Homemade Battery Backup

[TimfromMA]

I built this battery backup system for my St Croix Hastings after 1 too many short power outages that caused my house to fill up with smoke.

It is simply a store bought APC with it's own internal batteries removed. In their place, I wired in (2) 90AH marine batteries. This sits in a room just below the stove. It's wired through the wall directly upstairs to the outlet the stove plugs into.

This set up will run my stove for about 8 hours in a power outage.

 

[hoverfly]

I wonder, can you post a pic of your vent from the stove and form out side? Thanks

 

[UpStateNY]

Very nice, Which store bough APC did you buy and what are the specs on it. Are the the (2) 90AH Marine batteries wired in series (24volt) or parallel (12volt)?

 

[chken]

Great, I've thought of doing that since I have an old UPS that needs new batteries and the replacement ones are barely cheaper than buying a new UPS. Repurposing seems like a good idea.

 

[TimfromMA]

I wonder, can you post a pic of your vent from the stove and form out side? Thanks

I think I know where you are going with this.

No, my vent has no vertical rise. It exits the back of my stove, has a 45 degree bend then straight out through the wall.

 

[TimfromMA]

Very nice, Which store bough APC did you buy and what are the specs on it. Are the the (2) 90AH Marine batteries wired in series (24volt) or parallel (12volt)?

Its an APC XS1500

It's a 24V system so the batteries are wired in series.

 

[railfanron]

I'd make sure those batteries don't put out hydrogen when being charged. That could send the battery through the roof if there was a spark of some kind. A friend of mine did that 50 years ago in a gas station and it made a very neat square hole in the ceiling. Glad no one was hurt.
Ron

 

[TimfromMA]

I'd make sure those batteries don't put out hydrogen when being charged. That could send the battery through the roof if there was a spark of some kind. A friend of mine did that 50 years ago in a gas station and it made a very neat square hole in the ceiling. Glad no one was hurt.
Ron

Yes, they do produce hydrogen when charged which is why they are in a completely separate room from the stove.

 

[DBCOOPER]

I'm planning on something similar when the battery in my APC dies. I was wondering if the charging circuit in the APC could handle larger batteries and if it would just take longer to recharge them.

 

[TimfromMA]

The APC will recharge the batteries it just takes several days to do so.

 

[hoverfly]

Tie a solar panel to those batteries!

 

[wsar10]

Great, I've thought of doing that since I have an old UPS that needs new batteries and the replacement ones are barely cheaper than buying a new UPS. Repurposing seems like a good idea.

Check out http://www.batteryspace.com/12vsealedleadacidbatteries.aspx
they have real good prices on batts.

 

[TimfromMA]

Tie a solar panel to those batteries!

I wanted solar but my yard is too shady.

 

[wsar10]

I wanted solar but my yard is too shady.

roof of your house ,shed or garage ???

 

[TimfromMA]

I had solar a solar guy to my house and he said that I don't get enough direct sunlight for solar to be worthwhile.

 

[TimfromMA]

roof of your house ,shed or garage ???

My garage is under my house and my shed is only an 8' x 10'

 

[wsar10]

My garage is under my house and my shed is only an 8' x 10'

If the shed location is good though, this sounds like a good excuse to build a bigger shed !! just think workshop, pellet storage and room for solar panels !

 

[TimfromMA]

On a bad month, my electric bill is $120. Most months its in the $70 - $80 range. Solar really isn't economical for me, especially how little I can generate given the lack of direct sunlight.

 

[chken]

Check out http://www.batteryspace.com/12vsealedleadacidbatteries.aspx
they have real good prices on batts.

Thanks for the link.

 

[TimfromMA]

If the shed location is good though, this sounds like a good excuse to build a bigger shed !! just think workshop, pellet storage and room for solar panels !

The shed sits off to the side of my yard in the trees. It's even shadier than the house is.

 

[hoverfly]

On a bad month, my electric bill is $120. Most months its in the $70 - $80 range. Solar really isn't economical for me, especially how little I can generate given the lack of direct sunlight.

In this aspect, I'm thinking of long power outage durations when it's cold out. Unless you got pine trees in the way, having the panels covered up from leaves during the summer is no big deal. One or two panels should be enough, would not be bad for a little home project.

 

[TimfromMA]

Every single power failure I've had since I bought my house has been less an hour except for one when Sandy came to town.

This battery system is really only meant to keep the stove running during these short duration outages when the house will fill with smoke if power is cut while the stove is running. After a couple hours, I'm rolling out the backup generator

 

[batchman]

The APC will recharge the batteries it just takes several days to do so.

That is actually a big testament to your APC UPS. That is a much bigger charging load than it was shipped with - if the circuit hasn't burnt itself up I give them a big thumbs up.

Cheers,
- Jeff

 

[TimfromMA]

That is actually a big testament to your APC UPS. That is a much bigger charging load than it was shipped with - if the circuit hasn't burnt itself up I give them a big thumbs up.

Cheers,
- Jeff

Im not sure it works like that.

Think of it like filling up a kiddie pool with a garden hose. The pool will fill up in a few minutes. If you take the same hose and try to fill up an olympic size swimming pool, it doesn't overload the hose, it just takes ALOT longer.

 

[hoverfly]

Every single power failure I've had since I bought my house has been less an hour except for one when Sandy came to town.

This battery system is really only meant to keep the stove running during these short duration outages when the house will fill with smoke if power is cut while the stove is running. After a couple hours, I'm rolling out the backup generator

A generator? Oh my back, my back!