We are dealing with a generator that absolutely won't start when cold, so I was considering a block heater. Below 20 deg F it has proven worthless, and we can see -20 F on occasion.
My concern is using power from a low battery on a cold cloudy day to heat a generator. How long does it take to make a difference? Has this method proven 100% reliable? Thanks, Drake > Hi Gary, > > We have implemented a preheat strategy that has really worked well at a > site using dual sunny islands. They have a load shed function built in > with the control relays. We are using that function to add the block > heater load. When a generator start is likely (~50% SOC) it triggers a > relay that energized the block heater. The generator start is then > programmed at a lower SOC (~30% SOC). It takes some guesswork to know how > many watt hours its going to take to get the block heated up, but we > conservatively chose and have fiddled with it. I imagine this can be done > with either the Radian or the XW, and you could trigger with voltage > instead of SOC, but SOC is a superior way to do it. > > Another way is to use a propane block heater. This will work well, but > they use quite a bit of propane, and are very expensive (~$1500). > > Good luck > > On Thu, Apr 2, 2015 at 8:47 PM, Gary Higbee <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Wrenches, >> >> I'm curious what strategies you use to preheat a propane gen in cold >> climates. This is a large off-grid design in a sub-zero winter climate >> and >> ideal would be to turn on a block heater an hour or two in advance, then >> run the gen cycle. We plan to use either a Schneider XW or Outback >> Radian >> configuration (still very interested in which you'd use and why). We >> could >> set up a logic/relay system to first send the gen request to the heater >> for >> a while and then turn off and initiate a gen cycle but that would >> eliminate >> the ability for autostart on short notice. I've read of heat lamps on a >> thermostat, just wondering if you have seen other solutions. >> >> Thanks! >> >> Gary >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> List Address: [email protected] >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List-Archive: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> > > > -- > > > > Mac Lewis > > *"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates* > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: [email protected] Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
