Sunday, Aug 29, 2004 at 22:34
( just posted this on another site as
well )
Hi mr Z, there’s a few things you need to consider before you set up
shop at a
camp site with a self contained power supply.
These calculations are very rough but will give you some idea of what you will need know.
How much power does the fridge use, Engel fridge’s are pretty economic as far as power goes.
How much power do your lights use and how long are you going to use them each night.
Are you going to use an inverter to power a computer or what ever,
inverters can use a lot of power.
Most Gens have a 12 volt out put and you can simply hook it up to the battery with everything still running off the battery.
For operating off batteries for 10 days a gen is the only real way to go.
I would rather go with Solar panels but at a very rough guess I would say you would need close to $2,000 worth of solar panels to get enough charge to cover you usage and a little to spare for those rain days.
weather you want to use a gen or solar panels, you should take into account how often you are going to need self contained power for 10 day periods.
If it is only going to be once every blue moon then a much cheaper way to go, if you don’t mind driving you vehicle for a few hours every 3 or 4 days, would be to fit a third ( deep cycle ) battery.
No matter how big ( or small ) you alternator is, you will be able to charge 3 or even 4 batteries off it. Main reason for this is that lead/acid batteries at there highest charging rate will only pull about 15 amps max and that by the way is not when they are flat. The flatter they are the lower the charge rate.
You will need to drive and not just let the vehicle idle as the alternator will not be turning fast enough to be producing any substantial current.
We make a smart charger that, among other things, allows you to use the surplus from the cranking battery while still leaving enough power in it to start the vehicle.
Again, a generator would be the best way to go if you are going to do your 10 day stints often.
Hope this is of some help.
Regards
AnswerID:
74471
Follow Up By: Mr Z - Monday, Aug 30, 2004 at 20:03
Monday, Aug 30, 2004 at 20:03
thanks for the advice, 10 days with out moving
camp, is once a year or two, usually 3-5 days
i just want to do it once and do it right
i will possibly be buying some sort of caravan/camper down the track so the generator may be handy in that situation
FollowupID:
334452