David, great addition to your series. Another item you could add maybe to a row 23 is the WEIGHT (this would show the other added benefit of LiFePO4 vs Lead Acid) of Lead Acid per A/H vs Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) per A/H - Just wanted to make sure also, the readers here understand the difference between the word Lithium and the actual chemistry recommended for boating applications (LiFePO4).
I debated how much detail to go into on Lead Acid vs Lithium (including discussion on LiFePO4) but decided to try and keep this one pretty basic and just focus on battery bank sizing. I figured there are enough other videos out there with more details that if someone is interested, this video will just whet the appetite!
My 560ah of lifepo4 set me back around 1200 dollars. So far it works pretty good for my 30 ft boat. I only have 300 watts of solar so I rely heavily on my Victron Multiplus(with generator) and battery to battery charger using the engine alternator. Boy though the lithium has made such a difference. We can go days as the batteries slowly discharge. A nice treat of a video on a slow news day here in NC.
SUPER Helpful!! Love that you geek out on this stuff. I learn so much from you! And, thank you SO much for the spreadsheets! I cannot wait to do this audit on our boat!
Hey awesome series man. Thanks for doing a great job on them. I'm purchasing an older vessel and trying to wrap my brain around the electrical situation. Since its been several years since I've messed with electrical, this is very helpful for a leaping off point to start figuring out how much she's consuming verses producing. Stay safe out there!
Glad you're finding it helpful! Electrical setups can be a challenge, especially on a new to you boat so well done on trying to get a grasp on it early.
Hi David, I just took a 2 day electrical systems class with Nigel Calder and he suggested that boats should use a solar factor of 3.5. Multiply your solar array by 3.5 and you'll get your expected output. I thought that seemed a bit low, but based on your observations in the Bahamas, it seems very accurate.
Estimating solar output is definitely an art rather than a science! I did try to do a lot of research to find a somewhat accurate equation and I'm glad to hear it's roughly in line with what the experts say!
Just discovered your channel yesterday. Subbed. Will be watching your vids. A vid from Nov. 2017 exploring your boat shows propane for cooking. I don't know if you have upgraded your battery system but if you are still with propane, are you thinking of going to induction electric instead? In the long run it will be cheaper plus you remove the danger of propane plus the hassle of trying to get bottles filled where the connections are different. In watching 100's of sailing vids, induction cooking seems to be the best option.
We're doing quite a lot of electrical work at the moment for our "year 8 refit" but aren't planning on going full induction cooking just yet. We'll get a portable induction cook-top that we can use when we have excess power while we test how our theories of our revised electrical usage works in the real world. As for the hassle of trying to get cooking gas (it wasn't always propane), we managed pretty well during our circumnavigation. We kept two large composite tanks so when one was emptied, we had several months to find a place to refill before the second ran out as well.
Hi David and Amy. What a great, great video series on power consumption/generation. Hats off! We were owners of a 2013 Helia, and then Irma de-masted her while on the hard in St Martin. We motored her to Ft Lauderdale for repairs, and then sold her. Such is life.... We now have a Leopard 42 on order, so I am researching solar/power needs. I have a question about your At Sea numbers... you say the 24 hours At Sea requirements are 9,900 watts (mainly due to the Autopilot Hydraulic Pump). If I plug in 9,900 for the Gross Daily Consumption(Wh/day), and 1 Day Between Charging, the spreadsheet says you would need a Battery Capacity: Amp-hour of 631. The Leopard 42 has room for three ReLion 300ah batteries, so the 900 amp hours permits for 24 hours of sailing based on your power consumption numbers. All that to ask, when on long passages, what is your preferred procedure for topping off your house battery bank? On our Helia, the genset did not charge the house bank. Does yours, or do you run one/both engines for X hours each day? Thanks again for the education in these three videos, as well as all of the others you and Amy have produced.
Our genset charges the house bank and is by far the quickest way to charge. So when the conditions aren't too rough (ie I'm worried about sucking air into the genset raw water system) then we use the genset. Otherwise, we'd have to run an engine. Don't forget the other side of the equation though about how much renewable power you can generate as well. You might get more shade from sails while at sea, but solar will still work. We've also found that our hydrogenerator makes quite a difference on long passages. With enough solar and/or hydro, you may not need additional charging, even when at sea.
Hi there and thank you for wonderful and clear videos! I have just purchased a Wauquiez 47 and will dive in to the power audit of the yacht. Can you help me to download the excel? The link you have posted does not seem to work any longer . Cheers! Henrik
![WATCH THIS before installing lithium batteries on your sailboat ⚡ [RYAN'S TECH CORNER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vraRhNpEWcE/mqdefault.jpg)
David, great addition to your series. Another item you could add maybe to a row 23 is the WEIGHT (this would show the other added benefit of LiFePO4 vs Lead Acid) of Lead Acid per A/H vs Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) per A/H - Just wanted to make sure also, the readers here understand the difference between the word Lithium and the actual chemistry recommended for boating applications (LiFePO4).
I debated how much detail to go into on Lead Acid vs Lithium (including discussion on LiFePO4) but decided to try and keep this one pretty basic and just focus on battery bank sizing. I figured there are enough other videos out there with more details that if someone is interested, this video will just whet the appetite!
Absolutely outstanding series. Maybe the best on CZcams for this subject. Answered so many questions. Endless thanks!
My 560ah of lifepo4 set me back around 1200 dollars. So far it works pretty good for my 30 ft boat. I only have 300 watts of solar so I rely heavily on my Victron Multiplus(with generator) and battery to battery charger using the engine alternator. Boy though the lithium has made such a difference. We can go days as the batteries slowly discharge. A nice treat of a video on a slow news day here in NC.
It sounds like your general charging 'philosophy' has been very similar to ours so far. And it's worked very well all the way around the world!
SUPER Helpful!! Love that you geek out on this stuff. I learn so much from you! And, thank you SO much for the spreadsheets! I cannot wait to do this audit on our boat!
Hey awesome series man. Thanks for doing a great job on them. I'm purchasing an older vessel and trying to wrap my brain around the electrical situation. Since its been several years since I've messed with electrical, this is very helpful for a leaping off point to start figuring out how much she's consuming verses producing. Stay safe out there!
Glad you're finding it helpful! Electrical setups can be a challenge, especially on a new to you boat so well done on trying to get a grasp on it early.
Hi David, I just took a 2 day electrical systems class with Nigel Calder and he suggested that boats should use a solar factor of 3.5. Multiply your solar array by 3.5 and you'll get your expected output. I thought that seemed a bit low, but based on your observations in the Bahamas, it seems very accurate.
Estimating solar output is definitely an art rather than a science! I did try to do a lot of research to find a somewhat accurate equation and I'm glad to hear it's roughly in line with what the experts say!
This is the absolute best - thank you for sharing!
Thanks David, another good one! I think this will help a lot of folks.
Great spreadsheet, appreciate sharing your work - and the cautions/caveats for use.
Great video! Informative, clear and easy to understand and apply, like the other of the serie! Thank you David, and BRAVO!
So glad you liked it! Happy to share all the things we've learned!
AWESOME, thanks VERY MUCH for taking the time (I imagine it was a shit ton!) to put this together- cheers!!
I figure it's only fair that if I get good ideas from others that I try to share a few things myself! 😉
Thanks guy for your video🤘
Thanks guys, great to see you.
Good content. 👍 💕🐾
Great video David. Love the spreadsheet! Thanks for all the hard work you put into it and for sharing.
You're welcome! Happy to be able to share some of my hard earned knowledge! 😀
Very informative… exactly what I needed to see. Thank you David
Just discovered your channel yesterday. Subbed. Will be watching your vids.
A vid from Nov. 2017 exploring your boat shows propane for cooking. I don't know if you have upgraded your battery system but if you are still with propane, are you thinking of going to induction electric instead?
In the long run it will be cheaper plus you remove the danger of propane plus the hassle of trying to get bottles filled where the connections are different.
In watching 100's of sailing vids, induction cooking seems to be the best option.
We're doing quite a lot of electrical work at the moment for our "year 8 refit" but aren't planning on going full induction cooking just yet. We'll get a portable induction cook-top that we can use when we have excess power while we test how our theories of our revised electrical usage works in the real world.
As for the hassle of trying to get cooking gas (it wasn't always propane), we managed pretty well during our circumnavigation. We kept two large composite tanks so when one was emptied, we had several months to find a place to refill before the second ran out as well.
Very helpful. It would seem that you had the usage that came from the power audit plugged in somewhere here, yet not mentioned. Yes? Thanks again. 👍🏻
Thanks David!
Great job. Thank you for the hard work.
Hi David and Amy. What a great, great video series on power consumption/generation. Hats off! We were owners of a 2013 Helia, and then Irma de-masted her while on the hard in St Martin. We motored her to Ft Lauderdale for repairs, and then sold her. Such is life.... We now have a Leopard 42 on order, so I am researching solar/power needs. I have a question about your At Sea numbers... you say the 24 hours At Sea requirements are 9,900 watts (mainly due to the Autopilot Hydraulic Pump). If I plug in 9,900 for the Gross Daily Consumption(Wh/day), and 1 Day Between Charging, the spreadsheet says you would need a Battery Capacity: Amp-hour of 631. The Leopard 42 has room for three ReLion 300ah batteries, so the 900 amp hours permits for 24 hours of sailing based on your power consumption numbers. All that to ask, when on long passages, what is your preferred procedure for topping off your house battery bank? On our Helia, the genset did not charge the house bank. Does yours, or do you run one/both engines for X hours each day? Thanks again for the education in these three videos, as well as all of the others you and Amy have produced.
Our genset charges the house bank and is by far the quickest way to charge. So when the conditions aren't too rough (ie I'm worried about sucking air into the genset raw water system) then we use the genset. Otherwise, we'd have to run an engine.
Don't forget the other side of the equation though about how much renewable power you can generate as well. You might get more shade from sails while at sea, but solar will still work. We've also found that our hydrogenerator makes quite a difference on long passages. With enough solar and/or hydro, you may not need additional charging, even when at sea.
Hi there and thank you for wonderful and clear videos! I have just purchased a Wauquiez 47 and will dive in to the power audit of the yacht. Can you help me to download the excel? The link you have posted does not seem to work any longer . Cheers! Henrik
Just want to post for others who may be looking - the links should be working again. Thanks for pointing this out Henrik!
We’ll detailed information.
No admiral