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Ethics and policy - would it be fine charging your 5kwh battery at a school/public library?

It's a 1990 5 MPG RV, too big and too costly to move in my eyes. But I am attending college and spending hours in the library every day.
Assuming you are in the US, we've got one of the most expensive college systems in the world. Ethically speaking, I personally would have no reservations taking a few kWh of power on overcast days every once in a while and considering it part of what tuition pays for. Its not even a rounding error (in $$ or kWh terms), it'll probably add up to less than the cost of a single textbook over the course of a semester. If you do feel conflicted, donate a few hours time or a few dozen dollars each semester to something that benefits the university. And of course you can explain your situation / ask the librarians if it is okay.
 
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As to the ethics, it is up to the library, but I say no.

School i
Library, yes, public library, no.

And ALL commercial building outlets are fed 20A...
 
I can't comprehend how you would haul a 5KWh battery into the library.
My 2KWh battery weigs a ton.
I think Will said his new g4l 5KWh weigh 160Lbs...
A 300 to 750Wh? Sure... but 5KWh?

I dontthink so...
5 kWh is about 100LB and 20 inches * 18.6 inches * 8.54 inches. It should fit in a suitcase, but it's kind of weird bringing a big suitcase everywhere.

I am just browsing my options. I usually don't expect to run out of power unless it rains two days in a row.

When I do that, maybe I should ask the librarian, "May I charge my battery?" so they don't expel me because of stealing electricity and bringing "hazardous electronic devices" to campus. ;)
 
When I do that, maybe I should ask the librarian, "May I charge my battery?" so they don't expel me because of stealing electricity and bringing "hazardous electronic devices" to campus. ;)
I would be more worried about being SWATed for bringing in a large strange suitcase that buzzes when plugged in. That could freak some people out.
 
Who knew they had 5kw batteries in them, guess those old CPU weren’t that efficient ?
 
Why don't you pay them for the electricity you are taking at the rate they have to pay for it, provided they let you do it?
My monthly average cost per KW here in eastern WA is 11 cents, courtesy of Grand Coulee dam.

No way I could prove this, but I would bet that county buildings get a better rate than I do as a homeowner, but either way I would gladly donate $1 to snag 5kw from the library if my power was out. On a side note, that would be a 100lbs of battery plugged in for 10 hours, so charging it on the down low would be purt near impossible.
 
Ethics are always situational. Take cannibalism as an example; as a human it seems fairly clear-cut, but zooming out and imagining yourself as a spider or preying mantis the female's choice to eat their mate is totally the right thing to do. For those species' individuals (which are already short-lived) eating the now useless male after mating avoids wasting resources and creates the best possible chances of success for their offspring.
That’s totally irrelevant

The question was a human question. Not a “natural” question. Humans, mankind, have a brain with frontal cortex, etc., that enables cognitive thought while incorporating emotional, memory, and quantitative thought to an abstract level that even similar related organisms cannot do.
as a human it seems fairly clear-cut
Exactly.

Ethics cannot be situational in a community of any society and have any value. Because human dignity and value at its core, banal level has to have societal norms and expected behaviors to transcend sociopathic justification for gruesome behavior(s). I am startled right now as I’m thinking this through that John Locke comes to mind; his treatises discussing the defense/protection of the product and potential of one’s sustenance.

The principle of ownership of one’s acquired resources applies quite easily to an organization as well.

Stealing is stealing and has been for thousands of years.
either way I would gladly donate $1 to snag 5kw from the library if my power was out
that would entirely acceptable and appropriate.

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The local Big Box building supply shares a parking lot with a Walmart. There’s over a dozen people every night all winter living in cars, vans, converted box trucks. There was a very stealth 1/2 ton commercial pickup-type vehicle with fairly sophisticated solar and heat and water. The owner worked nearby and would park near a parking lot light pole with a 30A service outlet (used by the garden center and other things that were moved outdoors in summer). He plugged in 7:30 every morning and disconnected 6pm or so every night. After a few months it was noticed that the normal off-season lighting electric use (monitored service) was varying to over 10 times the summertime use and after calling in electricians a manager was told about the parking lot outlet. The stealth/upscale homeless person was running an electric heater all day in the stealth camper unit and charging an apparently rather large battery bank.

The police were called.

Don’t let that be you.

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On the other hand, an old GM-style one-wire alternator costs $70 and is rated at 85A. A small ‘predator’ HF horizontal shaft motor is $150. A pulley and a belt and some cable plus odds and ends another $100 and you have a relatively inexpensive 12V generator capable of 60A charging if you want a long-term self sufficient solution.

But if you ask permission and it’s granted that would be acceptable use. The public charging station at ~$0.30KWh seems like another good solution.
I think if you explained your situation the school would give permission
Exactly
 
I am just browsing my options. I usually don't expect to run out of power unless it rains two days in a row.
I just got a 2200w Champion dual-fuel inverter generator from Tractor Supply for under $400. I use it to charge up my banks when there is no sun. It takes propane right out of the box, which keeps pretty much indefinitely, and can't be spilled or leak.
 
Ethics are always situational. Take cannibalism as an example; as a human it seems fairly clear-cut, but zooming out and imagining yourself as a spider or preying mantis the female's choice to eat their mate is totally the right thing to do. For those species' individuals (which are already short-lived) eating the now useless male after mating avoids wasting resources and creates the best possible chances of success for their offspring.
Are you suggesting that insects have the sentience level to encompass ethics? ?? /s
 
Are you suggesting that insects have the sentience level to encompass ethics? ?? /s

No, just that ethically, everything exists on a large grey continuum. (a.k.a. nothing's black and white)

Under different constraints (especially biological ones) rational individuals and social systems will evolve different - but no less valid - ethical and moral norms.

I don't want to derail this thread too much, but @12VoltInstalls argument is somewhat myopic in holding that ethics in general aren't situational just because most scenarios one encounters are "human" ones.

I just wanted to point out that ethics and morals are abstract concepts and a more holistic viewpoint is valuable - even if we acknowledge that it is mostly academic.
 
No matter how big the solar array we have, still, we end up with no power on rainy days. Do you think it's acceptable behavior for someone to put their battery in luggage and charge them at their school or public library? Cellphones and laptops are definitely fine, but what about something bigger - 2KWH or even 5KWH?
You know that is Theft and you know it is wrong. That would be like me comi g to your house and doing the same thing. ???
 
Man I now feel bad only charging my phone at work, all these ethics are oozing out of my pores now. ?
 
Man I now feel bad only charging my phone at work, all these ethics are oozing out of my pores now.

Do you use your phone for work? Does your work expect you to be reachable by phone when you're not at work? If either of these is true, it's probably not unethical to use power from work to charge your phone - especially given how little power that involves. If you're being anal about it you should ask though.
 
@Riley go later in the evening when there are less people around.
Be the nice polite kid that people want to see get ahead when you ask the librarian.
If you do this on the regular buy the librarian a coffee or some other small token to say thanks.

Nobody would think twice about charging their phone from an outlet in a study cube.
Nobody would think twice about filling their water jug/bottle from the tap in the bathroom.
 
Do you use your phone for work? Does your work expect you to be reachable by phone when you're not at work? If either of these is true, it's probably not unethical to use power from work to charge your phone - especially given how little power that involves. If you're being anal about it you should ask though.
I see the logical path you’re taking here, yet the following is pretty far into the mushrooms:
don't want to derail this thread too much, but @12VoltInstalls argument is somewhat myopic in holding that ethics in general aren't situational just because most scenarios one encounters are "human" ones.
In your opinion.

In my opinion- as well for most people who don’t exist in the high-browed and murky academic world of theoretical ethics discussions- any ‘question’ of ethics is exclusive to those organisms capable of forming expressive relative thoughts both abstract and linear by using memory, emotions, and cultural norms as comparative values to both explain and decide to act on those thoughts.

In other words: human
 
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