Emergency power system for one perosn: Generator or battery system?

I live in north Missouri where ice storms can readily happen..... and knock power out

I also live alone and in rented duplex....so my needs for power are smaller and require more portability than others.

Having said that... I'm wondering if buying a small Honda generator and 120 volt devices is better than say getting jump start batteries and using them with 12volt devices (lights, etc)

Reply to
me
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The 12V devices are fine for lighting, but they won't operate your refrigerator or heater. If you have any long time failures, a generator is the way to go.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in news:Swd3l.8572$ snipped-for-privacy@flpi148.ffdc.sbc.com:

just be sure to use the generator far enough away from your duplex so you don't poison yourself with carbon monoxide gas from the exhaust. Buy a CO detector for indoors,too.

Reply to
Jim Yanik

OK....

But would a 1000 watt Honda unit suffice? Its abt all I could afford right now..... and also have good portability

Maybe a mix of BOTH would work best? The generator for bigger devices and 12 volt jump battery for lighting, etc?

Reply to
me

1000 watts (8.3 amps) will run any refrigerator, freezer, but probably not a furnace or boiler. Plenty of room for lighting, TV, cable box, computer, and the like. If all you need is a reading light, batteries are OK. I have a couple of kerosene lamps, but they can be a danger with pets or kids. In my life, I've only ever had one power failure of any length, about 30 hours after a hurricane. Given that record I've not justified a generator.
Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

A 1000 watt generator could operate lighting but not much more. Forget the refrigerator. Even a more powerful generator would use more gas to keep food in the fridge than it would be worth. Better to get a couple of plastic coolers and put the food outside during the outage. Consider any frozen food as lost (unless it is below zero outside). For lights, get an inverter and a couple of deep cycle batteries. This arrangement would give you lights for almost a week if you are careful.

---MIKE---

Reply to
---MIKE---

In addition to what the others have said, forget about the jump start batteries. I use deep discharge batteries, like trolling motor batteries, along with an inverter. With a properly sized inverter it will handle compact florescence lights without any problem. An inverter big enough for the fridge will run one battery down pretty quick. Be sure and get a good intelligent battery charger and top the batteries off every month or so.

Reply to
Jim Rusling

First, you must ask yourself EXACTLY what you want to power and prioritize the importance of each. Only then will you be able to get useful advice on how to generate the necessary power.

Personally, I believe a small Honda (I own an EU2000i) MAY be the most simple, reliable, least hastle-prone solution (it was for me) but NOONE will be able to give you good advice until YOU are able to identify your needs and wants.

Reply to
Erma1ina

Where would you run a gen that is at least 15 feet away, where hopefully no Co enters your home and it wouldnt get stolen at the complex. Neighbors might just say fumes bother them since they are out of power. The quiet Honda inverter is expensive, if you have a porch it might work, but it could easily poison you even with windows and doors closed.

Reply to
ransley

I havn't tried a fridge on 1000 watts. Might work, never know. For power cuts in the winter, fuel based light is good, as it produces heat. Candles, oil lamps, camping mantle lanterns, and so on. 1000 watts will run most furnaces for heat. But not for AC. Food outside in the cold is good idea. Use of resources.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Been a while since I measured the amp draw of my furnace. The old one was five or six amps, less than I'd expected. Gas valve, and third horse blower. Not all that much. I'd figure the refrig as higher load, with the start current needs of the compressor.

If you can use kerosene safely, it puts out heat. Which is useful in the winter.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Why would I want to forget jump start batteries? They charge relatively easily off a lighter socket cord, and have enough power to run a fluorescent light for a while.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

They are very limited on AH and are not designed for deep discharge.

Reply to
Jim Rusling

Hmmmm... agree

That's kind of why I didn't want a gas engine powered solution.... the potential CO problem

But..... what abt deep discharge batteries? Wont they give off fumes if in the house as well? Must they be outside as well?

Reply to
me

Agree

Well Id need to keep warm..... I guess that "could" be a electric heater rather than trying to power gas furnace... but then the amp draw would be tremendous. Yes?

And would need 'some" light..... ability run small microwave to cook with

Reply to
me

How are you going to run the furnace since you rent? It's not like you can rewire it for operation from an extension cord. Or are you going to use the kitchen stove for heat? (hopefully it's gas)

I just tried out my little Yamaha generator (inverter, 2000W continuous) today for the first time feeding the house. It will power my fridge and furnace and a few lights all at once with no problems -- but it will not power the fridge and both freezers at once if they are all starting at the same time.

I actually replaced a few of the compact fluorescents with 100W incandescent bulbs because the generator was not happy with all the inductive loads I had initially. It kept idling down and then surging. The Honda EU2000i might have handled everything better even though it's only rated 1600W because you can disable the "Smart Throttle" on it. (It's on all the time on the Yamaha) OTOH, maybe I just need to set the idle a little faster on the Yamaha.

But I don't need to run both freezers at the same time, and in an emergency in the winter, could just put all the food in big cardboard boxes out in the garage and leave the freezers unplugged (and open so they don't stink.)

Bob

Reply to
zxcvbob

It's been more than 20 years but I remember running a small house off a little Honda generator in the attic. I had a box fan in the gable vent that always ran whenever the generator was on. It was one of those strange times when a damn hippie house mate screwed things up with the power company so bad that the utility demanded a huge cash deposit to restore the power. Life is such a wild mix of experiences.

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

I don't know

The more advice I get about this the more I'm starting to think that "bugging out" is better option..... that is to pick a predetermined place to go and stay till electricity comes back up

Maybe I should forget abt buying gear for staying put (generator, etc)..... and instead buy gear for packing up and hiking out (backpack, clothing, camp gear, etc)??

What say?

Reply to
me

A normal "jump start battery is 12 to 22 AH. When it's dead, you are out of power unless you have a generator to recharge it. A pair of 6 volt golf cart batteries (GC2H) is about 225 AH - an average trolling motoer battery somewhere around 100AH.. That is

1.2kwh - equivalent to running the 1000 watt Honda for 1.2 hours.

The generator is a lot more flexible - particularly the inverter type "E" series Hondas which throttle to provide only the amount of power being drawn - unlike a normal AC generator that needs to run at a fixed speed regardless of load. Just make sure you have gasoline available, or it is as useless as a dead battery.

Reply to
clare

Given those requirements you want an E2000 Honda. Nothing less.

Reply to
clare

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