Posted by Ignoramus25850 on September 6, 2005, 8:51 pm
Vaughn,
I realized that with the stuff I already have, I can make a decent
inverter based system for next to nothing. I am going to make a post
here and to Rec.Crafts.Metalworking.
i
wrote:
>>
>> Benefits:
>> - In case of a very extended outage, some fuel savings and
>> generator run time savings, if the inverter system actually works at all.
>>
>> This benefit is relatively marginal, since my Onan DJE generator will
>> outlast any possible outage. And it is already quite economical on
>> fuel. I expect to use less than a liter of fuel per hour.
> I come down on Ig's side here. I have found inverters to be of marginal
> use. I expect to use all 12-volt lights & other goodies when the generator is
> off. I honestly don't have a good idea how many hours I need to run my
'fridge
> per day to preserve my food, but that will probably determine run time for the
> generator.
> That said, few people really consider fuel costs for their standby
> generators. After Katrina came across Florida (remember? we got her first) I
> had a friend who lost power for about 4 days. With the new $3.00 gas, he was
> spending about $50.00 per day to run minimum house loads and one small room
A/C.
> For a month of operation that would be a $1500 "electric bill"! Even my
little
> Onan (runs on NG) would run up an amazing energy bill for 24/7 operation.
> Vaughn
--
Posted by Steve Spence on September 6, 2005, 10:58 pm
inverters are handy for all the devices not easily converted to low
voltage, or high current devices when you really don't want to run
welding cable through your walls.
Steve Spence
Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org
Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net
http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html
Vaughn wrote:
>
>
>>Benefits:
>> - In case of a very extended outage, some fuel savings and
>>generator run time savings, if the inverter system actually works at all.
>>
>>This benefit is relatively marginal, since my Onan DJE generator will
>>outlast any possible outage. And it is already quite economical on
>>fuel. I expect to use less than a liter of fuel per hour.
>
>
> I come down on Ig's side here. I have found inverters to be of marginal
> use. I expect to use all 12-volt lights & other goodies when the generator is
> off. I honestly don't have a good idea how many hours I need to run my
'fridge
> per day to preserve my food, but that will probably determine run time for the
> generator.
>
> That said, few people really consider fuel costs for their standby
> generators. After Katrina came across Florida (remember? we got her first) I
> had a friend who lost power for about 4 days. With the new $3.00 gas, he was
> spending about $50.00 per day to run minimum house loads and one small room
A/C.
> For a month of operation that would be a $1500 "electric bill"! Even my
little
> Onan (runs on NG) would run up an amazing energy bill for 24/7 operation.
>
> Vaughn
>
>
Posted by CC on September 6, 2005, 10:10 pm
Ignoramus25850 wrote:
>
> This benefit is relatively marginal, since my Onan DJE generator will
> outlast any possible outage. And it is already quite economical on
> fuel. I expect to use less than a liter of fuel per hour.
I'm not confident your 7KW genset will be that efficient under load.
Best to test it for a day before you find yourself short of fuel. A
window air conditioner that draws 5KW-6KW running at full blast should
be a good measure. Or maybe four 1500W space heaters running full -
outside of course.
CC
Posted by Ignoramus25850 on September 6, 2005, 10:08 pm
> Ignoramus25850 wrote:
>>
>> This benefit is relatively marginal, since my Onan DJE generator will
>> outlast any possible outage. And it is already quite economical on
>> fuel. I expect to use less than a liter of fuel per hour.
> I'm not confident your 7KW genset will be that efficient under load.
> Best to test it for a day before you find yourself short of fuel. A
> window air conditioner that draws 5KW-6KW running at full blast should
> be a good measure. Or maybe four 1500W space heaters running full -
> outside of course.
I did load test that genset at 7.5 kW resistive load, last winter. It
ran for about 15 minutes with no problems.
i
> CC
--
Posted by Pagan on September 7, 2005, 12:13 pm
> > Ignoramus25850 wrote:
> >>
> >> This benefit is relatively marginal, since my Onan DJE generator will
> >> outlast any possible outage. And it is already quite economical on
> >> fuel. I expect to use less than a liter of fuel per hour.
> >
> > I'm not confident your 7KW genset will be that efficient under load.
> > Best to test it for a day before you find yourself short of fuel. A
> > window air conditioner that draws 5KW-6KW running at full blast should
> > be a good measure. Or maybe four 1500W space heaters running full -
> > outside of course.
> I did load test that genset at 7.5 kW resistive load, last winter. It
> ran for about 15 minutes with no problems.
Remember, A/C units, refrigerators, and TV's aren't resistive loads, and
tend to suck up a lot of power on startup. If they all start up at the same
time...
Pagan
XML site map
>> Benefits:
>> - In case of a very extended outage, some fuel savings and
>> generator run time savings, if the inverter system actually works at all.
>>
>> This benefit is relatively marginal, since my Onan DJE generator will
>> outlast any possible outage. And it is already quite economical on
>> fuel. I expect to use less than a liter of fuel per hour.
> I come down on Ig's side here. I have found inverters to be of marginal
> use. I expect to use all 12-volt lights & other goodies when the generator is
> off. I honestly don't have a good idea how many hours I need to run my