Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

This popped up during my listeroid search..... seems somebody else has the Deviant Duality of Design disease too.....

Haven't seen this guy before, but I suspect this is not his first rodeo with PLCs.....

I've never signed onto youtube, but getting him past 399 subscribers might be a good reason to.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

My uncle's cabin was off grid and 4wd or hike in...

He had a WW2 surplus WinCo... maybe 1500 Watts or less.

He built a concrete bunker into the hill with really only the metal door visible... was to be a root cellar.

Generator ran happy as can be 40 years and whisper quiet with only what he called a snorkel for combustion air

Had a wire so he could turn off from bed... rope start only where you had to coil the rope.

Going to Earth (properly done, like that) has advantages, beyond Electrical.....

Out of sight, secure, fireproof - Check.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Needed something around this capacity of charger for Work; got one this week.

12V 10A ProSeries Rapid Charger - Schumacher Electric

This one has a fan - nice and quiet though. (I have a 15A Schumacher of my own that does the job, but it has a noisy-from-new fan).

If you don't need waterproof, or digital voltage/current displays, it was about $90 CAD for a 10A that will throttle down to maintenance mode.

(Model is Schumacher DSR117, if link is a nogo).

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

I have this….awesome charger, but got it on amazon for about $100. Charges all different kinds of batteries.

NOCO GENIUS10 10 Amp automatic battery charger and maintainer - SLC10165

GENIUS10 is a 10 Amp 6-volt and 12-volt battery charger and battery maintainer rated for all types of lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries. Capable of repairing damaged and old batteries.

www.batteriesplus.com

 

[3930dave]

I have this….awesome charger, but got it on amazon for about $100. Charges all different kinds of batteries.

NOCO GENIUS10 10 Amp automatic battery charger and maintainer - SLC10165

GENIUS10 is a 10 Amp 6-volt and 12-volt battery charger and battery maintainer rated for all types of lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries. Capable of repairing damaged and old batteries.

www.batteriesplus.com

Nice that it does automotive Li, and it looks like they've considered the "microcontroller won't turn on with a sub ten volt battery problem".

I see a lot of Noco around, and haven't heard anything bad about them. I have a Noco Li jump pack that I like, and have read plenty of descriptions of that pack from people that are way harder on it than I am, with good outcomes.

Like hammers, I like to have more than one charger available...

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

I don't see a bill out at the moment..... will try to remember to get better-half to pull one out later to check.

Natgas here is really important. -26C here this morning, and that's not all that cold for some parts of Canuckland....

Last I checked, we are 20 some cents kwh here, once all the fairy-tale fees are considered. I couldn't afford to heat just with resistance heaters.

Rgds, D.

Paid as much as 2.72 per therm on last bill for natural gas...

 

[3930dave]

Paid as much as 2.72 per therm on last bill for natural gas...

^ reminded me to visit the paperwork I requested.

Excluding final taxes, when I take all the fees and divide by consumption, I'm at $0.495 CAD / m3.

Looks like 1 therm = 2.85 m3 . Convert Therm (British And American) to Normal Cubic Meter Of Natural Gas (Natural Gas Energy Equivalent)

Your peak then is over twice my average, once converted to CAD. Chances are my 80's Canuck house has better wall insulation than your 50's example, so that will be part of it, but still..... that tenants bill seems high.

One reason I don't look at bill details too often...... of the fairy-tale fees listed, before the final VAT is applied, one is a Federal Carbon Tax, that is about 1/6 (at the moment) of the Fee total. So, I'm looking at Taxes, applied on top of Taxes......

Small wonder that Western countries are OK with STEM knowledge sliding....... wouldn't want the peasants understanding the Power of Compounding....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Paid as much as 2.72 per therm on last bill for natural gas...

Same stack 'o paper, so crunched the electric bill too....

Before VAT applied, last bill was $0.187 CAD / kwh.

If I do these calculations more than twice a year, then I have to add-in extra $ for increases in BP Meds....

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yes... the add on fees is why I divide total charge by therms or kW used.

I know Hawaii is more but California with hydro, geo, wind, solar, nuclear, gas, bio-co-generation, etc... seems always around the upper end for utility cost.

An all electric future is the charted path forward so only look for costs to increase.

Those with grid tied solar are facing significant increased cost for the privilege both in minimum fees and reduced rate received for excess power generated.

Time of use has shifted the highest tier later in day with my guess to capture some of the time after sunset.

Afternoon was the most expensive tier but looks like solar changed that.

My 6kW array is circa 2008.

 

[3930dave]

Yes... the add on fees is why I divide total charge by therms or kW used.

I know Hawaii is more but California with hydro, geo, wind, solar, nuclear, gas, bio-co-generation, etc... seems always around the upper end for utility cost.

An all electric future is the charted path forward so only look for costs to increase.

Those with grid tied solar are facing significant increased cost for the privilege both in minimum fees and reduced rate received for excess power generated.

I've been interested in OFF-grid, long before these ^ games became common.

Some of that ^ $ play, is nothing more than the Franchise Game..... corporations getting individuals to take on some (ideally, all) of their capital/build-out costs.....

IF/when I attain significant off-grid capacity, THEN I'll get seriously interested in an EV.

Rgds, D.