Low Amp Tv's?

[rustybarge]

Hi all,

My Goodmans freesat box uses 2 amps 12v, and my iPad uses about the same 2 amps at 5 volts. So no problem there. At the moment I have shore power, so I use an old CRT Tv, and very good it is. (Guess: 250 watts/ 25 amp?)

For battery power use, please could you advise what is the lowest amps flat screen TV, or would it be better to use a laptop or large tablet pc for viewing telly?

Plasma or LCD?

Would a 18" screen be a good size, or smaller?

Do smart Tv's use more amps?

I watch news etc at mid-day, plus Tv from 6 pm onwards. I like to leave the telly on until about 12 at night. So that makes About 7 hrs/ day.

My Internet connection would not work for TV on demand, as there is a monthly data restriction.

Thanks,
Peter.

 

[NornaBiron]

We have an LG 22 inch lcd tv that uses 1 amp at 24 volts. We run it through a 24/12 volt dropper with no problems. We can plug a portable hard drive into it and it plays all our movies fine.

 

[rustybarge]

We have an LG 22 inch lcd tv that uses 1 amp at 24 volts. We run it through a 24/12 volt dropper with no problems. We can plug a portable hard drive into it and it plays all our movies fine.

Wow, That is really a low power consumption. So that would make 2 Amp/hr (12v) for the telly, and another 2 for the sat box.

So do you plug your laptop into the Tv with a cable, or does it have a separate port connection for a memory stick?
Can you receive English sat. Tv in Greece?

 

[cmedsailor]

I have a 19 inch tv that uses 1.8 amp/hr.

Edit: it is a Grundic model that runs on 12v. No inverter is necessary. It also plays movies through usb.

 

[Steve C Cronin]

We set up with all this TV and satellite kit, even had a stainless dish stand made.

To tell the truth, we never find time to watch TV in Greece as there is always something more beautiful to look at or more interesting to do.

 

[rustybarge]

We set up with all this TV and satellite kit, even had a stainless dish stand made.

To tell the truth, we never find time to watch TV in Greece as there is always something more beautiful to look at or more interesting to do.

What sort of amp's does your set up take?
Is it true that its not possible to receive English freesat any longer that Far East because they've shut down the satellite?

Totally agree with what you say about watching Tv, but it's nice to have for visitors, or I find the conversation can dry up after several days !!!

 

[Mistroma]

You can find power consumption in some specs. but it isn't always shown. I decided to use a 19" LCD via a small 150W inverter and accept some loss of efficiency as I wasn't going to watch much TV. I usually watch a video from laptop via HDMI and consumption seems to be around 3.5A with inverter, laptop (screen off) and TV.

I chose 19" because it was 35W and next size up (22" I think) was 55W. However, later models were more efficient and I've seem some 19" models listed as 15W (max. usage) recently.

I think that my usage breaks down as 2.5A (TV), 1A (laptop, already fully charged) including the inverter losses. A newer TV would probably get close to 1A.

I find 19" acceptable but the main problem is sound level, not picture size. Most 19" TVs have tiny speakers and I find that I need a high volume setting for broadcast TV. However, this isn't a problem when watching a video as I use VLC media player on the laptop. It can boost the sound to 170% without much noticeable distortion.

I looked at a Sony 22" set recently and they claimed 25W max. consumption, so around 2A at 12.5V seems reasonable with newer sets of that size.

 

[V1701]

Don't know about power consumption of plasma but LED TVs consume less than LCD (1/3 less I think) & there's different types of LED as well (back lit & edge lit?). Maplins do a tiny 10" LED tv, expensive for what it is at £150 or so & I would not recommend. I also have a 16" LED TV/DVD that works on 12v from Kogan which I think is exceptional value for money - here:

http://www.kogan.com/uk/shop/televisions/led-tv/?order_by=price

 

[rustybarge]

You can find power consumption in some specs. but it isn't always shown. I decided to use a 19" LCD via a small 150W inverter and accept some loss of efficiency as I wasn't going to watch much TV. I usually watch a video from laptop via HDMI and consumption seems to be around 3.5A with inverter, laptop (screen off) and TV.

I chose 19" because it was 35W and next size up (22" I think) was 55W. However, later models were more efficient and I've seem some 19" models listed as 15W (max. usage) recently.

I think that my usage breaks down as 2.5A (TV), 1A (laptop, already fully charged) including the inverter losses. A newer TV would probably get close to 1A.

I find 19" acceptable but the main problem is sound level, not picture size. Most 19" TVs have tiny speakers and I find that I need a high volume setting for broadcast TV. However, this isn't a problem when watching a video as I use VLC media player on the laptop. It can boost the sound to 170% without much noticeable distortion.

Thanks for all that info. I've just measured my old CRT Tv, and it's exactly 19" across the diagonal when showing freesat on the 'letterbox' widescreen setting. It's more than adequate.

The 19" LCD uses a lot less than the 22", ( a bit like boats), so that seems to be the one to go for. Now that's more like it.....2amp for sat box, and 1 amp for TV for 7hr= 21 amps.

I've been looking at posts on wind chargers, and the consensus seems to be 10 amps/ day, but they do carry on charging at night time. That's on the shopping list.

So I need about another 30 amp/ day........so it has to be solar cells + a 1 kw petrol genny to top up when nessecary; now that's a very confusing subject, haven't managed to get a handle on it yet.

Any suggestions of how many panels, i will have a massive hardtop for mounting them.

 

[rustybarge]

Don't know about power consumption of plasma but LED TVs consume less than LCD (1/3 less I think) & there's different types of LED as well (back lit & edge lit?). Maplins do a tiny 10" LED tv, expensive for what it is at £150 or so & I would not recommend. I also have a 16" LED TV/DVD that works on 12v from Kogan which I think is exceptional value for money - here:

http://www.kogan.com/uk/shop/televisions/led-tv/?order_by=price

Those are incredible value!!!

Is the picture quality as good as LCD? Do you have a ballpark figure for 'real life' power consumption for your experience?

 

[Steve C Cronin]

What sort of amp's does your set up take?
Is it true that its not possible to receive English freesat any longer that Far East because they've shut down the satellite?

Totally agree with what you say about watching Tv, but it's nice to have for visitors, or I find the conversation can dry up after several days !!!

We use "FilmOn" over the net. Gets many channels in SD for free and in HD for a sub.

On the tablet, very little current and the Vodafone hub runs on it's own re-chargeable.

 

[Mistroma]

Those are incredible value!!!

Is the picture quality as good as LCD? Do you have a ballpark figure for 'real life' power consumption for your experience?

Pretty certain that they won't be LED, just LCD with LED back light. True LED screens would be much more expensive at present, so picture quality should therefore be similar to sl. older LCD models. However, LED backlight should help keep power down a bit.

Approx. 100W worth of solar should just about get 30Ah/day over most of the summer here in Galicia (probably peak at a little over 40Ah/day in the middle) but only a fraction of that over winter. I could probably rough out some figures per month if I knew your approx. location.

 

[rustybarge]

Pretty certain that they won't be LED, just LCD with LED back light. True LED screens would be much more expensive at present, so picture quality should therefore be similar to sl. older LCD models. However, LED backlight should help keep power down a bit.

Approx. 100W worth of solar should just about get 30Ah/day over most of the summer here in Galicia (probably peak at a little over 40Ah/day in the middle) but only a fraction of that over winter. I could probably rough out some figures per month if I knew your approx. location.

Thanks. I didn't realise the difference between led, and backlit led..........it's hard to keep up with new tech.

Ill be in the provence, south of France for the winter months.....Jan-April, its cold, but usually about 3-4 hrs sunshine approx. day. (Wishfull thinking). I'll have enough space to use the most efficient solar cells, non-bendy ones?

 

[Mistroma]

Thanks. I didn't realise the difference between led, and backlit led..........it's hard to keep up with new tech.

Ill be in the provence, south of France for the winter months.....Jan-April, its cold, but usually about 3-4 hrs sunshine approx. day. (Wishfull thinking). I'll have enough space to use the most efficient solar cells, non-bendy ones?

It looks as if a 100W panel would give you close to 30Ah/day from March until Sept. (inclusive).

Estimated Ah/Day from 100W rigid panel located near Marseille lying flat on deck with no shading:
Jan.........10
Feb.........18
Mar.........27
Apr.........33
May........39
Jun.........43
Jul..........43
Aug........37
Sep........29
Oct........19
Nov........12
Dec........10

Figures are based on data from a model at this link
http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php

It seems to give figures pretty close to actual performance for Brittany & Galicia (only based on figures for one year). However, it should be quite a reasonable guide to help you size some panels. Obviously shading will have a big impact.

 

[Cardo]

Those are incredible value!!!

Is the picture quality as good as LCD? Do you have a ballpark figure for 'real life' power consumption for your experience?

I have the 19" Kogan with freeview and DVD. It's an LCD panel that is lit by LED, which uses less power. The screen is decent for the price, however the built-in speakers are a bit rubbish. Power consumption is low, I reckon I see around 1 amp on 12v watching freeview. This is slightly higher for DVDs. Definitely recommended.

 

[rustybarge]

It looks as if a 100W panel would give you close to 30Ah/day from March until Sept. (inclusive).

Estimated Ah/Day from 100W rigid panel located near Marseille lying flat on deck with no shading:
Jan.........10
Feb.........18
Mar.........27
Apr.........33
May........39
Jun.........43
Jul..........43
Aug........37
Sep........29
Oct........19
Nov........12
Dec........10

Figures are based on data from a model at this link
http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php

It seems to give figures pretty close to actual performance for Brittany & Galicia (only based on figures for one year). However, it should be quite a reasonable guide to help you size some panels. Obviously shading will have a big impact.

Thanks very much for that information.

 

[NornaBiron]

Wow, That is really a low power consumption. So that would make 2 Amp/hr (12v) for the telly, and another 2 for the sat box.

So do you plug your laptop into the Tv with a cable, or does it have a separate port connection for a memory stick?
Can you receive English sat. Tv in Greece?

Our tv may be lcd or led, we're not on the boat to check at the moment. We plug an external portable terrabyte drive directly onto the tv's usb port. The hard drive is powered by the tv. We can plug the laptop in but that will then need its own power supply. We don't have an aerial for tv so can't comment on English satellite.

 

[rivonia]

Our TV is an AV- TX it is a Marine (marinised set) we watch all channels all over the EU and it has built in Radio,DVD and CD player.

It might just be prudent to have a marinised set- unless you can safely keep all moisture out of it yourself.

Peter

 

[rustybarge]

Our TV is an AV- TX it is a Marine (marinised set) we watch all channels all over the EU and it has built in Radio,DVD and CD player.

It might just be prudent to have a marinised set- unless you can safely keep all moisture out of it yourself.

Peter

I've googled all combinations of your telly, no luck, do you have link?

 

[rivonia]

I've googled all combinations of your telly, no luck, do you have link?

Model W 153D it is 15" Sorry it is AVTEX and not av-tx 12 or 240 volt and loads of other gismos.

Peter