What's your base load?

[Neuk_]

I do that with 3 old ISP routers connected to each other with LAN, covers the whole property, still have another 3 in the storage cupboard incase anything breaks.

I did that for a while before I got tired of devices with one single small sliver of WiFi connection to a WiFi router on the other side of the house. Paid for a Unifi UCG and was lucky gifted 2 Unifi AP's to use with the existing Unifi AP LR, which are admittedly old but do the job.

 

[Greglsh]

I did that for a while before I got tired of devices with one single small sliver of WiFi connection to a WiFi router on the other side of the house. Paid for a Unifi UCG and was lucky gifted 2 Unifi AP's to use with the existing Unifi AP LR, which are admittedly old but do the job.

I run the Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra, with 2 x Unifi 6 lite and 1 Unifi LR.

 

[wingnut771]

I did that for a while before I got tired of devices with one single small sliver of WiFi connection to a WiFi router on the other side of the house. Paid for a Unifi UCG and was lucky gifted 2 Unifi AP's to use with the existing Unifi AP LR, which are admittedly old but do the job.

I have a router in the cottage which covers the braai and pool area, another one in the middle of the house which covers upstairs and then the 3rd where the fibre comes into the house which covers the front of the property like when I'm waiting for uber eats at the gate. I can walk around with my phone on a whatsapp call and it might drop for a second when switching hotspots but other than than it works perfectly. I get about 20mbps by the pool.

 

[Tomtomtom]

Okes on here with overnight base load that is double what we consume over 24 hours for a house of 4.

My next question is, assuming most of you have battery backup to cover all that stuff overnight or when you're out, does it not make sense to automate some internal loadshedding (like, shut down the NAS, screens, outside WiFi APs on a schedule)? To reduce the capacity required and/or depth of discharge.

 

[wingnut771]

Okes on here with overnight base load that is double what we consume over 24 hours for a house of 4.

My next question is, assuming most of you have battery backup to cover all that stuff overnight or when you're out, does it not make sense to automate some internal loadshedding (like, shut down the NAS, screens, outside WiFi APs on a schedule)? To reduce the capacity required and/or depth of discharge.

I like aircon on when I sleep.

 

[Neuk_]

I have a router in the cottage which covers the braai and pool area, another one in the middle of the house which covers upstairs and then the 3rd where the fibre comes into the house which covers the front of the property like when I'm waiting for uber eats at the gate. I can walk around with my phone on a whatsapp call and it might drop for a second when switching hotspots but other than than it works perfectly. I get about 20mbps by the pool.

Coverage wasn't really an issue for but devices sticking to either the AP or the WiFi Router in a house that is something like 30m long was a pain. Admittedly it was a 'dumb' system, just an Asus WiFi router and the Unifi AP LR, so no nice handover from one to the other.

 

[Neuk_]

I run the Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra, with 2 x Unifi 6 lite and 1 Unifi LR.

My mistake, we have the same, UCG Ultra but the AP's are bloody old!

 

[Greglsh]

I have currently a 14.3Kwh DIY battery, and have almost completed another 14.3Kwh battery so will have almost 23kwh of battery backup so even if I use 1 kwh I will last almost a day and could use more if desperate as this is down to 20% left.

 

[Greglsh]

Coverage wasn't really an issue for but devices sticking to either the AP or the WiFi Router in a house that is something like 30m long was a pain. Admittedly it was a 'dumb' system, just an Asus WiFi router and the Unifi AP LR, so no nice handover from one to the other.

I also used to do this with 2 different routers in the house and the phone would cling on (Star Trek) to the one unit even with 1 bar, so would have to force it to move to the other. it works okay if it drops the signal but not if it still can contact the router.

 

[wingnut771]

I also used to do this with 2 different routers in the house and the phone would cling on (Star Trek) to the one unit even with 1 bar, so would have to force it to move to the other. it works okay if it drops the signal but not if it still can contact the router.

YEah, mine are probably far enough away from each other for it to work.

 

[Deckert]

On average, between 400W and 600W base load. Peaks shown are the two geysers (the geysers are never on at the same time thanks to a load-priority switch).

Most of the idle load comes from:
- two fridge/freezer combos
- TV in the lounge (off at night, but plays music during day and watched in the evenings)
- the server rack: 2x NUC servers, 3x APs, PoE switches, NVR for CCTV with 5 cams and a NAS (about 130W)
- oldish (2019) always-on desktop PC with three monitors at about 120W (WFH mostly)
- ceiling fans in the summer
- auto-night lights outside



On most days, about 99% of the above load is absorbed into solar capacity with the other peaks taken care of by battery storage when there's no sun. Cooking is all gas, so not reflected on the above load graph. Sometimes the missus bakes, which uses oven and adds some additional peaks - on those days we might import some capacity from Eskom.

On really hot days, the AC will kick in, but it coincides with a lot of sunshine, so can mostly run off of solar directly.

--deckert

 

[joker08]

Around 450, cameras on POE switch, laptops during the day and lights at night, oh and the fridge ofcourse

 

[Tomtomtom]

- TV in the lounge (off at night, but plays music during day and watched in the evenings)
- oldish (2019) always-on desktop PC with three monitors at about 120W (WFH mostly)
- ceiling fans in the summer
On really hot days, the AC will kick in, but it coincides with a lot of sunshine, so can mostly run off of solar directly.

laptops during the day

These items are not really base load.

Base load is what your house would consume even when you're on holiday. You would probably turn at least some stuff off.

 

[W@P]

Focus, guys, we were talking about base loads for electricity. Not who has the most wifi's.

 

[wingnut771]

My baseload only happens between 7am-10am, then again from 3pm to 6pm.

 

[Deckert]

These items are not really base load.

Base load is what your house would consume even when you're on holiday. You would probably turn at least some stuff off.

I see them as base load since that's what is (almost always) consumed during the course of a normal day, every day of the year. My desktop is always on, which allows me to access anything on my home network via my own VPN. I take a netbook with me when I travel, but it's mostly just a dumb terminal into my desktop at home.

Since I'm on holiday probably 2-3 weeks a year, it's not really accurate to list just those 2-3 weeks as base-load.

But I get your request. Subtracting my desktop and things like fans and TV, I'd probably run at around 350W base load.

--deckert

 

[Icarium]

Our base load generally varies between 150W and 300W. Sometimes it spikes up to 400W if there is an overlap in cycles between our firdge and chest freezer. Things that are always on by default are:
- Fridge/Freezer.
- Chest Freezer
- Security system/Electric Fence
- Router.
- 3 Automatic lights.

 

[denmendez65]

For those curious to know what a modern 463 litre fridge consumes, here is the stats. Noone is home and noone has used the kitchen since midnight. The energy monitors have a small error where even if the kitchen is off it still reads about 10W. So the actual consumption is a bit less.

0.85 kWh over 16/17 hours is low in my book. Removing the errors in reading and its about 0.7kWh.

 

[denmendez65]

For those curious to know what a modern 463 litre fridge consumes, here is the stats. Noone is home and noone has used the kitchen since midnight. The energy monitors have a small error where even if the kitchen is off it still reads about 10W. So the actual consumption is a bit less.

0.85 kWh over 16/17 hours is low in my book. Removing the errors in reading and its about 0.7kWh.

View attachment 1875902

And a Microwave used by 5 people (Back to being 2 people today). Used to make popcorn and warming food etc.

1.94kWh since the start of this year so an average of 0.4kWh a day.

 

[denmendez65]

And pool pump that is run for an average of 6 to 8 hours a day.

About 3.5 to 4kWh a day