Comment on What's your contingency plan for the apocalypse?
PetteriPano@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago I don’t power all of it at once, and not direcly off of solar. I could maybe fit another 200W worth of panel on that roof, but for 4000W I’d need seven caravan roofs. That battery is the buffer and it’s a beast. At 300Ah I have 4kWh to pull at 1C.
The fridge sips a nice 30W. Panels put in ~2kWh on a sunny day. So thats a 1.7kWh surplus for running heavy loads - enough to max out that inverter for an hour a day. That’s plenty for microwaving or pumping water.
papagaya@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Sounds like a nice setup. I’m jealous :D
But shouldn’t that only be a 1.3kWh surplus with the fridge drawing 30W*24h=720Wh?
You’re right.
Well, still enough juice to pump all the water we need and heat our meals.
We’ll just have to limit hot showers to once a fortnight. Needs about 800Wh to heat the hot water tank.
zorflieg@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I don’t mean to criticise but if you can add anything more (like the other 200w space) I suggest you should. 👍
Yeah, I mean apocalypse scenario is not my main goal. But it’s nice to have a contingency plan if shit would hit the fan.
This is my second season with the caravan, I had an apocalypse sailboat before that. I put 2x100W on it for the first season, added another 2x100W this season while going from 160Ah lead-acid to 300Ah Lithium. It’s a night and day difference there already.
I’m plugged in most of the time, either for air conditioning or heating - the Mrs wants her comfort. There’s a three-way absorption fridge (220V, 12V or gas) that draws like 110W. I can still be unplugged for three nights or so with that running; which makes long distances or overnight ferries possible without ruining food.
And if we want to stay somewhere without shore power we can flip the absorption fridge to gas and be cooking with gas as well. The compressor fridge chest that sips 30W usually sits in under the awning in front anyway.