I just purchased an Elite 400. One of my primary goals is using it to shift consumption to off-peak times, since my peak rates are 3x that of my off-peak rates. Now that I have it, I’ve realized there’s a significant shortcoming in the programming: no separate schedules for weekends/weekdays. It’s really surprising since Bluetti even has a TOU article that says “Keep in mind that the above-mentioned peak hours are only for weekdays. The schedule could be different for weekends.” So they’re aware that the rates/periods are typically different for weekdays vs. weekends, but they didn’t accomodate that in the programming. Is there any chance of a firmware update that could add this feature?
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You might try using a smart plug from TP-Link (or similar) to switch the AC power on/off, triggering standard UPS mode. These tend to have more flexible and easy to use scheduling options. I am also a TOU subscriber and use these smart plugs to turn off things like instant hot water and the fridges during the 4-hour peak window. You can have all these on the same schedule.
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Yes, that’s certainly an option, I also use smart plugs to control various things. But the whole point of getting a solar generator with TOU built-in was so it could control what happens when the battery power gets low. I’d like to keep some battery power in reserve for a power outage, and I don’t want it abruptly cutting off if the battery gets depleted during the TOU period.
Worst case, I could just try to remember to manually switch it out of TOU mode every Friday evening, then back on Sunday evening, but it’s crazy to me that this basic functionality wasn’t baked into the schedule feature.
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I get you. Backup use case with TOU as a bonus. Same here. And also same conundrum. My answer was to buy enough capacity to support the load through peak with plenty of reserve. Not ideal, but the entire thing went from purely a practical/functional solution to a bit of a hobby. To see how much cost I could shift. ROI is like never, but hey it’s fun. heh
I expect Bluetti will add this. It would be trivial to do so. They’re just waiting on priority cues from consumers, so it’s good to ask. You might want to contact them directly through support.
Thinking pragmatically and given the durability and cycle count of LFP batteries, also cycling on weekends isn’t likely to affect your experience during ownership. Using a conservative figure of 5,000 cycle lifespan, cycling every day results in 14 year lifespan and only weekdays results in a 19 year lifespan. In 14 years battery tech will be so much better and cheaper that it’s unlikely you will still be using the Elite 400. The electronics are more likely to wear out first.
Yeah, it’s not so much battery cycle life I’m concerned with, but efficiency loss. If we assume somewhere around 80% round trip efficiency from the charging process to the battery, then back out from the battery through the inverter, that’s easy to swallow when doing that to time-shift power usage that is 3x the cost at peak. But when there’s no peak rate savings, it’s just wasted energy. Peak rates don’t hit here until June, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that they address this by then. 
Good call on the efficiency hit. If your loads are predictable/consistent, you might be able to tune the timing with the smart plug, adjusting schedule to achieve the competing objectives of cost shifting and backup capacity. I did this at first. Aiming for 50% remaining at end of peak period by moving the “turn off” time earlier and earlier. I am on a 3 tier TOU schedule, so shifting before peak is also advantageous, albeit less so.
I have been trying to figure out how much benefit there is to shifting mid-tier usage. To know, the efficiency of the system is more important as the margins are less. I just installed an Emporia Energy monitoring system with one sensor before my Apex 300 setup and one after it. After a few weeks I should get a pretty accurate round trip loss. I like your 80% figure. Early data agrees, and it might be a bit lower even.