Paging Elon Musk...
-
-
Because watts = volts x amps. Watt's Law!
What this means is that there is no way your DeWalt 20v driver is anywhere near as powerful as a 120v corded tool can be. Watt's Law says why. Lets say the corded tool draws 5 amps. And lets ignore things like friction and stuff and assume the tool is 100% efficient and all the power is used for work and not just to generate waste heat. 120 volts x 5 amps = 600 watts. For a 20v tool to perform the same work, Watt's Law says that 600 = 20 x Amps. Or Amps = 600/20. Which is 30, The battery would need to kick out 30 amps to get that same 600 watts. This presents a few problems. First, 30 amps is a lot of drain. If your 20v battery is 4 amp/hours, it means it can output 4 amps for 1 hour. Or 1 amp for 4 hours. But 30 amps? Run time is going to be about 8 minutes, assuming zero internal battery resistance and a perfect battery that outputs 20 volts no matter how low the charge is. In reality as charge drops, so does voltage and with it amp draw. In other words, the battery drains from 50% to 0% faster than it does from 100% to 50%.
Second, to handle 30 amps you would want 10g wire. You can cheat a bit on this because wire runs inside a tool are very short, but still you are not going to be using anything much smaller than MAYBE 14g. Smaller gauge wire means more resistance, and more resistance means voltage cannot flow freely without heating up the wire. Push too many amps through too thin of a wire and you have an electrical fire. The longer the run of wire, the more this is true. This is why a 25 foot 12 gauge extension cord might work, but if you are going 100 feet I would just buy 10 gauge.
This brings us to kitchen appliances. On the Target website there is an Oster 5 speed blender for $30. Nothing fancy, just a basic blender. Not a fancy $200 super blender. Package says 700 watts of power. Assuming you wanted to power that thing with a 20/60 volt DeWalt Max battery (in 60v mode) you would need 12 amps. This is possible, but the largest battery DeWalt makes only has 5 amp/hours at 60v (15 amp/hours at 20v). This will give you about 20 minutes of run time per $389 battery. Granted you do not typically run a blender very long, even 20 minutes should crank out 15 - 20 frozen margaritas, but still. That is all you are getting.
If your blender pulls 900 watts (or more) then amps go up and run time drops. And with kitchen appliances, 700 watts is probably minimal unless it is something like a can opener. A stand mixer will pull more watts, just because the larger motor will not have to work as hard and the thing will last longer. And work better. Figure closer to 1200 watts (10 amps at 120v) for larger countertop appliances, given the standard breaker is 15 amps unless you tell the electrician you want 20 amp breakers.
Also if I had to rewire my home OR was buying a home that was not built yet, I would go ahead and tell the builder I wanted all 120v circuits to use 20 amp breakers. Because why not. This way I could plug anything that fit into the outlet and there would never be a popping noise and then darkness.
Comment
-
Yep… my cordless tools are relegated to locations I don’t have outlets….
They just don’t work like corded tools, imo… -
Washblue But they might work better. Cordless tools are by far more convenient to use. And maybe you do not need the power. Most of the time I am not drilling multiple holes in solid concrete slab. If I am, then I want my corded hammer drill. But for a quick job around the house? 18v cordless works fine.
-
-
Just because something CAN run on a battery or be WiFi connected, doesn't mean it SHOULD.
Comment
-
Shows you what I know about load, amps, runtime, watts n volts. NevermindComment
-
I have thought about this for a long time. I hate having appliance on my counters, so I store all of them.I just can't stand the clutter. I like a nice clear counter top. A battery pack would be sweet. It would save me from having to pull it out, haul it out of the walk in pantry or from the cabinet and plug it in on the counter.
Granted, the main draw for cordless drills etc is because a cord is annoying as all get out when you are working on projects and having to maneuver the tools around. I just got a cordless hand router and I am never going back. When I router the edges of my cutting boards it makes it so much nicer not to deal with the cord when going around the board. Now if Bosch would make a large cordless router for those juice grooves, that would be great! All that being said, I am not sure appliances have the same issues since they are stationary for the most part. An immersion blender, hand mixer, egg/potato beater or stuff like that would be great for battery packs.
Also, having an option for like this for camping would be cool too, as long as you are not backpacking. For how little you would be using the appliance while camping, I am sure you could get a days or even a week out of a charge on a 18V. Also, external batteries and solar panels for camping have changed the game. I charged my drone batteries through out my 2 week Alaska trip with no issue. And those batteries take a lot of charge. The tech is there, it is just a case of getting people to buy. I have never really needed any appliance while camping, other than a coffee grinder, maybe......which reminds me........
.......let's not forget what happened to Billy Crystal when he broke out the battery operated coffee grinder on the cattle drive!
Comment
-
I bought a big cordless Kobalt chainsaw when I first bought some property. Cut a tree down between me and the road out and then thought I'll bet the battery dies before I clear this. It did. Got the bow saw out, got out and drove back to Lowes and but a gas saw.Comment
-
I have an 18-volt chainsaw and pole saw and they are very underwhelming. I still use the pole saw but reach for my Stihl if I need a chainsaw now. However, a friend of mine who owns a cabin near mine used one and he said it's really good in terms of power and battery life. I'm assuming he's not attempting to use it for hours on end.
-
-
Attjack Your post got me to thinking, as I’m wanting to get a new hand mixer for the kitchen. I’m a big fan of anything cordless and with batteries getting better and better, I’ve not regretted any of my cordless purchases so far. I found a cordless hand mixer from Kitchen Aid that gets overall excellent reviews. After researching it I found Kitchen Aid also makes a cordless immersion blender and a cordless countertop food chopper! I haven’t found anyone making a huge line of cordless appliances with interchangeable batteries, as these batteries are all built in. But I think this is a great start. I’m actually going to buy the Kitchen Aid hand mixer today. I’ll report back later with my thoughts on it. Here’s a link to their 3 cordless products.
https://www.kitchenaid.com/counterto.../cordless.html
These also come in a variety of colors.
Comment
-
I also found a cordless “electric” kitchen knife…..https://www.webstaurantstore.com/bac...BPELECKNF.html
Last edited by Panhead John; January 17, 2023, 04:26 PM.Comment
-
Sounds simple enough...Comment
) that's corded, and it can't help but get befouled sometimes during carving. I've never felt that I've gotten it completely clean, despite my best efforts.
Comment