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First, what @sunshine_eggo said. On sunny days, it's hard to beat the effects of sun beating down on a big, preferably dark-colored, slab of stone, concrete, or even large containers of water, for several hours of the day. They absorb that heat and then release it somewhat slowly as the building...

We own an electric one (Incinolet brand) and use it in a little shed building my wife uses for crafts and such, that can't easily connect to septic (not a "primary" building). It works great, but does use a fair amount of electricity to incinerate the waste. The propane version should use almost...

First, If you truly have an electric furnace (not a heat pump) I'd get rid of that, FAST. A heat pump is dramatically more efficient. Our 1200 SF living quarters heated with a heat pump to 68F (in Maine), over a garage of the same size, uses only about 50 Kwh/day to keep at 68F with three...

Without question, hands down, not even a horse race, go with metal. Basically worry-free if installed properly, and sheds snow easily. I'll never own another shingled building unless I buy it that way. As for solar mounting, check out S-5 products.

A bit off topic for the thread, but please don't do that. Definitely not safe. Just a tiny shift in the wind, or not enough wind, or any number of other unpredictable factors, and some person like me is getting paged to go to your house, hopefully to help get you outside, revived, and checked...

Also saw it and thought, "Multiple pumps, and they have no money to get this certified. They need to sell out to someone." Then I saw that they're using all off-the-shelf parts and I thought, "Hmmm... Any real IP there?" I dunno... Seems like a nice topic for a YouTube guy to do a video, but...

No, more like campfire in our experience. But your mileage may vary! Gosh, the things we end up talking about on these forums... 😳

I hesitated to put even one more comment onto this monster of a thread, but re cat 5/6 over distance... Smart to be concerned about lightning. I'm in Maine, which gets considerably less lightning than areas further south. But two years ago we fried a switch, access point, and a connected...

I've been trying to learn the "just shut up - it's not your problem unless someone is paying you to solve it" mantra. I give advice in a couple of niche areas for a living, primarily to large corporations. Even then, I'm amazed at how often the client pays us, thanks us, praises our work, and...

Personally, I'm intrigued by heat pump dyers. Seems like the solar enthusiast's friend, at least in concept.

Thanks, @MisterSandals ! I just checked it out. The thing that still has me considering both are 1) the 6000XP is a very different unit than some of the others sold by EG4 (built by Lux Power, which I like). That post deals with a different EG4 product. 2) Space considerations - I don't have...

I've tried to read this entire (yes, clickbait) thread and what I can't understand is why no one is commenting on Victron's lack of UL listings. I have a small, Victron-only system except panels and batteries. Love it! Think it's built like a tank, and while the price tag is steep, I'd gladly...

This is a long post, but here goes. Open to comments/critiques from everyone, and I hope it gives you some food for thought. I'm in a similar situation as you - building a new home in a cold climate (Maine) with a desire for it to be all-electric and powered as much as possible with solar. Those...

Without a doubt, in that climate, I'd go with an air source mini split heat pump. AC + heat, very efficient with generally ~ 3:1 coefficient of performance, and in your area, will likely never be cold enough for them to perform poorly. We have two Daikins (not bad) and one Mitsubishi...

In my experience, a big problem is that if you include enough info/background in an initial post to allow a question to be answered, it doesn't get many (if any) replies. Probably wouldn't have happened even 10 years ago in most "bulletin board" type forums, but the evil that is social media has...

I like this plan, and have that exact Victron inverter. Rock solid. Paired with Victron 150/45 solar charge controller and six 200 amp Newpowa panels on a 10x20' shed roof, which should be similar in size to a small cabin. Something similar should work well for you (maybe only 3-5 panels if much...

Yep - I get the debate. I've just reached a different conclusion, and often find myself wondering how I can improve my energy usage without going broke. The nice thing about the forum is that we can all help each other improve our solar energy systems, and have nice conversations doing that. I...

I have three buildings heated/cooled by minisplits. Two have multiple head (indoor) units, while a third has just one. If possible, go with a single head unit per outdoor compressor unit rather than multiple separate head units. Much more efficient, as others have noted.

@Eber I wouldn't hesitate to install the Mitsubishi (with hyper heat). 10F won't even make it blink if sized appropriately to the space. We just installed several at our fire station and town office, including out in the equipment bay of the fire station and in the meeting room areas, and...

With respect, I have to say I prefer the utility and function of server rack batteries, as they can be stacked vertically. Most people have very little horizontal space. But to each their own.

And whatever you first calculate as your needs, plan for more. It's amazing what one often wishes to power with solar once you get started. I would also rethink a 12V system. I built a 24V system to power some sheds two summers ago, and wish I had gone 48V.

Quite possibly the most reliable, maintenance-free, easy-to-use equipment I own (and I've got a lot of stuff, like many of us that like to "tinker"). If I had a larger array and enough battery capacity, I could likely leave my Victron equipment untouched for months to years. It just works, plain...

Very good point, I must admit. Here's one way to deal with that: Place an automated switch between the generator output and the inverter-charger input, with the automation for that handled by a relatively inexpensive home automation controller. I use a device from Hubitat. Universal Devices and...

Well, at least I can turn the UPS's back on this morning. They were going wild. The one at my wife's desk beeps at almost any grid fluctuation, and the one for the router is also sensitive. But I have a couple of others from which I've never heard a peep after several years no matter what's...

Just a quick little reminder to all my friends here re dryers, from a guy that gets awakened from a nice, sound sleep too often because someone in our little communities decides to dry a load of laundry at midnight and HASN'T KEPT THEIR DRYER VENTS CLEAN. Regardless of the source of heat, lint...

Thanks, all. Very helpful. Knowing that solar assistant can work offline on the local network basically tells me I can monitor without much issue. And if I stay with Victron, knowing the Cerbo GX can work without an internet connection is also very useful. I’m a big fan of VRM, but if they one...

To add to my earlier input... One of the things many people forget is that while it makes good sense to plan the SIZE of your system for the coldest days (you don't ever want to be cold in your own home), it may not make sense to plan the TYPE of system around that. I know folks who complain...

I don't have a dog in the fight of this debate, but this comment caught my eye. With respect, that's YOUR goal, but may not be the primary goal of others. I installed a system last year that may never pay for itself. But it was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot. We're installing a system in a...

I guess I'd want to see the language of their warranty. Solar is becoming so common, companies that exclude it are going to see a customer base that's shrinking might fast. That tends to cure that sort of stupidity.