Appliances for cabins

March 2007 - I'm reducing my inverter loads this year. This is from the 2006 season.

I now run my 12 volt fans from a 20 amp hour gel battery; this lasts for 4 days before the battery needs charging.

One of my 12 volt fans.

Some of the appliances that I purchase are 12 volt or propane. For instance, for ventilation and cooling in the summer, I purchased a fan that runs  either on 12 volts of D cells or battery bank power. The solar charge controller I got has outputs and adaptors for 12 volts direct from the battery bank.

Our lighting consists of two voltages of the same type. I use Compact Fluorescent 12 volt bulbs (5 watts each x 4), 2 from the battery bank and 2 from a small AGM battery. For brighter light, I use General Electric Compact Fluorescent bulbs, which are the best; they use the least power and provide rated light. I've tried several brands but GE seems to be the way to go.

My stove is a 2 burner with a grill from Harbor Freight. This works either off of a 20 lb or standard small propane bottle. Currently, for heating water, I use a pan on the stove. Plans are to build a solar water heater and plumb it into a small water heater that uses propane

The current television that I have is a small 12 inch that uses 20 watts to start and 10 while running, sometimes dropping below 10 watts.

By now you're probably wondering about our well. Well, we don't have one. I store a few hundred gallons of water on site and transport it as needed. The reasoning is simple (to me); when the home was first built the water table was 20 feet. Now it's almost 90 feet because every idiot that builds up here just starts pumping as much water as they can from the ground.

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