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: $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 extension cord into the inverter, plug the "inverter" input of the transfer switch into the extension cord 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'll add more to this later....
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: $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 extension cord into the inverter, plug the "inverter" input of the transfer switch into the extension cord 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'll add more to this later....
