Hi all,
I don’t usually fall into the category of ‘Damsel in distress’ but I am truly stuck here and would appreciate any advice and assistance. Bit of background. In the near future I will be travelling for a minimum of 6 days (possibly 7nights) and plan to be sleeping in the car. I need help please on determining which unit is the best for my needs. As I can’t give specifics on drawing power I’m guessing a bit bigger is better than too small. I need to run a cpap machine overnight and possibly a car fridge (mid-size) and possibly a phone and iPad.
I can recharge via car through the day while travelling.
So what I’m asking for is
Which size unit would be best for me to buy?
Would it be advisable to have solar panels attached to my trailer? Am I able to charge via solar while travelling?
Thank you in anticipation of your help and for treating this as a genuine request for help and not judging me.
Cheers.
Welcome to the group @Yulea. No judging here don’t worry.
As you are travelling in your car I presume space will be a factor. So I would recommend the elite 200 v2 that would give you 2kw of power.
You could certainly have solar to charge while driving but a better option would be the charger 1 that would give you 560w of power while driving and keep the solar panel go when you are static.
As for your fridge. Your best option is to use a compressor fridge it uses a lot less power. It will only draw power if hen the compressor is running.
If you have the compressor already you are good to go.
Hope this helps and enjoy your trip when you go hopefully see some pictures of how your trip goes and hen you get time. Enjoy💙
@Yulea Hi, the biggest loads you describe are your CPAP m/c and your fridge. Have a look at the specifications of each re Volts, Amps and or Watts. Your phone and Ipad are small loads in comparison.
If you post this detail, along with your expected time of use for the CPAP machine, a more definitive recommendation can be given.
The other thing of note is; and I will give an example.
I have an Engel 40lt 12VDC/240VAC car fridge, which draws 3.0Amps at a nominal 12V. 12VDC systems are typically nearer 12.8V at rest and when driving this can increase to 13.8VDC or higher.
In ambient temperatures of 25C (77F) my Engel uses around 25Ah or 320Wh per 24 hour period. However, in our hot summer of nearer 40C (100+F) it can use 900-1,000Wh or 3 times the battery capacity.
This power use is offset, by charging when driving and or Solar, where you need to replace what is used when not driving and at night. i.e. You may be stopped/camped for 16 hours per 24 hour period and then only have 8 hours to replace the usage. This means a charge rate of double your usage rate to get back to a full battery.
The other factor is total load Wattage of items used in combination i.e. all at once. If your total load is only 100Watts. it’s inefficient to use a 2,000W inverter. It becomes a balancing act of having enough inverter power output in Watts to run your devices and enough battery capacity in Watt Hours to do so between charges.
Without detail, it is difficult to answer your questions… Hope this helps…
and would appreciate any advice and assistance. Bit of background. In the near future I will be travelling for a minimum of 6 days (possibly 7nights) and plan to be sleeping in the car. I need help please on determining which unit is the best for my needs. As I can’t give specifics on drawing power I’m guessing a bit bigger is better than too small. I need to run a cpap machine overnight and possibly a car fridge (mid-size) and possibly a phone and iPad.
Hope this helps…