I'm currently living in the UK and I have a small outbuilding where I keep my Samsung 9kg washer/dryer. I'm thinking about going off-grid to cut down on electricity costs since I use the washer/dryer daily. What kind of solar setup and battery system would I need to make this work? I'd like to retain the original socket in case the solar power runs out, and I'm considering installing a second socket specifically for the solar option for easy switching. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
2 Answers
When it comes to your washer/dryer setup, it typically uses about 5kWh for a full cycle. If you're on a standard tariff, that could cost you around £470 a year. However, generating 5kWh daily with solar can be tricky. You might get away with 2-3 solar panels and a 5kWh battery for partial coverage throughout the year, which would save you roughly £230 annually. Another angle is to use off-peak electricity prices at night, like from Octopus Go, which drastically reduces your costs to about £155 a year. You could then invest in a house battery to store cheap energy and save even more on your overall electric bills!
I really like the idea of investing in a house battery! That's how I first set up my home system and it ended up saving me around £1,200 a year, even without solar. I built two 48v batteries linked to a Victron inverter, allowing me to draw power from the grid mainly at night at a lower cost of 7p per kWh. It’s a solid investment if you’re handy and can tackle most of the installation yourself!
Thanks for the tip! So, you charge the batteries with the cheapest electricity and then use that during the day? Could you suggest where to find good batteries for this? It's a bit frustrating because I renovated my whole house three years ago, so it would’ve been easier to set up the wiring back then!