Spent $600 on a home battery system and it paid off in 8 months

I bought a used Tesla Powerwall off Craigslist for $600 back in March. My electric company in Phoenix charges way more during peak hours, so I run the house off the battery from 4pm to 8pm. Already saved about $75 a month on my bill and it should pay for itself completely by November. Anybody else try a DIY battery setup or is that too risky for most people?

2 comments

2 Comments

abby_fisher12d ago

Is it just me or does this kind of thing always happen in slow motion but then suddenly it feels obvious? I swear almost everything that saves you money works the same way. First six months of doing something you wonder if it's even worth it, then one day you check your accounts and realize you've saved hundreds without even thinking about it. I did the same thing with reusable grocery bags and meal prepping, felt dumb for months until I noticed my credit card bill was way lower than it used to be. But yeah, a $600 Powerwall is a steal, I'd be more worried about it breaking or catching fire than anything else.

dylan_ward12d ago

I get what you're saying with the slow motion thing, I really do. But I gotta push back a little on the fire worry. People say that about any battery tech but the reality is lithium ion fires are super rare if you're not buying some no-name brand off AliExpress. The $600 Powerwall thing sounds like a consumer unit someone pieced together from salvaged cells, not an official Tesla one. I'd be more sketched out by the wiring job the guy did in his garage than the battery itself honestly. My buddy runs his whole shed off a DIY solar setup and it's been fine for like 3 years now. That reusable bag analogy is solid though, that's exactly how the payoff works.