wiring a house for 12 volt

[plowboy]

I have a cabin in a remote area that is about half finished. i was
wanting to wire it for 12 volt, so that i dont have to listen to a
generator running all the time, and its too shady for solar panels.
what type of batteries should i get and what gauge and type of wire
should i use? about all i will run is a few 12 volt floresent or
l.e.d. lights, one or two 12 volt celling fans, and an r.v. water pump.
any help and tips would be greatly appriciated.

 

[Roger Dewhurst]

I have a cabin in a remote area that is about half finished. i was
wanting to wire it for 12 volt, so that i dont have to listen to a
generator running all the time, and its too shady for solar panels.
what type of batteries should i get and what gauge and type of wire
should i use? about all i will run is a few 12 volt floresent or
l.e.d. lights, one or two 12 volt celling fans, and an r.v. water pump.
any help and tips would be greatly appriciated.

Get batteries designed for long periods of discharge not car batteries. You
will find them in fork lifts and golf carts.

As for wire use the heaviest you can get. Not quite starter motor thickness
but thicker than the normal car headlamp wire.

How are you going to charge your batteries?

R

 

[John G]

Get batteries designed for long periods of discharge not car
batteries. You
will find them in fork lifts and golf carts.

As for wire use the heaviest you can get. Not quite starter motor
thickness
but thicker than the normal car headlamp wire.

How are you going to charge your batteries?

R

Much better to ask in the correct group alt.energy.homepower

 

[Derek Broughton]

I would wire the building as-if for 120VAC - 14gauge or better, 2-conductor
plus ground (in fact, I did that in my cottage, which later became home -
with AC). Then, if you decide to upgrade to AC later you don't have to
redo everything. The biggest problem is to make sure that your wire _is_
large enough for 12V. If all you're running is lights, that doesn't take
much, but fans and pumps are larger currents.

 

[Jack Hayes]

Much better to ask in the correct group alt.energy.homepower

You may want to consider that to provide the same wattage as a 120 volt
circuit, at 12 volts you need 10 times the current. Personally I used number
12 in my cottage and wish it was larger, but too late now. A bit more work
but the ultimate solution is to wire for both 120 and 12 volts during
construction. Once the walls and ceiling are finished it is a major hassle
to add anything.

Jack

 

[kell]

I have a cabin in a remote area that is about half finished. i was
wanting to wire it for 12 volt, so that i dont have to listen to a
generator running all the time, and its too shady for solar panels.
what type of batteries should i get and what gauge and type of wire
should i use? about all i will run is a few 12 volt floresent or
l.e.d. lights, one or two 12 volt celling fans, and an r.v. water pump.
any help and tips would be greatly appriciated.

Your best bet is to go to

www.fieldlines.com

and post there.

It is the BEST site on the internet for alternate and remote energy
discussion.

 

[kell]

I have a cabin in a remote area that is about half finished. i was
wanting to wire it for 12 volt, so that i dont have to listen to a
generator running all the time, and its too shady for solar panels.
what type of batteries should i get and what gauge and type of wire
should i use? about all i will run is a few 12 volt floresent or
l.e.d. lights, one or two 12 volt celling fans, and an r.v. water pump.
any help and tips would be greatly appriciated.

Your best bet is to go to

www.fieldlines.com

and post there.

It is the BEST site on the internet for alternate and remote energy
discussion.

 

[Loren Amelang]

You may want to consider that to provide the same wattage as a 120 volt
circuit, at 12 volts you need 10 times the current. Personally I used number
12 in my cottage and wish it was larger, but too late now. A bit more work
but the ultimate solution is to wire for both 120 and 12 volts during
construction. Once the walls and ceiling are finished it is a major hassle
to add anything.

My solution was to wire 12V lights and outlets with ordinary 12-2-G AC
cable, but provide a "home run" to the wiring closet for each one, and
leave enough slack to reach both AC and DC distribution boxes. The 12
AWG is sufficient for most any _single_ DC light or portable load. For
the DC pumps and a couple of kitchen outlets I did upgrade to 8 AWG
cable.

As inverters have improved over the 20 years since this choice, I've
swapped some cable runs to the AC side - same cable, different
connections at the ends. In fact, one of the 8 AWG cables now feeds an
AC subpanel on the far side of the house, to run loads I never
imagined I'd have when the cable was laid.

Likewise, if you have an attic or basement, leave a couple runs of
empty conduit from your wiring closet to the open space. Twenty years
ago I though I had covered all possibilities by running a single RG59
(RF video) to most rooms. Since then there has been the need for RG6
(satellite) and RG59 (thin Ethernet bus) and CAT5 (twisted-pair
ethernet with home runs) and S-Video... Wireless is nice, but it eats
power 24/7...

Loren

 

[Gooey TARBALLS]

"I used number 12 in my cottage and wish it was larger"

This is not unusual. If you run #10, you will have a better compromise and
no problem switching a circuit to 120VAC. Its a bit tougher to connect to
common wall switches and outlets. Using deep duplex boxes can make the
wiring / re-wiring (as needed) easier to accomplish.

HOME RUNS are another idea folks wish they'd employed - especially for
telephone, coax and Ethernet.

Plan ahead; don't spare the plumbing / wiring during construction!

Those little pumps that circulate between Water Heater and Tub, Sink, Shower
are also something to consider up front. Saves running cold down the drain
'till the hot reaches the outlet.

And, switches (3-way / four-way, etc) at every entry point to a room make
conserving and lighting easier.

I switch all the bottom outlets so I can employ those little plug-in
transformers that don't need to run 24/7. Turning off the lights (at any one
of four points in my shop), for instance, shuts down all those little power
suckers I may have left plugged in and shuts down power to the compressor as
well (hate when it decides to start at 3AM, don't you?)

 

[Vaughn Simon]

Those little pumps that circulate between Water Heater and Tub, Sink, Shower
are also something to consider up front. Saves running cold down the drain
'till the hot reaches the outlet.

Actually if you do it right, you don't need the pump because you can use
convection circulation. The trick is to run the supply pipe high and the return
pipe down under the floor. That said, those systems may save water, but they
COST energy because you have much higher heat loss from your constantly-hot
pipes. Myself, I would rather have my hot water stored in the tank where it is
nicely insulated, I can wait a few seconds for it to make the trip to my tap.

Vaughn

 

[[email protected]]

Actually if you do it right, you don't need the pump because you can use
convection circulation. The trick is to run the supply pipe high and the return
pipe down under the floor. That said, those systems may save water, but they
COST energy because you have much higher heat loss from your constantly-hot
pipes. Myself, I would rather have my hot water stored in the tank where it is
nicely insulated, I can wait a few seconds for it to make the trip to my tap.

most energy efficient option is to have a circuit that doesnt circulate
usually, but will when youre about to demand hot water. This can be
controlled by press switch, pir detector, touch plate, sensing tap
drip, etc.


NT

 

[Gooey TARBALLS]

Demand driven circuitry - Exactly what they sell here and what I had
reference to. Thanks

 

[Rich Grise]

Actually if you do it right, you don't need the pump because you can use
convection circulation. The trick is to run the supply pipe high and the return
pipe down under the floor. That said, those systems may save water, but they
COST energy because you have much higher heat loss from your constantly-hot
pipes. Myself, I would rather have my hot water stored in the tank where it is
nicely insulated, I can wait a few seconds for it to make the trip to my tap.

Or, you could insulate your pipes.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Derek Broughton]

Or, you could insulate your pipes.

ime, insulation helps, but not that much. For instance, our bathroom is
only used first thing in the morning and last thing at night - no matter
how well insulated the pipes, they'll _always_ be cold when the hot water
is run again.