online/mail order source for DC appliances???
Question:
Is anyone familiar with an online/mail order source for reasonably-priced DC appliances suitable for a DC-only solar setup (tv/vcr combo, small microwave, etc.)? I know larger truck stops carry this stuff, but I live in a rural area not real close to one of these. Thanks
Response:
try going to google.com and typing in "dc appliances" in the search fields. you will find hundreds of links to outdoor, RV, and camping oriented mail order/internet companies.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Is anyone familiar with an online/mail order source for > reasonably-priced DC appliances suitable for a DC-only solar setup > (tv/vcr combo, small microwave, etc.)? I know larger truck stops > carry this stuff, but I live in a rural area not real close to one of > these. > Thanks
Response:
http://www.dyersonline.com/ — Steve Spence Subscribe to the Renewable Energy Newsletter & Discussion Boards. Read about Sustainable Technology: http://www.green-trust.org
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Is anyone familiar with an online/mail order source for > reasonably-priced DC appliances suitable for a DC-only solar setup > (tv/vcr combo, small microwave, etc.)? I know larger truck stops > carry this stuff, but I live in a rural area not real close to one of > these. > Thanks
Response:
>Is anyone familiar with an online/mail order source for >reasonably-priced DC appliances suitable for a DC-only solar setup >(tv/vcr combo, small microwave, etc.)? I know larger truck stops >carry this stuff, but I live in a rural area not real close to one of >these. >Thanks
Believe it or not. Walmart has 12V TV and VCR’s. Camping World has other household (RV) applances. Both do mail/phone orders Steve U — _ , | MKA: Steve Urbach , | )erek No JUNK in my email please , / / / Running United Devices "Cure For Cancer" Project 24/7 Have you helped? http://www.ud.com
Response:
There are a few appliances and gadgets out there, but we gave up selling most of them except for DC lights, as the vast majority seem to be poorly made. Our warranty claims were costing us more than we were making on many items. — Online Webstore www.solar-electric.com Tech Info www.windsun.com
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Is anyone familiar with an online/mail order source for > reasonably-priced DC appliances suitable for a DC-only solar setup > (tv/vcr combo, small microwave, etc.)? I know larger truck stops > carry this stuff, but I live in a rural area not real close to one of > these. > Thanks
Response:
A couple years ago, the 12v 5" B&W TV in my trailer crapped out. I ran out to Wal-Mart to find a replacement and there were no other stores nearby. I didn’t find any of the small $50 12 B&W TV’s that I wanted to replace the original. These seem to be available only around Christmas. Radio Shack usually has them, but the nearest was a long way from me. That Wal-Mart store only had a one model of 12v TV, which was a 9" Color including a VCR for ~$300. Ouch. I already had a VCR that I had converted to 12v, so the VCR was of no value to me. I ended up buying a nice little 110v 13" RCA color TV for $99, and run it and the VCR on a $29 400watt inverter that I got at Sam’s club. You can save some substantial money by getting standard 110v appliances and running them off a small cheap inverter. You would probably need a larger inverter for even the smallest microwaves, but a small color TV and VCR do not require much power. 100v appliances are sold in much higher volume, and are therefore much less expensive.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Is anyone familiar with an online/mail order source for >reasonably-priced DC appliances suitable for a DC-only solar setup >(tv/vcr combo, small microwave, etc.)? I know larger truck stops >carry this stuff, but I live in a rural area not real close to one of >these. >Thanks > Believe it or not. Walmart has 12V TV and VCR’s. > Camping World has other household (RV) applances. > Both do mail/phone orders > Steve U > — _ > , | MKA: Steve Urbach > , | )erek No JUNK in my email please > , / / / Running United Devices "Cure For Cancer" Project
24/7 Have you helped? http://www.ud.com
Response:
>A couple years ago, the 12v 5" B&W TV in my trailer crapped out. >I ran out to Wal-Mart to find a replacement and there were no other >stores nearby. >I didn’t find any of the small $50 12 B&W TV’s that I wanted to replace the >original. >These seem to be available only around Christmas. Radio Shack usually has >them, but the nearest was a long way from me.
They stock 12V color (12" Orion NO VCR) in my local WalmMart 365 days. (They had BW modelS, but I was not paying attention as I wanted Color) >That Wal-Mart store only had a one model of 12v TV, which was a >9" Color including a VCR for ~$300. Ouch. I already had a VCR that I had >converted to 12v, so the VCR was of no value to me. >I ended up buying a nice little 110v 13" RCA color TV for $99, and >run it and the VCR on a $29 400watt inverter that I got at Sam’s club. >You can save some substantial money by getting standard 110v >appliances and running them off a small cheap inverter.
Yes, but the typical inverter efficincies go down the bigger the inverter. Lightly loading a oversized inverter has a penalty of the inverter overhead power) >You would probably need a larger inverter for even the smallest microwaves, >but a small color TV and VCR do not require much power.
The tiny microwaves are 800-900 watts and the normal sized ones are 900-1300 Watts (read the name plates <g> to see what you got) >100v appliances are sold in much higher volume, and are therefore much less >expensive.
Yup! and they could care less about a few wasted watts, while good battery powerd stuff skrimps and saves every watt to be able to tout battery life. Steve U — _ , | MKA: Steve Urbach , | )erek No JUNK in my email please , / / / Running United Devices "Cure For Cancer" Project 24/7 Have you helped? http://www.ud.com
Response:
> You can save some substantial money by getting standard 110v > appliances and running them off a small cheap inverter. > You would probably need a larger inverter for even the smallest microwaves, > but a small color TV and VCR do not require much power. > 100v appliances are sold in much higher volume, and are therefore much less > expensive.
I think you’re right about the inverter business. How much do you lose off your system in efficiency by adding an inverter? I remember reading a figure of 25% or so between an inverter AND batteries, but what about just the inverter alone?
Response:
> You can save some substantial money by getting standard 110v > appliances and running them off a small cheap inverter. > You would probably need a larger inverter for even the smallest microwaves, > but a small color TV and VCR do not require much power. > 100v appliances are sold in much higher volume, and are therefore much less > expensive. > I think you’re right about the inverter business. How much do you > lose off your system in efficiency by adding an inverter? I remember > reading a figure of 25% or so between an inverter AND batteries, but > what about just the inverter alone?
The small cheap inverters that I’m talking about don’t come with much detail in the way of specifications. They usably quite some almost useless marketing number like "peak efficiency = 92%". An efficiency curve would be more useful, but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that to get near the peak figure, you should run them as fully loaded as you can. While I haven’t attempted to measure the efficiency of my little $29 400w unit, I have had good luck running a 13" color TV for hours on end. I need a TV to put me to sleep, so my normal routine is to set the sleep timer on the TV to shut itself off. But, we know that it would still be drawing some power, along with the inverter all night long. Still, I can get a weeks worth of 3-4 hours of nightly viewing, followed by another 7 hours of "sleep" phantom load time on a bank of 4 220amp/hr batteries before it starts to complain of low voltage. I typically need to fire up the generator for some other larger load before the battery bank ever gets that low. I’m planning on substantially upgrading my system this spring to larger inverter bigger bank and panels. The smaller setup will remain as a backup of sorts.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->A couple years ago, the 12v 5" B&W TV in my trailer crapped out. >I ran out to Wal-Mart to find a replacement and there were no other >stores nearby. >I didn’t find any of the small $50 12 B&W TV’s that I wanted to replace the >original. >These seem to be available only around Christmas. Radio Shack usually has >them, but the nearest was a long way from me. > They stock 12V color (12" Orion NO VCR) in my local WalmMart 365 days. > (They had BW modelS, but I was not paying attention as I wanted Color)
How much did they want for it? I’ll bet maybe more than a 100v model. I probably would have gone with a 12v model if they would have had one for a decent price. Then again, I would not have been able to move the TV to it’s current spot which is 100′ from the battery bank. The only way to make a run that far is with a higher voltage, otherwise the line losses would have been too great. Running just 20′ of 12v use to give me problems before. >That Wal-Mart store only had a one model of 12v TV, which was a >9" Color including a VCR for ~$300. Ouch. I already had a VCR that I had >converted to 12v, so the VCR was of no value to me. >I ended up buying a nice little 110v 13" RCA color TV for $99, and >run it and the VCR on a $29 400watt inverter that I got at Sam’s club. >You can save some substantial money by getting standard 110v >appliances and running them off a small cheap inverter. > Yes, but the typical inverter efficincies go down the bigger the > inverter. Lightly loading a oversized inverter has a penalty of the > inverter overhead power)
If you are running only small loads yes. A big inverter may have a larger overhead. >You would probably need a larger inverter for even the smallest microwaves, >but a small color TV and VCR do not require much power. > The tiny microwaves are 800-900 watts and the normal sized ones are > 900-1300 Watts (read the name plates <g> to see what you got) >100v appliances are sold in much higher volume, and are therefore much less >expensive. > Yup! and they could care less about a few wasted watts, while good > battery powerd stuff skrimps and saves every watt to be able to tout > battery life.
True, many 110v appliances are wasteful. But, there are also good ones out there. Look for the energy star label. Be prepared to add your own switch to avoid phantom loads. > Steve U > — _ > , | MKA: Steve Urbach > , | )erek No JUNK in my email please > , / / / Running United Devices "Cure For Cancer" Project
24/7 Have you helped? http://www.ud.com
Response:
>While I haven’t attempted to measure the efficiency of my little $29 400w >unit, I have had good luck running a 13" color TV for hours on end. I need a >TV to put me to sleep, so my normal routine is to set the sleep timer on the >TV to shut itself off. But, we know that it would still be drawing some >power, along with the inverter all night long. Still, I can get a weeks >worth of 3-4 hours of nightly viewing, followed by another 7 hours of >"sleep" phantom load time on a bank of 4 220amp/hr batteries >before it starts to complain of low voltage. I typically need to fire up the >generator for some other larger load before the battery bank ever gets that >low.
Ironically, the TV set itself (any modern set that uses a CRT – a "picture tube") runs off DC – a "bulk" supply rectified directly from the AC input. If all you’re driving is a TV set you could use a high frequency square wave inverter that could run very efficiently – nearly as efficient as a "12V TV" (or perhaps even more efficient than a cheaper unit). The thing is, an LCD would allow even greater efficiency. A modern laptop PC with a TV tuner card would make a more efficient appliance (and with a larger screen) as your TV can also be your internet connection, your "vcr" (with tivo capabilities no less!) and even your telephone/answering machine/fax/etc. In fact, this is exactly what I use. A modern laptop can use a few hundred W a full tilt, but "TV duties" (from a tuner dongle) is a cruise for anything faster than 3-400 MHz.
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