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Post by tominwashington on Oct 23, 2018 14:30:33 GMT
I notice there are several people here with knowledge of RV use of solar. I was hoping to draw from their knowledge.
One of the reason I put a small starter system in and am learning is to do something very specific in the event of emergency. Run a lightbulb, charge batteries and run a small freezer.
The light bulb and batteries, no problem. My initial testing is giving me 2-3oo watts a day this time of year. March-Sept I have more than I know what to do with. It is the winter I am gearing for. I live in a place with light from 8-2 only to power the two 100w panels. Assuming that will go down by half come Dec 21st I am trying to plan. Do I have enough? Do I need to bump up to 4 100w panels.
My question.
A friend told me to look into RV small freezers. I found one at home depot that is a little 110v machine rated at 90watts. Now assuming I get it cold, keep it outside, what would it draw in the way of watts during an average day? I know the more you open and close it the harder it works so say it is only opened quickly once every few days. I know taking it up to 10 degrees from the zero cuts back on the watts.
I am guessing it wouldn't be working that hard? Kick on once in a while and then quickly off. Am I wrong to think in the neighborhood of 1-200 watts a day in real world usage? Under/over estimating?
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On a side note, I am amazed at how well the Renogy little starter system works. I am already wishing I didn't go cheap and see what is coming. Foggy, totally grey day yesterday. Couldn't even see where the sun was in the sky it was so thick and grey and hit 5amps at one point. I built a system where I could raise or lower the panels for the seasons and when I put it in place for fall, the amps jumped way up instantly. So many little things to learn.
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Post by tattoo on Oct 23, 2018 16:26:36 GMT
Do you own a Kill-A-Watt meter?? If not you need to get one. There is no way to guess what watts an appliance is going to use a day.... Everyone is different...
I think you need more panels a larger CC and more batteries...... Glad your looking at AC appliances they are better that 12v...
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Post by tominwashington on Oct 23, 2018 18:22:19 GMT
Thanks again for your advise.......ordered one of those meters you mentioned. Had no idea they even existed and only about $25 bucks. Good tool to have and no guesswork.
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grumpy
Solar Newcomer
Posts: 40
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Post by grumpy on Oct 23, 2018 18:51:28 GMT
I notice there are several people here with knowledge of RV use of solar. I was hoping to draw from their knowledge. One of the reason I put a small starter system in and am learning is to do something very specific in the event of emergency. Run a lightbulb, charge batteries and run a small freezer. The light bulb and batteries, no problem. My initial testing is giving me 2-3oo watts a day this time of year. March-Sept I have more than I know what to do with. It is the winter I am gearing for. I live in a place with light from 8-2 only to power the two 100w panels. Assuming that will go down by half come Dec 21st I am trying to plan. Do I have enough? Do I need to bump up to 4 100w panels. My question. A friend told me to look into RV small freezers. I found one at home depot that is a little 110v machine rated at 90watts. Now assuming I get it cold, keep it outside, what would it draw in the way of watts during an average day? I know the more you open and close it the harder it works so say it is only opened quickly once every few days. I know taking it up to 10 degrees from the zero cuts back on the watts. I am guessing it wouldn't be working that hard? Kick on once in a while and then quickly off. Am I wrong to think in the neighborhood of 1-200 watts a day in real world usage? Under/over estimating? ------------ On a side note, I am amazed at how well the Renogy little starter system works. I am already wishing I didn't go cheap and see what is coming. Foggy, totally grey day yesterday. Couldn't even see where the sun was in the sky it was so thick and grey and hit 5amps at one point. I built a system where I could raise or lower the panels for the seasons and when I put it in place for fall, the amps jumped way up instantly. So many little things to learn. It looks like your on the grid tominwashington and only looking for emergency backup in case of power failure. I would seriously consider a 3 to 5,000 watt generator. Remember that any food stored at above 0 degree will have a much shorter shelf life. If your not limited to space for the panels I would go with 160 watt or 300 watt if cost is not an issue, of course your storage battery bank will be your major expense. |
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Post by tattoo on Oct 23, 2018 19:07:51 GMT
Thanks again for your advise.......ordered one of those meters you mentioned. Had no idea they even existed and only about $25 bucks. Good tool to have and no guesswork. Yes they are very handy.... My cabin is 100% off the grid and having a freezer and many other items running at one time is no problem if your solar system is large enough... |
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Post by Admin on Oct 24, 2018 2:26:15 GMT
I notice there are several people here with knowledge of RV use of solar. I was hoping to draw from their knowledge. One of the reason I put a small starter system in and am learning is to do something very specific in the event of emergency. Run a lightbulb, charge batteries and run a small freezer. The light bulb and batteries, no problem. My initial testing is giving me 2-3oo watts a day this time of year. March-Sept I have more than I know what to do with. It is the winter I am gearing for. I live in a place with light from 8-2 only to power the two 100w panels. Assuming that will go down by half come Dec 21st I am trying to plan. Do I have enough? Do I need to bump up to 4 100w panels. My question. A friend told me to look into RV small freezers. I found one at home depot that is a little 110v machine rated at 90watts. Now assuming I get it cold, keep it outside, what would it draw in the way of watts during an average day? I know the more you open and close it the harder it works so say it is only opened quickly once every few days. I know taking it up to 10 degrees from the zero cuts back on the watts. I am guessing it wouldn't be working that hard? Kick on once in a while and then quickly off. Am I wrong to think in the neighborhood of 1-200 watts a day in real world usage? Under/over estimating? ------------ On a side note, I am amazed at how well the Renogy little starter system works. I am already wishing I didn't go cheap and see what is coming. Foggy, totally grey day yesterday. Couldn't even see where the sun was in the sky it was so thick and grey and hit 5amps at one point. I built a system where I could raise or lower the panels for the seasons and when I put it in place for fall, the amps jumped way up instantly. So many little things to learn. As suggested, a Kill-A-Watt meter will accurately provide you with the power information you're looking for. However, as a rule of thumb, we generally use 8-9 hours of cycle time for fridges or freezers. So that would be about 720-810Wh a day. -Renogy Team |
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