How Point5Garage Powers a 52-Foot Houseboat Off-Grid
The Point5Garage crew took on a trip most people would never try: more than 1,000 miles of river, from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Mobile, Alabama, completely off-grid. They made the run on a 52-foot custom-built articulating pontoon barge, with Pops, a 77-year-old Amish man, along for the ride. They named the boat Pop’s 77.
Everything on board runs on battery power: the refrigerator, lights, trolling motor, navigation equipment, and even the desktop computer used to edit the trip videos. After plenty of research, they figured they’d need about 1,000Ah to keep it all running.
A Battery That’s Never Let Him Down
Point5Garage already knew MillerTech before this trip. A MillerTech battery has powered his e-bike for years. “I’ve had other types of batteries, and I have faults. I have issues,” he says. “MillerTech batteries, I’ve never had an issue.”
So he reached out to Roman on our team and shared the plan. MillerTech stepped up to partner on the trip. “He didn’t just try to sell me something off the shelf,” he says. “He listened, and he heard what we need.”
We make batteries in many voltages, but so much of the gear on the barge was already built for 12V that a 12V system made the most sense.
The Battery Bank: 1,120Ah of 12V Lithium
The whole barge runs on two 12V 560Ah Sport Series batteries, for 1,120Ah of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) power. “Just looking at them, you can see that they’re built different,” he says.
Each battery delivers:
- 200A continuous charge and discharge (400A across the bank)
- 500A peak discharge for five seconds
- Built-in Bluetooth and the Millertech app
- A built-in heater for charging in cold weather
- A 10-year Sport Series warranty
Two 40A MillerTech lithium chargers keep the bank topped off. We make bigger chargers, but 40A was the right match for the generator on board.
The Math: Lithium vs. Lead-Acid
Each battery weighs 126 lb, so the full bank comes in at 252 lb. Point5Garage ran the numbers on doing the same job with lead-acid. You can only use about half of a lead-acid battery’s rated capacity, so he’d have needed more than 2,200Ah of it.
| MillerTech Lithium | Lead-Acid (Point5Garage’s Estimate) | |
|---|---|---|
| Batteries | Two 12V 560Ah | About 23 Group 31 marine batteries |
| Rated capacity | 1,120Ah | More than 2,200Ah |
| Weight | 252 lb | Almost 1,600 lb |
“It just would not have been possible to put that onto the barge,” he says. The only other choice was running a generator 24 hours a day.
Every Battery, Right on His Phone
With the MillerTech app, he can check each battery’s state of charge anytime. He can also see its history, including charge cycles, overheating, and over- or under-current events.
The barge also has Starlink. If anything goes wrong, our Support Team can connect to the batteries remotely, with his permission, to diagnose and fix problems. “The customer service that stands behind these is phenomenal,” he says.
Peace of Mind for 1,000 Miles
For Point5Garage, this setup is about more than comfort. “Having dependable power isn’t just about creature comforts,” he says. “It’s about safety, and it’s about peace of mind.”
Before they set off, he was 100% confident the electrical system wouldn’t be a problem anywhere between Ohio and Mobile. About 26 days and more than 1,100 miles later, they tied up at Dog River in Mobile.
The two MillerTech batteries ran the barge the whole way. “Everything that took electricity on that boat was powered by those two batteries,” he says in the final video. Two solar panels and a solar charge controller kept the bank charged, so they didn’t have to run a generator 24 hours a day.
There’s a lot more to this story. Point5Garage shares the whole journey on YouTube, from the shop to life on the river. Subscribe to the Point5Garage YouTube channel and follow along.
Power for Your Off-Grid Setup
Whether you’re powering an off-grid cabin, a camper, a boat, or an RV, we have a battery for it, in voltages from 12V to 48V. Every Sport Series battery is designed and serviced in Ohio and backed by a 10-year warranty, with shipping paid both ways.
Not sure what your setup needs? Call 855-MAX-LITH (855-629-5484), email [email protected], or visit millertechenergy.com.