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I've got a single Drift 5.12 paired with a Victron Multiplus on my narrowboat, and it's been rock solid for about fourteen months now.
Pennine Nomad in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 2
I've been through this exact debate twice — once for the shepherd's hut, then again when I built out the garden office to run an EV charger.
Depends massively on what "family" means to you, doesn't it? Got mates with three kids off-grid and it works a treat.
Curly38 in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The generator vs battery question plagued me for years in the motorhome. What finally clicked was thinking about duty cycle rather than just capacity. Generators excel at sustained load — running...
Simon Kelly in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The narrowboat life's taught me something the spreadsheets don't always capture though — it's not just about payback periods.
Exmoor Nomad in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
PWM's fine if you're genuinely constrained on budget, but honestly the gap between a basic PWM and a decent MPPT has narrowed enough that it's worth stretching for one.
DODQueen in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 3
What @Louise1984 and @Macca64 are touching on is the real issue — it's about response time and lifestyle. I learned this the hard way on my narrowboat.
Exmoor Nomad in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@Louise1984 spot on. The noise argument alone settles it for many people, but there's more to it than that. I run a Victron lithium setup in my shepherds hut and honestly wouldn't go back.
Macca64 in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Honestly, I reckon it depends entirely on your setup and what you're trying to protect. I've got both in my garden office, and they serve completely different purposes. Battery backup is silent,...
Louise in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Mixed setups work fine if you're sensible about it. Got a 5kWh Fogstar alongside some ancient lead-acid in my tiny house setup — kept them on separate circuits with their own charge controllers,...
ExChippie30 in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Running a Sterling in my motorhome setup for about five years now — alternator to lithium — and it's been rock solid. Not fancy, but that's sort of the point.
Dorset Explorer in DC-DC Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Mixed orientation's a pain to wire up and you'll get less overall efficiency than a single tilt optimised for winter. Static caravan means you're not moving it about, yeah?
Grumpy Sparky in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The compressor kick-in issue @ThistleKen mentions is real—I've seen it tank a poorly-sized system in under a season.
Boycie in Product Recommendations 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Mate, you've got the Rolls-Royce setup — the real question is whether you're actually using it like one or just admiring it from the shed. 200Ah LiFePO4 with Victron is brilliant for consistent...
Boat Paddy in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The narrowboat maths are brutal because you've got space and weight constraints that a fixed property just doesn't have.
MrBodge65 in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The panel spec looks solid for a static setup, but I'd push back on the mixed orientation thing slightly — unless you're genuinely getting shaded differently across seasons, you might be spreading...
Liam Palmer in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Narrowboat here too—been wrestling with this. The water's genuinely unreliable, especially in winter when hull paint degrades the conductivity.
Partner Nomad in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The cycle depth point @CliffGazer raises is massive. I've got a 10kWh Fogstar LiFePO4 setup running my tiny house, and I can genuinely use 80-90% of the capacity without worrying.
SOC_Nerd in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 5
Looking at your Sprinter situation — what's your actual power draw like? That's the real decider here. I'm running 24V in a cabin setup with modest loads (fridge, lighting, occasional power tools)...
Partner Nomad in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Static caravans are brilliant for this. You'll want to size your battery bank properly first—a 3kW inverter won't help much if you're draining a small bank too fast.
Peak VanLifer in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 3