12V DC Step Down Converter for the Garage

After a week of running the new 24V system in the garage, it was time to hook up the 12V step down converter and transfer the garage DC loads to it.

Using a 30A Xincol step down converter:
https://amzn.to/3j9VGRt
Not sure how well this unit will hold up, but I had purchased this some years back for another project and had it available. Outputs 12.4 volts at no load, dropping to 12.2 - 12.3 volts under a 190W load. The wire size seems to be a bit small, looks to be 18AWG, but so far it's working well.

Now, the garage/shop area is on it's own independent DC power supply. As long as there's a connection to the solar battery bank, it'll run. This is the first time in 10 years that I'll be able to see what the house uses compared to the garage, DC power wise.

In mid-winter, using minimal DC lighting, the garage is using 0.5KWH/day, about 0.33KWH of that for the freezer. During the rest of the year, I expect this to be 4 - 5 times that much. Using DC power right off the battery bank, via the BMS, is about as efficient as you can get.

More to come...
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