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Post Info TOPIC: Another battery or a "quiet"generator
Rodsvan


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Another battery or a
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I've got an ornamental windmill in the front yard which spins about 50% of the time, although it spins freely whereas a power generating windmill has a lot more load on it. Our next door neighbours have a power generating windmill which doesn't seem to spin very often at all. It has blades which look to be about 1.2 metres long and is mounted on a post approx 7 metres tall.

Ironically, some working farms around here with windmills (which pump up water for stock) have recently been replacing them with solar powered pumps.

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Aging into the night


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I don't have an issue with solar, as I've mentioned previously, we have photovoltaics on our roof and a micro hydro system which both power our house. I also have a solar water pump (Commodore, Shepparton) which pumps water to our tanks and dam. which is switched off at the moment due to the creek drying up. The micro hydro is also turned off for obvious reasons, no water but plenty of sun, so the lithium batteries are happy.
so our power system has built in redundancies. Which is what I'm trying to achieve with the power system in our camper trailer, we have solar to charge the two lithium batteries, but I'm after something additional to solar to keep the batteries happy. Hence my query about wind turbines.

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Peter_n_Margaret


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RE: Another battery or a "quiet"generator
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As a back-up you won't beat this....a genuinely quiet generator.
https://www.efoy.com/
We had one of these when we toured Europe in a motorhome for 3 years some years back.
Made about the same noise as a compressor fridge, can be used inside the motorhome, a little CO2 and some pure water are the only waste products and will run 24/7.
P1030087E.jpg

Cheers,

Peter



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OKA196 DIY, self contained 4WD motorhome, 1280W PV, 326Ah of CALB LiFePO4 batteries, 1.3kW inv, 310L water, 350-450L diesel.
Brianvicki


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Wow, love the product, is there a reason why theyre not available in Australia

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Peter_n_Margaret


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Another battery or a "quiet"generator
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Brianvicki wrote:

Wow, love the product, is there a reason why theyre not available in Australia

 They used to be available here and Kimberly Kampers were offering them as an option at one stage.

Get in Touch with Us | Powerbox Australia in Sydney claim to sell them.

And this mob in Melbourne. EFOY Fuel Cells - GreenRen Power

Cheers,

Peter



-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Monday 2nd of February 2026 09:12:38 AM

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OKA196 DIY, self contained 4WD motorhome, 1280W PV, 326Ah of CALB LiFePO4 batteries, 1.3kW inv, 310L water, 350-450L diesel.
Ineedabiggerboat


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Consider weight. Fuel availability. Service network.

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Gundog


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I ditched alll my solar panels save one, and 2 batteries replaced them with 3.5 Noisy Generator.we

As soon as I start the generator I dont need to conserve power we can run whatever we want.



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Stevejaz


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Just a point on generators. When used to charge batteries they are only as good as your mains charger. We use a 2.2 Honda (when we need to and generally a maximum of a couple of hours.) We have 2x30amp Victron chargers (one in motorhome one in A Van). We have 2x20amp Redarc BC-DC chargers and in my opinion a 3 Ltr diesel is not really going to make less noise for what amounts to less charge in batteries. I prefer to use the appropriate tool for the job. The Chargers put about an 800Watt load on the generator which is a reasonable load @ under half capacity. Noise does depend on load.
As one living on a "Kings" budget, I can totally recommend their 360Watt solar blanket(s) I have one and since upgrading the A Van to Lithium, the Redarc now disconnected, I will probably buy a second. They DO give a pretty good 360 Watts and a pair out in the midday sun give way more power than the 30amp mains charger powered by the generator. There are always going to be times of no sun though and I would NOT be without the generator.
It is purely for use as and when needed though rather than a main source of power.
I am finding the 250Watt panel on A Van roof plenty to keep batteries charged in A Van while driving and will not bother with a DC-DC charger until I double the battery size. 120 ah to 24ah.

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landy


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Another battery or a "quiet"generator
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Gundog wrote:

I ditched alll my solar panels save one, and 2 batteries replaced them with 3.5 Noisy Generator.we

As soon as I start the generator I dont need to conserve power we can run whatever we want.

-- Edited by landy on Monday 2nd of February 2026 10:24:42 PM

biggrinbiggrinbiggrinbiggrin

-- Edited by landy on Monday 2nd of February 2026 10:25:15 PM

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Aging into the night


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Another battery or a
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Peter ,I like the idea of that quiet generator. I'll probably increase the solar array wattage as well. Our WAECO fridge/freezer uses a lot of power, the lights not so much.
I'll take a closer look at that generator tomorrow, off to punch out a few zzzzs now.
Cheers
Brendan

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Peter_n_Margaret


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You can not have too much solar, and the more solar that you have the less battery capacity that you need because the battery only needs to supply the energy for the night.
Cheers,
Peter

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OKA196 DIY, self contained 4WD motorhome, 1280W PV, 326Ah of CALB LiFePO4 batteries, 1.3kW inv, 310L water, 350-450L diesel.
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