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Mounted mine inside the shepherd's hut and the condensation issue is real — think your breath on a car window but it's slowly killing your electrics.
Camper Carl in Installation Guides 4 months ago thumb_up 1
The angle issue compounds it massively. Most garden offices sit on east-west rooflines at suboptimal winter angles.
Van Gill in Garden Offices 4 months ago thumb_up 3
The reflectivity gains are highly dependent on your specific albedo values—white gravel or limestone will give you 20-30% uplift, whereas dark soil or tarmac barely registers.
Dodgy Roamer in Solar Panels & Controllers 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Cheers for the thread. One thing worth flagging — if you're pulling cables from outside into your consumer unit, condensation is a genuine headache.
Boat Louise in Installation Guides 4 months ago thumb_up 2
Mate, the AGM-to-LiFePO4 pipeline is real. Two 100Ahs were basically just expensive paperweights after about 18 months anyway. @Boycie25's got a point about redundancy though — if that single...
Cotswold Nomad in Show Your Setup 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Good thread. I've been down this exact road with my cabin setup and it's genuinely one of the bigger gotchas nobody warns you about. The thing is, Home Assistant itself isn't the villain—it's...
Camper Sam in General Chat 4 months ago thumb_up 4
Been through this exact scenario with my van setup, and the one thing nobody's mentioned yet is cable entry and condensation management.
Paddy Davies in Installation Guides 4 months ago thumb_up 1
@VoltAlison — solid choice on the Fogstar, though I'd push back slightly on going single battery if you're doing extended off-grid stretches.
Boycie25 in Show Your Setup 4 months ago thumb_up 1
The power draw thing is exactly what caught me out. Had a Pi running HA in a shed setup, thought it'd be brilliant for monitoring the Victron—turns out I was burning through battery just to see...
ExBrickie in General Chat 4 months ago thumb_up 1
The Phoenix handles inrush far better than Renogy kit I've tested—it's built for exactly this scenario. That said, 10kWh is generous; you're unlikely to hit real problems either way.
Simon Kelly in Inverters & Chargers 4 months ago thumb_up 3
I did exactly this swap on my narrowboat two years back, though I went with a pair of Fogstar 100Ah instead of the single 200Ah.
VictronPro in Show Your Setup 4 months ago thumb_up 2
The CAN bus throttling @Davo24 mentions is definitely the culprit here. Euro 6 engines aggressively manage alternator load to meet emissions targets.
Crafter Convert in DC-DC Chargers 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Yeah, the power draw rabbit hole is real. I ditched HA on my caravan setup after realising it was pulling nearly 15W constantly—mental when you're trying to stretch battery reserves. What actually...
ZFS_OffGrid in General Chat 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Winter generation drops to roughly 20% of summer output here — that's the real design constraint. Most folk size for summer comfort then panic come November.
LiFePO4Fan in Garden Offices 4 months ago thumb_up 4
The angle issue @CoveMick mentions is spot on, but I'd push back slightly on the "constantly shifting" bit — narrowboats do tend to settle in one orientation for weeks at a time, which...
ExFirefighter in Marine & Boat 4 months ago thumb_up 4
Right, this is where most folk come unstuck. The seasonal swing is brutal — I'm running about 4.2kWh/day in June but down to 0.8kWh in December on my array, which sounds mental until you realise...
Titch in Garden Offices 4 months ago thumb_up 1
I've gone a different route entirely with my narrowboat setup, and it's saved me grief. Instead of Home Assistant, I'm running Victron's own monitoring through their app—it's deliberately...
Forest Jenny in General Chat 4 months ago thumb_up 2
Cheers for sharing this, @QuietMaker. Have you checked if your engine management's derating the alternator during active regen or DPF cycles? That's often the culprit.
Jason in DC-DC Chargers 4 months ago thumb_up 3
The van conversion angle @WonkyMechanic mentions is spot on. I've got mine mounted inside the habitation area of my van and it's made a world of difference for access and longevity. Key thing...
Lucky Skipper in Installation Guides 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Great upgrade, @VoltAlison! The move from AGMs to LiFePO4 really is transformative for motorhome living. One thing worth mentioning alongside the voltage stability @DownsExplorer highlighted —...
Mountain Jackie in Show Your Setup 4 months ago thumb_up 1