Could this be done during a power outage? Was thinking I could idle our car, hook a converter to the battery and run an extension cord to the furnace. Yea I know, get a generator.
Could I run a propane furnace off a converter?
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Trying to figure out what size inverter I would need. Having hard time locating the wattage of my blower motor.
Keep in mind that the blower is likely 220v and probably pulls quite a bit more current when starting up. You're inverter would need to be able to handle that load briefly as the motor gets up to speed.
You're probably talking about a fairly expensive inverter.
You're probably talking about a fairly expensive inverter.
the only way to know for sure is to get a kill a watt i got mine of ebay for about 25 bux you plug it into the wll the plug your load into it. It will tell you all about the lod you plugged in then you know for sure.
I don't think the kill-a-watt works on 220v. Your fan may or may not be 220v. There are clamp on amp meters available for this sort of thing. You could also find the ID plate on the blower motor and read the numbers off there although I don't think it will tell you peak current which is what you really need to know. You could also make an estimate based on the "fractional" size of the motor (1/6, 1/4 HP etc) with some research on the web.
the only blower motors i hve even seen that were 220 were on air handlers with eletric stips or just straight a/c most propane furnace run on standard 110
if you have a prius you hook the inverter to the batteries, turn the car on, and leave it alone, the computer will start the engine to recharge the batteries as needed, most hybrids should do this, the only reason I would ever buy one.
Check the amperage for the blower and the burner. A small generator is going to be cheaper than what you're suggesting. I can see the blower on a stove but not a furnace.
I looked at my small furnace but it did not have a watt rating on it but it has a 1/4 blower motor on it. So I looked up 1/4 hp motors and came up with them using 3.9 to 5 amps running but no start up load. 5 amps at 115v is 575 watts then you would have to add start up power + everything else and that assuming you have as small as a furnace as I and its not one of those high efficiency ones that have more motors on it. So I cannot say how much wattage you need. But it is on a 15 amp circut and 15 amps at 115v is 1725 watts. So on mine a 1500 watt inverter would probally be fine.
But for emergency back up for our generator up north I have a 10hp engine running a alternator to charge up my inverter battery. Just as a note some altenators have to be hooked to a battery or the voltage will go way up and fry it and anything hooked to it.
Billy
But for emergency back up for our generator up north I have a 10hp engine running a alternator to charge up my inverter battery. Just as a note some altenators have to be hooked to a battery or the voltage will go way up and fry it and anything hooked to it.
Billy
the majority of the furnaces that i wire and troubleshoot for no heat are 120 volt. the fans are 1/2 to 3/4 horsepower motors. 5 to 9 amps running about 15 startup. 15 amps at 120 volts is 1800 watts. if your fan draws 5 amps you'll need your car to put out 50 amps maybe 55 with the gas valve and electronics.
To find the size of converter you need, multiply the voltage of the unit times the amperage draw to get the watts. I suggest getting a converter 50% larger than you need. For example, if your motor is 120v and draws 30 amps you would need an inverter putting out 5400 watts. 120 x 30 = 3600 x 1.5 = 5400
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