Alde Shorepower Energy Draw??

Bclarke

Hello.. I have searched the forum and the Alde site but am not able to come up with this answer.

Does anyone know the draw (KWh ?) of the Alde heater when connected to 110 shorepower?

I have a new 2021 T@B 320 Boondock.  

Outside temp in the 20-45 F range. Heating the interior to the mid 50’s.  Alde set to “1” on the electric power.  Fridge is off. 

The reason I ask... I am at a cabin off the grid and for some reason am seeing a significant daily energy draw on the cabin system of several KWhs   The only thing “different” than our normal stay here is the T@B ... but I can’t imagine that the Alde would pull that much energy. 

The only other draw would be the converter .. but that is simply helping to keep our batteries topped off. But the T@B’s solar helps with that during the day.  

Thanks for your help. 

pthomas745

The manuals don't state it very clearly, but the Alde FAQ does.  They go with about 0.2 to 0.6 of an amp (which I assume means when it is running), with a few seconds at "1.9A" as it starts up.

How much electrical power does the heating system use?

There are two mechanisms in the Alde Compact boilers that draw >0.1 A current from the vehicle 12-volt battery. The exhaust fan venting waste gases (≈0.4 A), and the heating fluid being pumped around the circuit (≈0.2 A). So normal draw from the vehicle battery is between ≈0.2–0.6 A, including the control panel. Max draw is 1.9 A for approximately three seconds at system start-up.

Edit: I just re-read your question: you said "shore power".  The FAQ again.

Max draw from 120 V mains is ≈4.5 A on 1 (1 kW) or ≈9 A on 2 (2,1 kW)

Denny16

The electric heating elements are 1KW each, so the draw at startup,to,heat the glycol is 1KW or 2KW, depending on the setting you use on the control panel. Once the glycol is heated, it drops, until,the glycol starts to cool, the it heats it back up. Cheers

Bclarke

@pthomas745 @Denny16 admittedly I have a great deal to learn.  Our avg daily increase here in the cabin is about 6-10 KWhs per day and I cannot figure out what has changed to this degree.   While the Alde is on 24 hours that doesn’t come close to explaining some of the increase.  Such a mystery!

Denny16

When heating, the Alde is going to use 1KW per hour while,heating, so,if,you have it running 24 hrs a day, then 6-10 kw per day is about right.  Your converter is also going to use some power keeping the battery charged, and running the 12VDC for the Alde, which adds up to 1-2KW per day.
cheers

ScottG

I agree with the above. To elaborate, U.S. Aldes have two 950W (0.95kW) electric elements. If both elements were on continuously they would cost you 45.6 KWh per day. (1.9KW x 24h).

Of course they are not on continuously, but even if they run ten minutes out of every hour that is still four hours of operation per day at a cost of 7.6 KWh.

How much they actually run will depend on a lot of variables. If you really wanted to sleuth it out you could do a heat loss calculation based on temperature differential, insulation, air exchange, and boiler output. T@Bs really aren't designed to hold heat in very well.

In addition, IIRC, the circulator pump has the capability to automatically switch to 120V when available-- though I doubt that will contribute much to the power usage relative to the heating elements.

In general, any time you turn on an electric heating element, expect your power meter to spin happily.

Bclarke

@Denny16 @ScottG math was never my strong suit ... so yes this does make sense.  Argh..  it is amazing how attuned one gets when running off the grid, be it in a camper or a cabin.   I was just having a hard time getting my head around the fact that my camper, parked and unused, was consuming as much energy as living in the cabin.  Dang electric heater!    Thanks all!

N7SHG_Ham

You could run heater on propane, probably can run one to two weeks on a tank, Alde is very efficient on propane.

ScottG

Bclarke said:

@Denny16 @ScottG math was never my strong suit ... so yes this does make sense.  Argh..  it is amazing how attuned one gets when running off the grid, be it in a camper or a cabin.   I was just having a hard time getting my head around the fact that my camper, parked and unused, was consuming as much energy as living in the cabin.  Dang electric heater!    Thanks all!

Yep. Several years ago we had a guest who stayed in an unheated room in our house for 4-5 nights a week. We had equipped the space with one of those quiet and relatively efficient oil-filled portable electric radiators. During the months that heater was running my power bill was half again to twice its usual amount!

Denny16

@N7SHG_Ham you do not need to run the Alde continuously to keep the moisture out of your TaB while it is parked.  During the winter, we get rain and damp/wet conditions, so I ran the Alde from 8pm to 6am only, set at 50 (I was doing previously what you did, until I got my first electric bill), then had the Alde go off during the day (by setting a lower temp).  Even in winter, the trailer will get some solar gain, and maintain a 50s inside temp.  I added a small USB fan plugged into the socket under the dinette table to help air circulation.  This kept the TaB nice and dry.

The Alde control panel has a day and night setting feature that lets you automate the heating temps by time of day and night.
cheers