Should I go off-grid?

HertsLad

mickyduck55 said:

Interesting, will you not need more solar for the winter months?

I managed OK through the entire winter of 2022-23 so I hope to survive for 2023-24 but using the different system layout (as described in recent posts) and running more appliances overnight than last winter. If the batteries are fully charged just before sunset, further solar panels will not be justified.Neither would they be justified if it's only to provide energy to keep my freezer running all year round. I can make do without it if the running cost is too high.

Krakkkers

Sounds like fun

HertsLad

Here's my most recent gas bill. The standing charge is more than twice the cost of the gas used. I still haven't got round to changing over to bottled propane but I know that's what I should do.

HertsLad

I recently discovered another way of saving energy. It concerns inverters. My main inverter is 4000w pure sine wave. I only turn it on when I need to use an appliance, which isn't very often. The inverter seems to use quite a bit of energy on standby or when supplying low energy devices. One application was to charge AA batteries for use in a DAB radio. But the batteries didn't last very long and it became tedious. My new approach is as follows and is much better: A 35ah 12.8v lithium battery is linked to a 300w modified sine inverter from Aldi which, in turn, supplies power to the DAB radio. I was surprised and pleased to measure the power consumption of the inverter and radio as only 2w. 

QrizB

HertsLad said:

I recently discovered another way of saving energy. It concerns inverters. My main inverter is 4000w pure sine wave. I only turn it on when I need to use an appliance, which isn't very often. The inverter seems to use quite a bit of energy on standby or when supplying low energy devices. One application was to charge AA batteries for use in a DAB radio. But the batteries didn't last very long and it became tedious. My new approach is as follows and is much better: A 35ah 12.8v lithium battery is linked to a 300w modified sine inverter from Aldi which, in turn, supplies power to the DAB radio. I was surprised and pleased to measure the power consumption of the inverter and radio as only 2w. 

Direct DC-DC conversion from the battery to the radio would be more efficient again. What voltage does the radio need?

Edit: something like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155598940779

HertsLad

QrizB said:

HertsLad said:

I recently discovered another way of saving energy. It concerns inverters. My main inverter is 4000w pure sine wave. I only turn it on when I need to use an appliance, which isn't very often. The inverter seems to use quite a bit of energy on standby or when supplying low energy devices. One application was to charge AA batteries for use in a DAB radio. But the batteries didn't last very long and it became tedious. My new approach is as follows and is much better: A 35ah 12.8v lithium battery is linked to a 300w modified sine inverter from Aldi which, in turn, supplies power to the DAB radio. I was surprised and pleased to measure the power consumption of the inverter and radio as only 2w. 

Direct DC-DC conversion from the battery to the radio would be more efficient again. What voltage does the radio need?

Edit: something like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155598940779

I agree, thanks. I previously set up a DAB radio with a USB plug on one end which went into a 5V cigar socket adapter, fed from a 24vdc line. The other end was a plug which fitted the radio input. There are so many slightly different sizes, the plug was not easy to find. The DAB radios come with mains adapters, of course, like I am now using. I also have gear like in the ebay link but it comes back to needing a plug which fits the radio for the 5vdc input. It's infuriating they are all a slightly different size and there is no standard.

QrizB

In the past I've cut the cable on the DC side of an AC to DC adapter and have used the pigtail with the DC plug. Not the neatest solution but effective.

hardergamer

My reply was to the other person saying they were disturbed by your way of living. Getting to why I ride an ebike and e-motorcycle is I was hit by a car on a zebra crossing and lost the use of my right leg, but I still get plenty of exercise riding my ebike, as you still have to pedal to get power from the electric motor.

HertsLad

hardergamer said:

My reply was to the other person saying they were disturbed by your way of living. Getting to why I ride an ebike and e-motorcycle is I was hit by a car on a zebra crossing and lost the use of my right leg, but I still get plenty of exercise riding my ebike, as you still have to pedal to get power from the electric motor.

I'm sorry - I thought you were agreeing with the troll, rather than challenging him or her. It just goes to show the trouble a troll can stir up. I'm very sorry, also, to hear of your accident. I have two ebikes but haven't used either of them for about 5 years after I became alarmed at how my fitness was declining, despite trying to put in as much effort as I could, in order to travel as far as possible on each battery (36v 4400mah). The furthest I went was 90 miles on 3 batteries - I mean 1 journey in a single day. Now, I read a survey found very few people would be prepared to use an ebike to travel 15 miles. Perhaps the same people fit illegal devices to their bikes, so they don't even have to peddle at all. Law enforcement? Forget it.

70sbudgie

HertsLad said:

Ectophile said:

HertsLad said:

A named storm was due but hasn't yet arrived. Strong winds are rare in Hertfordshire and might just provide useful power but it seems too unpredictable. Nevertheless, my most recent thinking was to play around building a wind tower up to 5m high with home made blades of 2m or 2.4m. This would drive either a home made generator or a car alternator with the regulator removed.

I hope you're going to apply for planning permission if it's going to be more than a temporary thing.

Of course not! I will claim it's only a temporary R&D set up, even if I leave there for months or years. My expectation, though, is that it would only produce any useful output very few times a year, when the forecast is for strong winds. So, even if I put in a considerable effort to construct it, I doubt if I will think it's worthwhile, long term.

I understand that large commercial wind turbines are geared. Given how handy you are, is it worth investigating whether the turbines you have bought are geared? And whether this would allow for optimisation?