Shurflo Electricity Use

[SeanD]

I'm going to set up a Shurflo on an existing gravity setup on another person's property. I laid it out with vacuum in the plans for some day. It's someday. The owner has a lamp post right next to where my tank is that I'm hoping I can tap into for power. That question comes at the end.

Right now they are happy to be paid in syrup and I plan to double it when I go to vac. That said, I have no idea how much of his power I'll actually be using. When I talk to him about it, I'd like to have some sense of how much I'll be using.

I'll have a power supply converting the 110v to 12 v for the pump and a low wattage light bulb that turns on when it gets below freezing. So basically, 12v pump by day, bulb by night. One or the other will always be on except during long cold snaps when I'll bring the whole box inside.

How much of his power will I be using? He won't have any more idea than I do and I want us to both feel good about it going into the season.

The other question about tapping into his lamppost... I was thinking of screwing in a socket adapter like this, though I'm noticing now this one does not have the third prong for ground.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Project-Source-660-Watt-Ivory-Medium-Light-Socket-Adapter/3774299

Thanks in advance,
Sean

[maple flats]

Which Shurflo? Most will use very little power, the model number on the pump will give us the info you need. I only use a 115V Shurflo, it uses under 2A. If you convert to DC, you also need the efficiency loss of the converter. Add the power used by whatever is doing the switching if any then your use will be the greater of the pump/converter/controller or the light bulb, not all since only one will run at a time.

[SeanD]

It's the 4008. The converter is an old power supply from a computer and the controller is the Ink Bird 2-stage (https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Max-1200W-Temperature-Controller-Greenhouse/dp/B01HXM5UAC/ref=asc_df_B01HXM5UAC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198101685250&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16912196323373202119&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001867&hvtargid=pla-318107594620&psc=1).

[Biz]

The Shurflo 4008 draws less than 20 watts when used for sap vacuum (1.5 amps x 12 volts). Let’s say double that to account for power conversion, 40 watts. Assuming you have a 40W bulb and either the bulb or pump is always on, that works to 29 kilowatt-hours per month, so rough estimate maybe 5 bucks per month depending on rate.

If you want to be more precise, grab one of these geeky devices off Amazon, simple to use and pretty cheap considering what if can do. Yeah I have one. You plug your device into it and it can record kw-hrs of usage. Then you don’t have to argue math and watts with the landowner. It does reset to zero if you lose power.

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIv7XOxZbv7QIValXVCh3R7g1HEAAYAiAA EgKHtvD_BwE&hvadid=482030739014&hvdev=t&hvlocphy=9001818&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=3282414084345821173&hvtargid=kwd-317258231673&hydadcr=27884_10744697&keywords=killawatt+meter+p3&qid=1609106968&sr=8-2&tag=googhydr-20

[SeanD]

Excellent. Thanks for figuring that out for me! That's a big help. I just needed a ballpark like that to have the first conversation with him. I didn't now if I was looking at $10 or $50/month. Five is even better. The 29 kWh is a good starting number and I can confirm with the Kill-a-watt after the season. I don't anticipate any arguing over it. They love watching the magic happen on their property. My real fear was miscalculating and sticking him with an unexpectedly big bill.

[Maple River Sugar]

If you are running a 12v system why not just install a deep cycle battery then run a trickle charger off the lamp pole to the battery. Then you will only use the minimum amount of electricity, unless I'm missing something. I thought of this for my future system.

[Waynehere]

Actually the power consumed by the power convertor is what you need to use for power consumption. The convertor consumes the same amount of power, regardless of what the device is drawing from it. If it is on, then what ever the input power rating is what you are drawing. It should be on a label somewhere in the convertor.. I use old computer power supplies and it works out to pennies/day.

[SeanD]

Thought I'd update this with the actual numbers now that the season is done. The box setup with a converter, 12v pump, and a 25W bulb used 11.64 kWh this season. It was in use from 2/24 to 3/22 with a few days brought inside when the temps got into the single digits and there was no point to just warming a box during a cold spell.

With delivery and supply charges here, our residential rate is about $0.24 x kWh, so for the season the electricity cost me $2.80.

[NhShaun]

Thought I'd update this with the actual numbers now that the season is done.

With delivery and supply charges here, our residential rate is about $0.24 x kWh, so for the season the electricity cost me $2.80.

Great information, thank you for sharing! I was thinking of running a shurflo on 30 large trees i tap across the road on my neighbors property. Wanted to give him a rough number on power usage so i could make the deal right.