Power failure last night, those in the NE how did your stove do?

I'm still debating between getting a small genny, or an inverter connected to the car battery to power the pellet stove, fridge and well pump in case of an outage. A genny is simpler to use, but I fear because it's seldom used it will malfunction the day I'll need it... On the other hand, an inverter would require the car engine to run and will maybe put a strain on the alternator. The stuff I'm looking for have comparable purchase price.

Deromax said:

I'm still debating between getting a small genny, or an inverter connected to the car battery to power the pellet stove, fridge and well pump in case of an outage. A genny is simpler to use, but I fear because it's seldom used it will malfunction the day I'll need it... On the other hand, an inverter would require the car engine to run and will maybe put a strain on the alternator. The stuff I'm looking for have comparable purchase price.

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Another advantage of the generator is that you don't have to lose power when you need to run to the store or go refill your gas tank. Might not be a deal breaker, and you might have another vehicle for that, but it's something to consider.

After just getting power back after about 36 hours out, I'm running through some of the same thoughts. I have a standard 5kw generator that is getting a bit long of tooth, but it did fine running the pellet stove and other stuff. I don't like to leave it running at night because it's so loud and pretty thirsty, so I'm thinking of getting a little inverter gen or some other solution for that use-case.

Along the lines of the last 2 posts, I've been thinking a little about getting a pure sine inverter to connect to my hybrid, in order to just run my stove. The beauty is that the hybrid will turn its engine on and off as it needs to, to keep the battery charged, has a 12 gallon tank, and is very efficient.

Ctcarl said:

thats a bummer.hope they get that power going soon.

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Still around 35,000 without...

Dan

chken said:

Along the lines of the last 2 posts, I've been thinking a little about getting a pure sine inverter to connect to my hybrid, in order to just run my stove. The beauty is that the hybrid will turn its engine on and off as it needs to, to keep the battery charged, has a 12 gallon tank, and is very efficient.

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Did that, I have a 1500 watt inverter with a dedicated plug installed on the Prius. I keep the inverter under the back deck. I have a plug fed from the garage door opening area up to the rear of the fridge. That's all we really need to power. Install was $100, inverter $99.

Lost power on Wednesday and still without power. The pellet stove worked great for six hours on battery power but when power is lost for days batteries can only go so far. I'm using kerosene heaters right now. Kerosene is so dang expensive but better than freezing to death.

mass_burner said:

Did that, I have a 1500 watt inverter with a dedicated plug installed on the Prius. I keep the inverter under the back deck. I have a plug fed from the garage door opening area up to the rear of the fridge. That's all we really need to power. Install was $100, inverter $99.

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Great, I'm assuming you connected your inverter to the traction battery? Any particular inverter you bought and for $99 it sounds like you didn't use a pure sine inverter, no probs?

chken said:

Great, I'm assuming you connected your inverter to the traction battery? Any particular inverter you bought and for $99 it sounds like you didn't use a pure sine inverter, no probs?

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Not traction battery, 12v. I only need about 1000 watts. 12v hookup gives ~1300 watts. Traction will give you a lot more, my local performance shop wasn't comfortable doing that install.

Not pure sine, again, no need. No issues. I also have a 70 amp hr agm battery box I wheel up from the basement during an outtage for incidentals.

mass_burner said:

Not traction battery, 12v. I only need about 1000 watts. 12v hookup gives ~1300 watts. Traction will give you a lot more, my local performance shop wasn't comfortable doing that install.

Not pure sine, again, no need. No issues. I also have a 70 amp hr agm battery box I wheel up from the basement during an outtage for incidentals.

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Sounds good, what's the longest you've had to run your Prius for power?

mass_burner said:

Not traction battery, 12v. I only need about 1000 watts. 12v hookup gives ~1300 watts. Traction will give you a lot more, my local performance shop wasn't comfortable doing that install.

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If I understand correctly, the 12v battery is recharged from the traction battery? So even though you've only hooked up to that, you still have indirect access to the traction battery's capacity for runtime reasons, and, of course, to the motor for recharging the traction battery. Is that accurate?

chken said:

Sounds good, what's the longest you've had to run your Prius for power?

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7/8 hours. There were reports of some running 4/5 days on a tank during super storm Sandy. I also use it for picnics and yard work when I'm too far for a plug. My 18" craftsmen chainsaw runs fine off it.

mass_burner said:

7/8 hours. There were reports of some running 4/5 days on a tank during super storm Sandy. I also use it for picnics and yard work when I'm too far for a plug. My 18" craftsmen chainsaw runs fine off it.

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It all sounds great. And then I think about it as a $25000 generator and suddenly it stops making sense.

mchasal said:

If I understand correctly, the 12v battery is recharged from the traction battery? So even though you've only hooked up to that, you still have indirect access to the traction battery's capacity for runtime reasons, and, of course, to the motor for recharging the traction battery. Is that accurate?

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That's right. You can see the activity on the screen display. One thing though, for some reason, the 12v battery recycles more efficiently when some accessory is on, like the heater inside the car.

alternativeheat said:

It all sounds great. And then I think about it as a $25000 generator and suddenly it stops making sense.

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We'll my 2004 cost 9200, in 2010. I drive it to work everyday, I refill every 9-12 days, 9 gal tank. Average 50 mpg. So the generator part is all gravy.

mass_burner said:

That's right. You can see the activity on the screen display. One thing though, for some reason, the 12v battery recycles more efficiently when some accessory is on, like the heater inside the car.

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Hmm, that's odd, maybe the additional load keeps the battery warmer? Just guessing.
You've got me thinking I should keep an eye out for a wrecked Prius as power backup. Of course, even wrecked one with a functioning drivetrain is going to be way too expensive for this use.
It would be interesting to see something purpose built using this methodology just for power backup. Scaled down and in a nice box. Basically an inverter/charger with a generator and some control circuitry to manage it all. Would be a neat Arduino project.

I guess I'm the only one that is still old school when the power goes out. I have two kero-sun kerosene heaters. One is called the moonlighter it not only heats but lights up the room also. You just have to remember the golden rule with these heaters, start and shut them down OUTSIDE . Keep the wick clean, and use k1 kersosene fuel. They work very well and can be stored for along time with no problems. Japan uses them as there main heating source.

Carrying them around lit seems a little dicey to me. Not that I haven't done it, lol.