How to Calculate Water Pump Power Needed for a Mobile, Marine, or Off-Grid Electrical System?
5 May 2024 · 4 min · 9K views
What this video covers
Nate calculates the daily power consumption of a 12-volt water pump by multiplying its wattage by the total daily runtime in minutes, then dividing by 60 to determine total watt-hours. Using a standard SureFlow pump rated at 7.5 amps and 12 volts, the device consumes 90 watts during operation. A 15-minute daily runtime results in 22.5 watt-hours of energy usage, which equates to 1.875 amp-hours when drawn from a 12-volt battery bank. Alternatively, users can estimate consumption based on water tank capacity and pump flow rate. A 30-gallon tank emptied by a 3-gallon-per-minute pump requires 10 minutes of runtime, while a 1-gallon-per-minute flow restrictor increases the runtime to 30 minutes, resulting in 45 watt-hours of consumption. These calculations allow for accurate sizing of battery banks in mobile, marine, and off-grid electrical systems. Measuring actual usage with a stopwatch provides the most precise data for power audits.
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