Less than six weeks to the solstice, and time to think about batteries.

“Evening,” as far as the solar power system is concerned, starts at about five PM and will get earlier. So if I’m up till ten watching a movie or something on the laptop, that’ll show up on the voltage display in the morning in a bad way.

I try to keep the battery voltage in the ‘twelve point something’ range as much as possible, to maximize battery life, and with my tiny battery bank that calls for moderation and a bit of creativity in the dark weeks. Last Spring a generous reader sent me a used tablet computer, which I’ve spent the past months learning how to use somewhat. As a word processor or web surfer I much prefer something with a keyboard and a mouse. But for reading ebooks or watching videos, it works great.

And of course the beauty of the thing is that it’s entirely battery-operated (I’ve gone through three used laptops so far this century and never yet had one with a functioning battery) so I can charge it during the day. Even if I top it off in the evening it doesn’t seem to have any measurable effect on my house batteries, but switching from the laptop to the tablet removes my biggest draw. So naturally, using the tablet at night has made a dramatic difference in my battery use.

Let’s see, I installed these batteries in February 2014, so they’ll be three years old in a few months. Average life of a battery bank is in the neighborhood of five years, but I’ve learned my lesson well. These batteries have never been abused. Never run dry, never even once pulled down below 50% charge so far as I know. I monitor these puppies.

They’re not gold-plated Rolls Surrettes or anything, but I reasonably hope to get well more than two more years out of these before they show signs of deterioration.

So I spent last night binge-watching this Syfy series MJR sent me called The Expanse (highly entertaining and recommended, though NSFW) on my magic tablet without the slightest sense of guilt! Thanks, guys!