Electricity as a Liveaboard Sailor: What to Know
Our new boat to us “Andares” was prior a charter boat, it was well suited for that service and we had to transform it into our home and a cruising vessel. To that end, we have done many modifications: addition of a water maker, dish washer, washing machine, modification of the galley from propane to fully electrical, addition of an in-line water purification system, elimination of the existing 240 volts air conditioning units to 12 volts DC.
Electrically, Andares was a combination of 240 volts, 120 volts and 12 VDC systems, with the AC system being 60 Hertz. All internal outlets were 120 volts, the freezer, fridge and all lights were 12 volts DC.
Original Power Sources
Not taking into account shore power, which it is not relevant for the usage of the boat as a cruiser where it will be almost entirely away from a dock, Andares had a generator and solar panels as main sources of energy, with the possibility of running the starboard engine to charge the house batteries.
- The generator was a diesel powered, two-phases, Cummins-Onan 240 Volts, 60 Hertz, 7,500 Watt generator.
- The boat had three solar panels for a combined nominal capacity of 450 Watts.
- Cooking energy was supplied by propane, which we considered a safety hazard.
Original House Battery Bank
The boat house battery bank consisted of three AGM batteries , 115Ah each for a total of 345 Ah.
Why Did We Get Rid of the Generator ?
We removed the generator from the boat, because this generator was not making sense to us.
As much as we are proponents of maximizing solar energy for all needs on-board, and sharing the vision of eventually eliminating the generation of consumption and propulsion energy by burning fossil fuels, the fact of the matter is that although solar-based electrical systems have made great strides and continue to evolve, we find it more reliable to use diesel engines for propulsion and believe there is still the need to have a generator on board as an alternative for when the sun does not cooperate over a couple of days. For our needs after the modifications we made to the boat, we could just have a portable generator as the when-needed backup.
After the modifications of the solar panels and batteries -to be detailed later- and the elimination of the 240 volts air conditioning units, we were hardly using the generator as opposed to every other day (many times daily) when we started living on the boat.
The reasons we decide to remove the generator were:
- Large weight and space taken by the generator.
- Diesel fuel consumption: We much rather reserve diesel for propulsion during passages when the wind does not cooperate in intensity or direction. The generator consumed about 75% of what each engine consumes at the RPMS we use when cruising.
- Noise and vibration: If using the generator for air conditioning, it was comfortable to be in the saloon, yet it was not possible to sleep. The vibration and noise at the berths was very uncomfortable.
- Inefficiency: The generator had three functions : charge the batteries, run the air conditioning and power the water heater. It ran two phases, one going to the battery charger and all boat outlets, the second phase going to the water heater and meeting the first phase at the air conditioning units to supply 240 volts. When you needed one of these -warm the water to take a shower, for example- you wound up burning diesel to produce thousand of watts that were not necessarily needed.
What are the New Power Sources?
We now have three power sources:
- Revamped solar panels – 1,500 Watts nominal capacity
- Two Ecoflow power generators solar panels– 800 watts nominal charging capacity. These units combine a battery bank, solar charger and inverter in one unit.
- Emergency “just in case” portable gas generator. This is an Honda EU2000 generator.
New House Battery Bank
- We replace 345 Ah AGM batteries for 1000 Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate.
- Two Ecoflow Delta Max power generators, for a combined capacity of 4,000 watts. An equivalent measure of this capacity, normalizing the watts as a 12 volts battery, is 333 Ah.
Conclusion
- Propane was eliminated as the source of energy for the galley,
- Solar nominal charging capacity was increased five fold, from 450 watts to 2,300 watts
- Battery capacity was increased close to four fold from 345 Ah to 1,333 Ah
