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Forum Index : Solar : Silicon Chip poor advice on off grid.
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| Phil23 Guru  Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1664 |
Not sure mine are quite so bad, Only single CPU. The Office has a 1.5kVA UPS with a power monitor plugged on the input.... Currently sitting at 650 Watts. Hanging off the UPS is the 2 Servers, my older Gen i7 & an even older Core2 Quad. That plus a router, 24P network switch. All the Servers/PC's are Raid, so 2 or 4 drives & the only monitors running are the two 27"'s on my desk. Phil. |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
That 650W tallies up to 15,600Wh a day! Thats a quarter of your power bill. With a few changes you could probably half that. What other big loads do you have. What about those 50W 12v down lights? The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
 Back in 2013 Dick Smith hosted a documentary on Australia's energy future called 10 bucks a litre.The letter to the editor is pretty much lifted directly from the script for that show. At the time I was of the opinion that Dick's "extensive research" was roughly 15 years out of date and based on assumptions that were never correct in the first place. At the time I thought it was a deliberate ploy to slow the uptake of distributed renewables. To find him peddling the same nonsense four and a half years later makes me wonder if he is just not that bright. Still, living in the past seems to be what we do instinctively. I overheard one of my old clients talking up his off-grid system at a recent Christmas party. After he finished I jokingly suggested he show me exactly how he charges the batteries in winter. he gave me a genuine puzzled look as if to say what was wrong with that. I said "we sold your battery chargers in 2009 , its been over nine years since you last used a generator to charge the batteries. Dont you think its about time you updated your spiel?" I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1664 |
Only 1 incandescent left now; can't find a dimmable LED to fit in the lounge room ceiling fan. Washing machine typically does 3 large loads a day; Mrs C's work towels. Older (8 years) direct drive motor.... 2 fridges & a deep freeze; one fridge & freezer in the outdoor area, so gets the best of the heat to deal with. Ceiling heat extraction fans & circulation pump for the solar heater on the Spa, 300 watts there, but the water heater only needs about 4 hours a day. Have 3750W of 2nd hand panels, but right now I'm only getting about 1500-2000W of load over to them. If I move one of the Inverter air cons to the Hybrid, I'll get that pushed a bit higher. 2 Plasma TV's, both circa 2010. Pretty hungry on power, but like a few more years out of them yet. Have a $600 50" LED TV in the BBQ area. Lucky if it uses 50 watts, but it's not a patch on the picture quality of the two Panasonics. Figure the recovery time of the replacement cost of a couple of "Good" new TV's will out way the saving in the short term. May as well wait till they die & replace them with LED's then. Someone might like a guess at that equation. Think they both use about 300-350 watts. One in the lounge room & one in the bedroom. Generally not running at the same time, but we tend to have a run time of about 6 hour a day on them. Figure they'd warrant replacement with something in the $2000-3000 mark to be of similar picture quality. Phil. |
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| George65 Guru Joined: 18/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 308 |
So why have you not got Solar? I bought some used panels off a couple on Saturday and they had just got 10KW installed for $8500. You should make a good 40KW a day on that on any reasonable day. Summer you might crack 50 kw. Don't know if you are the type worried about conforming with every rule and regulation but if not you could do a DIY setup. The setup I bought cost $550 and is 4kw with 16 panels, 16 MGTI's and all the racking and mounts. Setup I have was 5KW and I paid $800 panels only. You can do a DIY setup very cheap and for someone with your power useage, a new or used array would have a very worthwhile payback. |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1664 |
Achieved a big reduction in base load today.... The 8kW Mitsubishi Split System is now out of the equation....  Gas & oil are probably as important as smoke in making this sorta sh*t work.... Still hovering in around the 28°C mark for the next few days, but expecting 37-37° come the weekend; not a happy scenario. Cheers Phil. |
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Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
So Phil, what am I looking at on that picture you posted above? Klaus |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
She sprung a leak? The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Is that a Mitsubishi Electric or Heavy industries, I have the later with bad PCB. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1664 |
Mitsubishi Electric, & turns out I bought it in March 2006. Tracked the leak down to the capillary tube rubbing against the bottom of the "fat thing".   Figured at 12 years it would be a scrap/replace job, but the Solar/Fridgie I've had a bit to do with lately reckoned a repair was worth a try. Dropped in at 5:00 yesterday, sweated the leak & other thin patch & pumped it back down. Still holding the vacuum this morning, so looks like a win. Just need to wait for more 410a to arrive to have it back in order. I know a lot in there industries, & they predominantly have the "5 years old; Replace it" attitude..... I'll be more than happy to not cough up that $2500 right now, even if it only makes another year. Phil. |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Good posting Phill , might make a few of us have a gander inside our AC,s before it costs too much . A bit of preventative maintenance would save a big capital costs because of your post,thanks. It,s amazing the clarity of photos nowdays ,unheard of years ago . Yours are excellant, I,ve got an "I" pad from apple and the photos are just like your,s ,perfect in detail. have a nice day . Bruce Bushboy |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Around here Gekos are a real problem with AC's, many PCBs are exposed inside and Gekos running over them is fatal for the AC and the Geko. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| noneyabussiness Guru Joined: 31/07/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 512 |
Madness, i work at a school and those gekkos cost 10's of thousands every year in the exact above scenario.. Keeps the monkey eleckys in a job but... I think it works !! |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Yeah I would believe that, good business for the AC manufacturers too. Some have a coating on the boards to keep them sealed and insulated. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1664 |
Saddest think about both my A/C's is they have a bit too much standby usage. Mostly attributed to the sump heater to keep the gas out of the oil. Not sure it can be disconnected, of the temp that needs maintaining. The Mitsi just has 3 wires to the compressor, & haven't check out the schematic that I spotted under the lid. And yes, the capillary tube would be well worth checking in all cases. It's probably been rubbing there it's entire life.  Phil. |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
The 8KW Mitsubishi Heavy Industries one I have may get scrapped to see how well the motor would work as a generator. They have this you beaut poki poki motor with neodymium magnets and lots of windings packed into a small space. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
that 410a is hard to push, I have been thinking about trying the hychill minus60 hydrocarbon replacement to see if it will run the compressors easier. Afraid I am not familiar with how the mitsi pressure sensors would handle the lower pressures. I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Propane works well. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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renewableMark Guru Joined: 09/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1678 |
How did you get your nickname? Cheers Caveman Mark Off grid eastern Melb |
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| George65 Guru Joined: 18/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 308 |
Hi-chill, is the sort of refrigerant that everyone is moving to now. It's highly filtered LPG/ Propane basically. Hydrocarbon based refrigerants have been used in automotive systems in different parts of the world for years and unlike the Safety sissy's and fear mongers sook about, there has never been a fire much less explosion attributed to in in hundreds of thousands of crash study's. One of the main reasons they are going to these hydro carbon based refrigerants is because they do much less damage to the ozone layer and all that feel good green stuff. With exposure to UV light it breaks down to Co2 I think it is which in much less harmful than the other refrigerants in use now. I have been running LPG in my cars AC systems for several years now and I think it beats 134a hands down. The air is colder ( in fact freezing the evaporator is something you have to watch) and the system is filled at HALF the pressure as 134a which to me probably translates to less power consumed and less wear and tear on the compressor. The stuff is obviously cheap, there is no regulation on it because it's not classed as a refrigerant and it does not have the hazards of 134a if inhaled or you come into contact with it. Don't know anyone yet that has used just regular BBQ gas and been dissapointed with the results and all you need is a set of refrigerant gauges and adapter and you can do your own recharges. I must have done about 30 now and never heard a complaint even though a lot of people have had no idea what I'm using for gas. |
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