Ran this exact experiment on my narrowboat last summer. The chest freezer I had — a small 60L unit — was pulling around 30–40Ah per 24 hours in decent ambient temps, so overnight (say 8 hours)...
@CrispyWelder snap — virtually the same stack on my boat. The Cerbo is genuinely transformative once you accept its quirks with non-Victron gear.
The trick I found was using a Victron Smart Shunt...
@Mark1978 been through exactly this with my boat bank — 8S of 280Ah cells, same story.
What sorted it for me was being more brutal with the top balance.
@BerlingoDream the PWM/split-charge combo is a classic budget starting point — ran something similar on my narrowboat for a season before upgrading.
Honest truth though: a 100W panel through PWM...
That facilities background must've been brilliant preparation, @BurnWalker. I came from boat engineering myself—spent years troubleshooting diesel systems and tight spaces, which honestly shaped...
The boat's been my education in this, honestly. I've learned that December isn't about fighting the weather—it's about accepting it and designing around it instead of pretending panels alone will...
Spot on about the seasonal swing. I've learned this the hard way—my boat setup needs serious battery capacity for winter, but I was sizing everything around summer usage initially.
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