Off grid power use

[mbryner]

Fellow off-gridders (& everyone else),

I'm interested in the average amount of electricity you use per day.   i.e. lifestyle.   When you're off-grid are you forgoing the electronic niceities of our age?   I'll start: I added up all our loads today:
50 W           = 2 Outback inverters baseline/no-load
~30 W         = Microwave link internet receiver, repeater, VOIP phone, router
80 W each    = 2 Macbook Pro laptops (when charging)
<20 W ave   = Backup network HD
<20 W         = propane on-demand water heater
50 W           = refrigerator compressor (when running), big new energy star fridge
25 W           = water circ pump on woodstove (intermittent, but runs quite a lot of the time in winter)
20 W           = Verve lighting system control panels (for 6 panels total that's not bad) (allows wireless control of all lights, outlets, etc.) (reduced wiring in the walls)

Ghost loads:
5 W            = microwave & dishwasher
10 W           = clock and cell phone chargers in bedrooms
<5 W          = propane furnace (backup)(breaker and propane valve off most of the time)
<5 W          = central vacuum
5-10 W        = garage door openers
5-10 W        = electronic fence for the dog

Intermittent:
3/4 hp efficient soft start 240 V well pump (Grundfos SQ series),
Power tools, interior, and exterior lights (all CF), printer, toaster, battery chargers, etc.

It all adds up.   I can't get under about 200 Watts constant load.   Arrrgh.    Still, the total use is very close to 10 kwh/day, which is much better than our previous, on-grid house which was nearly 1/2 the size but used 25 kwh/day.

[Ronmar]

Great info, it does all add up...  What did you use to collect the data?

[BioHazard]

I don't have it broken down like that but on average we use about 2kw/hour 24 hours a day. At least that's what the electric company says...

[mbryner]

The Outback Mate stores data on in/out's for 128 days.   I've been keeping track of it and entering into a spreadsheet, and then graphing daily use and daily production.  I even did linear regression on the data.   Our average use is just over 10 kwh/day and average production is 12 kwh/day since March 2011.   The only problem is that I don't have the generator production and PV separated because they are both feeding into the MX80 charge controller.   It doesn't know the difference.   Future project when I buy another charge controller.

For the smaller #'s, I couldn't find my Kill-A-Watt meter this a.m., but again the Outback Mate will display the current load to the 10's of watts (not very accurate).   So, I stood at the breaker box and flipped breakers while my wife was on the phone upstairs reading out the #'s to me from the Mate.

Holy cow, bio, that's a lot of power!   You're saying you use 50 kwh/day?   I'd have to run the listeroid 24/7! 

[BioHazard]

The last time I looked we still had the A/C on so it should be a little lower now, but yeah...close to 50kwh/day. There is usually someone up in our house 24/7 so we use a lot of lighting.

[rcavictim]

I use 50 sometimes 60 kWh/day in the house in the winter but that is electric stove, electric hot water, electric clothes dryer, electric washing machine, deep freezer and fridge plus an electric heater in an outbuilding that runs a lot in the winter.  I have no idea how I use so much power though since the big loads are very infrequently used.  I just had to put a more power hungry computer on line too (550 watt PS) as the older one that used less (350 watt) recently blew up.  Maybe if I rewire all the tube filaments in series it will draw less current.  That's a joke folks. 

I should go around and shut down all those phantom loads.  I'll bet that outbuilding heater is killing me.

[mbryner]

Doesn't a 550 W PS on a computer just mean that it is *able* to put out 550 W?   If you put a Kill-A-Watt on it I'll bet you'll see much less.   Before we moved, I checked to see how hungry my server tower was, and it was drawing about 150 W.  (Now it's on a shelf in the garage.)

Oh, how old are the fridge's and freezer's?   Those old appliances are very inefficient, comparatively.

[Lloyd]

the real Q is how much Kw do we need.

When we're on the the boat, we use about 225 amp hr per 48 hrs at 12 V. When we are on anchor, this includes refer & freezer/ice maker, lights, domestic water pump(HW is a by-product of battery charging). It also include dishes, showers, STEREO, a movie or 2, internet. Also cell phone chargers, a vacuum daily. We cook with either propane(a couple of pounds), or the diesel stove(the by product of heating), if we need heat that's about 2 gals. of dino per 48 hr. This is the support for my wife & I.

We do laundry ashore, so that's not included.

That's about 2,812 kw per 48 hrs, plus associated diesel, and laundry.

When were living ashore, I'll just bet that we waste three times what we need.

Funny thing is when we're at anchor, we never miss the wasted Kw.

Lloyd


On location http://www.panoramio.com/photo/59031331

Pendrell Sound a magical location, at the base of snow capped moutains, halfway between Seattle  & Alsaka where the water temp avereages about 70 F during summer. http://www.google.com/search?q=pendrell+sound&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=qwf&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1152&bih=707&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=JA7ATrSkDYevsQKX-ZC2BA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CAsQ_AUoAQ

[Horsepoor]

A couple of months ago, I purchased a "Cent-a-Meter" which has a remote RF link to the portable monitor. It was on sale on EBay for about $100. It is really cool, when running on the grid, I switch stuff in the house on and off and taking note of the power change. The monitor has a range of several hundred feet and works from the generator shed. When I have one of the listeroids running, I just clamp it onto L1 & L2 and monitor the generator loading.

http://www.energymonitors.com/product.php?p=cent-a-meter-wireless-whole-house-electricity-monitor-split-core-connectors_eco-response_cm113a&product=175282&utm_source=google&utm_medium=Product_Search&utm_campaign=google_base

Guys, I think this thing is a cool device. Keeps me entertained.

[Geno]

I'm not off grid but I think I do a decent job in keeping electricity usage down. 1 fridge, 1 freezer in the garage, oil fired heat & hot water, computer, window ac in summer, the clothes dryer has been unplugged for a year, I use a clothes line. The lister runs on weekends when I'm around so some of the #s are a little skewed.

Marcus, with a wife and a couple kids I don't think your doing to bad.

Lloyd, why is water so warm? That's pretty far North.

Each line is 1 month. Delivery charge, supply charge and total ¢ per KWH

200kwh del32.60 sup10.00 21.15c per kwh
286kwh del37.32 sup14.91 18.36c per kwh
335kwh del36.38 sup23.26 17.9c per kwh
303kwh del37.99 sup16.96 18.1c per kwh
311kwh del37.78 sup18.02 17.9c per kwh
233kwh del33.55 sup12.36 19.7c per kwh
234kwh del32.74 sup13.31 19.7c per kwh
279kwh del36.42 sup18.08 19.53c per kwh
202kwh del27.11 sup18.67 22.6c per kwh
292kwh del34.08 sup22.96 19.53c per kwh
201kwh del31.82 sup10.73 21.16c per kwh
214kwh del33.54 sup10.94 20.7c per kwh
151kwh del27.65 sup8.83 24.16c per kwh
193kwh del28.94 sup12.64 21.59c per kwh
215kwh del29.64 sup16.56 21.47c per kwh
240kwh del32.38 sup18.12 21.04c per kwh
174kwh del27.18 sup10.78 21.83c per kwh
174kwh del28.35 sup10.16 22.13c per kwh
199kwh del33.19 sup10.37 21.88c per kwh
247kwh del35.05 sup15.5 20.46c per kwh
210kwh del29.93 sup15.7 20.06c per kwh
208kwh del28.17 sup17.77 22.37c per kwh
175kwh del30.71 sup9.64 23.05c per kwh
192kwh del30.80 sup11.69 22.1c per kwh
197kwh del31.78 sup10.22 21.3c per kwh
218kwh del34.01 sup10.87 20.6c per kwh
254kwh del36.38 sup13.08 19.8c per kwh
251kwh del36.81 sup13.09 19.8c per kwh
206kwh del29.37 sup11.16 19.7c per kwh
199kwh del30.80 sup10.25 20.6c per kwh
233kwh del31.39 sup12.71 18.9c per kwh
282kwh del34.83 sup17.64 18.6c per kwh
315kwh del32.09 sup27.04 18.8c per kwh
365kwh del35.28 sup28.50 17.7c per kwh
303kwh del31.53 sup25.04 18.3c per kwh
253kwh del28.89 sup19.31 19.05c per kwh
279kwh del27.02 sup23.92 18.25c per kwh
382kwh del31.10 sup36.05 17.55c per kwh
413kwh del22.97 sup54.76 18.68c per kwh
362kwh del10.51 sup49.91 16.71c per kwh
400kwh del20.40 sup51.77 18.04c per kwh
348kwh del22.14 sup43.82 18.95c per kwh
313kwh del25.96 sup33.44 18.97c per kwh
326kwh del24.47 sup34.71 18.15c per kwh
313kwh del24.72 sup34.23 19.15c per kwh
363kwh del28.76 sup38.31 18.47c per kwh

Thanks, Geno

[LowGear]

Lloyd,

That's about 2,812 kw per 48 hrs, plus associated diesel, and laundry.

Is it my math or is that almost 60 KWH?  And you use lots more when land loving?

Casey

[Lloyd]

Casey,

It's your math 2,812 KwHr is total for the 48 hr period. It's really amazing how much energy can be saved in conservation, without ever missing the excess. "edit" I just did the math, you're off a couple decimals, I come up with 58.6 watts per hr averaged.

Geno,

Yes, well North. The inland waters of BC are truly amazing, the natural beauty is one of the wonders of the world. Swimming in 70 F water at the base of Snow Capped Mountains, is amazing. These water temps can be found in many of the areas of Desolation Sound. It is a result of the tides in the area, half the water want's to go North, and half the water wants to go South. During low tide the Solar heats the rocks, and the incoming tide transfers that heat to the water all summer long.

Both photos were taken late August 2011.

Lloyd

Here's a shot looking back the other way

[miket]

Takes me roughly 1200 to 1800 watts to reach float on my battery bank (each day in the winter.  That is the reading I get off my MX 60. 

I have no ghost loads at all except the idle current of the the Magnum inverter which is .3 amps as indicated on my Trimetric.

My well is solar powered.

I use propane for refrigeration.

Water heating is solar batch with a propane backup.

Waiting for my wood fired hot tub heater to come in.

Oddly, the 7 watt (rated) LED lights use more current than the the 14 watt CFLs I used to use 1.2 amps vs .9 amps as displayed on the Trimetric.

I rarely use more than one light at a time. The computer maybe 1 hour a day.

I use about the same amount of electricity in a year as I used in a month when I was on the grid.

My son refers (jokingly) to me as the electricity Nazi when he visits.

mike

[rcavictim]

the real Q is how much Kw do we need.

When we're on the the boat, we use about 225 amp hr per 48 hrs at 12 V. When we are on anchor, this includes refer & freezer/ice maker, lights, domestic water pump(HW is a by-product of battery charging). It also include dishes, showers, STEREO, a movie or 2, internet. Also cell phone chargers, a vacuum daily. We cook with either propane(a couple of pounds), or the diesel stove(the by product of heating), if we need heat that's about 2 gals. of dino per 48 hr. This is the support for my wife & I.

We do laundry ashore, so that's not included.

That's about 2,812 kw per 48 hrs, plus associated diesel, and laundry.

When were living ashore, I'll just bet that we waste three times what we need.

Funny thing is when we're at anchor, we never miss the wasted Kw.



Pendrell Sound a magical location, at the base of snow capped moutains, halfway between Seattle  & Alsaka where the water temp avereages about 70 F during summer. http://www.google.com/search?q=pendrell+sound&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=qwf&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1152&bih=707&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=JA7ATrSkDYevsQKX-ZC2BA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CAsQ_AUoAQ

LLoyd,

That's 1350 watt hours per 24 hour day. Just 1.35 kWh if you prefer.

[Tom Reed]

We use around 10 kw per day too. Idle current on the system at night is 2.6 amps. It's hard to tell what I really use because when the system goes into float the electric water heater turns on.