Backup house battery

[Uphillputt330]

Interested in hearing from anyone who has installed a house, or partial house, battery as a electricity backup.

I don’t think I’m interested in solar panels (pay off is too long even with incentives). Had a gas powered Generac generator up north that ran off natural gas and kicked in automatically when power went off — but don’t have access to natural gas in our village and don’t want to go the propane route.

I understand that power doesn’t go out very often here but I store some important medicine in our refrigerator and need to protect.

Was thinking that the batteries (Tesla, Panasonic, Enpulse, Generac) that store power from solar might be the answer. Would need to charge from our electric line instead of solar panels. Anyone have any experience with this sort of backup? If so, any input regarding cost, installation, etc would be welcomed. Thanks

[retiredguy123]

Why not just buy a portable gasoline generator for about $1,000?

[DAVES]

Interested in hearing from anyone who has installed a house, or partial house, battery as a electricity backup.

I don’t think I’m interested in solar panels (pay off is too long even with incentives). Had a gas powered Generac generator up north that ran off natural gas and kicked in automatically when power went off — but don’t have access to natural gas in our village and don’t want to go the propane route.

I understand that power doesn’t go out very often here but I store some important medicine in our refrigerator and need to protect.

Was thinking that the batteries (Tesla, Panasonic, Enpulse, Generac) that store power from solar might be the answer. Would need to charge from our electric line instead of solar panels. Anyone have any experience with this sort of backup? If so, any input regarding cost, installation, etc would be welcomed. Thanks

Not sure what you have.in mind. Generac not only makes gas powered generators but they also make ones that run on gasoline and others that run on diesel. They make generators that will power your whole house and smaller one that will power just your refrigerator. Should not be at all difficult to find a place that sells generators and can go over the options. If, the only concern is drugs, there are some better quality ice chests.
If, you keep ice on hand, they will stay cold for several days. There are large quality thermoses . There are also small ice chests that will run off your car cigarette lighter jack. I expect you buy them at camping supplies. NO SHORTAGE OF OPTIONS

An interesting problem. As done in an old twilight zone where a guy built a fallout shelter. Neighbors laughed and called him a fool. Then came a reported bomb threat and those same neighbors all wanted to get into his locked fallout shelter

[Dana1963]

Interested in hearing from anyone who has installed a house, or partial house, battery as a electricity backup.

I don’t think I’m interested in solar panels (pay off is too long even with incentives). Had a gas powered Generac generator up north that ran off natural gas and kicked in automatically when power went off — but don’t have access to natural gas in our village and don’t want to go the propane route.

I understand that power doesn’t go out very often here but I store some important medicine in our refrigerator and need to protect.

Was thinking that the batteries (Tesla, Panasonic, Enpulse, Generac) that store power from solar might be the answer. Would need to charge from our electric line instead of solar panels. Anyone have any experience with this sort of backup? If so, any input regarding cost, installation, etc would be welcomed. Thanks
I have a 2000watt power inverter can be run off car battery cost is less than $200.
Never had to use it during power failure.
I have tried it out and will run a frig and freezer.
It has 3 110v outlets along with 2 usb charging ports.
Yes you must run vehicle to keep sustained power.

[retiredguy123]

Not sure what you have.in mind. Generac not only makes gas powered generators but they also make ones that run on gasoline and others that run on diesel. They make generators that will power your whole house and smaller one that will power just your refrigerator. Should not be at all difficult to find a place that sells generators and can go over the options. If, the only concern is drugs, there are some better quality ice chests.
If, you keep ice on hand, they will stay cold for several days. There are large quality thermoses . There are also small ice chests that will run off your car cigarette lighter jack. I expect you buy them at camping supplies. NO SHORTAGE OF OPTIONS

An interesting problem. As done in an old twilight zone where a guy built a fallout shelter. Neighbors laughed and called him a fool. Then came a reported bomb threat and those same neighbors all wanted to get into his locked fallout shelter
Twilght Zone, "The Shelter", 1961. The lesson learned is that, if you are going to build a bomb shelter, don't tell anyone. By the way, I am not building one.

[EdFNJ]

I have a 2000watt power inverter can be run off car battery cost is less than $200.
Never had to use it during power failure.
I have tried it out and will run a frig and freezer.
It has 3 110v outlets along with 2 usb charging ports.
Yes you must run vehicle to keep sustained power. You'd still need gas so he may as well get a small gas generator. Your inverter runs off the car battery which is being charged by your alternator. I don't think your car battery which is being charged from your alternator will keep the inverter running under full load for long anyway plus you might have to store gas somewhere to keep your car running in case you don't happen to have a full tank. You might also have to drive away to get gas rendering the inverter moot assuming the gas stations have electric which many in some areas did not after the last real hurricane passed through. That all plus 2000 watts even if the spec is accurate isn't much and may not handle the startup surge from a refrigerator which can pull a lot of current to start. Not sure if those inverters are rated for a motors or motor startup.

[nyjets53]

Look at dometic portable freezer, I keep one in my suv and run it off a 12v deep cell that I charge when parked in my garage
Runs 3-4 days without charging

Very efficient

[Worldseries27]

Road trip. Wait for text saying " all' s. Well"

[dewilson58]

Why not just buy a portable gasoline generator for about $1,000?

Yep

Push button start..........easy, easy, easy.

[Luggage]

I second the vote for a portable 12 volt refrigerator freezer. They are extremely reliable and like the person above says you plug it into your car and you can always run your car if you have to. If you're worried about the medicine make sure you keep a lot of ice in bags or freezer and have one or two styrofoam chests. Most power outages have been in seconds but we did have one time a transformer explode . It did take 23 hours to fix as this was during hurricanes

[srswans]

Get the new Ford F-150 electric truck - it can double as a backup power source for your house. You’ll need Ford’s wall-mount transfer switch too.

[Carlsondm]

Interested in hearing from anyone who has installed a house, or partial house, battery as a electricity backup.

I don’t think I’m interested in solar panels (pay off is too long even with incentives). Had a gas powered Generac generator up north that ran off natural gas and kicked in automatically when power went off — but don’t have access to natural gas in our village and don’t want to go the propane route.

I understand that power doesn’t go out very often here but I store some important medicine in our refrigerator and need to protect.

Was thinking that the batteries (Tesla, Panasonic, Enpulse, Generac) that store power from solar might be the answer. Would need to charge from our electric line instead of solar panels. Anyone have any experience with this sort of backup? If so, any input regarding cost, installation, etc would be welcomed. Thanks
We considered solar for our insulin and precious cold things. We finally went with a small Fridgidaire refrigerator, which we keep in the garage and a small gas generator that will run it. We do have to store gas onsite.
If you choose solar, you will be storing several large, heavy batteries on-site, a couple of panels and a charge controller. It is nice and quiet, but we figured less space is taken up by our compact frig and gen w gas. We can also use the gasoline in the cars.

[villagetinker]

I have a 2000watt power inverter can be run off car battery cost is less than $200.
Never had to use it during power failure.
I have tried it out and will run a frig and freezer.
It has 3 110v outlets along with 2 usb charging ports.
Yes you must run vehicle to keep sustained power.

At full 2000 watt output, your battery will last less than an hour, as you will need to pull over 150 amps (at 12 vdc) to get the 2000 watts at 120 volts AC. Yes, it will run the appliances for a short period, but not for hours. Also, the typical automotive alternator and WIRING will not support this type of loading either. Please be very careful with this setup.

[bdescalzi]

I have a 2000watt power inverter can be run off car battery cost is less than $200.
Never had to use it during power failure.
I have tried it out and will run a frig and freezer.
It has 3 110v outlets along with 2 usb charging ports.
Yes you must run vehicle to keep sustained power.

Would it be possible to run the inverter off a 48 Volt SLA or 48 Volt Lithium Ion battery golf cart connection?

[defrey12]

You can get one cheaper than that on Amazon or most big-box stores. We got a 3500 watt—big enough to run a portable A/C, fridge, and TV—for about $400, but that was a couple of years ago.

[Topspinmo]

IMO unless I had medical problems where The equipment needs power it’s waste of money. 90% of the time power not off for more than couple hours.

[jrref]

Hows about running off your golf cart lol!

[villagetinker]

Everyone, you are missing the point, to get 2000 watts or more out of an inverter, you need a really BIG battery with a lot of capacity, automotive batteries will not work. There are very nice 2000 watt INVERTER based home generators that are quiet, designed to provide this power level and run on gasoline, this is what you need.
Also, NO you cannot take a 12 volt inverter and run it off 48 volts, unless it is designed for that voltage range.

[keepsake]

A car alternator is good for 50 amps. Pull car out of garage of course. 50 amps at 12v is 600 watts. You decide what that'll run, and not run. Fridge/freezers, a few lights, chargers for phones, one TV. No a/c or heat or water heater. No well. No oven or stove.
Have at it.

[keepsake]

Hmm. Golf cart battery can be a storage options, if you keep fully charged. Tell us what you have ? 36v or 48v

[MandoMan]

Interested in hearing from anyone who has installed a house, or partial house, battery as a electricity backup.

I don’t think I’m interested in solar panels (pay off is too long even with incentives). Had a gas powered Generac generator up north that ran off natural gas and kicked in automatically when power went off — but don’t have access to natural gas in our village and don’t want to go the propane route.

I understand that power doesn’t go out very often here but I store some important medicine in our refrigerator and need to protect.

Was thinking that the batteries (Tesla, Panasonic, Enpulse, Generac) that store power from solar might be the answer. Would need to charge from our electric line instead of solar panels. Anyone have any experience with this sort of backup? If so, any input regarding cost, installation, etc would be welcomed. Thanks

Buy two or three styrofoam coolers sized so one fits inside the other. Buy some of those gel packs you can keep in your refrigerator and use for camping. If the electricity goes out, put the gel packs in the smallest cooler and put the meds on a small towel on top and close up the coolers. If you keep them closed except for a few seconds at a time to take out the meds, your meds will stay cool for a week, probably. This might cost you $50 total. My next door neighbor gets a weekly shipment of food from some company. It comes in a styrofoam cooler with frozen gel packs inside and gets shipped to him from far away. The sizes vary. He just throws away these coolers every week. Find someone who does that and you can do this project for free. This is much easier and cheaper than buying an extra refrigerator and batteries and a generator.

[Plinker]

At full 2000 watt output, your battery will last less than an hour, as you will need to pull over 150 amps (at 12 vdc) to get the 2000 watts at 120 volts AC. Yes, it will run the appliances for a short period, but not for hours. Also, the typical automotive alternator and WIRING will not support this type of loading either. Please be very careful with this setup.


This is how I tackled this issue. Would appreciate your feedback. I purchased a dual-fuel generator (accepts gasoline or propane from bbq, etc.), with a flip of a switch. It has 9,500 watts and 12,000 peak watts. Electrician installed an interlock on breaker box (not a transfer switch). I also purchased a 30 foot, 50 amp power cord and simply plug one end into the plug the electrician attached to the breaker box and the other to the generator. I can run central a/c, lights and two refrigerators with no problem. If I turn off breaker for a/c then I can run hot water heater and most everything else. No, you can’t run EVERYTHING all at once but can pick and choose, as needed. Generator is Westinghouse DF 9500 for $1,100. Electrician charged $700 for install and the 50 amp cord was $275.
Wife is happy ! The electrician commented that this is the exact generator and setup he has and is very happy.

[bdescalzi]

You can run 12 volt accessories off 48 volt golf carts by using an adapter that steps down the voltage.

[villagetinker]

This is how I tackled this issue. Would appreciate your feedback. I purchased a dual-fuel generator (accepts gasoline or propane from bbq, etc.), with a flip of a switch. It has 9,500 watts and 12,000 peak watts. Electrician installed an interlock on breaker box (not a transfer switch). I also purchased a 30 foot, 50 amp power cord and simply plug one end into the plug the electrician attached to the breaker box and the other to the generator. I can run central a/c, lights and two refrigerators with no problem. If I turn off breaker for a/c then I can run hot water heater and most everything else. No, you can’t run EVERYTHING all at once but can pick and choose, as needed. Generator is Westinghouse DF 9500 for $1,100. Electrician charged $700 for install and the 50 amp cord was $275.
Wife is happy ! The electrician commented that this is the exact generator and setup he has and is very happy.

You nailed it, I did something similar back up north, but we had gas heat, so a 2 kw generator was all we needed for almost a week without utility service.

[Chicagodreamin]

Bought this generator last year. Runs off gasoline or propane.

[UpNorth]

Bought this generator last year. Runs off gasoline or propane.

Many of these generators are designed for construction sites and are LOUD. Run them for any extended period of time and they will drive you and the neighbors nuts. There are smaller, quieter generators (Honda, Yamaha, etc) that may be a better choice, although they tend to be more expensive.