How To Add Appliances And Usage Data
The quality of your result depends heavily on the quality of your load data. GridGap works best when appliances, running power, duty cycle, surge behavior, and scenario usage are entered as realistically as possible.
Where the appliance list lives
The appliance tools sit near the top of the Scenario editor. This area is the master appliance list for the current version.
That matters because the appliance list and the scenario usage list are not the same thing. First you define the appliance itself for the version. After the scenario exists, you then set how those saved appliances are used inside that scenario.
Choose or create the appliance
Start from the appliance dropdown where possible. The library can prefill common values such as running watts, duty cycle, surge multiplier, and power factor profile. This can save time and can also help keep similar appliances consistent across versions.
If the exact appliance is not available, choose Other and enter your own name. Use a name that you will still understand later. Good names are things like Garage freezer, Main borehole pump, or RV roof fan.
If you are entering a custom appliance, make sure the rest of the fields are based on a reasonable specification rather than guesswork. The more realistic the appliance entry is, the more useful the battery and inverter outputs become later.
Set power and quantity
Rated watts should reflect the normal running power of one unit, not the surge. If a label shows amps rather than watts, work out the running watts carefully using the actual voltage context before you enter it.
Quantity should reflect how many identical units are part of this appliance entry. If you have three identical lights, a quantity of three is usually clearer than three separate identical appliance rows.
For RVs, boats, shops, and warehouses, the principle is the same as for a house: add only the loads the backup or solar-assisted system is expected to support.
Set hours and duty cycle
Duty cycle is the fraction of the selected operating window in which the appliance is actually running. A fridge, pump, or compressor may be available for many hours without drawing full power continuously.
Duty cycle matters because it stops intermittent loads from being treated as if they run at full power all the time. A poor duty cycle assumption can distort the battery, charger, and solar outputs quite badly.
Set surge and power factor
Surge multiplier matters for motors, compressors, and pumps. It affects inverter surge interpretation, not just the steady-state load.
Power Factor Profile provides a practical shortcut. If the appliance behaves like resistive heating or simple lighting, a profile near 1.00 is often reasonable. Motors, compressors, and some electronics may justify a lower profile. Use manual power factor when you have a better real specification and the current profile does not fit.
Set usage for a scenario
Once the scenario has been created, the appliance list appears again lower on the page as scenario usage rows. This is where Hours used and Include in scenario come into play for each saved appliance.
Hours used belongs to the scenario usage layer, not the master appliance definition. That means one appliance can be part of the version, but be used differently in different scenarios inside that same version.
Include in scenario lets you keep an appliance in the version's appliance list without forcing it into every scenario. This is useful when one version contains two scenarios and only one of them should include a specific appliance or operating pattern.