[VAC] Re: solar treatise

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Daisy,
  Bill & Jan Moeller mentioned in one of their books the 12VDC plugs 
that they use. Don't remember what they were, sorry.

The pump isn't a problem, as it runs so little. I'd bet that ours 
doesn't run for 10 minutes/day. We tend to use about 15 gallons of 
water/day and I think the pump is supposed to deliver 2 GPM, so that's 
only 7.5 minutes. That equates to less than one AH/day. As I said in my 
treatise, the pilot light draws 100+ milliamps, so it uses 2.4 AH/day 
all by itself. I probably should change that to an LED, which would draw 
about 20 ma, equalling about 1/2 AH/day, but we really have plenty of 
extra juice available. The eMeter itself draws nearly 200 ma when it's 
"awake", 100 ma when the display is dark. Dunno what the TV amplifier 
pulls, probably less than 100 ma. It DOES all add up!

FWIW: we have a 300-watt inverter that would draw 30 amps at full load. 
It pulls about 2 or 4 amps when running her computer. (I forget anymore)

I forgot one other number in my thoughts on using solar power for a 
whole-house application: That 10 KWHR that our trailer system provides 
in a month costs me less than a dollar to buy at home. Shows just how 
frugal the trailer is, compared to the house, and we're really fairly 
good there.

                                 <<Jim>>