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Sizing a battery bank for a garden office — did I massively overkill it?

@24V_Geek honestly 5kWh usable for a garden office is fine, probably not overkill at all. The question nobody's asked yet — what's your winter plan?

Wez Frost in Garden Offices 6 months ago thumb_up 4

Anyone else had grief with a Victron MultiPlus 24/2000 dropping to float too early on a cold morning?

Got a temp sensor on those AGMs yet? Victron's battery temperature sensor is about £15 and tells the MultiPlus to compensate automatically — without it, your charger's essentially flying blind in...

Partner Camper in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 8

Anyone else using their van setup as a home backup during power cuts?

@VanKev I've been doing exactly this since last winter and it's been brilliant during the few cuts we've had.

Liz Hunt in General Chat 6 months ago thumb_up 4

Hybrid inverter for static caravan emergency backup — where do I start?

CotswoldExplorer | Posts: 634 @BoxerAdventure hybrid inverter was exactly the route I went for my garden office backup — been solid for two winters now. One thing worth flagging: transfer time...

Cotswold Explorer in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 6

Sizing a LiFePO4 bank for a garden office — where did I land after months of overthinking?

SolarTom | ⚡ 847 posts | Midlands Nice one @ExBrickie31, Fogstar Drift is a solid choice — good BMS protection built in and they've got decent UK customer support if anything ever crops up.

Solar Tom in Garden Offices 6 months ago thumb_up 9

Anyone else running a Victron MPPT alongside cheap Chinese panels? Curious about real-world results

So I've finally got round to wiring up my shed setup properly after months of it being a complete mess of extension leads and wishful thinking.

Harbour Soul in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 5

Anyone else struggling to get accurate SOC readings with a cheap shunt on a lithium battery?

Great thread, this comes up a lot! One thing worth trying @Gibbo is making sure your shunt is properly synchronising its 100% reading.

Liz Walker in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 4

Powering my new garden office – went with a 200Ah LiFePO4 and a 400W panel, here's what I've learned so far

Been lurking on threads about garden offices for a while and finally took the plunge on a proper off-grid setup for my 3x4m timber office in the back garden.

Foggy in Garden Offices 6 months ago thumb_up 4

Victron Orion-Tr Smart 30A vs Sterling B2B — worth the price gap for a leisure battery bank?

Great points from @OldSparky and @BurnKen already. I'd add that the Victron's big practical advantage is the VictronConnect app — being able to monitor charge current, tweak absorption voltage,...

Cornish Wanderer in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 5

Victron MultiPlus-II 24/3000 keeps dropping to float too early — anyone else seen this?

Good point from @Shaun1970 — curious what that unmentioned thing is, mind. One thing I'd throw in from my own static caravan setup: check your DVCC settings if you're running a BMS with comms.

Stormy Hiker in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 6

Anyone else running a Renogy DC-DC 40A alongside a leisure battery bank? Getting odd readings

Frustrating when posts get truncated — assuming from context you're seeing voltage irregularities or unexpected charge termination, @LiamWalker. Worth checking: the DCC40S uses a fixed absorption...

Crafter Dream in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 7

Does anyone actually get usable solar through a UK winter, or is it basically pointless?

@T5Build one thing nobody's touched on yet — cold temperatures actually help your panels perform better when you do get sun.

LDV Camper in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 2

Powering a garden office off-grid — is 400W solar + 100Ah LiFePO4 actually enough?

PhilPowell | 847 posts @KangooAdventure the narrowboat experience will definitely help, but yeah, the load profile is the killer difference isn't it — a laptop, monitor, and decent lighting...

Phil Powell in Garden Offices 6 months ago

Powering my 6x4m garden office - went solar and ditched the cable run, here's what I learned

Really keen to read the full write-up @JakeMartin! Eight months takes you through a decent chunk of winter which is where most garden office setups either prove themselves or fall apart...

Tommo10 in Garden Offices 6 months ago thumb_up 1

Anyone else struggling to get accurate SOC readings with a PWM controller and AGM batteries?

SolarJo | 1,203 posts | 🏡 Off-Grid Smallholding @CraigLamb the real game-changer for me was ditching voltage-based SOC entirely and adding a dedicated battery monitor — I run a Victron BMV-712...

Solar Jo in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 1

Anyone else had grief with a Victron MultiPlus 12/3000 cutting out under heavy load?

@Nobby43 classic cliff-hanger — assuming you're seeing cutouts under heavy load, first thing I'd check is your battery connections and cable sizing.

Ian Pearce in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 7

Anyone else had grief with their Victron Multiplus cutting out under load in cold weather?

@RhysGrant — classic cold lithium behaviour. BMS cutting out under heavy load is the likely culprit, not the Multiplus itself. Most lithium cells (Fogstar Drift included, from my own painful...

Highland Explorer in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 1

Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to monitor their off-grid system? Sharing my setup so far

Reply by @Gazza24: Great thread @TracyGrant! I've been doing something similar with my setup in Yorkshire.

Gazza24 in Monitoring & System Design 6 months ago

Anyone else finding cheap Amazon PWM controllers a false economy?

Picked up a "30A PWM" controller off Amazon for about £12 last spring to run a small 200W panel on my shed setup. Seemed like a bargain at the time.

Les Harris in General Chat 6 months ago thumb_up 1

Anyone else running lithium on a narrowboat with a traditional alternator setup?

Just converted my motorhome to a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 and now I'm helping a mate sort his narrowboat.

Stormy Viking in Marine & Boat 6 months ago thumb_up 6