Back up Generators in case of powerless

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
If power outages are short and infrequent, couldn't you just get an AC Inverter for your car, run an extension cord to the house to power the bare minimum required on your tank? Maybe a cell phone charger and some odds and ends.

Its inefficient to idle a car for several hours, but im assuming you already own the car, the inverter is cheap, and You dont have To worry about a generator starting after its been sitting for ages.

They make some fairly high wattage inverters. I have an inexpensive one thats rated to 1000w, not sure the amp load, but thay could power a heater and a return punp.. And your car is unlikely to overheat idling in winter.

Is this a bad idea?

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mudbuttjones said:
If power outages are short and infrequent, couldn't you just get an AC Inverter for your car, run an extension cord to the house to power the bare minimum required on your tank? Maybe a cell phone charger and some odds and ends.

Its inefficient to idle a car for several hours, but im assuming you already own the car, the inverter is cheap, and You dont have To worry about a generator starting after its been sitting for ages.

They make some fairly high wattage inverters. I have an inexpensive one thats rated to 1000w, not sure the amp load, but thay could power a heater and a return punp.. And your car is unlikely to overheat idling in winter.

Is this a bad idea?

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This is exactly what I went with. Bought a 3000 watter. I still have my battery bank from my car audio competition days which are actually 2V cells used for battery backups, figured that bank should run that inverter for a pretty decent amount of time, if that isn't long enough then I'd just run it off a car like you mentioned.

I figured the inverter can run all my pumps, and the drip system that's tied into the gas hot water heater can supply the heat. Seems to look good on paper.... lol

I despise carbs and anything that lives under them so a generator would just be another piece of crap that won't start when I need it, just like the friggin lawnmower.

In the past I just used 12V batteries and 12V live well water and air pumps. This got me by for years.
 
MilitantPotato said:
You'll need one with an inverter to run pumps, from my experience. They need a clean sine wave to spin, also computer battery backups of low quality wouldn't run my pumps correctly either.

After a ton of research I'm getting a honda 2000i or yamaha for my tanks and home. Depends on which i can find locally that also has a service center. I hear you're sol for warranty work on a honda if bought from amazon.

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Interested reading this. Do you think the 5500 and 7000W Harbor freight generators will properly power pumps? Reeflo, etc?
 
xraycer said:
When you do loss power, are you typically talking days or hours of outage?

Do you want it just for the tank or for the house as well?

If you talking hours (and you're not running sophisticated electronics) just grab a cheapo from Harbor Feight for less than a hundred bucks. Just remember a small generator will require you to fill the fuel more often.

If you're talking days or want to power the house as well, you'll need to spend quite a bit more $. Big box stores will carry high wattage portable generators that will power pretty much your entire house and are very affordable. Hondas are great but they're gonna cost you over 3X the price
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Hours but I live in an apartment so it could take up to a day or two sometimes.
 
I've used a 5500 watt one for years . I got it from Home Depot with the subaru engine on it. Ran for about 7 hours on a tank of gas. I would run 3 big tanks, 2 refrigerators, my sump pump in my basement and a pellet stove, and a few lamps around the house. Now I have an 11kw generac whole house.
 
One of these days I'm gonna pull the trigger on these automatic whole house generator unit
 
xraycer said:
One of these days I'm gonna pull the trigger on these automatic whole house generator unit
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The only complaint I have about mine is since I put it in a year ago, the power has only gone out once for 3 hours. It is really nice to have that piece of mind that my fish will be fine when I am away and power goes out though
 
the little Honda suitcase generators are excellent..eu2000i is a great one good for like 13 amps
 
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