# shocking electrical consumption.....



## spatz1 (May 19, 2011)

i finally got around to fitting 2x gt power anylizers back to back with one displaying what comes in and the other what goes out o the batteries that can be reset on a daily basis or as and when desired.....

i was shocked to see the actual consumption what it was and managed to total 137w with my usual mode of use ( over 10a, made up of tv, inverter, laptop in use and charging,heating and 4 overhead leds....)

the heating (c3402) running at full speed uses little more than the electric gas valve necessary to use it (24w together), so i ll be considdering having that made manual... the tv is ok at 33w inverter inclusive and the led lighting fantastic at 0.9w a bulb...

but the biggest user is by far and away the laptop in use while charging , some 80w although it drops depending on state of charge  on removal of the battery but still in use, i had this drp to 32w so mine will now be charged in the day from solar to keep it running at acceptable 32w consumption...

dont even think of using the 3 speed fan at max at 92w


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## dipper17 (Jul 30, 2011)

Why, what were you expecting?


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

This is why I try to instil in everyone that the most important part of preparing for solar is to know what the loads are.

Sometimes I feel that I'm beating my head against a brick wall


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## spatz1 (May 19, 2011)

dipper17 said:


> Why, what were you expecting?


I wasnt expecting to use over 10a an hour which translated is 1 full 110ah battery safe capacity in 5 hours if it is at normal temperature... with lower winter capacity accounted for a rough guess might be 3 hours 

But its essential to know 6a can be saved by charging the laptop during the day off solar and 1a in doing away with an electric gas valve which is on all night using 12 ah in total (on ts own a 1/5 of all power consumed a night )


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## dipper17 (Jul 30, 2011)

Oh I see you were talking about per house, I thought it was per day.

Cheers


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Very interesting Spatz1.

I'm convinced that my problem with getting a flat battery (before we got solar) was as much to do with charging the netbook as it was with not covering many miles. Computing in any form seems to be pretty hungry for amps!


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

My fairly typical Dell laptop PSU has an _output_ of [email protected], which is approx 65W.

The PSU is mad hot when in operation...QED that's consuming power hence the _input_ power when on full tilt will be considerably higher.

It's not surprising really - whenever I've had to replace a laptop PSU I've been struck how beefy they are versus all the other power adaptors/transformers for various appliances.


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## spatz1 (May 19, 2011)

JWW said:


> Very interesting Spatz1.
> 
> I'm convinced that my problem with getting a flat battery (before we got solar) was as much to do with charging the netbook as it was with not covering many miles. Computing in any form seems to be pretty hungry for amps!


maybe, but you can cut consumption 2/3 by removing an uncharged battery....

i like the set up with what comes in and what goes out and a timer on as each clicks to display....

http://screencast.com/t/Fsh6YQU3qJK


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## Jodi1 (Mar 25, 2010)

This was something we had never thought about as we tend to go to sites with hook up. Last year we bought a static caravan on a site on the Suffolk coast which does not have electricity supplied to the van. We have two large solar panals and have just added a fourth large battery. We found that our flat screen tv (rather an old one) used 125w during operation so we have now replaced that with a slightly smaller one which only uses 40w. We charge items (like the laptop) during sunny days and use it on battery in the evenings, but are now hoping that the extra battery capacity will help when we get a period where there is no sun and charging is limited. We tend to stay at the static for up to a month at a time and find by the end of the period the batteries are low and are not getting enough sun to fully recharge from the use during the dark hours.
It has certainly changed our thinking re electricity and we don't take it for granted so much now.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Anything electrical that puts out HEAT weather designed or just as a byproduct is power hungry.

Ray.


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## Oscarmax (Mar 3, 2011)

Just checked my HP G60 laptop using a 12v to laptop charger 5.0 amps (60w) , however, I am not surprised my flat screen tv uses 45w


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