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Old 03-27-2015, 08:00 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: England
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Electric Usage

Hey guys! Since I've got a lot of planning ahead i've tried to work out what I'd like to have in the bus and how much it would use.

Basically I've tried to work out how much electricity will be used when the appliances I have are turned on and for how long, to then work out what batteries to buy and how to recharge them since I'd prefer to be self sufficient. I'd really appreciate it if someone would take time out to have a look at an online spreadsheet I've created and just check I've calculated it correctly since I really know nothing about this especially since I'm in the UK I find it more confusing trying to switch to American system as well.

If anyone would be willing and to also talk me through it at the same time so I can learn that would be a wonderful help!

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Old 03-27-2015, 08:26 AM   #2
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Here we deal with 120v and 240v, may be easier to check out Australian and south African sites for the electric conversions...w/o converting...wander around here 4x4 Community Forum - Powered by vBulletin

They where very helpful when I went on safari there
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Old 03-27-2015, 07:20 PM   #3
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I'd say...just post your list and let everyone have a look see.

Do you deal with voltage and amperage and watts?
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Old 03-30-2015, 06:24 AM   #4
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Hi there! Posted the link, it's page 2 thats the updated one. And yes I did use Voltage, amperage and watts.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing
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Old 04-03-2015, 07:47 PM   #5
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you can use gas for alot of that stuff
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Old 04-04-2015, 11:16 PM   #6
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My thoughts:
The application of formulas and such seems solid. You've done a good job of considering electrical needs for cooking, lighting, communications, cleaning, and entertainment. But what about comfort? That might include such things as space and water heaters, ventilation fans, etc. Because there's an efficiency penalty for running loads through the inverter I'd suggest you move some things out of the ac list into the dc list. Phone charger is a prime candidate; DVD, TV, and gaming PC might also be chosen to have direct dc power input options. Speaking of the inverter, these have an idle current (it might be called "quiescent") that the inverter itself consumes simply by being turned on even if there's no ac load. Perhaps there should be a line item for that. With regard to the battery charging, the math seems OK but it is a little unconventional to work in terms of amp-hours instead of watt-hours. I guess that's because solar insolation is measured in watts, and the array voltage may well be different than the battery bank voltage and thus the currents will be different too on either side of the charge controller (oh, there's another de-rating factor to add to your list: efficiency of the charge controller).

Finally: many of the hours-of-usage estimates seem odd to me. But that may well be because my lifestyle and projected usage pattern are different to yours, so I accept them as being accurate. All except the fridge/freezer, which I question a little bit. My home fridge/freezers seem to operate at 25-50% duty cycle and 100-something watts when they're on, but maybe you've chosen then numbers you did as a way to average out the value because of the duty cycle, or maybe you're looking at a continuous-load type I'm unfamiliar with.
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