Selfsufficientish.com

hi stoney
unless you can get these batteries alot cheaper than a conventional deepcycle lead acid i wouldnae bother. because they are all costly variations of the same thing. gel is just stiff acid which is fine in a sub, lifeboat, or landrover that may spend some time upside down but the gel does not take kindly to rapid charging as it can't gas. low maintainance batteries are the same (don't vent properly to recycle the electrolyte) the good old traction battery can take a very high charge with no damage and sure it will gas but waters cheap! same with glass/carbon mat or spiral wound. fine when space/weight is an issue or you're doing the paris dakar but all these advantages come at a price and are not really relevent in a home instalation. and as far as 'marine' goes there's no such thing it's just a name given to a normal battery to make it sound better. batteries are either designed for rapid discharge over a short period (car,lorry,tractor,etc) lots of thin plates. or deep discharge and continuos cycling (not so many thick plates) the so called semi traction battery just has medium plates.
well that's my oppinion anyway

I've heard of people going to 12v in period properties, to avoid the new regs and having to channel into old lime plaster, keep old fittings etc etc. it might be worth looking into these websites, books etc for info.

whatever batteries you end up with, you'll need to get the wiring right to ensure their longest possible life - there is a very common mistake made, which can shorten a bank's life considerably - here's how to do it right!
http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html

Martin wrote:whatever batteries you end up with, you'll need to get the wiring right to ensure their longest possible life - there is a very common mistake made, which can shorten a bank's life considerably - here's how to do it right!
http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html

Thanks. I'd heard about this, but the diagrams make it a lot easier to envisage.

Martin wrote:whatever batteries you end up with, you'll need to get the wiring right to ensure their longest possible life - there is a very common mistake made, which can shorten a bank's life considerably - here's how to do it right!
http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html

i have to go out now and rewire a battery bank fortunatly not my 1000ah 48v one
thanks martin