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Nobadays
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# Posted: 3 Apr 2020 09:11am
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Weird... I was laying awake at 4:30 this morning and happened to think.... "did I turn the satellite internet off last night?" So of course I had to raise up and look down from the loft to see if the light was glowing. Sure enough, I had left it on. Next thought was, "crap that's 38 watts an hour. I bet we dropped into the 45v range. Supposed to be sunny today so no matter."
Of course then my 4:30 brain starts turning.... thinking about how our off-grid life kind of revolves around sunshine. When you make your own power you are way more aware of the electricity you are using and when you use it. My wife has been wanting to bake cookies and make roasted vegetables. So yesterday afternoon, we usually float around noon-1PM, she fired up the oven and started baking (our oven has a glow bar, like 400 watts when in use....new off-grid range is being planned for). Vacuuming, after we float. If we watch a little TV... a movie or stream something, depends where the battery level is at.
Not complaining, and frankly we have a solar power system quite capable of supplying our needs/desires.... and adding to it this spring. Started wiring in another 4kw of lithium to bring us to 12kw total, and will be adding another 750 watts of solar panels as soon as I can get the lumber to build the rack. I guess it is just an observation.
Just wondering if others find they too spend a bit of time thinking about, looking at their SCC displays and battery monitors. I bet you do!
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moneypitfeeder
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2020 12:43pm
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We have such a basic system, that yes, we do pay a good bit of attention to the sunshine! We don't run much, but we like to make sure our phones/walkies are charged for emergencies, and batteries for flashlights etc. Our range is propane, but we also switched to smaller (easier to lift) tanks, so we really try to watch our use on that too. If we run a fire in the wood burner, I make sure to put a big pot of or 2 of water on so that if we need any hot water its available without using the stove. We try to limit water waste so there is less we need to pump and filter. It really is amazing how much more conscious you become of your usage of resources when they aren't cheap or immediately accessible.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2020 01:26pm - Edited by: toyota_mdt_tech
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Its funny you mention that. My power company at my residence just recently started sending out reports of our power usage compared to 1000 homes around me. I was in the good section under efficient neighbors which was well under the average, so I was doing great, but missed being below even efficient neighbors my a little bit.
I switch out dishwashers heated drying to off and next report, I was under (1,280 units) while efficient neighbors are 1,330 units.
I would of never changed the dishwasher. So now this is giving me a goal to beat. Its actually fun. Out furnace is a 90+ high efficiency and thermostat is on a program, so aside from that, our usage is pretty consistent.
So now I see how the solar guys might really watch it now.
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2020 02:20pm
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We got the additional 4kw of lithium storage hooked into the system now. Haven't had a chance to see if that will help us get to the target of 3 days without sunshine... we have had enough breaks in the clouds to float every day. The extra storage is primarily for winter. We have 1500 watts of solar on the roof and just built a rack and mounted another 750 watts.... not hooked in yet, but don't really need it. Those panels again are primarily for winter as I can reach them from the ground to clear the snow from them. They will also help on those bright grey days when the output isn't that great. Our solar system is probably way beyond "cabin" size, approaching regular house size! But then we live here 8-9 months out of the year. The "primary home" we have decided is more of our retirement home.... when we are too old/gets to hard to do life up here.
MPF.... yeah we watch water pretty close like you. We have a 550 gallon cistern that, if we watch our use lasts about a month... a full three weeks at least. People in the city would be shocked that we only regularly shower twice a week... sometimes another shower in there if we have done some strenuous work and really need one. (We backpack a lot so 3-4 days between showers is no big deal.) We are lucky to have a 250 gallon propane tank. It gets filled once a year. Last year it was 80 gallons for the whole year. We were running a propane fridge part of the year before the solar came online... now electric fridge. The propane one still gets used but is hooked up to a 5 gallon bottle... about a month on 5 gallons. I think our water heater is the big user... standard 40 gallon unit. I have an on-demand heater to install but haven't got to it yet.... gotta change the exhaust pipe all out from 3" to 4".
Toyota... I'm shocked just turning off the dishwasher dryer brought your usage down so much... wow! I will have to check ours at the AZ home. We switched that home to all LEDs for lighting. Our heat pump is about 10 years old now so I'm sure the efficiency is less than it could be. We are seriously talking about putting a mini split in the bedroom for night. We run the whole house AC at around 78/79 during the day but at night we turn it down to 71/72... cooler if my wife has her way! With a mini split we could close the door and cool just cool the bedroom down to a good sleeping temperature. Would love to put solar on that house too but just can't swing it yet.
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justinbowser
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# Posted: 26 Apr 2020 10:39pm - Edited by: justinbowser
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In the beginning we had 900W of panels and a 600 Ah AGM battery bank and watched things like a hawk.
We now have a little over 14 kw of LiFePo4 battery and can easily go three days. Even when overcast my 2.9 kw of panels will still make enough juice to get the batteries back up to 100% by the end of the day.
We had to stop running the AC earlier then we wanted the other day so the wife said to order another battery! I said that would be a good use for the stimulus check. In a few more weeks we will be at 19.2 kw of battery so should never have to worry and DOD should never be below 85% so they should last a long time.
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 26 Apr 2020 11:13pm
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Sweet! Nice setup! We will be up to 2.25kw of panel when I get the additional 750watts wired in. We have and 12kw of lithium storage. We are kind of maxed out on storage unless I redesign the way the load center is wired. I have an 8 space Square D QO load center with a 35amp breaker for each 2kw 48v module. Unfortunately my main attachment on the busbar for the 4/0 and fuse kind of overlap 2 spaces for breakers. It's big wire! Hoping that the 12kw will be enough.
We were high overcast but bright today... floated by noon!
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justinbowser
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# Posted: 27 Apr 2020 08:04pm
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Yeah, it's a good feeling, right? As cheap as panels are right now there is no excuse NOT to overpanel. The other day we were into float by 09:30!
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