Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Latest Breaking News

groundloop

(13,526 posts)

12. You're confusing kilowatt-hours with kilowatts

Reply to SnoopDog (Reply #7)

Sun Nov 30, 2025, 05:41 PM

Nov 30

A kilowatt is a unit of power, a kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy. If an appliance uses 1 kilowatt (120 Volts at 8.3 Amps) for 1 hour it has consumed 1 kilowatt-hour of energy.

A modern, efficient refrigerator might use between 1 and 2 kilowatt-hours of energy per day, implying that it draws an average of between 0.042 and 0.084 kilowatt-hours each hour, which means that it's drawing an average of between 42 and 84 watts which at 120 Volts is only 0.35 to 0.7 Amps..... (not very much).

AND, from what I've read about these units they come with a small inverter which has a built in transfer switch function..... it will only supply power while it detects voltage on the outlet it's plugged in to. The user doesn't need to do anything to disconnect it if the grid goes down.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

3 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Shipwack discntnt_irny_srcsm Six117

32 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Power surge: law changes could soon bring balcony solar to millions across US [View all] BumRushDaShow Nov 30 OP

(Sigh) Our homeowners association would freak out if anyone dared to put one/some of these on their unit progree Nov 30 #1

I doubt that Hitler had lesser power than HOAs do FredGarvin Nov 30 #5

I was exaggerating (sigh) /nt progree Nov 30 #6

HOAs do have a remarkable level of power. yardwork Dec 1 #31

This is a great idea but there might be/is a problem... SnoopDog Nov 30 #2

Transfer switch is required and disconnecting the home from the electrical utility FredGarvin Nov 30 #4

But that implies the homeowner would switch it off... SnoopDog Nov 30 #7

Agreed. I don't see it being enough power mdbl Nov 30 #8

Solar Panels produce DC current... SnoopDog Nov 30 #10

You're confusing kilowatt-hours with kilowatts groundloop Nov 30 #12

I actually do know the difference... SnoopDog Nov 30 #13

We have rooftop solar DBoon Dec 1 #26

The inverters on these things are "smart," they've got microprocessors in them. hunter Nov 30 #16

The 'solar or wind projects disconnect simultaneously, and the entire grid crashes' part... SnoopDog Nov 30 #18

It has happened before and it will again. hunter Nov 30 #20

Very interesting... SnoopDog Dec 1 #24

About a third of my neighbors have large solar systems. hunter Dec 1 #30

In Germany the power from the panels is Old Crank Dec 1 #22

Good Idea for dozens of years FredGarvin Nov 30 #3

My washing machine just used .30 kwh SnoopDog Dec 1 #32

What will we do with... littlemissmartypants Nov 30 #9

You mean like all the other junk that is produced in the world? SnoopDog Nov 30 #11

Have you looked at the statistics on recycling lately? littlemissmartypants Nov 30 #14

Panels should be good for 25, Inverters for 15. Old Crank Dec 1 #28

What if you had a place in the Country, that wasn't connected to the power grid? This would work tremendously well, SWBTATTReg Nov 30 #15

Then you need batteries. Those are expensive. hunter Nov 30 #17

I've been playing with these kinds of systems for a couple of years now. hunter Nov 30 #19

The question to ask ... Grins Nov 30 #21

Munich here. Old Crank Dec 1 #23

Question for you... SnoopDog Dec 1 #25

Power output can be all over the map Old Crank Dec 1 #27

Thom Hartman mentioned the balcony solar today on his program... SnoopDog Dec 1 #29