Escapees November-December 2023

If you can’t find the label on a specific appliance, use the wattage chart for typical RV appliances (See QR code). Keep in mind, some appliances have a wide wattage range depending on their size, so it’s always best to determine the wattages of your appliances. Watts x Hours = Watt Hours (WH) Now that you’ve fi gured out how many watts each appliance requires to run, you need to estimate how long you will run them. With the watts for each appliance at hand, you simply multiply the Watts for each appliance times the hours you typically use each appliance each day. Example: • Fan: 22.8W x 4 hours = 91.2WH • Coffee Maker: 1200W x .25 hours = 300Wh • Lights: 16W x 5 hours = 90WH • Laptop: 65W x 6 hours = 390WH Add all of these WH together to reach your total watt hours, or what we like to call your “magic number.” This will help you choose which and how many components that you need. To greatly simplify this process, download our Solar System Sizing Worksheet (see QR code on this page) to use the spreadsheet/links to do the hard work for you!

Important Equations to Determine the System Size You Need We emphasize the you here because every person or household has different energy needs and will use their RV differently. Some people shower and do dishes with hot water every day, others wash every few days. Some folks watch eight hours of TV per day, others never turn it on except to watch the occasional movie. Some folks only want a night or two of boondocking in between RV parks, and others want to spend weeks or months completely off the grid. To design a solar-powered system that meets your needs, you need to do an energy audit for your household. The fi rst step is to fi gure out how many watts each of your appliances require. While most AC appliances are listed in watts, many DC appliances only list the amps because they assume you know it’s a 5V or 12V appliance. Let’s say that you only know the amps required by an appliance, but need to determine the watts. What would you do? • Fan Vent: 12V (DC voltage of your system) x 1.9A (amps of the appliance) = 22.8W • LED light strip/bulb: 12V x .667A = 8W Remember: If you have more than one light strip or light bulb, multiply the watts by the number you have in your rig (e.g., three light strips x 8W = 24W).

Helpful Downloads You’ll Find at: FreedomInACan.com • Wattage chart for typical RV appliances • Solar System Sizing Worksheet

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November/December 2023 ESCAPEES Magazine