How many batteries would i need in my home to run my supply off, if they were being trickle charged off a generator for example? How many kilowatt hours do we use in a day? how many ampere hours do we use?
2007-03-25 02:15:43 · 12 answers · asked by notwal 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
I live in a remote area of Alaska and do run my house off of batteries for a limited portion of the day. Determine your electrical usage by using the last 12 months utility power bills. (Where I live there is no electric utility) Find the monthly average bill and watt hours used. Divide this by 720. This is the average watts per hour. Parallel connect enough heavy duty deep cycle 12vdc batteries to supply the watts per hour for extended durations. I figure 16 hours from a full charge to 85%. Connect a battery charger large enough to recharge the batteries to full charge in the time the charger is connected to the generator or electric supply. This is not a cost effective method of electric consumption. However, it can be when connected to a minimal micro hydro electric generation system that is too small to handle peak loads but is large enough to handle battery charging 24-7. The battery bank acts as a buffer and peaks loads can be used for short periods. When the demand decreases, ie at night, the micro hydro charges the battery at maximum as no power is being used. It is still much more expensive than being connected to a utility company's electric system.
2007-03-25 17:35:41 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It can be done, but it's usually more expensive than connecting to the power lines. It's usually done only for homes that are out in the wilderness or far from the power lines, and the cost of extending a line it prohibitive.
The number of batteries you need will depend on how much power you want to use, how fast you can recharge them, and how many you can afford. You'll probably have to recharge using solar, wind, water power, a generator, or some combination of those.
Do a search for "Solar powered home", "living off the grid", etc, and you can find more information about this.
2007-03-25 09:23:28 · answer #2 · answered by Ralfcoder 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Usually battery-run houses are run on a 12 volt system. It is being done more and more as people get 'off the grid' and out from under the thumb of the utility company. Using solar panels , a wind generators , or a water wheel once your bank of batteries is charged you can sell the excess power back to the power co. Imagine, getting them to send you a check !
2007-03-25 09:23:26 · answer #3 · answered by htuch2000 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you could. It depends how many appliances you want to run off them. Remember that batteries are D.C. (Direct Current) unlike the public electricity supply which is A.C. You would either have to change all your electrical appliances to D.C. or fit a device that changes D.C. to A.C.
Another consideration is that batteries need to be re-charged. Also batteries to supply such a high load would be very heavy and take up a lot of space.
2007-03-25 09:33:44 · answer #4 · answered by oldtimer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the electrical load you house needs. If you have an electric stove and electric heat it is much worse than for gas stove and gas heat, for example. Assuming that you use about 10kw to run your house (120 v and 80 amps) for 24 hours that is 2400 kwh or about 1920 amp hours
That is a lot of batteries and a lot of running of a 15KW generator to recharge them. They would need to be marine-type deep discharge batteries so that you can run them down without ruining them. You would need to put a group of ten in series and parallel up 20 groups of them to get your 80 amp hour draw.
2007-03-25 12:30:05 · answer #5 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Batteries can run an RV, for a limited time, after being charged with a generator - just what you are asking about. . . this is for only limited times, and limited uses. High requirement items, such as microwave, and a/c, are not able to be battery run for reasonable periods of time. . .
To operate a standard home?
Not practical -
2007-03-25 09:21:25 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you could run your home off batteries but youd need a lot and youd need some method to charge them. Therefore youd need a generator. So in effect youd be running your home using a generator via batteries.
2007-03-25 21:02:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
about 5 yrs ago in Washington D.C. they had a contest between 50 universities on who could build a completely solar powerd house. There was no outside electric allowed. There were some good ones too. You could switch your house over to solar power and have no electric bills, yes. but you're looking at around 100,000 plus to do this. The houses thaty were on display were the size of a one bedroom apartment and cost 200,000 plus.
2007-03-25 09:22:46 · answer #8 · answered by davidaronis2000 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How much energy you use is on your electric bill.
Some people use solar power and batteries. Some people who capture energy sell the excess back to the power company.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2005-19,RNWE:en&q=solar+battery+charging
2007-03-25 09:20:29 · answer #9 · answered by cowgirl 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you cuold convert dc from batteries to ac for your home appliances,but it would only be cost effective if you charged th batteries for,essentially,no cost.Possibly by using wind or water to drive your generator
2007-03-25 09:21:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋