Goal Zero Battery Packs Vs. House battery

[Thekevin]

Hey Everyone,
I'm starting to spec out a build for my 2019 Forester and I find myself flip flopping on the electrical system. just curious as to other peoples experiences with both and any recommendations for either.

 

[Shokgoblr]

House battery will be cheaper.
What do you plan to run off it?
Jackery's do not recharge as fast as a house battery on a DC DC charger.

 

[Thekevin]

So at a minimum I wanted to be able to run 5v,12v DC and 110AC for charging purposes. if i end up going for the house battery i will most likely switch my Ham radio over to it and add lights and additional charging throughout the car

 

[Shokgoblr]

In an ideal world, you would know exactly what equipment you plan to use on both systems. Determine your hourly draw when at camp (12v fridge, recharging, camp lights etc). Once you know what your draw will be you can make a better decision on what system will fit your needs.

 

[spazegun2213]

The van I bought came with a Goal Zero 1250. Its a neat bit of kit and used they are actually quite a deal, I can sell mine but only break even on a house battery and accompanying systems if I want to make the switch. The Con to them is that they are HUGE! Packaging is more "generator style" in that is a huge box 90% of the plugs are on one side. For a van, its a pain since EVERYTHING just sticks off the front of it into a walk way.

If you are looking for a simple removeable/movable system, Goal Zero Yeti's (Yetii... Yeties?) are hard to beat. If you are looking for a custom integrated solution that takes up the least amount of space... go house battery.

 

[RVA Overland]

I have an EcoFlow 600 pro coming this month and also wonder about the best plan. I was watching Freely Roaming on youtube last night and he lays out building a house battery system with 280ah for less than a yeti or just about any other self contained system. I would encourage you to take a look, it may be a direction I head and ten use the self contained unit if I need portable power.

 

[Brewbud]

I went with a Goal Zero Lithium 1000 because I got a good deal on it. I really wanted to build my own. It still would have been cheaper to build my own but it would have been bigger and less portable. Battery, 1500W/3000W peak inverter, MPPT charge controller, 5 volt USB DC-DC converter, and all the connections take up space. My system gets moved from vehicle to vehicle. I am happy with the way I went but I still may build another less portable system for home use.

 

[KonzaLander]

The great thing about a house battery is that it is always ready to go and does not consume valuable storage space. In some cases it can be used to jump start your vehicle or in the event of an emergency, run your vehicle if the starting battery fails.

 

[Thekevin]

im working on a build to remove my spare in the trunk and build a new floor. a house battery would easily fit in there and have plenty of extra storage.

 

[Square Foot]

I like the concept of having a house battery because it's out of the way and don't have mess with it, but I am actually thinking of getting a portable unit so that when not camping I can use it as an UPS for my home computer.

 

[Brewbud]

I like the concept of having a house battery because it's out of the way and don't have mess with it, but I am actually thinking of getting a portable unit so that when not camping I can use it as an UPS for my home computer.

Good idea. We use our GZ for that. Especially at times like this when SDG&E may cut our power off because of the Red Flag warnings.

 

[Overland_._Life]

I have the Inergy Apex that has worked great for me in both just Jeep camping and my square drop camper and a bonus help during hurricane season here in SW Florida. As most have said, you need to dial in what your needs will be and then you have a good starting point.