Electricity by diesel generator

[sixxhundoo]

Okay, so i am in the middle of re building a caravan's inside into a cosy grow room. I got 15m² total, and there will be 2 rooms. My only problem is electricity, i really dont want to run a 100m of cable through the woods from my house. First i thought solar panels, but those bastards ain't cheap. So a generator hooked up to a set of batteries seems like the best option.

So i was wondering if any of you have done something similar, and how was the diesel consumption through out the months?

This is what i will be using of power
2 x 600w LED
2 x 16w fans
1 x 30w fan
1 x 200w heater
1 x dehumidifier, could not fint wattage

Now im no electrician and neither am i good in maths. But if i got a 3000w diesel generator, would it be able to power it all?

 

[013]

What up Sixxhundoo?

Welcome to forums at 420…. While I can’t help you on fuel consumption for diesel gen set…..

what I can do is this…… not counting the unknown dehuey…. but that’s 1462 watts total but IIRC there is a 125% multiplier for anything that runs continuous duty which is 4 hours or more…. so 1462 X 125% comes out to 1827 watts…. but if the generator pumps out 240 volts your could split the load between the 2 phases, it’s called load balancing, pretty self explanatory….

seems like there is a 125% multiplier for motors too maybe not cheapie fan motors but I’m more concerned about the dehuey compressor motor kicking in but I think that 125% is just startup voltage to get motor spinning to correct rpms

so put 1 light and 1 heater on one phase and the rest on the other leg…

once you find actual wattage draw of dehuey this will prolly need to be readjusted to account for extra wattage draw

requesting little help guys if my facts & figures are wrong…… don’t be shy now

 

[sixxhundoo]

Maan im researcing and taking notes like crazy, how's your night going? And thank you, happy to be here

Thanks for clearifying it up for me, it's a huge load of my mind!
dehumidifier was 23w btw

Again, Thanks! -Andreas

 

[Phytoplankton]

You’re gonna have a pretty good fuel bill. Btw what are the batteries for? If you’re going to run a heater with it the batteries they won’t last long. Besides the fuel you’re going to have to change the oil in the generator every 50 hours or so (consult your manual), and you’re going to have to figure out how to auto start it on a timer. You run it 24/7 and it won’t last long. You’ll probably also need an inverter for the batteries, to change DC to AC. If you try and run 100 meters of cable it’s gonna have to be very heavy gauge to account for current loss. Are we talking 120v or 240v?.

 

[sixxhundoo]

Was expecting something like 30-40L a day yes, but 200L barrels isn't that expensive compared to electricity these days. People here use diesel generators and batteries in their mountain cabins, so the generator doesn't run all day. Auto start is going to be me running like a mad man trough the woods rambo style 240v

 

[Braddah Waiheesohai]

If you get consistent winds these are pretty cheap to make and do a good job charging batteries. You'll need a pretty big battery bank to keep that kit powered through the night though:
DIY wind turbine

 

[Phytoplankton]

I’m not understanding how you’re going to run all that off the batteries while the generator is not running. You’ll need a LOT of batteries.

 

[sixxhundoo]

If you get consistent winds these are pretty cheap to make and do a good job charging batteries. You'll need a pretty big battery bank to keep that kit powered through the night though:
DIY wind turbine

That is not a dumb idea acctualy, didn't think about wind!!

I’m not understanding how you’re going to run all that off the batteries while the generator is not running. You’ll need a LOT of batteries.

3 x 24v 100ah, should hold for 6hrs right?

 

[Braddah Waiheesohai]

Here's the steps to figure out how many batteries you would need, or how long the batteries you have can realistically support your setup if/when the generator goes down.

STEP 1:

Calculate your daily power consumption in Watt-hours (Wh) by adding together the power consumption of each electrical device that you will use. You can calculate the daily power consumption by multiplying the wattage rating of the device by the number of hours it will be used for. If the device does not declare the power consumption in Watts, multiply the current in Amps (A) by the operating voltage (V).

e.g. 4 x 100W lights used for 5-hours a day = 2000Wh/day

STEP 2:

Ideally, a battery bank should be able to supply you with power, even if there is a problem with the generator or charge controller. You should now decide how many days' of backup power you would like and multiply the power consumption figure from step one by the number of backup days.

e.g. 2-days' backup : 2000 x 2 = 4000 Wh

STEP 3:

Regardless of battery type and cost, the longest service life will be achieved by discharging them as little as possible.

Decide on a calculated 'maximum depth of discharge' (DoD) whereby the lower the better and divide the result from Step 2 by this (decimalised).

e.g. 50% DoD: 4000 / 0.5 = 8000 Wh
STEP 4:

All batteries are less efficient at lower temperatures and we can compensate for this in our calculation. Choose the factor that corresponds to the lowest average temperature your batteries will have to work in. Multiply result from Step 3 by this number.

Temp. °F​	Temp. °C​	Factor​
80​	26.7​	1.00​
70​	21.1​	1.04​
60​	15.6​	1.11​
50​	10.0​	1.19​
40​	4.4​	1.30​
30​	-1.1​	1.40​
20​	-6.7​	1.59​

e.g. 21oC = 1.04 x 8000 = 8320Wh

STEP 5:

Depending on the voltage of your electrical system, you may need to connect batteries together to create a bank at 12, 24 or 48V. Using a higher voltage is also a useful way of reducing voltage loss over longer distances or reducing the size of charge controller you need. In order to work out the minimum capacity of your battery or battery bank, divide the result from Step 4 by the desired voltage.

e.g. 8320 / 24 = 347Ah

STEP 6:

Finally, identify how many batteries you need. Ideally, try to stay within 5% of the calculated size required, so based on the bank voltage and the target Ah capacity.

e.g. 110Ah (12V) deep-cycle batteries for a 330Ah 24V battery bank:
24V = 330 / 110 * 2 = 6 batteries

If you wanted to create a 330Ah battery bank at 12V or 48V, you would need 3 and 12 batteries respectively:

12V = 330 / 110 = 3 batteries
48V = 330 / 110 * 4 = 12 batteries

 

[sixxhundoo]

Here's the steps to figure out how many batteries you would need, or how long the batteries you have can realistically support your setup if/when the generator goes down.

STEP 1:

Calculate your daily power consumption in Watt-hours (Wh) by adding together the power consumption of each electrical device that you will use. You can calculate the daily power consumption by multiplying the wattage rating of the device by the number of hours it will be used for. If the device does not declare the power consumption in Watts, multiply the current in Amps (A) by the operating voltage (V).

e.g. 4 x 100W lights used for 5-hours a day = 2000Wh/day

STEP 2:

Ideally, a battery bank should be able to supply you with power, even if there is a problem with the generator or charge controller. You should now decide how many days' of backup power you would like and multiply the power consumption figure from step one by the number of backup days.

e.g. 2-days' backup : 2000 x 2 = 4000 Wh

STEP 3:

Regardless of battery type and cost, the longest service life will be achieved by discharging them as little as possible.

Decide on a calculated 'maximum depth of discharge' (DoD) whereby the lower the better and divide the result from Step 2 by this (decimalised).

e.g. 50% DoD: 4000 / 0.5 = 8000 Wh
STEP 4:

All batteries are less efficient at lower temperatures and we can compensate for this in our calculation. Choose the factor that corresponds to the lowest average temperature your batteries will have to work in. Multiply result from Step 3 by this number.

Temp. °F​	Temp. °C​	Factor​
​ 80​	​ 26.7​	1.00​
​ 70​	​ 21.1​	1.04​
​ 60​	​ 15.6​	1.11​
​ 50​	​ 10.0​	1.19​
​ 40​	​ 4.4​	1.30​
​ 30​	​ -1.1​	1.40​
​ 20​	​ -6.7​	1.59​

e.g. 21oC = 1.04 x 8000 = 8320Wh

STEP 5:

Depending on the voltage of your electrical system, you may need to connect batteries together to create a bank at 12, 24 or 48V. Using a higher voltage is also a useful way of reducing voltage loss over longer distances or reducing the size of charge controller you need. In order to work out the minimum capacity of your battery or battery bank, divide the result from Step 4 by the desired voltage.

e.g. 8320 / 24 = 347Ah

STEP 6:

Finally, identify how many batteries you need. Ideally, try to stay within 5% of the calculated size required, so based on the bank voltage and the target Ah capacity.

e.g. 110Ah (12V) deep-cycle batteries for a 330Ah 24V battery bank:
24V = 330 / 110 * 2 = 6 batteries

If you wanted to create a 330Ah battery bank at 12V or 48V, you would need 3 and 12 batteries respectively:

12V = 330 / 110 = 3 batteries
48V = 330 / 110 * 4 = 12 batteries

THANK YOUUUU!!!

 

[sixxhundoo]

i save aprox 3000 usd per harvest when running on diesel instead of house electricity