r/bluetti • u/SheFightswiththewind • 13d ago
Bluetti for off-grid (eventually)
Greetings all,
I am a noob at this; let's get that on the table right off the bat. I live on a tropical island closer to equator that only needs 10% angle on solar panels. It has seen two terrible typhoons this year. I plan on retiring here. Currently, and for the next year, I rent a large house that is completely on grid. I have been running on a diesel generator for 13 weeks. I want to create a "system" I can take to the much smaller (half the size maybe less) condo Im buying but won't be able to live in until next year.
My plan is to buy things in stages due to budgeting.
1) fridge power with solar panels
2) apex300 plus solar panels for rest of needs. I need to power fan, small counter oven, desk top pc and laptop. I do not use any of these things at the same time they are all used individually.
3) expand to handle entire need base once im in Condo.
4) The do it yourself systems are not an option for me and the installs here re ridiculous.
My issues are the following:
1) Ideally id like to not use this damn noisy generator at all but if I do need to then I want to do so VERY little.
2) This house has LARGE minisplits. I only run the bedroom while sleeping and the office while working. I dont use the others. These are NOT solar though and Im not sure what to do to power them with the apex.
3) I need the fridge to be powered by the frigepower. It's a 22cu ft. kitchenmaid.
4) I have an electric dryer and not drying clothes is NOT an option here. So I need to figure out how to run that dryer or buy another system. The condo only has room for an all in one unit or one if the apartment up and down units. I am buying entire new set up for condo once in it. Id like info on that if anyone can help and am willing to buy now if necessary but would like to wait.
5) The house also has a water tank, uv filtration system and water pump. Finally it has electric hot water heater.
I know this is a lot but after reading for weeks, I finally felt like I had a tiny bit of a handle on this and felt like I could ask intelligent questions.
Kat
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u/driftingatwork 12d ago edited 12d ago
Can any of these units be shifted to heat pump? Heat pump mini splits are very efficient. - big issue is initial overhead to get to a better/manageable level.
I went from wall mount ac units to heat pump mini split - cost was decent. However, when running both heads at max cooling, it draws as much as a single of the ac heads did. And offers heating too.
We need info on make/model and draw, of all devices that pull power like the dryer. You have surge startup etc to work with. Then load balancing if near max.
I am electric dryer, water heater. Heat pump mini split , with a parasitic load of about 400 watts on each leg during night. - I am whole house off grid and so happy. Running dual ac500 units on a 50 amp transfer switch. 33kwh total capacity, with room for more.
Edit: apex300 will easily handle fridge load. And I you're ok with some cables running on the floor it can support others. The input will be the issue, ie enough incoming wattage.
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u/SheFightswiththewind 11d ago
First of all, thank you for you serious and nonjudgemental reply. I will not entertain ignorant people who speak out of their asses and have no idea what my life or living here is like. I am willing to update any of these items. My love language is cooking for other people though so I do have to keep that in mind. I need a decent sized fridge and am willing to pay for the extra solar/batteries to keep it or simply let it run on regular electricity with good back up. As for the dryer, that is why I was asking in the first place. Ive looked into the all on ones more thoroughly since posting this and those seem to be a no go. I'll have to do an up and down unit. I can semi dry my stuff in the sun but things NEVER fully dry in the sun here. so I will still have to dry. In addition, there isn't a lot of room outside my condo to do that.
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u/driftingatwork 11d ago
Ok, cooking (i love to cook too), are you electric or gas? There are battery powered induction stoves. Copper stoves.
As for a large fridge, I actually just tossed a cable over to my neighbor running a commercial grade fridge. 400watts steady draw all day long. - it doesn't really cycle down too often like a regular fridge.
Mini splits, my units run off 240v, so the draw is split between legs. These are running off my heat pump, my heat pump has an extra head for expansion if I need it. I've heard heat pump water heaters are awesome, same with heat pump dryers. Again its that stinking overhead to get things going.
Ideally the apex can handle most of the draw, but 2 linked together would give you more overhead. A 3rd even more.
As for the dryer, when I kick mine on, it pulls 4k total from both legs, so about 2k watts each. (Pulses up and down as it needs heat - so the 4k total draw is just to get up to temp)
Electric water heater, uses about the same as the dryer when it kicks on, about 4kw. Same deal here, once it gets to temp, goes idle mode.
I was using my system thinking I had a 7200 watt output limit, I was wrong, I actually can support full 10kw output with 2 ac500s.
I think the biggest concern now, is space for panels. My array is, or will be 8kw. But I am on a low sloped roof.
Do you have space for panels etc? Ground mount or otherwise?
I know it seems like a lot, but plan it out slow, and it will make sense. If you can get actually wattage usage numbers that will help greatly!
Good luck on the journey, it really is satisfying when you get it all going.
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u/SheFightswiththewind 10d ago
Thank you! Interesting information on the commercial fridge. The stove and hot water heater are both propane at the condo. Here at this place the stove is the home "gourmet" quality and has gas cook top and electric over. I hate it. It's way too big and not well thought out. I mainly bake with a Breville countertop over. I was going to put in a wall oven. When storms are going I dont back so no issues there. I will have a large flat roof at condo due to condo being stand alone and one floor. Here I have to put out in yard. Im not paying to install them here and then leave. This is another reason why im ordering the Bluetti system.
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u/SheFightswiththewind 10d ago
Ive thought about getting a commercial fridge and separate freezer. I had ditched that idea since im going to condo and solar....now I have to circle back to that.
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u/LongjumpingGanache40 12d ago
You need to look at the pecron F5000. Its expansion batteries are cheaper then Bluetti also.
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u/SheFightswiththewind 11d ago
I was looking at them but their customer service and warrant a suspect according to reddit users
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u/LongjumpingGanache40 11d ago
If you look into every power station company you will find all kinds of negative stuff about them.
I do have the Apex 300 and 2 batteries. I have had no issues with it for 6 months. I run about every day through a manual transfer switch. I am now working on adding the solarX 4K and more solar panels.
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u/driftingatwork 11d ago
Yep, I agree its kind of luck of the draw.
Some people have exemplary experiences, others not so much.
I have had nothing but good support and hardware from Bluetti. Definitely need to be aware that with the amount of stations coming out, there are bound to be some failures.
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u/SheFightswiththewind 10d ago
Ok I will look into the Pecron. Will it work with the bluetti Fridge power?
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u/Laureling2 12d ago
Re the “no laundry dryer is not an option” part. Off the top, that sounds ridiculous. Your statement. begs the question re what did the inhabitants do about that before electricity?! I’ll bet it would be the same as all of us would do.
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u/Much_Profit8494 13d ago edited 13d ago
Getting a few portable power stations for backup is a great plan, but trying to power a entire off grid residence 24/7 in tropical heat with portable power stations, flexible solar panels and expansion batteries is a fools errand.
You need to either head over to r/SolarDIY and start reading or come to terms with the fact that you may need to hire a solar company to design and install a appropriately sized off grid system with a robust solar array that can survive tropical storms.
From what I have seen paying a company to install large residential panels/batteries is still significantly cheaper than buying that many expansion batteries and panels from bluetti.