DIY Powerwalls

Anything electric, AC or DC

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby iconicflux » Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:39 am

That's with propane cooking. The breakdown is something like this:
5 led bulbs@8hr : 320
fridge@10hr: 500
[email protected]: 300
freezer@10hr: 500
3 chromebooks@6hr: 810
router@24hr: 168
modem@24hr: 168
3 smartphone recharging@3hr: 108
2 laptops@16hr: 2400
icy breeze@12hr: 720

The real killer is the laptops which I'm calculating only 2 charging at any given time. We work 100% remotely.

Not included in this is Skylink@16hr: 1600 watts because you can't take skylink mobile yet.

I'd love to know what your breakdown of devices is like and what kind of fridge/freezer you have that are very efficient.

Thanks!

bdosborn wrote:
iconicflux wrote:I'm figuring a use of about 4.6kw/day if we wanted to boondock completely off-grid.


Wow, that's a lot. We usually use about 1kW-hr max a day, and that's with two compressor fridges. Are you using electric cooking? Here's my usage while boondocking for a couple of days.

Image
I have 360 amp-hrs of CALB 180 cells, and 400 watts of PV. I've got a 12V system because I want to charge from the tow vehicle and I don't want 12-24v DC conversion losses. I never use our inverter, everything runs off 12V.

Bruce
iconicflux
Teardrop Advisor
 
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2018 5:02 am

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby bdosborn » Wed Feb 24, 2021 7:36 pm

I use a Tundra 12V upright fridge and a Dometic CF-40. I did some energy measurements awhile ago:
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=46331
I was surprised by how much a laptop used so I built a small PC using a Asrock j5005 mini ITX board. I also use a travel router that runs off a USB port of the PC. Both of them draw around 24W in use. The PC runs off 12V as does the TV/monitor.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GBXMBQF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That was something I emphasized when I put the system together, run everything directly off 12V. Even my wife's CPAP runs 12v direct.
Bruce

P.S. I just sent $100 to Starlink to hold my place in line.
2009 6.5'X11' TTT - Boxcar
All it takes is a speck of faith and a few kilowatts of sweat and grace.
Image
Boxcar Build
aVANger Build
User avatar
bdosborn
Donating Member
 
Posts: 5492
Images: 767
Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 11:10 pm
Location: CO, Littleton

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby Socal Tom » Fri Feb 26, 2021 9:34 am

For late night entertainment we have a couple of old iPads and a raspberry pi server that works as a wireless AP, and hosts a bunch of movies via html. The server draws about 6 watts/hour .

I’m probably confused with the laptop power consumption. The net says 50 to 70 watts/hr. So times 2 is 120ish per hour. Are both of you at the keyboard 16 hours per day? That seems high. Unless one of you is playing a gaming laptop 16 hours per day. If that’s true, I’d look at trying to power it straight for the 12v source it would be more efficient than charging the laptop battery from another battery.
Socal Tom
Donating Member
 
Posts: 1347
Images: 12
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:21 am
Location: San Diego Ca
Top

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby iconicflux » Fri Feb 26, 2021 3:34 pm

We both work remotely 100% of the time for at least 8 hours a day and I often have 2 (or more) going at the same time while working.

I figure 2 at 16hrs a day is probably a decent rough estimate

Socal Tom wrote:For late night entertainment we have a couple of old iPads and a raspberry pi server that works as a wireless AP, and hosts a bunch of movies via html. The server draws about 6 watts/hour .

I’m probably confused with the laptop power consumption. The net says 50 to 70 watts/hr. So times 2 is 120ish per hour. Are both of you at the keyboard 16 hours per day? That seems high. Unless one of you is playing a gaming laptop 16 hours per day. If that’s true, I’d look at trying to power it straight for the 12v source it would be more efficient than charging the laptop battery from another battery.
iconicflux
Teardrop Advisor
 
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2018 5:02 am
Top

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby bdosborn » Fri Feb 26, 2021 3:46 pm

Socal Tom wrote:For late night entertainment we have a couple of old iPads and a raspberry pi server that works as a wireless AP, and hosts a bunch of movies via html. The server draws about 6 watts/hour.


Hmm, I checked the power draw of a raspberry pi with a USB drive running kodi and it was about 20 watts (running from a wall wart). Where do you store the movies?

Bruce
2009 6.5'X11' TTT - Boxcar
All it takes is a speck of faith and a few kilowatts of sweat and grace.
Image
Boxcar Build
aVANger Build
User avatar
bdosborn
Donating Member
 
Posts: 5492
Images: 767
Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 11:10 pm
Location: CO, Littleton
Top

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby Socal Tom » Fri Feb 26, 2021 6:29 pm

bdosborn wrote:
Socal Tom wrote:For late night entertainment we have a couple of old iPads and a raspberry pi server that works as a wireless AP, and hosts a bunch of movies via html. The server draws about 6 watts/hour.


Hmm, I checked the power draw of a raspberry pi with a USB drive running kodi and it was about 20 watts (running from a wall wart). Where do you store the movies?

Bruce


I have a 125(?) GB SD card with most of them and a USB drive with more. Lighttp just hosts the movies via archlinux. The wattage is as reported by my bayite meter. It pretty much matches what I've seen online
Socal Tom
Donating Member
 
Posts: 1347
Images: 12
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:21 am
Location: San Diego Ca
Top

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby bdosborn » Fri Feb 26, 2021 6:46 pm

Got a link on how to set it up on a Pi? Never heard of it but I'm interested...

Bruce
2009 6.5'X11' TTT - Boxcar
All it takes is a speck of faith and a few kilowatts of sweat and grace.
Image
Boxcar Build
aVANger Build
User avatar
bdosborn
Donating Member
 
Posts: 5492
Images: 767
Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 11:10 pm
Location: CO, Littleton
Top

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby Socal Tom » Fri Feb 26, 2021 6:54 pm

bdosborn wrote:Got a link on how to set it up on a Pi? Never heard of it but I'm interested...

Bruce

https://archlinuxarm.org/
look under the platforms tab
Socal Tom
Donating Member
 
Posts: 1347
Images: 12
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:21 am
Location: San Diego Ca
Top

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby bdosborn » Sat Feb 27, 2021 11:01 am

Ouch, that's all command line stuff. Thanks for the link but my Linux fu is too weak :cry:
Bruce
2009 6.5'X11' TTT - Boxcar
All it takes is a speck of faith and a few kilowatts of sweat and grace.
Image
Boxcar Build
aVANger Build
User avatar
bdosborn
Donating Member
 
Posts: 5492
Images: 767
Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 11:10 pm
Location: CO, Littleton
Top

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby iconicflux » Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:51 am

There are some versions of pi you can run Plex on which may be a bit more to your liking. You'll probably want to make sure you have the videos stores in a native format that doesn't require any transcoding so the pi doesn't have to do anything but stream.

bdosborn wrote:Ouch, that's all command line stuff. Thanks for the link but my Linux fu is too weak :cry:
Bruce
iconicflux
Teardrop Advisor
 
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2018 5:02 am
Top

Re: DIY Powerwalls

Postby Socal Tom » Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:56 am

iconicflux wrote:There are some versions of pi you can run Plex on which may be a bit more to your liking. You'll probably want to make sure you have the videos stores in a native format that doesn't require any transcoding so the pi doesn't have to do anything but stream.

bdosborn wrote:Ouch, that's all command line stuff. Thanks for the link but my Linux fu is too weak :cry:
Bruce
I originally used a hacked pogoplug, it didn’t have the umpf for Plex, so I went with straight html. Everything is pretranscoded to mp4 optimized for iPads. I just have the html server list the directories. Significant drop in overhead vs Plex. Also saves a lot of space without all the thumbnails and database info. If folks are interested I can post a how-to.
Socal Tom
Donating Member
 
Posts: 1347
Images: 12
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:21 am
Location: San Diego Ca
Top

Previous

Return to Electrical Secrets

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests