The Hurricane Exchange or "Brother can you spare a 'D' ?"

[Kevin Rooney]

On inverters - I've used a 400w inverter made by Tripplite for about 15 years, and have often used it while traveling, as it allowed me to use/charge small electronic devices, including laptops and inkjet printers, without having to carry DC adapters as well. I've also used it to charge batteries for Sears 19.2v power tools. A couple of years ago I bought a 100w inverter as it's much lighter and the power requirements of electronic devices has diminished.

Some (all) late model Toyota Tacomas have a built-in invertor. The plug is in the rear of the truck bed. It's switchable between 400/1000w. If Tacomas have them, then probably Tundras do as well. Just in case you needed another reason to buy a Toyota ...

 

[RoySwkr]

Safety Note: You cannot just connect a generator or inverter into your house wiring--you may shock linemen working on the power lines, lose power out to the grid, and/or have your generator destroyed when the power comes on. (Professional installation uses a switch which disconnects your house wiring from the power lines when using the generator.)

plus my parents used it (via extension cords, but they've since gotten their house wired) during the tornado last summer

Yes, you need a double-pole switch which connects your electric panel to either the power line or the generator - not both at once

What will work electrically is to plug appliances into an extension cord from the generator or someplace else with power instead of into a house outlet

What will also work electrically but probably violates a number of codes and may void your fire insurance is to turn off the master electrical switch to isolate your house wiring from the powerlines, then plug the external source into an outlet - this allows you to use your wired-in lights etc. but remember it will only supply as much current as the breaker on that circuit will allow

Some (all) late model Toyota Tacomas have a built-in invertor. The plug is in the rear of the truck bed.

Matrix had an AC outlet in the dash, not so good for powering house but better for many other uses

 

[DougPaul]

Some (all) late model Toyota Tacomas have a built-in invertor. The plug is in the rear of the truck bed. It's switchable between 400/1000w. If Tacomas have them, then probably Tundras do as well. Just in case you needed another reason to buy a Toyota ...

With regard to cars in general, one might wonder about using the batteries in a hybrid or electric car to power one's house and/or appliances. The standard commercial inverters generally run off 12V or 24V (marine electrical) batteries. These cars use much higher voltage (HV or traction) batteries (274V in the Toyota Prius) which are incompatible with the standard inverters. The Prius also includes a 12V ("low voltage") battery which is essentially identical to the 12V battery in a normal car. Thus the Prius is essentially the same as a standard car with respect to running a 12V inverter.

If there was a high-power 120V inverter compatible with the HV electrical system, it would be ideal for emergency power, but AFAIK, such a product does not exist. (I have seen a comment to the effect that the 12V battery is charged from the HV battery via an internal DC/DC converter and thus a 12V inverter would be powered indirectly from the HV battery which in turn is kept charged automatically by the internal combustion engine. So one might be able to achieve the desired effect. http://www.invertersrus.com/priusinverter.html)

Other model electric/hybrid cars could be different.

Doug

 

[RoySwkr]

With regard to cars in general, one might wonder about using the batteries in a hybrid or electric car to power one's house and/or appliances.

Since you can charge these batteries from a 120v outlet, they must have the necessary transformers and the wires must be able to carry whatever the charging wattage is.

I have even heard it suggested that with smart grids these cars could be given special electric rates if used as peak power sources, drawing down their batteries if parked when overall power demand was high and recharged when it was low. As this would involve allowing the home to routinely feed electric wires, some way would need to exist to avoid electrocuted line workers.

 

[DougPaul]

Since you can charge these batteries from a 120v outlet, they must have the necessary transformers and the wires must be able to carry whatever the charging wattage is.

120VAC -> 12VDC hardware is not necessarily useful in 12VDC -> 120VAC conversion. Bidirectional use of the conversion hardware would probably require that it be designed in from the start.

I have even heard it suggested that with smart grids these cars could be given special electric rates if used as peak power sources, drawing down their batteries if parked when overall power demand was high and recharged when it was low. As this would involve allowing the home to routinely feed electric wires, some way would need to exist to avoid electrocuted line workers.

Yes--I have seen this suggestion too. Presumably such bidirectional converters would allow the car to be used for emergency power, but as you note, it would be necessary to isolate the house from the grid when the grid is down. I can think of a number of problems with using cars as grid storage and will not hold my breath waiting for such cars to become available and if an emergency power option is included.

Doug

 

[peakbagger]

If someone wants to pursue emergency back up power in general, there are a couple of solar forums that cover it this type of technology. There is at least one person who uses his Prius battery as a battery backup to the grid and there are high voltage DC input inverters on the market. I would suggests searching these the two sites listed below but realize any solution is going to require a significant front end investment.

http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum.php
http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/

 

[Stash]

Nice, big, quiet Honda Generator with an inverter so I don't fry my computers (work at home) but it cost a bit more than $1800. The GenTran system of breakers Tim describes works well (one of my 10 breakers is the office). The Honda is quieter than the neighbor's fancy propane powered automatic rigs that power the whole house including the stove.

And what, besides a monster MagLight, uses a D anymore? Seems the world runs on AA and AAA.

 

[Chip]

So we lost power last night about 7pm. Ate prepared food. Cooked sausage egg and cheese on toasted bagels this morning on my camp stove. My parents are on the other side of town and got their power back this morning but we have 2 huge trees down on the lines on our road that have not been touched. Elderly neighbor had 3 large pines down across her driveway so me and my boys cleared an opening so she'd be able to get in and out. At the Y now charging, showers and wifi. No school tomorrow but I'll need to work.

Ditto to date. Heading to NH tomorrow for some moe darn conveniences.

 

[sardog1]

And what, besides a monster MagLight, uses a D anymore? Seems the world runs on AA and AAA.

Well, this 10-Day Camp Lantern from L.L. Bean has been mighty handy here during multi-day outages from ice and snow storms and two hurricanes. As it uses LEDs, the power draw from the four D cells it houses is very small, making for a long time between battery changes.

And this Coleman CPX LED Work Light is very handy for illuminating things, e.g., the interior of a kayak hull on which construction continued even during a visit by Cousin Irene last year. Plus it throws a long, intimidating light on uninvited guests ...