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11-02-2013, 08:16 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 509
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Amp Hours Used
Thought I would share this with you all. While getting my coach ready for bed for winter, I went and pressed a few on the buttons on my solar controller. And in a one year period I used 7925 amp hours.
I do boondock 99% of the time so I wonder what that saved me in generator use?
Just wanted to share this.
Good day to you all!
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2006 Mountain Aire, Jeep LJ, 900 watts of solar, boondocking life away! Volunteer Fire Fighter!
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11-02-2013, 08:42 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 115
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7925ah x 120vrms is roughly 951kwh. Florida Power & Light billed me $180 for the 1730kwh I used in my Florida home last month. 951/1730=0.55 (what you used vs what I used). 0.55x$180=$99 so you saved about a hundred bucks.
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Dave & Lynne - Retired & livin' the dream. '04 Bounder W32 on Workhorse W20 chassis powered by GM 8.1L gasser.
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11-02-2013, 08:47 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 7,016
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Well, your generator doesn't provide power as cheaply as FPL does!
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Marc and Jill, Wellington FL
2013 Entegra Anthem 44SL
2018 Lincoln MKX
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11-02-2013, 08:48 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 7,078
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Wouldn't the amp-hours measured on a solar controller more likely be 12V rather than 120V? That would be ten times less energy.
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Joel (AKA docj)--
RV Technology Specialist
Campground Reviews administrator
2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder Princeton CAT C-12
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11-02-2013, 08:54 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 115
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Yes if 12v then 10x less. I assumed he was measuring inverter output ah.
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Dave & Lynne - Retired & livin' the dream. '04 Bounder W32 on Workhorse W20 chassis powered by GM 8.1L gasser.
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11-02-2013, 09:25 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 115
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MRUSA14
Well, your generator doesn't provide power as cheaply as FPL does!
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An Onan RV 5500 EFI uses 0.6 gph at half load which is 2750 watts, so 2.750kwh takes 0.6 gal of gas. A gal of gas costs about $3.20 for me these days so 2.75kwh costs 0.6X$3.2=$1.92. The 951kwh I figured in an earlier post (assuming 120v) would therefore cost (951/2.750)X$1.92=$664 saved. If the OP meant 12v amps used then the savings is more like $66.
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Dave & Lynne - Retired & livin' the dream. '04 Bounder W32 on Workhorse W20 chassis powered by GM 8.1L gasser.
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11-02-2013, 09:39 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SoCal
Posts: 14,980
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I don't recall the specific numbers. Awhile ago I used a kill-a-watt meter to see what my coach used plugged in while stored/inactive at home. Calculated to be ~$10-$12/month. Albeit SoCal electric rates are likely higher than many places. Biggest portion of that power draw was the converter to charge the batteries. Now with solar on the coach I don't plug in anymore while stored/inactive at home.
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Vince and Susan
2011 Tiffin Phaeton 40QTH (Cummins ISC/Freightliner)
Flat towing a modified 2005 Jeep (Rubicon Wrangler)
Previously a 2002 Fleetwood Pace Arrow 37A and a 1995 Safari Trek 2830.
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11-02-2013, 10:13 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 509
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My last long trip of the year was 14 days of dry camping in Colorado. Never started the generator. My wife cooks about half the time using a slow cooking crook pot that pulls a fair amount of power. Plus I never turn the inverter off.
Also on this last trip my fridge went out on propane so the solar really saved me. The spark generator quit so I ran it off the inverter the whole time plus everthing else.
Might not save alot of money but I like it. Solar is really quite!
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2006 Mountain Aire, Jeep LJ, 900 watts of solar, boondocking life away! Volunteer Fire Fighter!
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11-03-2013, 12:04 AM
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#9
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Community Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Between the Oceans
Posts: 6,870
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what are your battery capacity and solar wattage?
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Steven & Polly
2000 Country Coach Intrigue 40' with ISC 350
2014 Ford C-Max Energi
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11-03-2013, 12:26 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SoCal
Posts: 14,980
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The OP lists 900w solar in their signature.
I have 600w on the roof and another 200w portable if needed. 4 Trojan 105 six volt batteries.
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Vince and Susan
2011 Tiffin Phaeton 40QTH (Cummins ISC/Freightliner)
Flat towing a modified 2005 Jeep (Rubicon Wrangler)
Previously a 2002 Fleetwood Pace Arrow 37A and a 1995 Safari Trek 2830.
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11-03-2013, 10:24 AM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 509
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CountryFit
what are your battery capacity and solar wattage?
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As mentioned, I have 900 watts and at the present time. I have 6 agm's with 660 amp hours. I will be going to a larger battery or two more batteries when the present need to be replaced.
Some say that the 900 watts is over-kill. And I say that that might be correct if you boondock only in july or August. But I boondock in the winter and fall too. Plus I don't have to get on the roof and angle the panels during the summer months because of the 900 watts.
There are a few other reason too, like efficiency and power loss through connections and wire.
Thanks
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2006 Mountain Aire, Jeep LJ, 900 watts of solar, boondocking life away! Volunteer Fire Fighter!
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11-03-2013, 10:28 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 509
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Nice set up Vince. Looks great and I bet it works great too!
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2006 Mountain Aire, Jeep LJ, 900 watts of solar, boondocking life away! Volunteer Fire Fighter!
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