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WorkshopChris
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With a few comments about going off grid has anyone looked at distributing DC around the house?
it's something i keep thinking about apart from the Kitchen, Vacuum Cleaner & Boiler everything else either has a transformer or SWPS on the power lead. All operating at varying levels of efficiency. Lighting could stay mains as all LED. If you had a direct DC feed from a combination of wind & solar charging a battery bank, the mains could be off most of the time maybe just a high efficiency trickle charge to the batteries.
it's something i keep thinking about apart from the Kitchen, Vacuum Cleaner & Boiler everything else either has a transformer or SWPS on the power lead. All operating at varying levels of efficiency. Lighting could stay mains as all LED. If you had a direct DC feed from a combination of wind & solar charging a battery bank, the mains could be off most of the time maybe just a high efficiency trickle charge to the batteries.
WorkshopChris
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rtbcomp
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I'd wondered about installing 12v lighting and an inverter to run the boiler, phones & router so I'd be warm, lit and in communication during power cuts. Phone/Tablet charging and laptop would run off 12v using car adaptors.
I have a 12v busbar in the workshop to charge my AA/AAA batteries, phone & tablet and power the doorbell & radio. I charge the 12v car battery on Economy 7, but this setup is about keeping my spare car battery in good condition as much as anything. I also have an old 14v cordless drill with flying leads to run off 12v and I use 12v lights in my blast room to illuminate the door and air valve so I can switch the air off and find the door in a power cut. For safety my handlamp and blast cabinet lights work off the 12 system.
I have a 12v busbar in the workshop to charge my AA/AAA batteries, phone & tablet and power the doorbell & radio. I charge the 12v car battery on Economy 7, but this setup is about keeping my spare car battery in good condition as much as anything. I also have an old 14v cordless drill with flying leads to run off 12v and I use 12v lights in my blast room to illuminate the door and air valve so I can switch the air off and find the door in a power cut. For safety my handlamp and blast cabinet lights work off the 12 system.
rtbcomp
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I'm not sure what the DC input is for the landline phone & router so I would run them from an inverter, they're cheap as chips and I could change them without having to worry about the DC requirements. I also have a hard disk drive connected to the router. It's wise to have a basic landline phone for emergencies anyway as they don't need a power supply (like DECT ones do).
Efficiency isn't a problem when it's a choice between having the facility or not.
I don't get many power cuts here in Sheffield, but I'm planning a move to a more rural area, and it would be nice to be in a position to stick 2 fingers up at the supply companies if they start rationing supplies as the Prophets of Doom predict.
Efficiency isn't a problem when it's a choice between having the facility or not.
I don't get many power cuts here in Sheffield, but I'm planning a move to a more rural area, and it would be nice to be in a position to stick 2 fingers up at the supply companies if they start rationing supplies as the Prophets of Doom predict.
gaz1
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what will more like happen is that they are trying to find everyones peak times of usage this will mean different price structures at these times
the bills are getting higher and when the new station comes your bills will bounce even higher still to pay for it as the public pay for the new stations being built to keep up with demand
the bills are getting higher and when the new station comes your bills will bounce even higher still to pay for it as the public pay for the new stations being built to keep up with demand
GW8IZR
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If the inverter is something you only use when the supply is lost then its efficiency isn't such a concern but in reality you would need to do some kind of automatic switching and that isn't a trivial design exercise. So what happens is people tend to run a system where all critical stuff runs directly or via inverters from a battery and that battery is charged from the main incoming supply. In that setup its reliable 'cos its running all the time so you know its working... but it means the inefficiency dismissed as none critical before is now there all the time and that soon eats units.
I used to run a cctv server which was a cheap Chinese capture card and an old 486 desktop. It was a cheap setup and worked ok but being a cheap capture card it worked the cpu at 100%. When I worked out how much it was costing to run 24/7 and how much a linux based purpose built dvr cost to run, the proper unit paid for itself in 14 months.
Constant low level load like house alarms and tv's on standby are worth making as efficient as possible and ignoring the heavy hitters like the kettle.
brightspark
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have u looked in to the price of batteries and how long they last before u have to renew them . if it was profitable and viable everyone would have them
the snooper
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would the be possible without correcting each individual load on the circuit
the snooper
getting older by the day
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Wouldn't mind a meter that was inaccurate in my favour, now that would be a smart meter 
Shox Dr
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Wouldn't mind a meter that was inaccurate in my favour, now that would be a smart meter
We had a new meter fitted 9yrs ago, bills seemed to go up. Complained to supplier, who said there's -/+3% accuracy, so the next one could be running faster. So I left it.
I have since then read the gas and leccy meters every Monday at 6pm. Over the period we've cut leccy from 130unit per week to circa 50-60 in summer and 60-80 in winter. Gas has dropped from 500 units per yr yo less than 60. Thats because we use a wood stove for all our heat now. Now costs 5x more in standing charges for gas than what we use. I'd fit propane if there was somewhere for them to live
Biggest users of leccy now are the fridge and freezer, at around 45units per week regardless of season or occupancy.
So fitting one of these meters is not going to benefit us at all. And I'm not sure what we could do to reduce it any further. Although living room and kitchen do need LEDs fitting, but I reckon it will take an age to recover the costs.
Wendelspanswick
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I am very happy with our old spinning disc meter, especially when it goes backwards on a sunny dayWouldn't mind a meter that was inaccurate in my favour, now that would be a smart meter
(solar PV).
What about pumped storage ? how efficient is that ?
I would expect the wear and tear on the pump/turbine to be less than the deterioration in a battery bank.
I live on the side of a mountain so having 2 ponds with a height difference would be easy, use solar to pump it uphill during the day and let it run down at night to meet my power needs.
