Not So Much What, But How Much by Britt Storkson Owner, P2FlowLLC Often, solar and electric power modules are sold by trumpeting the power output. Something like “This device will produce 1000 watts.” This is somewhat misleading as it is only part of the electric power equation and not the whole story. Power is always measured referenced to time. You need to know watthours - or power over time - to get the complete picture. While I have no connection to Battery EVO, I like the way they rate their battery products. Their product, the 12-volt OWL 105, outputs 1.35 kWh (kilowatt-hours) or 105 amp-hours and costs $199. The 1.35 kWh means you will get 1350 watts over 1 hour - or 135 watts over 10 hours (1350/10), which is an honest metric. It seems like a lot of power, but it really isn’t. To buy that much electric power from the grid, you would pay between $.15 and $.25, depending on who you get your electric power from. When many pay power bills of $200 or more per month, it gives you some idea of how power hungry we really are. Then there’s the advantage of having electric power without having to hook up to the grid every time. It’s certainly possible to do it, but it is most certainly not cost-effective. Remember also, these power output figures are best-case scenario assuming a new and fully charged battery operating at room temperature. All batteries degrade over time and use and become less capable of holding a charge. There’s also jump starters out there claiming to deliver 1000 amps to start your car. The problem is almost always what they don’t tell you and not what they do tell you: Notice that no time is specified. One may get 1000 amps for a tiny fraction of a second, but not 1000 amps continuously as the product vendor seems to imply. While this may be useful to start the average car, anything over a few seconds and the battery will be exhausted. Personally, I would rather spend the money on a better quality battery instead of a jump starter of questionable value. Lead-acid car batteries vary widely in terms of quality levels. I’ve bought two car batteries from national chain auto parts stores only to have them basically fail long before the warranty had run out. Sure, the auto parts store pro-rated everything and gave me a few dollars off of the replacement, but if you factor all of the time, hassle, and other costs - especially if you needed to have the vehicle towed - it comes nowhere near what you get back from the store, making it a net loss. One problem with lead-acid batteries is it is difficult ascertain the quality levels before you buy them. Battery quality internally has to do with better and more materials and more robust construction of the case - and there’s no way to “pop the hood” and see what is in there. A cheap battery may perform well for a few cycles, then taper off to next to nothing in a short time. When I say “perform well” with regard to batteries, I mean outputting electrical current (amperage) at an acceptable voltage loss. Car starter batteries are designed to output a lot of current for a short time, but perform poorly over the long term. Deep cycle batteries used in recreational vehicles are designed to consistently output current over a longer period of time with minimal voltage losses. Either way, batteries are evaluated on amperage output over time. That’s why the amp-hour metric is used. While specifications are not standard and vary slightly from battery manufacturer to battery manufacturer, typically a 12-volt battery reads 12.6 volts when fully charged. One then measures the amperage output until the voltage drops to 10.5 volts, which is considered fully discharged. As the battery voltage goes down, so does the amperage output at a fixed load. Since volts x amps = watts, the wattage output goes down too. Most of the time, it’s not a problem since most electrical equipment will operate fine with a range of voltages. Overall, this gives you an idea of how the typical battery behaves and what you can reasonably expect from them. Britt Britt Storkson may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com SUDOKU September Puzzle Solution: DORMANT EXPLORE HIGHWAY UNKNOWN VIBRATE Win a prize! Send completed puzzle to: WWDR PO Box 660 Bonifay, FL 32425 fax: 850-547-0329 or e-mail: michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Time for a Little Fun! Congratulations to: Carrol Wemhoff Wemhoff Mfg. Co. Columbus, NE Winner for September! 15 OCTOBER 2025 WorldWide Drilling Resource®
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