Backup power for blower motor unit (to handle utility shut offs in NorCal)

[brazilbl]

Have Regency H2100 With blower.

Now that the regional utility is powering off wide swaths of NorCal, I was thinking of developing a backup for the blower in case of power outages.

Thought of a deep-cycle battery outside powering an inverter for the 120v.

Thoughts? More elegant solutions?

Thank you in advance!

 

[begreen]

You're lucky. The H2100 Hearth Heater works pretty well for heating without the blower running. The outage potential that PGE is preparing can last for days. You would need some sort of charging system on the battery in order to use. Solar in your area might be the best.

 

[tadmaz]

I briefly looked into this, most blowers are 40watts on low, 80watts on high. Even with a big ass battery 200Ah, you're looking at less than 48 hours. Although that's not too bad actually. I wish I had found this article (with chart) when I was doing research years ago.

Jamestown Distributors

www.jamestowndistributors.com

 

[Highbeam]

You'll need a generator anyway to keep the fridge cold. May as well charge the battery with it. Yes, a deep cycle battery and small inverter will run your blower. I would tend to think that you don't need the blower enough to go through the effort of this project and would definitely try it first.

Batteries release some pretty nasty fumes when charging and discharging. I would store the thing outside and use an extension cord.

 

[Dataman]

I run AIMS 1250 with 100ah for my pellet stove. About 140w draw. It will last 6 hours or 7 max. Did real world test and posted here. Only had to use it once for 4 hours. With Wood stove I would buy nothing. Batteries don't last forever. I have 7kw Genny for Charging it and couple extra batteries I could steal easily (car/Genny). I plan on another 100ah battery soon

 

[Microduck17]

A pure sine wave inverter is the way to go for electric motors. 6 or 8 golf cart batteries would have a lot of storage capacity. You would be able to run lights, electronics, alarm clocks, and fans off battery power at night and run the generator during the day to chill down the fridge and any freezers. A high output battery charger could top off the battery bank when running the generator. A small solar setup would be great for maintaining the battery bank when not in use. I have a small off grid setup that uses two deep cycle battries and a 180 watt pure sine inverter, I can run a few LED lanps and charge my phone and headlamps off the inverters build in usb port. The 40 watt solar charging system has the battries topped off from the nights use by 11 or 12 on a sunny day but might take untill almost dark on a cloudy day.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

[cmarc]

I thought about the same thing. We don't have overly cold weather but we do get occasional ice storms, and I'd like to be able to bridge a 3 day gap if needed.

My original thought was a deep cycle marine battery hooked up to an inverter and keep the blower on low. I also considered building a 12 or 24VDC blower assembly enclosure. I was planning to remove the AC blower and drop in this DC assembly in its place and hope to just get a moderate amount of air flow around the insert. I attempted to use four 50 CFM 12VDC PC case fans, each drawing about 0.5A. Long story short, I wasn't mechanically inclined to build an enclosure with a good seal around the insert and wasn't confident that it would last any longer than the AC blower on low.

 

[Bad LP]

If I had to put up with a utility company pulling my plug you can bet a generator would be at the ready.

 

[brazilbl]

Thanks for the ideas gentlemen. I do have a generator (2.5 kw) to handle the fridge, etc.

You have me thinking however of the solar charging a deep-cell battery (outside) and having an inverter big enough to run led lights and a fan.

I will let this decision made by the utility to start thinking of this idea. Do a little research...

 

[Highbeam]

All of our local disaster preparedness people want us to be self sufficient for 14 days. I can do 14 days without having to do anything illegal and I sorta thought that most people could but when I see the chaos and panic brought about by this planned week long power outage I start to think I need to worry more about the roaming unprepared people that are cold and hungry (real life zombies) than I do about my own survival.

Seriously, this is CA in the fall.

 

[blacktail]

All of our local disaster preparedness people want us to be self sufficient for 14 days. I can do 14 days without having to do anything illegal and I sorta thought that most people could but when I see the chaos and panic brought about by this planned week long power outage I start to think I need to worry more about the roaming unprepared people that are cold and hungry (real life zombies) than I do about my own survival.

Seriously, this is CA in the fall.

Check out your local utility's Facebook page whenever there's an outage. People freak out after about 2 hours. They will literally complain that it's freezing outside and their food is spoiling inside. They're so helpless it never occurs to them to put their perishable food items outside.

 

[blacktail]

You probably don't even need the blower. And you said you have a generator.

 

[begreen]

Check out your local utility's Facebook page whenever there's an outage. People freak out after about 2 hours. They will literally complain that it's freezing outside and their food is spoiling inside. They're so helpless it never occurs to them to put their perishable food items outside.

Sadly tis true.

 

[jetsam]

I did a similar thing for my wife's fish tanks during our last week-long outage.

We ran the generator (and charged the deep cycle battery) when we were awake, and let the deep cycle battery run the aquarium equipment when we shut the generator down for the night.

It was actually fairly painless. You do need to try not to open the fridge when you have the generator off, though.

We could have just run the generator 24 hours, but propane is expensive, and I already had the battery and inverter sitting around.

 

[WiscWoody]

I can run pretty much everything in my house on my little Generac 2000/2200 generator that I hooked into my panel, even the 8000 btu window air conditioner that only uses 670 watts and has a radial compressor that starts with less of a power spike than reciprocal compressors. If I run my 1300 watt (it takes more power to run than that st full power)Panasonic inverter microwave oven it helps to reduce the power on it down to 60% power. Also all the lights in my house are LED so they don’t take a lot of power. I can even rum my 60 watt LED yard light that’s on a 30’ power pole. The generator is always on the side of the house with a cover over it ready to go. I ran it for 2 days straight after a bad storm went through the area knocking down the towns large feeder lines on the highway this summer.

 

[begreen]

I can run pretty much everything in my house on my little Generac 2000/2200 generator that I hooked into my panel, even the 8000 btu window air conditioner that only uses 670 watts and has a radial compressor that starts with less of a power spike than reciprocal compressors. If I run my 1300 watt (it takes more power to run than that st full power)Panasonic inverter microwave oven it helps to reduce the power on it down to 60% power. Also all the lights in my house are LED so they don’t take a lot of power. I can even rum my 60 watt LED yard light that’s on a 30’ power pole. The generator is always on the side of the house with a cover over it ready to go. I ran it for 2 days straight after a bad storm went through the area knocking down the towns large feeder lines on the highway this summer.

Why run it while sleeping?

 

[Highbeam]

You

I can run pretty much everything in my house on my little Generac 2000/2200 generator that I hooked into my panel, even the 8000 btu window air conditioner that only uses 670 watts and has a radial compressor that starts with less of a power spike than reciprocal compressors. If I run my 1300 watt (it takes more power to run than that st full power)Panasonic inverter microwave oven it helps to reduce the power on it down to 60% power. Also all the lights in my house are LED so they don’t take a lot of power. I can even rum my 60 watt LED yard light that’s on a 30’ power pole. The generator is always on the side of the house with a cover over it ready to go. I ran it for 2 days straight after a bad storm went through the area knocking down the towns large feeder lines on the highway this summer.

You refueled while running?

 

[Highbeam]

Th

Why run it while sleeping?

That will attract thieves and anger the neighbors!

 

[WiscWoody]

Why run it while sleeping?

If it’s summer I might run the AC on its timer for a few hours when I go to bed. And to run my CPAP machine. And the TV on a sleep timer too. And the dehumidifier in the basement runs at night also.

 

[WiscWoody]

Th


That will attract thieves and anger the neighbors!

No thieves up here in the sticks. I never lock the house and most people here never do. The keys are kept in my two trucks and car at all times even at Walmart in Hayward but I do put them in the dash cubby hole while I’m in the stores. I can leave for half the day and leave the garage door open too. The generator sits at the side of the house year around on a cedar pad. Anyone could sneak up and grab it I guess but no one ever does. And the generator is quiet and the yards are a few acres big. The neighbors won’t hear the genny.

 

[Highbeam]

Cpap is a good reason. Amazing how many people need those now.

 

[begreen]

I was thinking winter. Summer outages are rare for us.