I am curious if anyone knows (or can figure out) what common household appliance is about the same as charging up the M3LR by say, 40%. I mean is that the same as running my refrigerator all day? or having my porch lights on all night? or running the AC for two hours? That type of comparison. Obviously once it reaches charge there is no more significant power demand.
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KWh charge equivalents
- Thread starter Ev_Rider
- Start date
RayK
Active Member
My home's solar panel system says that running a refrigerator for one day uses 4.51kWh of energy. Assuming that 40% is equal to 30kWh, then you can run said refrigerator for 6.65 days.
Expressed as energy required to light a bulb:
that's like 3 months worth of keeping a light bulb lit. Don't know if they are really talking about a CFL (as pictured) and what wattage it is.
edit: Quick calculation says they are assuming a 13 watt bulb. Which is about right for a CFL.
edit2 (and OT): Looks like I have to climb up on the roof and wash my panels. Checking the power generation over the last couple of weeks and comparing it to what it was after the last time I think I washed them, I'm not making the maximum amount of energy possible.
Expressed as energy required to light a bulb:
that's like 3 months worth of keeping a light bulb lit. Don't know if they are really talking about a CFL (as pictured) and what wattage it is.
edit: Quick calculation says they are assuming a 13 watt bulb. Which is about right for a CFL.
edit2 (and OT): Looks like I have to climb up on the roof and wash my panels. Checking the power generation over the last couple of weeks and comparing it to what it was after the last time I think I washed them, I'm not making the maximum amount of energy possible.
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Not sure on the size of your home, but if that 40% charge is 30kWh, figure that is about as much energy as it would take to run the average home for 24 hours (not fridge, not AC, house).
My 3300 SQ ft home, with my wife and I living in it, and a really power hungry 85 inch TV (but energy efficient lights, appliances etc) and no pool / hot tub, and gas water heater and stovetop (but electric double ovens) uses about 27-32 kWh a day, so that 40% number.
The OP should be able to log into whomever their electric provider is, and see how much electricity they use on a daily basis, and compare that to the "40% = 30kWh" number to make an approximation to their home load that is specific to them.
andy.connor.e
Member
Candleflame
Active Member
40% on a LR model 3 is around 30kwh. Running AC for two hours (depending on size of course) is probably around 4-5kwh. Porch lights all night is maybe..... 1-2kwh? Refridgerator is probably like 100-200watts but its variable how often/when it runs. Rule of thumb is that a fridge uses 1-2 kwh per day.
All numbers are ~ballpark.
M3LR battery capacity 80kWh (which equates to 80,000 W * 1hr).
40% of that is 32kWh... but charging is not efficient so let's say 40kWh is pulled from the wall and 32kWh makes it into the car.
Device / Power draw / time-equivalent to 40kWh
A big screen TV / 200w / 200hr
A space heater / 1000w / 40hr
A water kettle / 2000w / 20hr
M3LR battery capacity 80kWh (which equates to 80,000 W * 1hr).
40% of that is 32kWh... but charging is not efficient so let's say 40kWh is pulled from the wall and 32kWh makes it into the car.
Device / Power draw / time-equivalent to 40kWh
A big screen TV / 200w / 200hr
A space heater / 1000w / 40hr
A water kettle / 2000w / 20hr
BigNick
Infamous Fat Sweaty Guy
Unless you have 240V appliances such as an electric range or electric dryer, there is not really a direct comparison.
And even an electric range or dryer doesn't run its 240V heating element ALL THE TIME the way an EV charges.
Thanks everyone. This exploration was to find an answer to those people telling me I am putting stress on the electric grid by having an EV. I wanted to have a comparison to show my car is not adding that much of a burden to the nations power grid. So it seems similar or even less than everyone in the country having a 2nd refrigerator.
No, its not that at all.
a fridge is like 1-2 kWh a day. As I said, 40% charge is like powering another house, so yes, you are putting additional stress on the power grid. With that being said, anyone who starts in on that discussion obviously has an axe to grind, so as long as you were not being "holier than thou" talking about "save the environment!" or something, you can safely just ignore any such discussion.
If you are like me, the most important response you can have about this is that you charge overnight when there is no stress on the grid and in all honesty it is useful for someone to be using the electricity.
Where I am from we have an over abundance at night and the local hydro company often ends up paying for or at least giving away the electricity to other areas to unload the excess. They gain from me paying regular overnight rates.
My solar panel app tells me that my daily generated power around 76kWh yesterday is equal to
100W light bulb for 1 month
1 Tree saved
Fridge for 17 days
Light up the Eiffel Tower for 23 minutes
Charge a smartphone for 29 months
Equal to 25602 AA batteries power
Equal to the power of driving 3.4 lap at Monaco Grand Prix
So charging your car everyday for 40% of 75kWh would be like adding 6 more fridges to your house.
100W light bulb for 1 month
1 Tree saved
Fridge for 17 days
Light up the Eiffel Tower for 23 minutes
Charge a smartphone for 29 months
Equal to 25602 AA batteries power
Equal to the power of driving 3.4 lap at Monaco Grand Prix
So charging your car everyday for 40% of 75kWh would be like adding 6 more fridges to your house.
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How many square feet of solar do you have? That seems like really good power production per day.
davewill
Active Member
If you delay charging until the non-peak hours, there is NO additional "burden". The system is sized for the worst case, and any use below that is of little consequence so use during non-peak times means almost nothing. In fact, the demand can be so LOW in the middle of the night that the power plants run at low efficiency. More use of the grid at those times can actually HELP.
There are really two things - the first is load, how much current is being drawn at a given time - the other is total consumption (which I think is what you're looking for). It is pretty easy to figure out actually. Take whatever the car's pack size is and multiply that by the 40% or so that you're interested in. Most major appliances include energy usage information on them. I was just at home depot and saw a sticker on the inside of a new refrigerator and if I remember correctly it was estimated like 650kw/hr annually, so 54kw/h per month. Take that number you got earlier (let's say its 30kw/h if you're referring to a model 3) and compare it. So charging your car 40% is roughly the equivalent of running your refrigerator 2.5 weeks.
Oh I just saw your latest post about nay-sayers and the ignorant argument that EVs aren't practical because they put too much stress on the grid. I'd start that conversation by asking them what power company they work for... The power companies and grid have a maximum capacity that they can service but demand is not flat. It has peaks and valleys. The high demand times just so happen to be the opposite of when most people charge their cars. So peak capacity is totally irrelevant. A Tesla is the equivalent of running your dryer or air conditioner - except most charging happens at night, when its cooler, and the grid is in a low state of use.
But since all of these people are so concerned about protecting the power grid (which is odd since they don't seem to know anything about it) there's also the potential for electric cars to increase peak capacity by working as reserve banks of energy. Elon has talked about this, as have others, but in a nutshell your electric car plugged in at home or work could be used to power said home or workplace (or even beyond that) during peak hours of depend. Then recharge during off peak times. Effectively working as an overflow capacitor for the grid itself.
If you haven't already you'll run into someone reiterating the flawed argument that EVs just trade "one smoke stack for another" and the electric comes from fossil fuels so there's no difference to the environment. Wrong again - and even if we overlook that fact that electricity doesn't need to come from fossil fuels (while ICE vehicles clearly need them) it simply comes down to efficiency of using those fuels to do useful work. A coal burning power plant is much more efficient at turning fossil fuels into usable energy. Anyone who doubts that should spend a month powering their home with a gas powered generator and report back.
Oh I just saw your latest post about nay-sayers and the ignorant argument that EVs aren't practical because they put too much stress on the grid. I'd start that conversation by asking them what power company they work for... The power companies and grid have a maximum capacity that they can service but demand is not flat. It has peaks and valleys. The high demand times just so happen to be the opposite of when most people charge their cars. So peak capacity is totally irrelevant. A Tesla is the equivalent of running your dryer or air conditioner - except most charging happens at night, when its cooler, and the grid is in a low state of use.
But since all of these people are so concerned about protecting the power grid (which is odd since they don't seem to know anything about it) there's also the potential for electric cars to increase peak capacity by working as reserve banks of energy. Elon has talked about this, as have others, but in a nutshell your electric car plugged in at home or work could be used to power said home or workplace (or even beyond that) during peak hours of depend. Then recharge during off peak times. Effectively working as an overflow capacitor for the grid itself.
If you haven't already you'll run into someone reiterating the flawed argument that EVs just trade "one smoke stack for another" and the electric comes from fossil fuels so there's no difference to the environment. Wrong again - and even if we overlook that fact that electricity doesn't need to come from fossil fuels (while ICE vehicles clearly need them) it simply comes down to efficiency of using those fuels to do useful work. A coal burning power plant is much more efficient at turning fossil fuels into usable energy. Anyone who doubts that should spend a month powering their home with a gas powered generator and report back.
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