How Many Amp Hours?

[svcattales]

Sean, We are in the process of fitting out a catamaran for cruising, after cruising a monohull for 8 yrs. Learned lots of good lessons about energy management from last boat that we are incorporating into the new one. The most critical load on your boat will be refrigeration as Rick mentioned. Do everything you can regarding insulation around the box and use efficient systems. Check out Kollmann's web site (www.kollmann-marine.com) and book to get the fridge part right. We installed an Adler Barber clone unit with one of the new 2 speed Danfoss compressors. This unit uses an evaporator which is not a bad option for a 6 cubic foot box acccording to Kollman's book. We also liked fluorescent reading lights made by Alpen Glow. Lights only use .5 amps and give a nice yellow color instead of stark white. Our electrical system has 6 golf cart batteries (Sam's club), 3 solar panels of 110 watts each, and an Air-X wind gen. With this setup, we expect to spend extended time at anchor without running the diesels.