Unyalli wrote:
Do you monitor your fuel gauge in your car?
There is no need to monitor car fuel gauge because the gauge IS the monitor :)...
My battery "fuel" is monitored, though not by standalone monitor. See, some solar controllers are doing this better than others. Very detailed multiline/multiscreen display. Every evening it gives me report for the day, telling whether the Absorb stage was reached, how long it stayed in Float afterwards, and was the switch to Float triggered by charging current drop or timer-activated. And, of course, battery voltage during any time of day or night.
Big solar, big battery (relatively to my needs). As a result, 90% of time the morning SOC is so high that it goes in Absorb well before noon. I don't even check the daily report more often than twice a week (available in the memory for 30 days).
One reason why I put this in the last place
for the OP was that she already has too much on her plate, and their stated energy needs are minimal. Solar with voltage on display could be all they need.
There are monitor-ish gizmo for cheap, ~30 bucks on Ebay/Amazon, if you know what to look for. Learning takes time. When there is that much to learn, it will take much time. Better to start doing something.
Agreed with what time2roll said - you can buy a pair of batteries for the cost of Trimetric monitor.
