How To Add Appliances And Usage Data
Good load data does more work than almost any other part of the app. If the appliance list is careless, the battery, inverter, charging, and solar results will all lean the wrong way.
Where the appliance list lives
The appliance tools sit near the top of the Scenario editor. This is the master appliance list for the current version.
Keep one distinction clear from the start. The appliance list defines what the appliance is. Scenario usage defines how that saved appliance is used inside a particular scenario.
Choose or create the appliance
Use the appliance library when you can. It can prefill common values such as running watts, duty cycle, surge multiplier, and power factor profile, which saves time and keeps repeated entries more consistent.
If the exact item is not in the library, choose Other and add your own name. Make the name clear enough that it will still make sense later. Garage freezer, Main borehole pump, and RV roof fan are all better than something vague like Appliance 1.
Custom appliances deserve the same discipline as library entries. If you are guessing, the result will reflect the guess.
Set power and quantity
Rated watts should be the normal running power of one unit. Do not enter a startup surge figure here.
If the specification only shows amps, work out the running watts carefully using the actual voltage context before entering the value.
Quantity is how many identical units are covered by that one row. If you have three identical lights, quantity three is usually cleaner than creating three separate copies.
Set hours and duty cycle
Duty cycle is the share of the operating window in which the appliance is really running. Fridges, pumps, and compressors often sit idle for part of the time even when they are available for use.
This is one of the easiest places to distort a result. A poor duty-cycle assumption can make the battery and solar side look far heavier than they need to be.
Set surge and power factor
Surge multiplier is mainly for motors, compressors, and pumps. It affects how the app interprets startup demand on the inverter side.
Power Factor Profile is there to keep the entry practical. Resistive heating or simple lighting may sit close to 1.00. Motors, compressors, and some electronics may justify something lower. Use manual power factor when you have a better specification and the profile does not fit.
Set usage for a scenario
Once the scenario exists, the appliance list appears again lower on the page as scenario usage rows. This is where Hours used and Include in scenario are set for each saved appliance.
Hours used belongs to the scenario layer. The same appliance can stay in the version but be used differently in different scenarios.
Include in scenario lets you keep an appliance in the master list without forcing it into every scenario. That is useful when one version contains more than one scenario and a load only belongs in one of them.