Solar power bank
Posted by Specialist_Loan8666@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 35 comments
What size power bank would I need to run a medium upright freezer and a small chest freezer for a day
Posted by Specialist_Loan8666@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 35 comments
What size power bank would I need to run a medium upright freezer and a small chest freezer for a day
Traditional-Leader54@reddit
You need to check the specs on the freezers and it will either tell you the wattage or the amperage. Wattage is amperage x voltage and the voltage is either 110 or 220 depending what country you live in. Then multiply that by 8 assuming it runs in third if the day and that’s the minimum wattage you would need so adding another 30% and go from there.
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
Thank you
TLFP@reddit
ITT: OP asks for advice with almost no details and then talks down to every commenter who replies with relevant information.
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
Small chest freezer and medium upright. Can’t be more than a few hundred watts. Even if it was 500 each…
TLFP@reddit
Why even ask if you already know "it can't be more than a few hundred watts."
It entirely depends on the exact wattage the freezers you have will draw, how long they will be running, the start-up draw, etc
People have given you the tools to answer your question.
Cute-Consequence-184@reddit
The power need differences between my small dorm size freezer and my chest freezer that can hold 3 deer and a full size Angus is staggering.
Just saying
TLFP@reddit
Say it was 500 watts each. You'd need a power bank that can output at least 1000 watts.
But for how long? Say 10 hours. That would mean you need a power bank with a capacity of 10,000 Watt hours or 10 kWh.
Watt hours is a measure of capacity of the battery. Watts is the measure of power draw.
Jammer521@reddit
Get a kilowatt meter, plug in each appliance and monitor it for an hour to see how much it uses without the compressor running and with, and for what duration, takes those number extrapolate it over 24 hours and they will give you the rough estimate of the total power they will consume over a 24 hour period, from there you can size the power station you need
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
👍🏼👍🏼
There_Are_No_Gods@reddit
As always, that depends very much on the specifics of your devices and power bank. You really need to crunch the numbers. Generally the descriptions of your devices will include the relevant details, namely startup and average wattage, or amps, which along with volts provides all you need to calculate the wattage.
There are also user friendly devices like the Kill-a-watt, which you can plug in between your device and the wall, where it'll provide you with all kinds of handy information, such as recording how many kW your device used in practice over 24h.
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
Can’t be more than a couple hundred watts. A 14 cubic upright and a 7 cubic chest
There_Are_No_Gods@reddit
I think you are extremely far off the mark with that assessment. This is the kind of question, by the way, that AI can be great at answering. Here's what ChatGPT has to say about it (mashing your original question together with later added details):
Notably this answer failed to mention the startup draw, which can often be a big deal for refrigerators and freezers (also A/C handlers, well pumps, etc.). That won't affect the overall necessary power bank capacity much, but it will require a sufficiently sized inverter and such, to avoid simply tripping a breaker/fuse and turning off the power bank whenever those big draws kick on.
MrHmuriy@reddit
ChatGPT has given you some strange data. I have a fairly large Liebherr ICBNdi 5183 built-in freezer/refrigerator with an inverter compressor, it consumes about 220 kWh per year, or about 0.6 kWh per day. A fairly large Gorenje chest freezer (approx 14.8 cu.ft) consumes about 300 kWh per year, or about 0.82 kWh per day. I measure electricity consumption using smart sockets, through which all the main devices in my house are connected.
There_Are_No_Gods@reddit
Certainly don't ever just take ChatGPT's answers at face value without further verification from more reliable sources. That said, even a quick, cursory search should show you that there's a huge amount of variance out there, from reliable sources.
There are still tons of old freezers that will use 500+ watts per hour, but also fancy modern efficient stuff that'll use less than 50 watts per hour. Energy usage can also vary a lot due to the large range of ambient temperatures for different locations.
That's why I first replied that OP needs to look at the specifics for their devices. Averages and typical values are often far off the mark from any particular setup.
Your scenario is a great example of that, where you appear to know what you're doing and have some highly efficient devices, with energy consumption results far away from the overall averages. That doesn't invalidate the averages, though, nor rule out that OP's scenario may be even farther towards the other end of energy efficiency.
MrHmuriy@reddit
My friend recently replaced his mother's old Soviet absorption refrigerator - the thing used really a lot of electricity, about 7-8 kWh per day.
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
There’s no way I need a 6,000 watt solar bank for those freezers. That’s crazy. I saw video of a 12,000 watt system powering laundry machines. Air conditioner. Tv. Freezers. Fridges. Lights etc. and they weren’t using all the power either
TLFP@reddit
You're misunderstanding the units.
It said you need 6000 watt hours to run them for the whole day. You need a power bank that can output 600 watts for 10 hours.
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
👊🏼👍🏼
There_Are_No_Gods@reddit
Ignore reality at your own peril.
PeppySprayPete@reddit
I have a Bluetti AC180 connected to a BougeRV freezer
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
1800 watts? I’m sure that would be plenty of power. Thank you!
PeppySprayPete@reddit
The Bouge RV in eco mode only uses 50 watts or less too
So you can run the freezer for about 18 hours off the Bluetti power station because the power station is 1024Wh
I also keep two large RTIC cold freezer gel packs frozen in the freezer
So that even if the freezer turned off because the power finally ran out, it'd stay cold an additional 12 hours as well
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
Smart to keep some large ice packs in there in case. Thank you!!
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
And I could charge that from a 2000 inverter generator quickly I’m assuming
newarkdanny@reddit
I have both, by a day do you mean a full 24 hours or a 8 hour work day? Either way if you want to run both same time am assuming for either length of time no recharge and not be worried get yourself a ecoflow delta pro, you'll run those no sweat full day. If you want a cheaper option just get yourself a good inverter generator (harbor freight predator). Third option get 2x ecoflow deltas or delta minis and charge them up with your gas genny (play your cards right still cheaper than 1 delta pro)
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
I have a predator 2000 and 100+ gallons of fuel. Would like to get a solar power bank to maybe do every other day or just keep the freezers plugged in at all times if I can have the solar out in the sun. Thank you those look to be good options
newarkdanny@reddit
Call them power stations instead of solar power banks but yes with the right solar panels and sunlight conditions you could extend your run time quite a bit. Since you have that much fuel around look into the ecoflow smart generator, it's fuel powered and you hook it up WITH your power station and once your power station runs out of juice the smart generator automatically kicks in and tops it off.
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
See how easy that was. Everyone else gets all bent out of shape and writes paragraphs instead of just giving an answer 😂😂. And for your answer I thank you sir. Truly not a narcissist !
TheSensiblePrepper@reddit
Welcome.
This question has been asked and answered several times before. I would recommend you search the Sub before posting. You can also check out the Wiki of the Sub.
I would recommend you check my recent post about preparing for a Power Outage.
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
You know it would have been easier for you to just give an answer. You actually did 10X more work then you had to
Ryan_e3p@reddit
It would've been quicker and easier for you to look for already well established answers for this already instead of asking questions that have been answered hundreds of times, with answers that are quite thoroughly written to include what to calculate, what to look out for, and how to potentially save hundreds of dollars.
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
There you go again. Doing 10x than you had to
TheSensiblePrepper@reddit
I actually saved myself a lot of work by doing it this way.
The answer to your question has a lot of possible answers based on certain pieces of information. Information like....
How many watts does the equipment pull?
How long are you looking to keep them running?
What is your budget? Etc.
I would recommend you look at my post, as solar generators are the first thing I mention. It has links to videos on YouTube that will help you determine what the best generator is for your needs.
Specialist_Loan8666@reddit (OP)
It’s a ball park. A small chest freezer and medium upright can’t be more than a couple hundred watts
TheSensiblePrepper@reddit
You would be shocked. Also, the watts being pulled aren't constant and depends on things like if it's already at temperature or not and how full they are.
You should take the advice of myself and others to determine that. Watch the videos in my other post. It will help you.