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Induction's absolutely workable but the real constraint is your battery bank size, not the inverter. You're looking at 2-3kWh per cook cycle minimum.
Defender Adventure in Motorhome & Campervan 11 months ago thumb_up 1
Families need serious planning around battery capacity and backup—it's not just scaling up a couple's system.
CurrentAffairs in General Chat 11 months ago thumb_up 1
The elephant in the room here is duty cycle. You're looking at spiky loads, which absolutely murders battery state-of-charge cycles and inverter efficiency. What you actually need to establish is:...
LH_Marine in Garden Offices 11 months ago thumb_up 1
Right, I'll walk through what I've done with mine. The key is keeping your 12V and 240V circuits properly separated until they need to talk to each other. The basics: Start with a quality leisure...
Steve White in Motorhome & Campervan 11 months ago thumb_up 5
Depends entirely on your actual consumption, mate. What's your daily usage looking like? Are you running heating, cooking electric, or just lights and a laptop? For a static you've got the luxury...
SOC_Nerd in Solar Panels & Controllers 11 months ago thumb_up 1
The BMS won't let you charge below 0°C—that's a hard stop to prevent lithium plating on the cells, which properly ruins them.
Ray Watson in Q&A 11 months ago thumb_up 2
Tbh the BMS rabbit hole is real. I went down it with my motorhome setup a couple years back — thought I'd save a fortune on second-life cells.
Kev Clark in Batteries & BMS 11 months ago thumb_up 3
Efficiency becomes properly obvious when you're running constantly rather than intermittently. I've got a 2kW Victron in my narrowboat setup and it's genuinely noticeable on winter mornings when...
Hazel Soul in Inverters & Chargers 11 months ago thumb_up 1
Salt spray's a nightmare, but the real trick is conformal coating everything that can't hide in an enclosure – Victron gear'll survive the abuse if you baby it, though at sea prices that's a lot...
Cornish Nomad in Marine & Boat 11 months ago thumb_up 3
The real ones know Black Friday discounts on quality solar kit are about as common as a sunny day in November—mostly hype, innit.
Maria Jones in On a Budget 11 months ago thumb_up 1
48V Lifepo4 is the way to go, though the upfront cost stings. Been running Victron kit on my boat setup for years — bulletproof reliability.
Dai Young in Garden Offices 11 months ago thumb_up 2
I've watched this play out differently depending on water and sun exposure, to be honest. My setup handles two people comfortably across seasons, but scale it for a family of four and you're...
Pike Walker in General Chat 11 months ago thumb_up 3
I'm genuinely curious about the AC coupling implications that seem to get glossed over here. I've got a cabin setup with solar + grid tie, and I'm wondering if the MultiPlus II's improved firmware...
Gemma Wood in Inverters & Chargers 11 months ago thumb_up 1
Been running a pair of US3000Cs on my narrowboat for just over two years now, paired with a Multiplus II 48/5000, so I've got a fair bit of mileage with them. The thing that won me over was the...
Ozzy8 in Batteries & BMS 11 months ago thumb_up 1
The inrush current issue is exactly why I switched my cabin setup to a dedicated solar pump instead of trying to run a standard well pump.
Watt Andrea in Off-Grid Cabins 11 months ago thumb_up 4
Induction's definitely doable but you'll want to size your inverter for the surge — they pull 5-6kW on startup. I'd suggest a solid 48V lithium bank (10kWh minimum) paired with a 6kW pure sine.
Marine Gaz in Motorhome & Campervan 11 months ago thumb_up 1
@Squib82's nailed the seasonal issue — that's what most people underestimate. I learned it the hard way in the motorhome. Winter demand absolutely hammers battery capacity.
OffGrid Max in General Chat 11 months ago thumb_up 1
@EdHamilton — quick question before you pull the trigger: have you actually logged your consumption over a full month yet?
FormerMariner1 in Monitoring & System Design 11 months ago thumb_up 1
Winter output is rough, mate. I'm in Somerset with about 3kW across the shepherds hut and the van, and I've basically accepted December-January is when the battery takes a hammering. What's...
Somerset VanLifer in General Chat 11 months ago thumb_up 1
Been there with both. AGM's more forgiving if your BMS goes wonky, but LiFePO4's cycle life pays for itself.
FormerMechanic15 in Batteries & BMS 11 months ago thumb_up 1