Done some reading, done lots of research in the last 6 months, I don't consider myself a newbie, but I have some basic requirements, nothing extreme, so I'm hoping you can give me a kick in the right direction
Last May, I got a cottage that is off grid. The owner had a primitive, and hastily wired system, using extension cords and some other electrical wire, connected to light socket, with 12V incandescent bulbs. He brought in his battery booster pack, and plugged in the cigarette lighter plug, and that was his light for a weekend. all cooking is propane, fridge was propane, even propane lanterns are still hooked up on the wall. No tv, or fancy electronics for him.
- I ripped all this out, keeping the sockets, and bought a bunch more.
- I looked for a good deal on stranded wire, and really couldn't find much affordable at the time, so I went with 14 gauge speaker wire, with the intent of hooking it up, figuring out what lights and plugs I wanted where, and eventually replace the cable with proper in-wall cabling when the time came
- I got 2 deep cycle batteries from Costco, 120ah each, connected in parallel. (12V @ 240ah)
- installed a single 100 W coleman solar panel
- I used standard household light switches, which I plan to replace
- a 12 V battery disconnect switch from princess auto
- an 8 way fuse block holder with the red LED to indicate a blown fuse
- coleman 30A charge controller
- 1100 Watt KRUIGER inverter .... never had to use it, but will be for popcorn, or make a fast coffee with microwave
I also purchased a Honda Companion 2000 watt generator, which I didn't have to use once last summer. I used it more to charge my Milwaukee batteries for lanterns and power tools.
I visit my cottage on weekends, sometimes only every other week.
LOADS: I have a total of eight (8) X 9 watt 12 V LED light bulbs. They are never all left on, but have done so a couple of times just to try it out...We run 2 CPAP's at night. I have a couple of USB charge stations. I may add another 2 bulbs this year. No TV, no satellite. The outhouse has it's own independent system, with a single 12V battery I pulled out of a DSL high speed modem, which is 9ah, and a single 9W LED bulb, the battery has a 2.5W panel on it, and lasted all summer no issues.
I have never ran out of power in the cottage. The voltage is around 12.5 by end of sunny day, sometimes as low as 12.3 and holds all night with the CPAP on. (using the 12V cable) My stays last 3 nights on average. I do expect to be there a week maybe this summer. My biggest hurdle last year was refrigeration. I have a propane fridge, and a propane cooler, They have to be lit when I arrive,and turned off when I go, food has to be brought and taken... And propane isn't cheap.
I found "in-wall" speaker wire, which has a CSA approval, at Canadian Tire for $40. I'm considering replacing the original speaker wire with this, if I stay with a DC system....
I'd like to get a DC fridge - they are $1300. Was going to upgrade to a 335W panel, with an MPPT controller ($500 more) so with taxes that's about $2,000 more.
Alternatively buy 2 more 100 Watt Colemans, for a total of 300W of panels - Total $400 with taxes for 2 moe panels. I also expect to buy 2 more batteries identical to the ones I have now, so I'd have 4 X 12V 120ah batteries Then I still need the fridge, but avoid having to replace the charge controller.
And of course I toyed with the idea of putting 2 of those batteries in series, and run the fridge off the 24V setup and leave the original setup as is.
Until I realized maybe, maybe I should think outside the box, and buy 2 X 335 watt panels, with the MPPT controller, an inverter and a household style fridge. The fridge is only $600 that way., and spend the money on the panels...or just go the whole 9 yards, rewire it with solid core, and invert all my power and go AC.
The math tells me I should go AC setup.....
So I'm really struggling with the best way to attack this. just to have a fridge. my requirements should not exceed anything more than basic lights, charging, and cpaps.... I simply want to add a fridge and not have it kill the system when I'm not there.
Sorry this was long, but want to get all the details out... Hope it made sense and hope you guys can offer some input!.
Last May, I got a cottage that is off grid. The owner had a primitive, and hastily wired system, using extension cords and some other electrical wire, connected to light socket, with 12V incandescent bulbs. He brought in his battery booster pack, and plugged in the cigarette lighter plug, and that was his light for a weekend. all cooking is propane, fridge was propane, even propane lanterns are still hooked up on the wall. No tv, or fancy electronics for him.
- I ripped all this out, keeping the sockets, and bought a bunch more.
- I looked for a good deal on stranded wire, and really couldn't find much affordable at the time, so I went with 14 gauge speaker wire, with the intent of hooking it up, figuring out what lights and plugs I wanted where, and eventually replace the cable with proper in-wall cabling when the time came
- I got 2 deep cycle batteries from Costco, 120ah each, connected in parallel. (12V @ 240ah)
- installed a single 100 W coleman solar panel
- I used standard household light switches, which I plan to replace
- a 12 V battery disconnect switch from princess auto
- an 8 way fuse block holder with the red LED to indicate a blown fuse
- coleman 30A charge controller
- 1100 Watt KRUIGER inverter .... never had to use it, but will be for popcorn, or make a fast coffee with microwave
I also purchased a Honda Companion 2000 watt generator, which I didn't have to use once last summer. I used it more to charge my Milwaukee batteries for lanterns and power tools.
I visit my cottage on weekends, sometimes only every other week.
LOADS: I have a total of eight (8) X 9 watt 12 V LED light bulbs. They are never all left on, but have done so a couple of times just to try it out...We run 2 CPAP's at night. I have a couple of USB charge stations. I may add another 2 bulbs this year. No TV, no satellite. The outhouse has it's own independent system, with a single 12V battery I pulled out of a DSL high speed modem, which is 9ah, and a single 9W LED bulb, the battery has a 2.5W panel on it, and lasted all summer no issues.
I have never ran out of power in the cottage. The voltage is around 12.5 by end of sunny day, sometimes as low as 12.3 and holds all night with the CPAP on. (using the 12V cable) My stays last 3 nights on average. I do expect to be there a week maybe this summer. My biggest hurdle last year was refrigeration. I have a propane fridge, and a propane cooler, They have to be lit when I arrive,and turned off when I go, food has to be brought and taken... And propane isn't cheap.
I found "in-wall" speaker wire, which has a CSA approval, at Canadian Tire for $40. I'm considering replacing the original speaker wire with this, if I stay with a DC system....
I'd like to get a DC fridge - they are $1300. Was going to upgrade to a 335W panel, with an MPPT controller ($500 more) so with taxes that's about $2,000 more.
Alternatively buy 2 more 100 Watt Colemans, for a total of 300W of panels - Total $400 with taxes for 2 moe panels. I also expect to buy 2 more batteries identical to the ones I have now, so I'd have 4 X 12V 120ah batteries Then I still need the fridge, but avoid having to replace the charge controller.
And of course I toyed with the idea of putting 2 of those batteries in series, and run the fridge off the 24V setup and leave the original setup as is.
Until I realized maybe, maybe I should think outside the box, and buy 2 X 335 watt panels, with the MPPT controller, an inverter and a household style fridge. The fridge is only $600 that way., and spend the money on the panels...or just go the whole 9 yards, rewire it with solid core, and invert all my power and go AC.
The math tells me I should go AC setup.....
So I'm really struggling with the best way to attack this. just to have a fridge. my requirements should not exceed anything more than basic lights, charging, and cpaps.... I simply want to add a fridge and not have it kill the system when I'm not there.
Sorry this was long, but want to get all the details out... Hope it made sense and hope you guys can offer some input!.
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