Starting in Solar/Possible Wind

[RainyLake]

Hello,

I am new to this but and looking at getting started into off grid solar/wind. I mainly want to start off small and work up to bigger systems.
I have 8 x 12V 120AH Deep Cycle Batteries.

I am looking at running a Pellet Insert I have through the winter months and am curious how big of a system should I go with to start off. I would also be curious on any thoughts of wind turbines as I do get quite a bit where I live. Also any suggestions on a nice inverter or better charge controller would be helpful.

Pellet Insert Info:
Voltage: 110 - 120 V
Current: 4.2 Amps
Max Power: 504 Watts
Frequency: 60 Hz

Any Help or Suggestions on products etc. would be appreciated

Thanks in Advance

[inetdog]

Hello RainyLake, and welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

The first step it to find out just how much power the pellet insert uses. I would expect two components, namely the feed auger and a heat circulation fan. The former will either be low power or run intermittently, the latter will hopefully be less than the maximum current figure given.
By getting a Kill-A-Watt (TM) meter you can find the total energy consumption over a 24 hour period. (Although that will probably vary with the amount of heat it is producing.) From there you can start off the off-grid calculator found in a sticky thread in Off Grid Solar. Ask us questions if you have problems there.

[RainyLake]

sorry I don't fully understand that calculator. I'll admit I am a green horn to all this. I have found out that the pellet stove can run 2kwh up to 3kwh per day depending on how high I set it. It seems high to me still but this is running 24 hours. I believe I have a good start with the batteries hopefully.