A homelab user downsized because of the power bill
A user on r/homelab said they reduced their setup after the power bill became too high. They now run a Raspberry Pi 5 on solar power with OMV, Jellyfin, Home Assistant Container, Grafana, Paperless, and a few smaller services. They use two 100W solar panels and an EcoFlow Trail 300 DC power bank, and said avoiding an inverter keeps the setup cheaper.
Key points
- The user downsized from several old PCs because of the power bill.
- The current server is a 4GB Raspberry Pi 5.
- It runs OMV, Jellyfin, Home Assistant Container, Grafana, Paperless, and smaller services.
- Power comes from two 100W solar panels and an EcoFlow Trail 300 DC power bank.
- The user said skipping an inverter makes the setup comparatively cheap.
Quick term guide
- r/homelab
- A Reddit community where people share their DIY home server and networking projects
- Raspberry Pi 5
- A small low-power computer often used for simple servers and hobby projects.
- Raspberry Pi
- A small, low-cost computer roughly the size of a credit card, popular for DIY home server projects.
- Home Assistant Container
- A smart-home control app running in a container setup.
- Home Assistant
- Free, open-source software that connects and controls smart home devices from one central dashboard.
- Mac mini server
- A Mac mini used as an always-on computer for files, apps, backups, or automation.
- power use
- How much electricity a device uses while it runs.
- home server
- A personal computer setup at home used to run services or store files instead of regular daily use.