Hi,
I have an off grid camp in the White Mountains of NH. I have always used a generator to power the camp when we are there. I have Honda EU2000i generator that runs everything I need. The cabin has a propane fridge, range and on demand hot water heater. The cabin is wired for 120vac with led lights, tv, radio, cell phone chargers and a 120v 1/4hp well pump (I installed a large captive are tank so the well pump runs once per day for approx 5 minutes). I just purchased 16 3.2v 200ah LiFePo4 batteries and I already have 10 400w Risen solar panels. I keep leaning towards a Victron 3000w 12v inverter because the only big draw would be the well pump once per day other than that a high load is 200 watts. I would also like to use several 12v hot water heater elements as a diversion load to run in a radiant floor heating system. I understand by increasing the inverter voltage to 24v I would reduce the wire size needed but the batteries will be within 5ft of the inverter. I think I want to go with 12v so I can look at cell chargers and tv's that can run on 12v. So after all that I am just looking for thought on the great 12v debate. I have read about some folks using a 12v heating mat inside an insulated battery box with a dedicated solar panel so when the sun is out the battery would be kept above freezing. I was wondering if anyone has tried this and how well it works? I haven't purchased the inverter, charge controllers or BMS yet until I determine the voltage. And one last thing I have the new batteries and I also have 4 12v 140AH AGM batteries can I have 2 separate battery banks with each having its own charge controller and a battery switch going into the inverter?
Thanks
Erik
I have an off grid camp in the White Mountains of NH. I have always used a generator to power the camp when we are there. I have Honda EU2000i generator that runs everything I need. The cabin has a propane fridge, range and on demand hot water heater. The cabin is wired for 120vac with led lights, tv, radio, cell phone chargers and a 120v 1/4hp well pump (I installed a large captive are tank so the well pump runs once per day for approx 5 minutes). I just purchased 16 3.2v 200ah LiFePo4 batteries and I already have 10 400w Risen solar panels. I keep leaning towards a Victron 3000w 12v inverter because the only big draw would be the well pump once per day other than that a high load is 200 watts. I would also like to use several 12v hot water heater elements as a diversion load to run in a radiant floor heating system. I understand by increasing the inverter voltage to 24v I would reduce the wire size needed but the batteries will be within 5ft of the inverter. I think I want to go with 12v so I can look at cell chargers and tv's that can run on 12v. So after all that I am just looking for thought on the great 12v debate. I have read about some folks using a 12v heating mat inside an insulated battery box with a dedicated solar panel so when the sun is out the battery would be kept above freezing. I was wondering if anyone has tried this and how well it works? I haven't purchased the inverter, charge controllers or BMS yet until I determine the voltage. And one last thing I have the new batteries and I also have 4 12v 140AH AGM batteries can I have 2 separate battery banks with each having its own charge controller and a battery switch going into the inverter?
Thanks
Erik