Interesting - have been contemplating exactly this for Windstar - 33-2, and my needs and equipment are similar for contemplated summer cruising in Georgian bay.
I have a Bimini and can barely fit 200w (iirc) of solar panel on the Bimini, which is the bare minimum required to keep my house battery whole. (I could be misremembering the wattage) Mounting the flexible panels will take some thought. I don’t want to bother with set up and take down panels.... I have converted to LED lighting - a big difference in power consumption and have used a variety of light sources, including some inexpensive halogen replacement bulbs from amazon and some dome lights from princess auto. Am very happy with both despite the low cost. IMHO Biggest remaining issue is the fridge - it needs to be better sealed and better insulated is to reduce the amp-hour draw. This will take some thought and is a project for the winter. Am a bit behind on blog updates but will catch up over the next week or so. http://cncwindstar.blogspot.com/2015/12/hello-all-this-blog-is-intended-to.html Am interested in the evolution of your plans! Dave Sent from my iPad > On Oct 13, 2018, at 1:42 PM, DON JONSSON <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi All > > Last year after putting in a new Beta engine with a larger alternator (110 > amp) we added an additional battery, a battery monitor, and to use all that > power, a fridge. (Of interest, and not the point of this email, is we went > through two alternators on the boat last summer both on warranty. Doesn't > bode well. We did not put in a smart regulator as it would void the > warranty. Guess that was a good thing. Two mechanics have gone through the > boat and all wiring is good. They claim manufacturing default in both > alternators. Hmmm.) > > The fridge is a fantastic addition especially when you are up north with no > stores to buy ice, or much food for that matter. BUT, as you all know it > takes a lot of power. Which gets me to the questions. Easy one first. > > 1. We have added some new LED reading light fixtures but still have a few > more old incandescent lights where we would like to keep the fixtures. You > can get replacement LED bulbs that range in price from a couple of dollars to > $15. I read that cheaper ones don't deal with variations in voltage very > well and you should spend more money. Does anyone have experience and > recommendations. > > 2. The real solution, we think, is solar panels. But how much do they really > help and where to put them on a 34 foot sailboat. It seems all locations > come with a compromise. We are considering: > > A: On top of the dodger, but the boom will always be an issue. Especially > since we don't have a bimini we use the boom for supporting our awning that > we put up on hot sunny days. Yes we occasionally get them up on the BC coast > and blocking the sun is mandatory. > > B: Get a bimini and mount them on it. But this gets us back to the sunshine > issue. Lots of days it isn't that warm and you want the sun on you. A > Bimini with solar panels is not that easy to fold out of the way. Also it > isn't cheap. > > C: Hang them off the life lines or rails at the back of the boat with a > support that allows you to set them flat when at anchor. But we occasionally > carry bikes back there and we couldn't have both at the same time. Also > looks a little clunky. > > D: Leave them as portable and set them out when at anchor. But then it is a > pain and you don't do it unless you are sitting for a while and you have all > the wire to deal with, etc. And they aren't helping much under sail. > > So does anyone have a recommendation as to what they have done and how it > works. Also how many amp hours did you get on a sunny day? What size of > panels did you use. > > I know, that like everything on a boat it is always a compromise, we are just > trying to figure out which one to make. > > Thanks for any help. > > Don Jonsson > Andante, C&C 34 > Victoria, BC > > >
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