Need install inverter and Solar panels

[Leap of faith]

Hi everyone, just started living on my narrow boat at Wigrams Marina and I plan to start cruising when we all can.  I plan to be in a Marina in winter and cruise the rest of the year. At the moment I have a 12 volt shoreline fridge with a small freezer compartment. Eberspacher radiators/hot water and a calorifier. Also have a multi fuel stove. I plan to use as much 12 volt as possible so no TV, microwave, hair dryers, or power hungry washing machine etc. I will be using a cheap twin tub as well as a  lap top probably no more than around 2 hours a day but could be less.. I have been doing a bit of research and seem to have come to the conclusion that I would probably need between 400- 500 watts of solar panels. Also the washer I thinlk would be around 800 watts. Any advice or recommendations of installers would be appreciated.

[Mike Hurley]

What size is your battery bank and do you know the age/health of them? Lots of narrowboat you tube videos out there having installations done with recommendations for various suppliers.

Edited March 25, 2021 by Mike Hurley

[Richard10002]

2 minutes ago, Leap of faith said:

Hi everyone, just started living on my narrow boat at Wigrams Marina and I plan to start cruising when we all can.  I plan to be in a Marina in winter and cruise the rest of the year. At the moment I have a 12 volt shoreline fridge with a small freezer compartment. Eberspacher radiators/hot water and a calorifier. Also have a multi fuel stove. I plan to use as much 12 volt as possible so no TV, microwave, hair dryers, or power hungry washing machine etc. I will be using a cheap twin tub as well as a  lap top probably no more than around 2 hours a day but could be less.. I have been doing a bit of research and seem to have come to the conclusion that I would probably need between 400- 500 watts of solar panels. Also the washer I thinlk would be around 800 watts. Any advice or recommendations of installers would be appreciated.

 

If you are choosing not to have a TV because you dont think they can run from your 12V system, then there is no need to do without. There are TVs sold as 12V TVs, with a power cable that plugs into a 12V supply.

 

In addition, there are TVs sold as 240V TVs, but they have a power brick that actually converts the 240AC to DC current somewhere around 14V to 20V. I have 2 x Samsung TVs that were bought as 240V TVs, but I found adaptors that plug into the 12V boat supply, and provide 15V to one of them, and 19V to the other.

 

If you dont particularly want TV... then the above is academic... except that it can be useful to know that there are quite a few things that we buy as 240V items, but which actually have a power brick that converts to DC... e.g. I have a Yamaha Digital Piano that runs of a 12V supply, a Sony Soundbar that runs off a 24V supply, and all charging is done from 12V adapters/chargers.

 

You can often tell if something is actually DC by looking where the power cable attaches. There is usually a label with "19V DC" on it, or the socket will be a barrel of some kind, rather than a figure of 8 AC receptacle.

 

Anyway.. just my 2 penn'orth

 

I find that I use around 100Ah to 120Ah a day and, when the sun shines, 500w of solar provides that, or more, in a day.

[Mike Hurley]

 

[MarkH2159]

If you go for Solar then get as much as you can reasonably afford or accommodate on your boat.

Self installation is quite easy and there are plenty of YouTube how tos that you can follow.

500w is a minimum especially if you have no other means of power when cruising other than the alternators of course. Also plan for expansion, get an MPPT Solar controller that has adequate capacity for more panels should you decide to increase panel wattage.

 

As for TV they are not all so power hungry, as has been suggested you could go for a 12v TV.

I run a Phillips 24" Smart TV which is 240v but only draws around 3 amps from my batteries through the inverter.

 

As for wasing machines, i have just fitted one of these...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/COSTWAY-Portable-Washing-Machine-Adjustable/dp/B07PN97F5F/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=costway+washing+machine&qid=1616700009&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFLMkJEUTBFNFJKQlkmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5OTE3NDhSTFBOS1pHRlJKREImZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDEzNjI0NFRTUzhFUE4xT1o3OCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

 

It is very compact, lightweight and fully automatic with a decent drain pump and spin speed.

Best of all it only consumes 280 watts and takes 40 minutes to do a full cycle.