What size Solar Panel Needed for an Electric Fish House Heater?

[TroutYammer]

I have been thinking about getting a solar panel to run an electric heater for my fish house. Most heaters on the web are 115V and draw about 13.5Amps. Anybody know how big of a solar panel I need to run that? Or any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[McGurk]

HUGE ones. The 12 volt RV panels I'm looking at for you online are 7 amp/125 watt units. The base unit is $1,050, and you'd have to get another one to get to 14 amps, that would be another $950. They are each 58" by 26", and you'd need 2 of them, plus a battery system to run as a buffer. I'd look at other options for heat if I were you.

Electic heat is one of the most inefficient heat sources out there. For example: A simple 2-slice Toaster can draw as much amperage as a small microvave, and many times more than even the least efficient 36" tube TV.

Some other appliances, for reference:

Typical Amperages of Various Appliances

Appliance or Electronic Equipment- Estimated Amps

Coffee Maker- 5-8 Amps

Compact Disc Player- 1 Amp

Computer (Laptop)- 2-3 Amps

Converter- 1-8 Amps

Crock Pot- 1-2 Amps

Curling Iron- <1 Amp

Drill- 2-6 Amps

Electric Blanket- 0.5-1.5 Amps

Electric Fan- 1 Amp

Electric Water Heater- 9-13 Amps

Electric Skillet- 6-12 Amps

Hair Dryer- 5-12 Amps

Iron- 5-10 Amps

Light (60 watt % 120V)- <1 Amp

Microwave- 8-13 Amps

Microwave (Convection Oven)- 13 Amps

Refrigerator in AC mode- 5-8 Amps

Space Heater- 8-13 Amps

Television- 1.5-4 Amps

Toaster- 7-10 Amps

Vacuum (handheld)- 2-6 Amps

VCR- 1-2 Amps

Washer/Dryer- 14-16Amps

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

HUGE!

I have a small electric heater that I hooked up to my 2000 watt generator. It maxed out the generator, and that little heater couldn't even come close to heating the fish house. By the time you got a system figured out, your entire roof would be solar panels, and you'd spend MANY years worth of propane fill ups.

[heat checker]

We run 2 electrics off a 3500w generator, also fire up the buddy. Within minutes its warm enough to turn off buddy and turn down electrics to lower settings.