Recent content by pembol

Seeing this old thread has been brought back to the top - I can report back. I did install the Blueridge/gree sapphire and now have had a full winter and summer of operation. Install was very straightforward as a DIY. The system has run really well, and does seem to be meeting the promised...

I think your ventilation plan is a good one - and it will help the garage be more pleasant in the mornings by having it be closer ambient. But I am not sure it will make a huge difference by the afternoon without insulation to slow down the heat gain. It seems like it would be relatively easy...

Some of the various tachometer apps for iOS/Android work quite well up to a couple thousand RPM. If it is a dark enough area, the strobe lights ones may be a little more accurate than the frame rate ones.

If the heat is the wall heater in the photo, you may find heating with the minisplit to be better, also the cost differential for a unit that heats well is small and gives you options for heat. Either way, definitely consider 2 units if you end up needing more BTU - also addresses the 2 room...

Do a real load calculation, and decide if you want the mini just for cooling/dehumidification or heating as well. If you want heat (which I am guessing you do) that will probably drive the sizing as I am sure your heat loads are much higher than your cooling loads. Also, remember this is a...

A lot of folks are suggesting more ventilation, but that may actually make the issue worse. A others have said, the root cause of the condensation is the temperature of the floor dropping below the dew point of the air. Just looking at the weather for Indianapolis, the dew points are often...

It sounds like this needs to be in a fairly prominent location relative to your beautiful new house. In which case I would for sure build a nicer looking shed - not the hokey mini-barn kits/prefab options. The premade ones look just OK on the day they are delivered and get progressively...

The shunt is on the negative lead, but there is a small wire to the positive terminal to power the meter. You do need to get the battery all the way full to calibrate the meter to 100% SOC. Given the choice these days, I would buy a battery with a State of Charge meter built into the...

I don't think there is any rule or reason that you can't back feed solar into a breaker in a sub panel. I have 400A service, which feeds two 200A panels, so both of these panels are technically sub panels. My 10kW solar system back feeds a 50A breaker in one of these sub panels. I also...

It looks like your base load is on the order of 1.5 - 3kw depending on season. Plug in solar (or even a larger system) may be a good idea for you, as you don't need to worry about net metering, the 1200W from the system would just offset your usage, reducing your base load while the sun...

I am no expert on the rules and regs for VA, so you would need to read up on those. But from a purely physics perspective, plugging in to an outlet in the barn would be fine. That also looks like an ideal roof for solar. I think you are also finding out one of the other benefits of these...

I am not sure what sort of phone you have that needs a 180W charger (!!!). A 180 Ah/ 2kWh battery backup would run my 10W phone charger for a full week, or my critical loads (network gear and server) for about 20 hours. Again, this is depends on your needs - if you need to keep the...

It looks to me like your electricity rate is closer to $0.16/kWh (the distribution fees are typically per kWh), which makes the payback a bit shorter. For a 1200W system, you should be in the $1000 - $1500 range. Basically you need one of these , three 500W panels of your choice (~$0.50 / W)...

Plug in solar has now been approved in Utah, Maine, Virginia, Colorado, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Connecticut with more to follow. Ant-islanding is a safety requirement, but as you mention a hybrid inverter can still provide power to loads on the output side from solar and battery.

I am not sure about the specific ones the OP posted, but in general I don't think these are a scam. You just need to know what the appropriate application is. I stumbled on one while looking for a UPS for some critical loads. For the same price as a 'traditional' UPS that would back up my...