A New Meter
One day, after arriving in Bouse, our friend Bob (also known as Handy Bob or Solar Bob) came for a visit. Dale and Bob started fussing on the solar and decided we had a “solar leak” somewhere. We were losing AMPS. Oh NO!
Then our friends Ralph and Janet decided to add solar to their rig and Ralph bought this meter for $175 from Bob. Now the game was on and, well, you know, boys and their toys. If Ralph has one then Dale has to have one. (to be fair I thought it was a good idea too. Maybe it would find our solar leak)
So Dale installed the meter and Bob hooked it up and now we know what every thing that needs power uses in the form of amps. We also found out that we aren’t losing any amps NOW so something was fixed.
Remember when Dale first got the solar up and working and he just stared at the meter watching the amps load up or leave the battery? Well, the stairs are getting more wear now as he is doing the same thing – AGAIN! He has gone so far as to put up a “Solar Meter Daily Reading” on his website. You can view it here.
I do have to say this meter is fun to watch and see where the amps are going and how full the batteries are. Dale explains more about this meter HERE. Scroll down to the photo’s of both meters. The Triametric is the new meter.
We also now know we need a more energy-efficient TV. Our TV is about 5 years old, weighs a ton and uses 85 amps an hour. We are looking into a new TV that will use half the amps and be half the weight. Anyone have suggestions about which TV we should buy?
Hopefully, this is the last thing we will need for our solar. Hopefully, no other friend gets a toy we don’t have!
Gwen's Blog 
January 3, 2011 at 8:37 pm
Thank you Gwen for all those good links to my site. If any of you are wondering how a TV can use 85 amps per hour, well, Gwen is pulling your leg to make a point. It actually used 118 watts. I know you all remember your high school physics formula of Watts = Amps x Volts. So 118 Watts converts to 10 Amps on a 12 volt system. 10 Amps if really a lot when you’re taking them out of your 12 volt batteries and recharging those batteries from the sun each day. I explain all this at my Web site. I found a new Westinghouse LED TV which is exactly the same size as our current TV, about half the price we paid for the current TV and uses ONLY 39 Watts (3.25 Amps). As long as Gwen doesn’t watch 3x as much TV (:-)), the LED TV would be a big savings of energy.
January 3, 2011 at 9:50 pm
My god! When does it ever end! We must come to a reality that all this is a way to part you from your money! If you have enough power for your current lifestyle, what is the rush to find ways to save power! Solar power is meant to renew daily! Hello, stop the insanity! Please. Ralph says you have to have something to do, it is fun! Go figure.
JK
January 3, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Oh Janet, this meter has created monsters! Oh, my, I am rolling on the floor. I think you and I need to find something to drive them crazy too…oh wait, I think that is us!
Love you……
rolling all over the desert floor laughing…
Ps..do you want me to go dismantle your meter? 🙂 I have a key!
January 3, 2011 at 9:59 pm
Thank you Instructor Dale for your very brief ( 🙂 )lecture on amps/watts. I see you have found a better tv…and he is ordering it right now as I type this. An LG 26″ (he wouldn’t be talked into a 32″ Ralph). I tried.
Oh brother!
January 3, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Dear JK and Gwen: I am nearly 64 years old. You simply can’t understand the excitement of finally getting to use what I learned in high school physics for some practical purpose. Here is an example: We got home today at 18:30 (that’s technical meter talk) and turned on the Orange Bowl. Our batteries were at 100% due to the wonderful sunny skies in Bouse. Stanford blew out poor Virginia Tech so we turned off our power hog TV. I just ran to our lovely meter and learned we are now at 83% and it’s not even bed time yet. This hurts just to think about it. BTM (before the meter) we didn’t KNOW what we were doing. NTWAA (now that we are aware)it is our duty to take control of the terrible waste of Amps. I can’t wait for Ralph to return so we can plan together for additional power saving measures. I miss you too Janet. As you pointed out, NTWAA, I’m looking forward to the free Amps from the sun tomorrow and bringing my TV starved batteries back to life with a 100% charge. Love you two!
January 4, 2011 at 10:16 am
we have a 22inch – I know small for an RV but we live in a 24ft. Flat screen an Emerson. Jorge says its a 65 WATTS (he is not here so I dont know how many amps that is????). We bought the TV new and because it was a floor model (they just put up when I got there) and had none in stock – I got the floor model (for only $125).
Wish we had a handy friend like your friend – lol… I will have to add meter price on budget… yikes… bill going up need to sell more… ok back to work I go…
HUGS dear!
January 4, 2011 at 10:21 am
Oh crap I didnt see comments just the blog. Ugggg so our TV is not that good it seems… LOL you two are way too funny…
January 10, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Good website! I reallydo love how it is easy on my eyes as well as the details are well written. I am wondering how I could be notified whenever a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your rss feed which really should work! Have a nice day!
January 10, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Hi Lynne. Thanks for reading. I believe you need to subscribe to the blog to get emails when I put something up. There is a box on the page to enter your email address. I don’t use the RSS feed.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to hear more from you.
Gwen
January 22, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Hit and miss question: I know you are using wordpress for this blog, but have you tried any other platforms. I am trying to decide for my blog? and I ask because I like yours. nunta
January 26, 2011 at 9:59 pm
I tried Blogger but just don’t like it. I like WordPress because my friends can sign up for my blog and they get it in their email box rather than having to remember to come to my site. WordPress has its problems but so far so good. There are probably others out there that are “better or different” but I can’t imagine moving since all my stuff is here! Good luck and thanks for reading. Gwen