On Sat, 13 Nov 2010 21:38:33 -0500, Gene
wrote:

I'm a neophyte when it comes to boat 'lectricity. It seems Wayne is
reluctant to use his generator(s). Is that because of noise? It can't be
because of fuel burn, because he has a huge boat that burns a
significant amount of fuel at any speed.

I guess Wayne will have to explain this one.... but, in seems like a
heavy reliance on banking 12V DC Amps to be inverted into 120V or 240V
AC Amps at an incredible "ratio" disadvantage....

There are times when we have to run the generator for things like air
conditioning, cooking, hot water, etc. My goal is to minimize or
totally eliminate the need for running the generator when we are under
way, mainly for the fridge and freezers but also for small stuff like
computers and battery rechargers.

Generators are expensive to run, about $4/hour in amortiztion costs
alone ($20K with installation, approx 5,000 hour useful life). Adding
in fuel and maintenance probably pushes the cost to something like
$8/hour. When we are under way the big Detroits are already spinning
so why not take a little more power out of them. Alternators are a
lot cheaper and easier to replace than generators.