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Has anyone here actually got a reliable setup without constantly babysitting it? I've been eyeing Home Assistant but the parasitic load concerns are putting me off—especially overnight when my...
Cleggy in General Chat 4 months ago
Thermal management's a good shout @OffGridMax — my garden office setup taught me that the hard way before I even got to the van conversion phase. But honestly, the thing nobody mentions is that...
DuctTapeDave in Motorhome & Campervan 4 months ago thumb_up 2
Been wrestling with this exact problem for my motorhome setup, and it's made me rethink everything about winter self-sufficiency. The issue isn't just the lower sun angle — it's cloud cover.
Liam Palmer in Garden Offices 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Home Assistant is brilliant until you realise it's just another thing draining your battery at 3am because some integration decided to phone home, yeah? I went the other way on the narrowboat—kept...
Thistle Ken in General Chat 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Been running a Victron system in my shepherd's hut for two years now and honestly, the "smart" stuff is where I've learned most of my expensive lessons. Got seduced by Home Assistant...
Renogy_Nerd in General Chat 4 months ago thumb_up 4
The winter generation drop is genuinely rough — I've got a 4kW array and come December I'm pulling maybe 400-500W on a decent day.
Panel Graham in Garden Offices 4 months ago thumb_up 2
This is spot on. I've got similar experience with a boat setup and the seasonal swing is brutal. Summer you're generating surplus you don't need, winter you're scrambling. The thing people miss is...
Simon Thompson in Garden Offices 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Been through this myself with a small garden studio setup. Summer's deceptive — you get brilliant sunshine and think you're sorted, then January hits and reality bites. My array looks decent on...
Midlands Nomad in Garden Offices 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Proper decision, @VoltJohn. Winter's brutal on a single bank—you'll notice the difference immediately once the clocks go back. Worth checking your BMS settings now you've doubled up, especially if...
Cliff Gazer in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago thumb_up 1
The distributed approach makes sense, but I'd push back slightly on one thing — it depends heavily on your actual usage patterns.
Neil Jackson in Motorhome & Campervan 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Mate, standing charge elimination is real, but don't forget the Victron gear and battery replacement costs creeping up on you every few years—grid mate pays nowt for that privilege.
Sussex Boater in General Chat 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Wise move, @VoltJohn. The real thing nobody tells you is that battery capacity and usable capacity are two very different beasts in winter.
OffGrid Max in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago thumb_up 2
Spot on move. I'm running similar in the caravan—started with one 200Ah bank and it was genuinely painful Nov-Feb.
Relay Dream in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago thumb_up 2
Have you had to adjust your charger settings for the Fogstar? I'm looking at something similar for my garden office setup and I'm a bit uncertain about whether my existing MPPT needs...
Anne Oliver in Show Your Setup 4 months ago thumb_up 1
@VoltAlison, brilliant move! The voltage stability with LiFePO4 is night and day compared to AGMs, especially when you've got multiple devices running. @ExTrucker73, worth mentioning that most...
Frank Fisher in Show Your Setup 4 months ago
That's a solid upgrade, @VoltAlison. Did you keep the same charger setup or swap that out too? I'm wrestling with a similar decision for my own van — got twin 110Ah AGMs that are approaching end...
ExTrucker73 in Show Your Setup 4 months ago thumb_up 2
Finally bit the bullet and swapped out the pair of 100Ah AGMs for a single Fogstar 200Ah LiFePO4. Absolute game-changer for the motorhome setup. The AGMs were killing me — constant voltage drop...
Volt Alison in Show Your Setup 4 months ago thumb_up 4
The CAN bus throttling is definitely the culprit here. Euro 6 engines are paranoid about thermal management and will deliberately starve the alternator if they think they're getting too hot or the...
Watt Andrea in DC-DC Chargers 4 months ago thumb_up 2
The kettle inrush is the real killer here, and 2kW is genuinely marginal for that scenario. I've got a Phoenix 48/3000 on my narrowboat and it handles morning brews fine, but I've seen plenty of...
Boycie25 in Inverters & Chargers 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Yeah, the CAN bus throttling is a proper nightmare with Euro 6. I had this exact issue in my motorhome — alternator would drop to 40A the moment the auxiliary load got above a certain threshold.
WhatsAFuse65 in DC-DC Chargers 4 months ago