Don, it seems to me you need more battery power. You have adequate charging, but with only 2 batteries with about 200 ah capacity, you have 100 ah of usable power. Your fridge probably uses about 5 amps per hour or 120 amp hours per day. That alone exceeds what you should use. Not to mention leaving something to start you engine. On our boat we have 4 batteries with over 400 ah. Even with this we need to charge every 3 days.
The other thing you should look at is the insulation of your fridge. It can make a big difference. Fred Hazzard S/V Fury C&C 44 Portland Or On Sat, Oct 13, 2018 at 4:27 PM Dave via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Interesting - have been contemplating exactly this for Windstar - 33-2, > and my needs and equipment are similar for contemplated summer cruising > in Georgian bay. > > I have a Bimini and can barely fit 200w (iirc) of solar panel on the > Bimini, which is the bare minimum required to keep my house battery whole. > (I could be misremembering the wattage) Mounting the flexible panels > will take some thought. I don’t want to bother with set up and take down > panels.... > > I have converted to LED lighting - a big difference in power consumption > and have used a variety of light sources, including some inexpensive > halogen replacement bulbs from amazon and some dome lights from princess > auto. Am very happy with both despite the low cost. > > IMHO Biggest remaining issue is the fridge - it needs to be better sealed > and better insulated is to reduce the amp-hour draw. This will take some > thought and is a project for the winter. > > Am a bit behind on blog updates but will catch up over the next week or so. > > http://cncwindstar.blogspot.com/2015/12/hello-all-this-blog-is-intended-to.html > > Am interested in the evolution of your plans! > > Dave > > > Sent from my iPad > > On Oct 13, 2018, at 1:42 PM, DON JONSSON <dbjons...@shaw.ca> wrote: > > Hi All > > Last year after putting in a new Beta engine with a larger alternator (110 > amp) we added an additional battery, a battery monitor, and to use all that > power, a fridge. (Of interest, and not the point of this email, is we went > through two alternators on the boat last summer both on warranty. Doesn't > bode well. We did not put in a smart regulator as it would void the > warranty. Guess that was a good thing. Two mechanics have gone through > the boat and all wiring is good. They claim manufacturing default in both > alternators. Hmmm.) > > The fridge is a fantastic addition especially when you are up north with > no stores to buy ice, or much food for that matter. BUT, as you all know > it takes a lot of power. Which gets me to the questions. Easy one first. > > 1. We have added some new LED reading light fixtures but still have a few > more old incandescent lights where we would like to keep the fixtures. You > can get replacement LED bulbs that range in price from a couple of dollars > to $15. I read that cheaper ones don't deal with variations in voltage > very well and you should spend more money. Does anyone have experience and > recommendations. > > 2. The real solution, we think, is solar panels. But how much do they > really help and where to put them on a 34 foot sailboat. It seems all > locations come with a compromise. We are considering: > > A: On top of the dodger, but the boom will always be an issue. Especially > since we don't have a bimini we use the boom for supporting our awning that > we put up on hot sunny days. Yes we occasionally get them up on the BC > coast and blocking the sun is mandatory. > > B: Get a bimini and mount them on it. But this gets us back to the > sunshine issue. Lots of days it isn't that warm and you want the sun on > you. A Bimini with solar panels is not that easy to fold out of the way. > Also it isn't cheap. > > C: Hang them off the life lines or rails at the back of the boat with a > support that allows you to set them flat when at anchor. But we > occasionally carry bikes back there and we couldn't have both at the same > time. Also looks a little clunky. > > D: Leave them as portable and set them out when at anchor. But then it > is a pain and you don't do it unless you are sitting for a while and you > have all the wire to deal with, etc. And they aren't helping much under > sail. > > So does anyone have a recommendation as to what they have done and how it > works. Also how many amp hours did you get on a sunny day? What size of > panels did you use. > > I know, that like everything on a boat it is always a compromise, we are > just trying to figure out which one to make. > > Thanks for any help. > > Don Jonsson > Andante, C&C 34 > Victoria, BC > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each > and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - > use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > >
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