Rules and Guidelines
Want to participate in the discussions? Please read our Community Rules and Guidelines. Need some help? Visit Support and Answers.

  • State Not Answered
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 11 replies
  • Subscribers 32 subscribers
  • Views 1010 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
You may also be interested in
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Garage Wiring, Coffee Roasting, Voltage Drop and Solar

Fultonius
Hi Folks,


I do a little coffee roasting. It's a 1300w machine, with a 230v heater element (40 Ohm - upgraded from a 240 / 44 ohm version). When running, it's drawing 5 amps and the voltage is dropping to 221v (around 229v before connecting).


Annoyingly, this means long roasting times in summer, and very long in winter! (not ideal)


So, here's my dilemma. I'm trying to consider the effects of voltage rise if I have batteries and an inverter. Obviously, I could get a variable output 1.5kw pure sine inverter and run it islanded. I have 7 x 16 ah 12v batteries redirected from going to the scrappies, which would have plenty juice to run this. I've been thinking for a while about putting a few solar panels on the roof and that's where it gets complicated.


Obviously the wiring from the house to the garage (at the bottom of the garden, so maybe 30m of wire) is a bit underspecced for what I need. Upgrading this would give me more chance of getting the correct voltage, and would probably make sense if I plan to put any "unused" power back to the grid. If the panels/inverter were grid-tied, what voltage would I end up with in the garage while running the roaster? My assumption is the amps will flow from the inverter to the roaster, and the grid will not have any effect? However, that's where my concern is - if my local voltage is higher, will that then default to pushing back to the grid and pull my voltage down?
Parents
  • 0
    Great feedback guys, thanks.


    An update since last post - I have recently added in 2 new sockets on a spur over where the roaster sits. Last night, at 11pm ish I needed to do a roast (ran out, forgot to do it earlier, don't want to go shopping for 1 bag of beans) and it was sitting at 227V / 1250ish Watts. Not quite the full 1300, but certainly closer than the 1200 I was getting before. I should have checked the voltage in the house for reference, but I think there maybe was a bad connection in a terminal box - there was a screw terminal that was stripped and not actually clamping very hard.


    The wire from the house looks to be 1.5mm2 or so (it is armoured), certainly not 2.5 or 4.


    Still need for solar, but I'll do some more research. What I really want is to use fill the batteries during the day when our loads are low, and use them in the evening (induction hob, washing machine etc.) when the loads are higher - peak shaving. Seems like the setup is a bit more complicated, and potentially not very economic in the short term - but if I can keep picking up cheap/free parts I might be able to cobble something together. In a way it's more about learning how it all works than the actual outputs.
Reply
  • 0
    Great feedback guys, thanks.


    An update since last post - I have recently added in 2 new sockets on a spur over where the roaster sits. Last night, at 11pm ish I needed to do a roast (ran out, forgot to do it earlier, don't want to go shopping for 1 bag of beans) and it was sitting at 227V / 1250ish Watts. Not quite the full 1300, but certainly closer than the 1200 I was getting before. I should have checked the voltage in the house for reference, but I think there maybe was a bad connection in a terminal box - there was a screw terminal that was stripped and not actually clamping very hard.


    The wire from the house looks to be 1.5mm2 or so (it is armoured), certainly not 2.5 or 4.


    Still need for solar, but I'll do some more research. What I really want is to use fill the batteries during the day when our loads are low, and use them in the evening (induction hob, washing machine etc.) when the loads are higher - peak shaving. Seems like the setup is a bit more complicated, and potentially not very economic in the short term - but if I can keep picking up cheap/free parts I might be able to cobble something together. In a way it's more about learning how it all works than the actual outputs.
Children
No Data

Community Rules & Guidelines