Power for 110 volt electric broom

[llinderman]

Our Escape will be built in Dec. 2018 and will have the 1500 watt inverter, solar array and the dual battery pack. My question is will there be sufficient power for an electric broom?

Thanks,
llinderman

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by llinderman

Our Escape will be built in Dec. 2018 and will have the 1500 watt inverter, solar array and the dual battery pack. My question is will there be sufficient power for an electric broom?

Thanks,
llinderman

The short answer is probably.

I don't know what the actual wattage or amperage of your particular broom draws, but to determine whether it is practical, check the amperage draw (at 120V), multiply that by 10 to get the 12V draw on the input to the inverter, multiply that by the time it runs, and you will have the amp hours you are drawing from the batteries. As long as you make it (and the rest of your draws) up from the solar, you are good.

[gordon2]

Step 1. Get the continuous rating for the inverter. 1500 might be the continuous load rating, or it might be the peak load rating.
Step 2. Get the watt rating off the broom. If its in amps then watts = (appx) 120 x amps. If it is less watts than the continuous load rating of the inverter then you are good to go.

No one can answer that question without knowing the power usage of the broom, but I expect it will be OK. The Black and Decker StickVac 3-in-1 Handheld and Upright Vacuum Cleaner is rated for 2 amps (240 watts). Even if the inverter is 1500 peak, its continuations load rating has to be well over 240. More like 750-1000 maybe. But the only way to know for sure is to get the needed information on the ratings.

EDIT. I see that Jon's answer addresses battery depletion and draw, whereas my reply deals with the inverter load. I assume that the boom will not be used for more than five or ten minutes every couple of days, so it should discharge the battery very much.

[Glenn Baglo]

Floor area is not large. Would take a lot less energy ( on your part ) to just use a manual broom.

[Jon Vermilye]

The inverter supplied by Escape is a GoPower GP-SW1500-12, a 1500 watt continuous, 2000 watt surge sine wave inverter...

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Floor area is not large. Would take a lot less energy ( on your part ) to just use a manual broom.

That is what I use, although I have a rechargeable Black & Decker Smart Tech handheld vacuum that I use for the cracks & crevices (and to suck the dust out of the propane detector (you are suppose to vacuum it weekly). Lithium batteries that only need recharging every 4-5 months.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Floor area is not large. Would take a lot less energy ( on your part ) to just use a manual broom.

I'm with Jon.. I used only a hand broom and dust pan for a few years and, while it does fine on the floor, there was always a few places where a small hand held vac came in handy. The big need is the bottom screen door track in my Scamp. When sand, etc, gets in it, the door becomes hard to use and there is no way to sweep the dirt out. I also find that sometimes a handheld vac works better than a flyswatter for tracking eliminating a particularly annoying insect. I got one that runs on 12 volts (well under 100 watts).

[John in Santa Cruz]

Ditto, I use a handbroom mostly... I found one with a telescoping handle thats really handy in the RV space. I have an inexpensive 12V handheld car vacuum powered off a cigar plug to vacuum the crevices that a broom can't easily reach, especially around the screen door track... It draws 8 amps but is only used for a few minutes, and I generally use it during the day when I have full solar so it doesn't even dent the RV batteries.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Jon Vermilye

The inverter supplied by Escape is a GoPower GP-SW1500-12, a 1500 watt continuous, 2000 watt surge sine wave inverter...

So thats about 12.5 amps, and that means you run the vast majority of things that you plug into an outlet at home. How many of these things, and how long you can run them, well that is another matter. But when not using the inverter for anything else, most anything you use at home will work for at least a short time, and I have no doubt that includes even a heavy duty electric broom.

[llinderman]

Many thanks to all who answered my question as to my inverter handling an electric broom. This forum is great.

llinderman

[Wayne Collins]

Originally Posted by llinderman

Our Escape will be built in Dec. 2018 and will have the 1500 watt inverter, solar array and the dual battery pack. My question is will there be sufficient power for an electric broom?

Thanks,
llinderman

You are "camping"! Leave the electric stuff at home. Use a broom, or whisk.

[Francesca Knowles]

Ignore the naysayers, here's something else for your electric tool box

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pLVZLU8UKw

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Wayne Collins

You are "camping"! Leave the electric stuff at home. Use a broom, or whisk.

Not sure how a whisk will clean a floor...





(Now a whisk broom.. well that might work)

But to the "camping" idea. Maybe he is camping, maybe he is not. To each his own.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Wayne Collins

You are "camping"! Leave the electric stuff at home. Use a broom, or whisk.

I never looked at "camping" as deliberately depriving myself of things that are fun or time saving or convenient in some way. Part of the fun is having silly things along. Or tools to tinker with. Or movies to watch. Or the ability to make great meals, etc.

We have rugs down over the entire floor, rugs don't respond well to sweeping and taking them out to shake is a hassle. A simple vacuum makes it easy.

When looking that the power requirements, and looking at the amp draw on the battery, multiply the 120 volt amps of the appliance by eleven, not ten. Typical inverter efficiency is about 90%, so there is an approximate 10% loss to produce the required 120 volt load.

Batteries under heavy load produce less than their amp-hour rating. So if you are trying to keep track accurately, you'll find you reach the 50% discharge sooner than you expect. Then, while re-charging there is lost power that just becomes heat and not useable stored energy, so again, the numbers don't add up.

All of this boils down to making it harder to keep the battery charged than it seems like it should. Nothing wrong with having electric appliances, but the power management, at some point will have to be reconciled and loads managed.

Look at the battery's "rested" voltage in the morning, before the solar starts to work and after there have been no overnight loads. Try to go no lower than 12.2. By the end of the day, try to get to a reading of 14.1, and even better, hold that voltage for an hour or more. With that plan, that includes charging and discharging, you will be managing your system in a sustainable way and can see if you have reserve power to run other loads. If you are consistently at 12.5 every morning, for instance, you have extra power. Below 12.2, you are drawing too much to keep your battery healthy.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by gordon2

Not sure how a whisk will clean a floor...

Maybe if you put your eggs on the floor, you could prepare them and pick up the dirt at the same time, but it might affect the eggs a bit. A good way to multi-task?