The Electric Equation

Interesting and helpful story from Andy Schell re the di erences in lithium systems, etc. (“All-New Battery Tech, Part 2,” October/ November 2022). Any reason solar was not part of the equation? And given the thoroughness of the decision process (propane versus induction), I didn’t see any calculation of trips to harbor for propane re lling nor how much propane is used in the given time frame, e.g., on the hook for two weeks, in that time with induction, the engine must be run to recharge X hours for Y days using XX gallons fuel; in the same two weeks using propane, how much is used and then how much fuel to get to port to re ll? Of course, there are other reasons to port, but you get my dri . With a lower overall amp load due to smaller crew (you mentioned 10 on average) and incorporating solar, induction with perhaps an emergency propane fallback would begin to make sense. I never thought the day would come when it was viable to have electric refrigeration let alone induction cooking on a sailboat. Sometimes tech lives up to its potential.

Andy Schell’s response:

Hi, Anthony, good questions. Solar is deliberately not included in our setup, as the boat is out tted primarily for ocean sailing, and we wanted to prioritize clean decks and no appendages, so no room for solar. A typical cruising sailor might opt for that, but we’re a slightly di erent use case. Also, I see your point on calculating all those di erent variables. However, two factors put us over the edge to go back to propane: One, we have designed storage for four large propane tanks, which should get us through a full year of cruising without needing to re ll; and two, the “decoupling” of the cooking system from the electrical system. Induction cooking requires electricity, propane doesn’t—and we even preemptively installed a solenoid bypass on the gas line in the event we lose power and can’t activate the solenoid. So it’s creating some system redundancy instead of complexity.