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Idle Power Consumption

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Bluemalibu

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Might I ask for a huge favor???

Due to parasitic power draw from our inverters at idle having such a major impact upon those of us with smaller solar systems, it is imperative that we seek out a reliable inverter that plays nicely with our battery bank.

Because of this, I chose to purchase the Giandel 2000w inverter for the 24v system that I will be assembling, even though their 3000w unit would be a far better fit in our home... this is due to a reviewer at Amazon reporting that the smaller unit to consume a measured .25 amps at idle, vs. the 3000w inverter's reported 2.5 amp draw.

I know that @Will Prowse has both the 2000w and 3000w inverters currently... would it be possible impose upon you to take a quick measurement of both of these unit's power draw at idle, to confirm the large difference between the two? ( I am wondering if the reviewer that I mentioned simply got the decimal in the wrong place on the smaller unit. If the 3000w inverter's draw is closer in real-world application, I'll simply purchase it instead)

Thanx so much!
 
The 2000w/24v/240v unit's idle draw is approximately 250mA, but the 3000w/24v/240v unit's idle is approximately 500mA. Both were measured with a clamp meter so not 100% accurate but good enough.
 
Makes me wonder why they don't both idle at the same quarter, or half amp per hour? Note: Even at a seemingly miniscule .250 mA per hour, thats still 6 amps per day dedicated to just leaving the device on at idle which is quite a bit for those of us with puny systems. I make sure I shut mine off when im not using it but dream of the the glorious day when I have finally grown my PV, (and wind and theremoelectric), system large enough to enjoy the luxury of leaving my inverter on and finally ditching the headlamp! Sigh ... looking out the window dreamily while resting chin on hands ... http://www.ecosnippets.com/alternative-energy/wood-stove-power-a-small-home/ 1572030541825.png
 
The 3000w unit probably has a couple more of LV > HV boost stages. They seem to do all this stuff lego style, bigger unit has more identical boost stages.
 
gnubie said:
The 3000w unit probably has a couple more of LV > HV boost stages. They seem to do all this stuff lego style, bigger unit has more identical boost stages.
Click to expand...
I do so hope one day to visit the quaint island of Australia and visit the capital of Vienna.
 
gnubie said:
The 2000w/24v/240v unit's idle draw is approximately 250mA, but the 3000w/24v/240v unit's idle is approximately 500mA. Both were measured with a clamp meter so not 100% accurate but good enough.
Click to expand...


Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

It stood to reason that one of those figures were off a might... it was hard to imagine that one had ten times the parasitic draw of the other.

Good-on-ya' !!
 
That sounds more like a sleep function than an idle.

My 12v Cotek 2000w idles at 1.8A, the 3000w is 3.5A.

Sleep is 100ma
 
@Will Prowse 250ma per hour? That's a lot of quiescent current. How would one measure that? What would the multimeter contact points be? This sounds like a good idea for a video.

And I was nitpicking about my charge controller LCD screen backlight always being on, when it might use only 10-20ma per hour.
 
Bluemalibu said:
Might I ask for a huge favor???

Due to parasitic power draw from our inverters at idle having such a major impact upon those of us with smaller solar systems, it is imperative that we seek out a reliable inverter that plays nicely with our battery bank.

Because of this, I chose to purchase the Giandel 2000w inverter for the 24v system that I will be assembling, even though their 3000w unit would be a far better fit in our home... this is due to a reviewer at Amazon reporting that the smaller unit to consume a measured .25 amps at idle, vs. the 3000w inverter's reported 2.5 amp draw.

I know that @Will Prowse has both the 2000w and 3000w inverters currently... would it be possible impose upon you to take a quick measurement of both of these unit's power draw at idle, to confirm the large difference between the two? ( I am wondering if the reviewer that I mentioned simply got the decimal in the wrong place on the smaller unit. If the 3000w inverter's draw is closer in real-world application, I'll simply purchase it instead)

Thanx so much!
Click to expand...
how many watts would that be. The milliamp measurements seems kind of small. But I'm not sure how to calculate it to watts. How many watts would it be for the idle consumption for both units.. thanks in advance V B
 
offgriddle said:
Makes me wonder why they don't both idle at the same quarter, or half amp per hour? Note: Even at a seemingly miniscule .250 mA per hour, thats still 6 amps per day dedicated to just leaving the device on at idle which is quite a bit for those of us with puny systems. I make sure I shut mine off when im not using it but dream of the the glorious day when I have finally grown my PV, (and wind and theremoelectric), system large enough to enjoy the luxury of leaving my inverter on and finally ditching the headlamp! Sigh ... looking out the window dreamily while resting chin on hands ... http://www.ecosnippets.com/alternative-energy/wood-stove-power-a-small-home/ View attachment 1446
Click to expand...
How can I measure my 12 volt 3000 renergy inverter's idle consumption. I'm curious. I don't think it's that bad. But I'm trying to get a 24-volt unit trying to figure out which one to buy thanks in advance
 
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