along the lines of an inverter charger

MrWizard wrote:
That's going to be a long recharge and it isn't going to happen overnight on solar

Now that is funny right there :B

Your right he did mention solar
He also said use battery until 12.0 and switch to shore until the batteries reach float 13.2v

That's going to be a long recharge and it isn't going to happen overnight on solar
His batteries will sit overnight at 50 percent discharge of he does not use the converter and then recharge at an unknown rate during the next day and may not fully recover, he failed to mention the amount of solar the amount of batteries, and whether he intends to use the converter charging or solar only
Way to little info to expand beyond what I and others have stated
If he uses solar only recharging, then yes he could save an unknown amount on the electric bill, xx number of use hours, then go xx days on shore power while the solar recharges the batteries to full

MrWizard wrote:
The OP didn't even mention solar

yes he did.

Sounds like taking care of it manually is the better(easier) idea for now.

2oldman wrote:

dahkota wrote:

Why we do it? Some places charge for electricity usage and can get expensive. Why should I pay for electricity I don't need when my solar panels can provide 90 percent of it.

That's fine.. but sounds like OP doesn't have that much solar.

Obviously the cheapest solution is to simply not plug in. If it's cost he's worried about, shore power has to be used eventually to charge his batteries anyway, so I don't know what difference it really makes.

Perhaps he'll chime in.

You're correct in assuming i don't have a lot solar right now. I'm just dipping my toes in. A bit more information; It is not an rv set up although i figure they are close enough where the thoughts provided will be useful.

The current production is enough to cover needs for 2 days before i need to charge. I do have land line power but i actively choose not to use it if i can. Cost isn't a huge deal as it's more of a hobby however if i can save a few dollars the happier my better half will be when i buy more solar.

As a side note to others trying to get into solar; Walmart batteries are grossly mislabeled. They are 100 amp hours at a 1 amp rate which i should have read into more. The true capacity is more like 65-75 amp hours depending on how hard you use it.

On Edit: I knew walmart batteries wouldn't be great but i'm making it work. I'm more annoyed that they would rate them at a 1 amp rate and say yep that's good.

The OP didn't even mention solar
He asked about using his batteries, then switching to shore power
Which means using power to recharge the batteries
20 percent more power than using shore power alone, directly for the same loads

Could add a timer on the converter to just charge an hour every morning and let the solar finish the charge.
Adjust the timer as needed.

dahkota wrote:

Why we do it? Some places charge for electricity usage and can get expensive. Why should I pay for electricity I don't need when my solar panels can provide 90 percent of it.

That's fine.. but sounds like OP doesn't have that much solar.

Obviously the cheapest solution is to simply not plug in. If it's cost he's worried about, shore power has to be used eventually to charge his batteries anyway, so I don't know what difference it really makes.

Perhaps he'll chime in.

The answer is yes.. But I'd be hard pressed to tell you where to find it.

IF you have a stand alone inverter... Then when the battery voltage does too low it will shut down

Feed the 120v Out to the GENERATOR in on an auto transfer switch and then so long as the inverter has been working for at least xxx seconds (usually 30-60) it will be selected.. When the inverter shuts down it will "Drop" down to mains power. NOTE: I'd not run an air conditioner through that switch, or any other big ticket item. They do not like big load switching.. But everything else should be OK.

We have a magnum inverter charger and solar.
If I want to run (mostly) on battery power while plugged in, I turn off the charger side and leave the inverter side on. The solar controller continues to charge the batteries while the sun is out and the inverter side powers everything plugged in to the outlets using the batteries. I am still able to use the a/c and microwave (on shore power) if needed.
Why we do it? Some places charge for electricity usage and can get expensive. Why should I pay for electricity I don't need when my solar panels can provide 90 percent of it.