On 1/13/22 17:38, Jay wrote:
Greetings,
I am a home user. Much of my home has been rewired to run off of
12-volts D.C. from a large 1200 Amp/Hour LiFePO4 battery bank that is
recharged using Solar. All my lighting, ceiling fans, water pump, Ham
radio gear, weather alert radio, USB charging stations, alarm system,
security cameras and DVR, my wife's CPAP machine, 40-inch flat screen
TV, ROKU streaming device, etc. all now run off 12 VDC. High
consumption devices like stove, refrigerators, air conditioners,
furnace, still run on AC but get *much* of their power from a 5kw
Grid-Tied Solar array (Enphase IQ7 microinverters) which I hope to
soon add a battery backup to. There is also a whole-house 4kw backup
generator. This is what is known as a "Hybrid" home :)
ALL of my servers, workstations, routers/hubs, WiFi, are also
converted to run on 12VDC from this battery/solar plant. In many
cases it is just a matter of adding a DC-DC buck/booster regulator
that can be purchased on Amazon for ten bucks, or so. These generally
take 8-40 volts input and will deliver whatever voltage output that
you desire. Both my DSL and FTTH are powered this way.
It was mentioned that we need to address *reducing* our power
consumption in order to reduce our carbon footprint. This ongoing
project has helped me to do just that and eliminate so many "power
suckers" and wall-warts from my home.
We consume around 150 watts on DC and generally around 600 watts on
AC (unless a freezer or air conditioner cycles on). When the power
goes out, sometimes we don't immediately notice it! I think I am
living inside a giant UPS, and more independance from the Grid is
refreshing.
This is amazing!
I couldn't possibly find the energy to convert any (never mind all) of
my standard appliances to DC, but what you've done is very impressive,
especially since you are talking about a house and not a boat!
Well done!
Mark.
