DIY battery backup system

[Joe Rice]

I was thinking of getting this Ecoflow battery backup for my system but, seeing the price ($2300), I started wondering if I could save some money by DIY'ing it.

I wound up putting together a system that cost about $1200 and has 25% more capacity (5120 Wh vs 4096 Wh) than the Ecoflow.



Battery and charger: $750


Inverter: $230



Transfer switch: $82

Extension cord (optional): $22

Surge suppressor power strip: $97



There isn't much to assembling it. Just connect the charger and the inverter to the battery, plug the "inverter" input of the transfer switch into the inverter and the "shore power" input into a wall outlet, and plug the power strip into the "output" cord of the transfer switch. Now anything plugged into the power strip is battery-backed up.

Well, there is one small complication. When the inverter is used in this manner it's important to connect the neutral to the ground in the inverter. To do this you will need a 2" length of 12 or 14 gauge wire, stripped on both ends. You'll need to bend it into a horseshoe shape and connect the N and PE terminals in the orange AC Output terminal block.

I used a 51.2 volt (nominal 48 volt) battery but the system would work just as well with a 12 volt or 24 volt battery. You would just need to get an inverter that matches the voltage of the battery.

 

[afboundguy]

I've been looking into stuff like this as well and found a bunch of great generator YouTube channels and would love to make something similar as wife doesn't seem thrilled with the idea of running the generator when we are sleeping or if I have to head to work.