We've Gone Solar! AllPowers S2000
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 พ.ย. 2023
- We've been sent a solar power kit to try out. We tell you how we got on if it's value for money. (hint..it is).
Allpowers Links & Promo Code:
Allpowers S2000 power station: bit.ly/3sz0h4b
10% Off coupon code: 2FR10
Frugal Queen in France
We are a British couple living in Brittany on a budget.
Frugal recipes, days out, home renovations and day to day making do in France.
We’ll give you hints, tips, advice and an insight into our life in France.
Website www.frugalqueeninfrance.com/
Instagram / frugalqueen. .
Equipment used
Camera : iPhone
Editing : iMovie on a Mac mini
Music:
Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Artist: audionautix.com/
Some Sound from Zapsplat.com
TH-cam Audio Library
Apple iMovie*
Here's the link to ALLPOWERS - bit.ly/3sz0h4b
it helps us if you click the link and have a look. The discount code isn't currently working as their Black Friday offer of 500€\£/$ off is a better deal until the end of the month.
Dear Jane Thank you for this vidéo. I just bought 2 of them. Your discount code offer 10 per cent off on top of the Black friday reduced price. I got one for less than 1000 euros. Very interesting offer.
We truly enjoy our 36 rooftop solar panels. It charges my hybrid car and runs our all electric home. Our heating/cooling system is a heat pump. Our system is about 10 years old. We are on the grid so we don’t have a battery backup. This month our electric bill was $9.82. It is an investment that we saved for. 💙
So glad to hear that and super thrifty
Oh, wow!
Thank you for sharing your experiences with the storm. I wouldn't have thought about the laundries being busy. Like you, I have a gas cooker, wood burning fireplace, lots of blankets, etc. and you have reminded me of other areas I need to plan for. Great review! One note for people is they should write down how many watts each appliance uses so they know which ones are power hungry and need to be used when the sun is shining.
It is doubtful that energy prices will go down, especially with the push for electric vehicles. I switched all my lights to LED, have turned down the thermostat to 62F degrees in the winter, and use lots of fleece and flannel to stay warm. We would all benefit from having plan B when things aren't working. Hot water bottles are inexpensive and can make a difference in staying warm. Blessings.
Thanks for your feedback
I have one flashlight ledlight on battery. Sound a bit pathetic but it's a start. Plan is to put solarpanel on the roof.But this one is nice , Just checked the prize .Will put on the sinkinfund list .
It's brilliant for the price, we got ours with that discount.
I have 12 solar panels which were installed on my roof 13 years ago. Best investment I ever made. My power company pays me just over £1000 annualy for the electricity I generate whether I use it or not.. Last year added another 8 panels and a 9.5 kwh battery. I can go weeks during the summer without drawing any power at all from the grid. Also got a small power station eco flow not a s powerfull as yours but it s good enough to pwer low draw appliances such as TV, router, phones, fridges and freezers etc.
That’s awesome
I'm in New Zealand and have a similar set up. It's been a great investment.
I have a small Bluetti that I use for power outages and camping. The great thing about it, and your power box, is they have pass-through charging. So you can charge while you are using it.
While your solar panels should be in the sun, the power box should be kept in the shade so it doesn't overheat. A lot of people put it behind the solar panels, plus it helps prop them up. :)
My Bluetti is only 800 watts, but my rice cooker and washing machine only take 300 and my bread maker takes 600, so for a long power outage, with lots of sun, I would still have some luxuries as well as being able to charge my mobile phone and USB powered camping lights. I use one that is USB/solar in my bedroom as a bedside lamp.
I can't use the Keurig , electric kettle, toaster oven, microwave or anything large with my Bluetti, but I have a butane hob to put the kettle on. As long as I can have a cup of tea, life is good. :)
Jon in rural British Columbia, Canada
Thanks so
I'm still in the Dark Ages when it comes to Solar. If the lights go out where I live, I get out the candles. 🤨
Me too, but really this should probably have been in use from the very start of electricity, if they hadn't put the kibosh on a series of genius minds. I can learn.
@@Dingle1234 You're right, but I think when things like electricity were first developed, they were such stunning and game changing innovations, people more concentrated on what all they could do with it and didn't bother so much with what to do if electricity went out. They were just happy to have it at all. I've read that when T.V. was first out, some couldn't see it lasting long because they thought no one would want to sit and watch a box in the corner of their living room for extended periods of time. Well, it did catch on. Now, I don't even own a T.V. I watch everything on the internet which I love. If you want to know anything at all, you just go to the internet. It's amazing. Now people are looking ahead to the future when A.I. becomes more intelligent than humans. It's just astonishing. 🙂
We have solar hot water which really helps keep our bills down. We are now looking at solar electric so for me, your video couldn’t have come at a better time. France has at least two proposed rises in electric planned for next year, so we really need to look at alternatives. Like most people, we have cut our electric use to the bare minimum, but just can’t absorb another price hike!
Nor can we! We're going to use solar as much as we can.
Does the solar hot water system use on grid power at night or do you turn it off?
At the moment the solar hot water is pumped using on grid electricity. Our plan is to add a small solar panel just for that. It’s just working out how to be able to switch between on and off grid if required
I have 2 bluetti portable solar generators. I'm in California, and it gets up to 115°f /46°c in the summers where I'm at. I can run my fans, appliances and cook during a power outage.
That's fantastic
Wonderful. You're not going all the way. True, not everyone may afford it, but I really hope that you'll get the best of it. Great video again!!!! Cheers.
Thanks so much
We are in the U.S. and have a portable solar station. It's only 1,500 max watts and is heavy to move about, but it can charge and be in use at the same time. We struggled to pull enough solar with 800 watts of panels to keep one small deep freezer going during five days of power outage this past summer when temps were 90 F - 100 F. it charged very little when there wasn't full sun, and in spite of the heat had a lot of clouds after the storms. Ours is a couple of years old, and like most electronic-type devices, is outdated as soon as you purchase it. In calculating the payback time of saving as much as we spent on the unit, we still haven't broken even, but we have learned a lot about solar and prioritizing what's most essential when we have no power. Saving the money already spent on food is the top of our list. We wound up packing up the freezer and its contents and taking it to a relative's house across town where they had power to save the food from spoiling. Still, I am glad to have a backup energy option. We are moving away from storing as much frozen foods at any given time as the power company has not addressed the issues that caused the last outage, and we expect more of the same next summer.
Thanks for sharing
Victor Kiam.theres a blast from the past 😅
I have been dreaming of a small solar generator like this! I am ordering this today. My house in the US had solar panels on the roof. It powered my home - which had electric heating, and charged my electric car. When we moved to this apartment, I missed having solar power to be environmentally friendly and save money on energy bills. This is an interesting way to be frugal and be prepared for power outages. Thank you for finding the generator.
Thanks for your feedback, for the money and what it can do, it’s very good value
I love seeing the practical applications! I think solar energy is a fabulous thing to have, I've just never quite understood wattages, etc. Thanks so much for this video. I'm excited to look into this powerbank!
Thanks , the link is in the description box and pinned comment
We have a gas powered generator, a solar generator, and a smaller unit (a Jackery). We started with the Jackery for camping, and we have the others for emergency back up right now. Love it all!
Great addition- thank you for showing us all you can do with it
As my husband goes into full retirement I've mentioned solar power to him. We will have to check it out.
Thanks, the link is in the pinned comment. Take a look.
We have 2 solar generators. It‘s a good feeling to be prepared… 👍👍👍
It really is and they're so easy to use
This is interesting. I like how portable the system is. Living in a townhouse with a back balcony and front patio, I'm sure that I could accommodate this compact device. Our winters are sometimes -40C for a few days, but we get a lot of sunshine. I will definitely explore this further. Thank you for posting this.
Thanks so much
This is an excellent video! Seeing the practical application of the solar generator has answered alot of my personal questions about them, so I will be more confident now in looking into getting one, thank you!👍
Thanks so much
I have a smaller solar generator that has two panels. I just use it for backup. I have free power on the weekends to do stuff like laundry. I priced a solar roof system, but they wanted $45,000 for it, and it just didn't make sense...
We priced it too, Hence why we went for this instead
@@FrugalQueeninFrance :-)
Think most people would love this system, unfortunately no spare cash, but it's going in my list of must haves for the future
Thanks Kaz. We’re saving for a whole house system but for now, this will be a good back up.
Brilliant I think every home should have on if they can afford one.
It's a definite prepping back up and can be used all the time for free electricity
We live up the road from you and run two 2Kw Bluetti solar generators with 2000w worth of panels. We lasted for 5 days on solar after the recent storms took out our supply but had to start up the petrol generator for two half days to charge the batteries (as the sun disappeared) until the power came back on. You’ll need more than one 200w solar panel to really cut your electric costs though.
Indeed we will but that’s as far as our income/budget can stretch for now. Thanks for watching
This is very interesting. We have been mulling over getting our own system. Very interested to see how the solar charges especially in the winter months.
I have to watch the sun and make sure I move the panels around to catch the sun , we will also charge it every time we go somewhere in the car
I have used a different product for number of years. Don’t hesitate.
Jane, I can see you making a quilted "sleeve" to put your solar panels in to store and carry.
That's 😄 funny
I live in a rural area of Virginia. I got a Jackery a number of years ago, we often had power outages. I had to keep my hubby’s medical devices operating. Good for you!
Good that you're prepped too
Just before watching this I ordered another another brand power unit. Works like yours with the sun. Excited to use it.
Hope you enjoy it!
Never considered a solar generator, definitely going to look into them after watching your video. Will be interested to see the difference in your electric bills since using it. Many thanks ✨
Thanks for watching
Does your washer have a water heater in it? Mike maybe could make a little custom cart for the panels. Tilt them, with casters and skis in case there's snow..... CONGRATULATIONS!! This is the type of thing people use on RVs. The advantage, at least here in Canada, is it wouldn't put you under obligation to contribute to the grid, like you often are with panels attached to the roof. I have the advantage of a very high roof with a low slope and so could buy metal roofing on sale, even if it's patchwork. And an ugly solar system since no-one can see my roof.
Yes it does
Great idea!!
Glad you think so!
We have the ecoflow river 2 max but our garden isnt very wide so have probs charging in winter. We have been using it all summer, it really cut our electric down. They are a great addition
Do you cook or do laundry with yours?!
If you have a tall window that gets lots of sun, maybe you could hang your solar panel lengthwise in front of it. Or if there's a big sunny spot on the floor, put it there. It doesn't have to be outside to charge. :)
Jon in rural BC, Canada
That's great! Can't wait to see how it goes!❤
Me too!!
Thank you soo much. I'm definitely going to buy this
In bright sunshine a couple of hours, a grey day, a few hours. In the video I showed them charging with the wires from
The panels to the box. It's so easy to use.
Very helpful! Thanks for sharing.
Glad it was helpful!
So awesome Jane and Mike!
Thanks
Thank you for info, very timely, have been considering solar generator. Will check it out. Thank Jane and Mike and Puppies.
Thanks, click on the link in the description box to find out more.
OK, thank you.@@FrugalQueeninFrance
We purchased our generator last week and we have a solar panel kit too that our son gave us for Christmas last year. They are wonderful it is easy for me to use when my hubby is at work.
That is awesome!
Great idea
i found that most interesting jane....i want but electrician boyfriend doesnt....says they get less efficient as time goes by...however i want
They have a 5 year warranty so that's how long it will last before it loses effectiveness and efficiency
Annie, your b/f is quite correct. Batteries lose their storage capacity with both age & the number of cycles used & the degree of DOD. This model is quoted as being good for 2500 cycles @ say 1kwh/cycle = 2500 kwhs use in total. At an electrical cost of say 28p/kwh (in the UK) that equates to a saving of £700. In the UK these cost just shy of £1,000. So my conclusion is that you NEVER get any return on your capital investment - ever.
The saving grace is that you have the potential backup in case of power outage, which regrettably does occur sometimes after extreme bad weather or labour strikes by the power workers. That is obviously worth something; peace of mind?
Thank you for sharing. I will think about buying one.
You should! Follow the link
In the description box, they have 500€ until the end of the minth
Great addition for self-sufficiency! Solar is also my next step. My plan is for use in my greenhouse to run grow lights and fans. Might also try to heat large tubs of water to extend shoulder seasons. Didn't get set up in time to play with over winter but will install in early spring and see how it goes.
It's a great addition to your preps.
Thanks, this was really interesting. I may start small and get a solar phone charger to try. :)
Amazing and informative thank you. We are looking into solar in our next home as we are about to move. x
Glad it was helpful!
This is a game changer, we have solar on our roof but it doesn’t have a battery. Our bills are only for the street light and the power surge protection wit the power company.
Brilliant, thanks for sharing
What an interesting video. THANK YOU AGAIN.
Glad you enjoyed it
I have a relatively small folding panel from Decathlon that I bought a few years ago for camping - I use it to recharge my anker power bank that will recharge my iPad and phone twice each. I have taken to using this in my bedroom window on sunny days to reduce electricity costs. And we put in 6 panels on our roof in 2021 so it was great last year when prices shot up. I am looking at getting a solar generator once I move into an apartment as I can’t get proper panels there and electricity is more expensive here - the living room faces ESE so I plan on charging the bank in the mornings and using it for lights, recharging tech etc and maybe more in the evenings when I am at home.
That sounds like an awesome plan.
Thats a great set up Jane. It'll be SO useful for you.
That's
@@FrugalQueeninFrance I know Jane. Typing while sorting laundry meant it got through.
@@Tess-FrugalLiving oh my goodness that’s my typo, I meant to write that’s so useful, apologies
@@FrugalQueeninFrance 🙂🙂🙂
Wonderful video! Thank you! I'm curious how many things could be powered with it at the same time?
Up to 2500w at a time, power hungry things like the washing machine can run with all the lights
Hi Jane and Mike, hope you are having a good day. Love watching your videos very informative 0:53
Thanks
Yes, we have several. It's nice to have a secure backup when electricity and other services are down.
Thanks for sharing
How awesome 🤩
Thanks
We were looking for something like this but could not find it so earlier this year we had a full system installed lots of money but we had it and decided it was worth it for us. A little bit of background information we are retired and have lived in South Africa for forty years we only spent the European winter hear now so we’re not going to use it all year. We arrived back last week to be be met with 8 hours a day without power, this is normal, then the electrical cable was stollen from our village so for the past three days no power at all,but the sun is shining and the panels are charging so apart from not being able to use my stove life is normal and I also have a table top oven. Solar power is the way to go.
Thanks for sharing your experience
👍👍👍
I found this really fascinating! We have said that, when our teen DS finishes school, we'll be downsizing/moving somewhere cheaper and the ability to use green technology will be something we want. Ok, so I'd like to go fully off grid, self-sufficiency, etc, but I am a realist and health limitations need to be considered, but something to aim for.
We’d love to go full solar and renewable however this is an affordable solution to supplement us currently.
This was really helpful for me Jane, as I've been wondering whether getting one of these types of solar kit would be worthwhile. I'm not in a position to do a big solar installation, but I can see from your experience that it could be well worth my while. Thank you!
You're welcome
When I got mine I only wanted it to run the freezer if we had a power outage I bought a ECOFLOW delta 2 with the extra battery pack hooked them up together and it ran my freezer for 4 days and charged quickly I got just as excited as you with it as for the fairy lights I have them in every room (the battery operated timer ) they come on at dark and stay on for 6 hours I go through about 3 batteries a month per strand I love them saves on the use of lights
They are so useful
🌞
I have been looking for a solar generator system here in Slovenia. I hope they ship across Europe.
Yes they do, check out our link for information
I tried to use the discount code and tells me it's invalid, and try another discount code 😞
@@thethriftycitizen Hi, it's because there's already 500€ off the price for the Black Friday sale that runs until the end of the month. It's a super price for what it does.
Thank you!
Evening Jane and Mike - fascinating topic something i've been thinking about for a long time but the thought of putting panels on the roof and all the ancillaries has put me off but this portable unit is very impressive but what was the cost ?
Follow the link, it's 500€ off at the moment as the Black Friday sale lasts until the end of the month. It is way cheaper than other brands and at 2.5kw it runs anything in our house
Been thinking of investing. I could charge it on my commute and at my workplace
Thanks
Wow, that was educational to say the least! Looking into this for sure. Thanks. Do you know if we in the US can get them??
Glad it was helpful!
Google the name of product and yes I believe they are available here in US.
@@UnStrungHero yes they are.
There are also several other brands available here in the US. Jackery and Bluetti are popular and Pepper Princess has reviewed many of them.
@@iriswelch3553 Thanks for the info, I have been looking into getting a generator and this is helpful info.
Very interesting
Glad you think so!
Wonderful product. Thanks for sharing it. I'm sure you will have many years of good use from it. I was thinking as you were demonstrating it, do you ever cook outside on a grill? We have community grills where I live (we live in a gated community) that we use, but I also have a small grill in storage to use in case of an emergency. Thanks for sharing. 🥰❄🎄🎀🎁☃🎅💝✝
No we don’t cook outside. Thanks for watching.
We set up a a sub panel for certain areas do the house Ref, freezer, wD and certain other areas of the house . less cords)(Ours generator is fairly heavy so a sub panel makes sense for us.Our generator like yours can be powered by solar our house electric or our gas generator. We also got a smaller portable solar one to take with us for areas as not attached to sub panel. Works great. It’s fun to see how far it will go
Thanks so much. I'm glad we bought appliances that don't need too much electricity
Thank you, for the review. I wonder how many years it will last. We have a similar non solar power bank made by Caterpillar for jumping vehicle batteries. It seemed to lose charging capabilities around year four. Where as our welder is thirty years old. It uses fuel but, we use it for welding and a powersource in a pinch. We have a switch on our breaker box and can pull the truck up to the house and plug the welder into the designated outlet for the deep freezers and water well. We also have a wood cook stove to cook with and heat mainly with wood. It would be nice to have a hand pump for the well or a windmill. We are working on better fencing for our livestock. The sheep pay no mind to electric fencing as their wool acts as an insulator. They run right through it most times and the cows follow. I preserve most of our food by canning or dehydrating. Our freezers are mostly for meat. I would love a freeze dryer someday.
Thanks for your feedback. It has a five year warranty so I guess that's the predicted life.
Free low income solar panels on the roof in Oz. Need a new hot water system. I think the thermostat might be gone as it’s getting old. Glad it didn’t happen in our winter. Deciding between heat pump & solar. What type of hot water system do you have? Wanting one that uses no coal power electricity or very little. If solar, what is used at night, or is it turned off at night?
Great point!
Thank you for this post. ❤
You are so welcome!
I am also interested in a few months or so how your electricity usage has gone down. Thanks for sharing.
The lighter months with longer days promise to be entirely solar. We’re light deprived n the winter.
I would agree with you that a battery power pack minimum 2000 watts, and a generator is the cheaper way into doing a home back up energy supply system. I would want a dual fuel generator because if the power is out in the area, generally there is no power to pump gas either, and the gas stations that do have power, would soon be out of gas because of the demand, but bottle gas may still be around, and it is safer to store then gasoline. On the solar side of charging, a lot of the charge controllers in the solar power packs, limit the amount of solar input, the newer larger capacity ones are starting to put in higher powered controllers so you can use higher watt solar panels. If the controller will allow close to 1000 watts of input, you can pole mount a properly sized solar array in your yard to power your pack, or packs. Yes there is a cost to these systems, but replacing all the food in ones Refrigerator and freezer because of a power outage, or having busted pipes in the house because there’s no power in the middle of winter more than offsets the cost of these things. You are right about flash lights or (torches) on your side of the Atlantic, and batteries they are the first things to disappear in a power down crisis, so buy LED ones on line they are really cheap, I run AA batteries in all systems using D cell adapters when needed. AA batteries tend to be around longer the D cells in a crisis, and they are cheap enough to buy in bulk on line.
Thanks for the advice. We've ordered another with 400w panels and we're saving for roof mounted panels to get maximum sun.
These devices are great as far as they go but ARE expensive and you need to weigh the total charging cycles that the batteries will endure, as a backup though in areas of regular power cuts a godsend.
Thanks for your feedback
I love the idea that you and Mike chose solar energy. Gasoline generators are okay but I feel they can be a little dangerous: carbon monoxide build up, fire hazard. Anyway, I bet your family motto is Be Prepared! 😎
Thanks
Thanks Jane. I am very interested in this but the links don’t seem to be there. Is it because you are live?
The link is in the description box, it still has the Black Friday deal if 500€ off the price which is better than the original price with 10% off.
@@FrugalQueeninFrance the problem is that when I click on the description box I get taken to aTH-cam page advertising Winter Preparation videos. Weird! I have tried clicking on just about everything because normally there is no problem
@@Catsrule7 keep trying , it’s in the description box, move your finger away from the hashtags, what device are you using?
@@FrugalQueeninFranceOK, got it now. Using iPad. It suddenly flashed up.
Just to let you know, I have ordered one!
I got all excited and then saw the cost was in Euros…..so only available in Europe?
It's available worldwide. The currency/amount is different in each country.
looks like great product do they have one like this for the United States?? very interested
Yes, they’re sold the world over
Thank you so much will look into and make sure they know I learned about them through your TH-cam! Such a great product to have for many needs when there is no power .Love your money saving tips and demos how to really save in these tough economic times ! Keep up all you both do to help everyone ,thanks again
The price is under a 1000 pound so code may not apply. Such a good price . Got a jackery which we love but cannot compete on price with this one
Thanks for sharing
Solar is the way to save money
Thanks
Hi Jane, was curious,now that several months have passed, how is your solar power system working?!
We still have very low light. We use them by charging overnight night in two hours and using that cheap rate in the day. It's been raining since November
Is this one of the 4 Patriots solar units?
No it's an all powers s2000
Hi, really want to get a solar powered pack.
Can I ask how much you paid for yours please?
Check out the link in the pinned comment. It’s currently in a Black Friday sale with an extra 10% off with the discount code in the description box. Ours is the S2000 with 200w panels.
Trying to order today but still doesn't like the discount code . Any advise
We’ll contact all powers but it’s 24 hours before we get the reply
That looks bloody amazing. It would run the fan on the pellet burner if the power was out (for example) so no need to be completely dependent on electricity as we are now. I'll certainly be looking into it, thanks.
Follow the link
In the pinned comment. Have a look. There's 500€ off until the end of the month
I have been investigating these for a few months, not this brand, for when I start travelling, even without discounts they are cheaper than the ones I was searching, means I need to save a little less, this one looks like it could run my laptop for 7 hours and my phone.
It's a very good deal at the Moment too. Thanks for watching
We’ve had roof solar panels for some years now. It’s useful because we charge electric cars. When DH retired he decided to have an electric car and as of 2072 dd too has an electric car - so her commuting costs which used to be £100 per month are now virtually nil. One car or the other is plugged in, though hot water during the day takes priority. Even with energy rises, we do not miss paying for petrol. We charge on solar or on cheap overnight electricity. Every fortnight, DH does the 300 mile round trip to see his mother (Plymouth) and only charges at Exeter for 20-30 minutes. I alway look at the weather forecast (Glos) here, and plan washing and ironing and some drying around it. Even at this time of year there is solar generated. The slow cooker also means free cooking when there’s a bit of sun. We aim not to use gas in the future. Would we go back and not use solar? No.
I agree
Hi, really want to get a solar powered pack.
Can I ask how much you paid for yours please?
Check out the link in the pinned comment and in the description box, it’s an S2000 with 200w solar panels, there’s a link to the discounted pack we have plus a discount code for an extra 10% off that price.