Enough power?

Simplygib wrote:
Campermama - just trying to hazard a guess at your electrical usage based on your description and what my appliances draw, which may or may not match yours.

"A few showers" - my water pump draws about 7 amps. Assuming a shower takes 10 minutes that would be about 1.16 amps per shower. So lets say 3.5 for three of them. Note - I doubt you meant three showers in one day. If you're talking about one shower a day, this number would be 1.16. But for fun lets just say 3.5.

Lights - I'll assume you have incandescent bulbs and you burn two of them for 15 minutes a night. They usually use about 1.5 to 2 amps per bulb, so lets say 1 amp for lighting (since you're only using light for 15 minutes).

Heater - my heater fan draws 2.5 amps. Lets say three hours a day of heater use, so 7.5 amps there.

Fridge - I don't know what kind of fridge you have but I assume you're running it on propane. Still, there is a circuit board inside of it that probably draws about half an amp, 24 hours a day. This is going to be your biggest draw, unless there are other draws you forgot to mention. 12 amps.

These are all guesses, of course.

So we have 12 + 7.5 + 1 + 3.5 = 24 amps.

If that's correct, you have to put maybe 26 or so amps back into your battery bank on a daily basis (need to add more than you use due to inefficiencies in the system).

That amount of usage is about the same for me. I have 200 watts of solar on the roof and a 220 amp hour battery bank (two 6v batts). In your area (I'm usually out there for a month or so each winter) I can be recharged by noon or so each day. My panels tilt, which helps in winter.

With 120 watts I think you would be fine most days, probably getting totally recharged by mid afternoon or so.

Of course this is all based on guess work (as to your actual power usage) and the assumption that your solar system is set up correctly and your panel will tilt. If mounted flat it will take longer this time of year.

Hope this helps.....