Electrical Help pls
Hi! I bought a 250 Watt Electric Heater to stave off the chill at night (the tag says it uses 2.1A). We have solar panels to charge our 200A battery (I don't think that matters, but just in case). ...
Forum Discussion
maria_bettina wrote:time2roll wrote:
Amps x volts = watts. DC or AC works the same.
Always use 12 volts when calculating because that is where the power is coming from.
Otherwise need to plug into a 120v generator.
The 12 Volt Side of Life
This discussion has been eye-opening. !!!
I ended up calculating the DVD/TV draw, and it meshes with what I saw on the Renogy screen, ~3A. Which seems crazy high to me, but I gotta start thinking in 12 volts, which is clearly difficult for me to wrap my pea-brain around.
Thanks for the link. I will check it out.
Your little inverter ought to be fine for the DVD player and TV. Keep in mind that DC power draw is DC power draw - depending on how much sun you get and how long you'll be 'out' away from plugging into another charge source it all adds up.
I had a Renology solar charge controller that would not only report the voltage and power the panels were generating but what voltage the battery was at.
The rule of thumb (off the top of my head, someone will correct me if I'm wrong):
10.5V = DEAD
11.5V = %50 - you should not discharge a flooded lead acid battery below this as it damages the battery/reduces the # of charge/discharge cycles you can use.
- Mark0.
