My A/C unit has a LRA of 38 amps. Can a single Powerwall support that?

[spooky981]

I'm in Maryland, if it matters. I can barely justify the cost of a single Powerwall for the rare power outage, but I can live with the price as long as it keeps the AC and some lights on the second floor on. Will one Powerwall be able to supply enough power to start my AC unit?

 

[wjgjr]

Unless your A/C is compatible with the soft start devices Tesla can install, no, as the LRA number exceeds the 30 amp limit for a single PW. Even with a soft start, it could be an issue just in terms of getting your home load close to the 5 kW limit for a single PW with the A/C on, and I'm not sure Tesla would be willing to configure the backups to include the A/C on a single PW.

(I mentioned this in your other thread, but in MD, you can get 30% off of PWs, including installation, up to $5k, so just confirming that is factored into your calculations.)

 

[kpinthebay]

I'm in Maryland, if it matters. I can barely justify the cost of a single Powerwall for the rare power outage, but I can live with the price as long as it keeps the AC and some lights on the second floor on. Will one Powerwall be able to supply enough power to start my AC unit?

I'm sure you can justify it by using it not only for backup, but for night time power. I don't know the economics in MD, but here in CA, my powerwall is used every evening when prices are at their peak.

 

[wjgjr]

I'm sure you can justify it by using it not only for backup, but for night time power. I don't know the economics in MD, but here in CA, my powerwall is used every evening when prices are at their peak.

I do not know where exactly OP is located, but the two MD counties that border Washington, DC, are mostly served by PEPCO. Currently, there are no available TOU rates that also allow net metering. This seems to be typical of the large utilities elsewhere in MD, as well. It is possible some of the smaller utilities do offer something, but MD generally seems not to have embraced TOU rates yet. PEPCO and BGE (and maybe some others) did start pilot programs (full, at least for PEPCO) with TOU rates, so it may be coming soon, but not there yet.