20,000kw battery back up and i can run all air conditioners at once. Even while cooking using the cooktop. Inverter air conditioners are amazing.

[@petrosros]

You ever tried hanging your washing outside to dry? Anyway, credit to you for being one of a minority homesteader vloggers to make an effort with solar. And I watch em all, they get rated on an idiocracy metre, so far Justin Rhodes is up the top. My favourites are Simple living Alaska (they are quite mad, that is why I like it). And Martijn Doolaard; in Piedmont, northern Italy. You might like that one if you haven't seen it, very different and excellent TV on the big screen. I am new to your channel, I like it the presentation content etc.

[@cesarmichael1975]

Hopefully, you will be able to get more batteries into your system and be completely off-grid. Good work.

[@SuburbanDon]

Interesting stuff.

[@patrickberger9151]

Well done Your system is wonderful. I wana know what is the noise generated by the EP cube. Thanks Patrick

[@batpherlangkharkrang7976]

Hi.... Evan and Rebecca thanks you for showing your video homestead bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋👍👍👍

[@amandathrasher1110]

Thank you for your videos. When we build our house we are wanting to install solar and use on-grid for a backup only. We dont have any trees or shade. One side of our roof is 15x90. I dont know anything about solar. Only know basic new construction residential wiring.

[@dickdavidson3616]

Amazing how precise and tidy your system looks!

[@goldcountryruss7035]

The AC thermostat was set for 67 and the room temp was 67, did the AC compressor actually start? The AC compressor has a short cycle delay & delays a while after the outdoor & indoor fans have started. I doubt the 3-ton compressor had started and ran on 1,200 watts even with a soft start.

[@markthecraneman8465]

So if you are drawing 7.6Kw...on a 7.6 Kwh system does that mean you can run 7.6kw for one hour ... and like 760 watts for 10 hours when on battery alone?

[@Mike-01234]

Nice install the AC unit will draw lot less power in cooler weather. If it never gets above 100 degrees likely won't pull that much.

[@garyjohn316]

Very good set up! Seems you have learned a great deal about it, Maybe put another row of panels on the shop above the last set on the other roof. Maybe consider propane to run major appliances, it is a lot cheaper than elect.

[@natesroomrule]

I saw your video and i was searching online and i swear i came across a post in the DIY forum that looks like your setup from 2023.

[@thomaspugh6052]

I live in Florida and my house insurance states that if you install anything on your roof and a hurricane, tornado, or high straight line winds rip off your panels and allow water to enter your roof and damage your living area the insurance company will not pay for the water damage. Please check your insurance first!!!!!!!

[@dodgedforgottenn]

This is a really well done video series! Great job! Do you happen to know how much power your dryer pulls on air mode only, so no heat at all, but cycling the motor and moving unheated air?

[@Scat.original]

Great video, Thanks Can you do a video when you install the Soft Start on your AC? Thanks

[@cesarmichael1975]

Wow, this guy is soooo neat,, everything seems to be precise and very very organized.

[@bobflores]

Solid testing. Adding additional solar panels will benefit your cloudy day and winter charging. Nice turnkey setup.

[@sun-sea-solar]

Mine will do about 3800 Watts before they start overloading

[@barrytipton1179]

My brother fitted solar 15 years ago he gets 45p pay back from power company even if he uses the lekky

[@philipstreechon4523]

When is the pay back on the whole system and are the internal components standard parts? What did your insurance say about your system, look at what is happing Florida it's not good for solar power.

[@ocean1233]

Hang clothes to dry. Thanks for this helpful information

[@mikedemo1589]

hello

[@xtender5]

So you guys should be fairly comfy at least for the first bit of the zombie apocalypse. 🧟‍♀ 😂

[@miguelavelasquez8056]

Looks like you have all the power you will ever need its a nice system and you did a great job installing it Evan thanks for sharing

[@darcielanthier4846]

You could change the swing on the bedroom door so it's not blocking the AC vent.

[@richardwood4305]

Does your system have a load shedding feature so it will automatically shed load so your whole system doesn’t drop out?

[@garyxoom7714]

You will like the soft start for your A/C. I installed one on mine and it cut the inrush current by 60% on a 4 ton unit.

[@gravewalkerz7787]

I saw Generator in the app. I wonder if you can tie your old gen set into the EP cube so the batteries could help with starting big loads.

[@kenstudios]

Thanks for sharing this. Does you AC unit have a soft start system installed?

[@youpattube1]

This was a thorough, competent and well explained test and video.

[@Marky948]

Huge power saving tip for you. Throw the drier in the pond and hang your clothes to dry!

[@tomservice1404]

Wondering about payback , that system can’t be cheap

[@OlgaAlma-qu4bw]

this is a great video I would ask you if you can make video same as you did with the 2 ecoflow to test how long the cube system will last in case of a long black out

[@ocean1233]

I have a soft starter for my AC. Excellent ‼️

[@miketanner1920]

Um brother have you ever heard of a soft start module for solar powered air conditioners

[@glentaybow]

Thanks for this video. Very informative.

[@roberthealey7238]

Did you install a soft start module on the AC unit to make it less stressful for the inverter?

[@unwired]

As much as possible do not disconnect the PV under load.

[@wmffgeorge1589]

I presume most times you need to use your ac you could line dry in stead of useing the tumble dryer.

[@hardymichael533]

EMP shield proof great idea 💡 👍😎

[@andyrobinson339]

Have you calculated how long it will take you to break even on what you have invested in this system? I'm guessing many years...

[@CountryViewAcres]

I am going to add a few more solar panels then I will run the numbers, once the system is exactly the way I want it.

[@BealyGood]

Nice! I am making notes :)

[@gonzalezt7081]

Hi new subscriber here.. I watched all your solar generator videos.. as of today what panels do you recommend to use with the generators for everyday use

[@CountryViewAcres]

for solar generators. I think 200 watt panels are small enough to still be portable and 4 to 6 them will provide plenty of solar for portable power stations. I personally have 4 -200 watt panels I use with EcoFlow power stations.

[@teenagefarmer]

The battery's on the camera always seem to die at the worst times lol. Great test. Keep up the good work.

[@douglasgatian1401]

Good electrician always leaves a service loop!

[@CaptainHDY]

Hey Even, question not related to this video other then solar powered. What is the electric fence system you use that is movable?

[@CountryViewAcres]

I have a solar powered fence charger that I built and it is in a fixed location. And I have a solar powered fence charger from Premier One that I move around.

[@ivanlaboy]

Interesting and informative video.

[@LloydJarvis]

I'm jealous! Ha!

[@dorianmorton67]

1. You really know your technical stuff. 2. Do you have a clothes line? Would you get one? 3. I’m impressed you know how to turn on the oven. 😂😂j/k. 🇨🇦❤️

[@CountryViewAcres]

I would think you would have been more impressed with that. I know how to turn on a clothes drier.

[@dorianmorton67]

@@CountryViewAcres lol!

[@michelehumann811]

Great information thanks for sharing

[@Sigurther]

Looks great! Now double everything! Eventually, you'll be providing power for the whole neighborhood. XD

[@markmeyer9571]

Would Never do a grid tied system…

[@ToddDesiato]

Nice Demo! Thank you.

[@stevec7272]

Whole sale is still netmetering....

[@brentjohnson6654]

Good test. Well explained why you were turning off grid and panels. Have you looked at battery life? If so do you know how many years to expect? I am trying to be realistic about my costs for my whole house solar project. Not much gets said about the battery replacement so I was wondering what your research found. Thanks again for the video. All the best from Texas.

[@sandratalbert9578]

You must be pleased!!! What a great job researching, installing, testing and understanding your solar system. 👍👍👍

[@hiddenvalleyfarmstead]

That turned out really nice man!!! Great work!

[@fivalxerex6437]

This is RARE. It is the fourth video and not one single request for subscribing to his channel or liking the video. What it means to have enough confidence!! And I do not praise anyone easily. Thank you for your presentation.

[@patriot0971]

I think for the long term and completely transparent system, you might want to get a second inverter and bump up the battery capacity to 30kw and extra 6-8 panels. Great job building this great system though.

[@anthonymiller8979]

Not sure if you have addressed the costs yet but I think many would be curious what a system like this would cost.....solar panels, inverter, batteries, etc.... for a system of your capacity.

[@nrrajedsolutions]

I am most grateful for your comprehensive bench test in real time. Im able to present your videos to my client and all there quetions were answered in your video. Thank You 🙏🙏

[@jerrysheppard9129]

Where are your Dogs BEEN??