12-01-2008, 08:18 AM
quote:
Originally posted by gtill
<SNIP>
Also does anyone know if a separate 12V wiring system would be legal in your house, stand alone type, with battery backup?
Check into the new solar tech, GTill, most of the solar powered houses are wired with regular house wiring just like any other house and the inverter changes the 12V power to household 110V AC. The new inverters don't lose anywhere near the amount of power the old ones did so this has become the new method. The lower the voltage the bigger the wire to keep line losses low and with the price of copper wire these days, wiring a house for 12V would be extremely expensive.
To prepare a house to be off the grid, install a non-electric stove & water heater. Add in a lot of windows for lighting and ventilation. Some of those "Sola-tube" skylights add a lot of light to the interior of a house. Change out all the light bulbs to curly bulbs or LED bulbs. Put "off" wall switches on the power outlets for electronics so you can shut all the power off to the TV/printer/computer since those like to be on "hibernate" and continue to use power unless you can completely disconnect them. You can do all these things to save power even if you are connected to the grid, but they should be done if you are going to disconnect from the grid so you can run your house on a small enough system that will be affordable.
Kurt Wilson