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Can A Solar Generator Actually Save Money On Your Electric Bill?

Watt's Next?

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Thank you Helix Seep for sponsoring this video. Visit https://helixsleep.com/wattsnext to take advantage of their labor day sale and save up to 30% off select mattresses! Take the sleep quiz and see what mattress is best for you!

Oupes Guardian 6000: https://tidd.ly/4mT5rQs
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Oupes Guardian 6000 on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4cKpPi8
PV Cables: https://amzn.to/4x3ycOW
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20 ft Generator chord: https://amzn.to/4e7ki7C
NEMA TT-30P to L14-30R Generator Adapter: https://amzn.to/4bAeWj1
(some of these links are affiliate links, thank you for supporting the channel!)

What happens if you try to power your house with a portable power station for an entire week? I did exactly that using the OUPES Guardian 6000, and the results surprised me.

For 7 days, I relied on this power station to run my home's essential circuits, track my energy usage, and see if a large portable battery can realistically replace the grid for everyday living.

In this video, I cover:

⚡ What I powered each day
🏠 How I connected it to my home
🔋 Daily battery usage and runtime
☀️ How much the solar panels recharged the system
📊 My home's actual energy consumption
💰 Whether this setup makes financial sense
👍 The biggest surprises, limitations, and lessons I learned

If you're considering a whole-home backup battery or wondering whether a large portable power station can handle real-life use, this week-long test gives you an honest look at what's possible—and what isn't.

Important: I am not a licensed electrician or solar installer. This video is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Always check your local laws, utility rules, electrical code requirements, and hire a qualified electrician before attempting anything like this.

FTC Disclosure Statement:
Every video includes paid promotion or sponsorship (such as free products for review). Some links on this YouTube channel may be affiliate links. I may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these.

Disclaimer:
Watt’s Next? cannot guarantee against improper use or unauthorized modifications of this information. Watt’s Next? assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. Use this information at your own risk. Watt’s Next? recommends safe practices when working on machines and or with tools seen or implied in this video. No information contained in this video shall create any expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or from the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not Watt’s Next? Please consult a licensed electrician before attempting anything seen in this video. Viewers are responsible for ensuring compliance with all local laws, codes, and safety practices.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:32 How This saves money
1:09 How much it costs/ How it works
2:40 Day one
3:21 Day 2
3:47 Sponsored by Helix Sleep
5:17 Connecting to the grid
5:34 120v workaround
6:41 Day 3
6:55 Powering household items
8:23 Day 4
8:34 charging from grid power
9:43 Day 5
10:03 things I don't like about this setup
11:24 Day 6
11:37 Power Station vs Hybrid Inverter
12:53 Day 7
13:11 How much money I saved
15:33 What could I change to save more money?
16:16 Verdict

#helixmattress #helixsleep #bestmattress #sleepquiz #solar #solarpower #solarenergy

20 Comments

@WattsNextSolar25 Creator 1 month ago Pinned

@davef.2329 1 month ago

The ability to maintain power when the grid can't, or won't supply it, makes it all worthwhile to a lot of folks. Thanks.

@arcadesdudeTV 1 month ago

The main reason to do this isnt financial, it is to reduce dependency on the main power grid.

@johnmal5975 1 month ago

I bought my pecrons for hurricanes in Fl. I could care less about getting my money back worth every penny for peace of mind. I recently bought their e3800 model because that one has the feature where you plug in your electric rate and gives you a readout on money saved. You also save a lot of money if you don't loose your fridge and freezers from a long black out plus the savings of not having to get fast food. Awesome video!

@jordanmntungwa3311 2 days ago

it my country the Electricity rate is about $5 a week... makes you realize why I have subbed to your channel

@koolkevin2357 1 month ago

Glad I found your channel. This is very similar to the style I want for my backyard. As a retired welder I want to make a metal framed pergola and roof it with solar panels, and tie my house battery bank with it - with your style of set up, with solar charging the batteries in a pass-thru home battery bank that I can also recharge from the grid - or in an emergency - from 1 or 2 dual fuel generators. I enjoyed your level of explanations and can't wait to check out your past videos on what parts I need and how to connect them (I want to know - But I will have a certified electrician do the final work) I am a great welder - I will leave the electrical to the right skill set. Just subbed and look forward to your coming videos!

@ahealthierkirk2558 1 month ago

Monsoon season here. We lost power 4 times last week. Solar kept us going, our food cold, and our well water pumps with an electric pump!

@DougCube 1 month ago

I have automatic transfer switches to automate switching back to grid power if the battery is too low. It's best to avoid having to do any daily mangement at all.

@fratomdev 1 month ago

We are in NC under Energy United. They switched their coop rate structure, for Summer between 3-7PM, they charge over $4 per kwh. They only charge that for the single highest peak day, not all days in the month. On the off peak they charge .04/kwh. I have a Pecron 3000 and use it to power a small portable AC unit between 3-7. I then charge up off peak at .04. Compared to last years Summer bill we saved about $40-50 by using the power station during peak load hours. It is fun just to see how good the power station does. It is big enough to power the AC unit for those 4 hours and we stay comfortable. Glad to see your video.

@thesecond5588 1 month ago

I bought my Ecoflow Delta 2 in August of 2023 for when our power goes out during storms, etc. as my wife uses a CPAP machine. Some people buy a smaller machine and turn off all the stuff that makes the CPAP work best, but I said screw that and bought the Delta 2. No regrets. But when our nephew said his generator (which he bought about the same time) was still in the unopened box 3 years later, I decided to use my "generator" as much as possible. So, with a couple of solar panels I charge it and use it daily. The washing machine, slow cooker, induction burner for making my pour-over coffee; charging EGO batteries, our outdoor Christmas lights from Thanksgiving to New Years all get the Power Station treatment.

@m3rdpwr 1 month ago (edited)

One note worth mentioning. If you're using a 120 volt outlet as a backup charge, and it is plugged into a GFCI outlet, it will continuously trip. So you will need to use a non-gfc outlet. However, that being said, today's codes with electrical, everything in your garage wherever your panel is located must be GFCI protected, and most circuits now in your house these days are also required to be GFCI and/ or arc fault. Protected.

@dalegereaux1863 1 month ago

In Southern California if / when we lose electricity from Lake Mead, we will have to buy it from other more expensive sources.
Your setup would probably help much more in that case.
We have a lot of sunny days here and being only 5 mi from the beach, we always have a nice ocean breeze in the early afternoon and sometimes in the evening too. Is it possible to plug in a small wind turbine to generate energy when it gets dark or on the occasional cloudy or rainy day ?

@winstonsmiths2449 1 month ago

Invaluable when there is no grid power. The equipment will pay for itself in a few days, or after running fans all day and or A/C for at least 3-4 hours a day, and keeping food from spoiling.

@donbrloks3959 1 month ago

Appreciate your honesty about being cost effective. Even at my $.17 per kWh, my roi would be 20 years when the system is worn out. The peace of mind is my system will power frig,freezer, lights,fans, and entertainment for a long time.

@scottshoemaker5471 1 day ago

If it would keep up with my 12,000 BTU air conditioner and some solar that would be a win for me and would be a backup in the winter time.

@runs_on_coffee 1 month ago

My electric rates are low as well. The monthly service fee's are generally higher then my Energy charges like last month my bill was $98.00 but taxes and service fee's were $54.00 and energy charges were $44.00. I have all my network equipment and 2-home freezers connected to my Delta Pro 3 system with 8kwh. I got the DP3 to replace my expired UPS system to keep my network online during power outages and brown outs. So payback for me will be a lot faster because a new UPS system with a 2-year warranty would have cost me $3200 for 5-hours of backup time. UPS system would generally last about 4-5 years if I replaced the batteries every 2 years for an additional $500. So payback can be sooner depending on what your using the backup system for...

@xiaoka 3 weeks ago

as soon as you have the first big storm that knocks out power for a week, it'll all be worth it. 😅

but seriously - if you're maxing out the battery, you can alter your lifestyle to soak up more watt hours, like run the AC heavily during the day to cool things off before dark, do laundry at peak sun, etc.

@zanedzikonski4234 1 month ago

Alot of electic companies show your useage by hour. I paid extra for the bluettie for the data tracking cuz i neard out on it. A very basic calc for generation is .5 to .6kwh per 100 watts on a clear sunny day. I average 4.2kwh with 800 solar and i get .86 % of its rated putput. This is about 15.00 a month at my rate so well over 10 years pay back if rates are the same and nothing breaks. This is fun stuff i learned alot

@KentCigarette-ucky-z6i 9 days ago

Originally I wanted to set up something like this so if the power goes out at night I at least have lights to see by on a little more of a scale than flashlights. The more I tinker with the system the more I realize the potential but as you point out it's really not financial it's just to gain a little Independence. You can buy the solar panels and the battery and have light when you need it or you can have those dollar bills sitting on your dresser and not even be able to see them when the power goes out.

@ericgold3840 3 weeks ago

Leverage your system by adding more panels. I don't know how much panels cost today but when I built my PV/inverter system I paid about 40¢ a watt for new panels, and IIRC 'B' panels or used panels were about 1/2 price. Even locales that get a cloudy quite a bit can generate about 1.2 kWh a year so even inexpensive grid electricity has a payback time of about 3 yrs for additional panels.