4/21/2015

Amps,Watts...

THE BATTERY
AMPS, WATTS, VOLTS
AmpHours(AH)Thevolumeofelectricity,capacity.
A batterys storage capacity is measured in amps or amp (ampere)
hours. One amp equals one hour of use without recharging or, in
practical terms, how long you can use power on a dark, rainy day. All
deep cycle batteries are rated in amp hours supposedly, although Ive
noticedthelessexpensiveonessometimesdontwanttomentionitor
they use another rating mechanism having little to do with it (more on
that below). As a general statement, higher end batteries have higher
amphourrates.Functionally,itsawayforyoutogaugehowlongyou
can use that battery at a known usage level without recharging it. The
higher the amp hour rating, the bigger the battery. You need to guess
your level of use in amps or watts (see below) for any of it to make
sense.

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Togiveyouanideaoftheamphourdifferencesinbatteries,alowerend
battery may have a 34 amp hour capacity and a high end fabulous
battery could have over a 400 amp hour capacity. There are lots in
between.Thecostassociatedwitheachofthesebatteriescanbewildly
different.Ofcoursetheissueis,whatdoyouneed?Anotherissuemay
be,whatcanyouafford?

Amps,Watts...

WattsTheamountofelectricity.
Wattsaremoreoftenassociatedwithaconsumingdevicethanamperes
(amps)asinyourlightbulbhashowmanywatts?Youdontoftenhear,
so,yourlightbulbhashowmanyamps?

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Its helpful to know/guess how much electricity you might consume

whenyouretryingtomakedecisionsaboutbatterysize.Sincebatteries
typically measure storage capacity in amps and consuming devices
typicallyinwatts,youmightwanttochangetheamphourmeasurement
associatedwiththebatteryintowatthoursasitbecomesmorelikean
orangestoorangescomparison.Asoneampequalsonehourofuse,one
watt also equals one hour of use. To do this you can change the amp
hourmeasurementassociatedwithabatteryintowatthours.

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Theequationforfindinghowmanywatthoursareavailableinabattery
whentheamphoursareknownisvoltagexamphours.Forinstance,a
12volt105amphour(AH)batterycansupply1260watthours(12volts
x105amphours=1260watthours).Thatsat100%dischargewithout
pumping in new energy (which means, if you actually do that, youve
likely ruined your battery you shouldnt go lower than 80% with 50%
beingbetter).So,atsaya50%dischargeitscapacitymightbecloserto
630watthours(1260dividedby2).Again,thegeneralequationiswatts
equalvoltsxamps.
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Amps,Watts...

Going along with the example above, lets say your very safe 50%
capacity allows that 630 watt hours of total usage mentioned above.
Lets further say that maybe the biggest or longest inuse consuming
deviceyouwanttorunisyourportablecomputeranditconsumesabout
95 watts an hour (look on the label). 630 total watt hours safely
availabledividedby95wattsusedperhour=6.63hoursusagewithno
incoming battery charge. (Although its good to know even cloudy or
rainydaysprovidesomeelectricalcharge.)

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Ifthatsalongenoughusetimeforyou,thenperhapsinourexample,a
105 amp hour battery is big enough for your needs. In reverse, watts
dividedbyvolts=amps.Or,1260watthoursdividedby12volts=105
amp hours, or using our 50% example, 630 watt hours divided by 12
volts = 52.5 amp hours available. How many amps does a portable
computerdraw?Ithinkmineisaround7or8ampsperhour.52.6amp
hoursdividedby8equals6.56amphours.So,whetheryoucompareby
amp hours or watt hours the actual usage time comes out about the
same. Comparing using watts is just a bit easier because thats what
consumingdevicestendtocomein.
The amp hour size of your battery matters. On the very low end, a 34
amp hour battery might be fine if you have strong solar panel input,
shorttermusewhichallowsforbatteryrecoverytimegoodsunwithno
batterydrain,oryoudontgetmanyrainydayswhereyouare.

DifferentMeasurementConversionsforaBattery
DeepCycleBatteriesaremeasuredinamphoursandthenumberofamp
hours will be listed on it, on the better batteries anyway, or at least
available.
Thefollowingisofferedbywindsun.comassomeapproximateamphour
ratingsforexplainingsomeidentifiersthatappearonbatteriesinsteadof
amp hours. Without this guess work on their part these identifiers, like
Group24(whatsthatabout),arentveryhelpful.
IdentifierAmphourestimateVolts
U134to40amphours12volt
Group2470to85amphours12volt
Group2785to105amphours12volt
Group3195to125amphours12volt
4D180to215amphours12volt
8D225to255amphours12volt
Golfcart180225amphours6volt&T105

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Amps,Watts...

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