Town flood, power outage, backup power ideas?

[ringo47stars]

I noticed somewhere in a magazine an article on sodium batteries that stated they could be used for power outages for cities so probably no good for small uses because of the high heat they generate. Going by your title I thought you meant you needed power for your city so I did a quick search and found an article in USA today. Ask.com sodium batteries at USA today

[MrAl]

Hi there,


Yes, looks interesting. I'd love to have a 1.2 megawatt battery bank

[Janitor Tzap]

I'm reviving this thread because like MrAl, and others.
I've been stuck without power for a few days.

And even though I have a propane forced air furnace.
Still need power to run the electric igniter, and blowers on it.
Plus, when we loose the AC power, the well pump doesn't work,
nor do the sump pumps for the septic system.

The ice storm we had over a week go knocked out the power for about 2 days.
The indoor house temperature dropped to 60 F, before power was finally restored.

This has got us thinking about some kind of backup unit.

I read an article in N&V a few years ago about a guy taking a computer UPS,
and making it so he could run his furnace, and a few lights.
But I was wondering if there were commercial units available?

Thou....
My one brother came across this wind generator for home use.
http://www.skystreamenergy.com/how-it-works/index.php

This actually doesn't sound like a bad idea.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[CeaSaR]

I'm reviving this thread because like MrAl, and others.
I've been stuck without power for a few days.
...
This has got us thinking about some kind of backup unit.
...
My one brother came across this wind generator for home use.
...
Signed: Janitor Tzap

Janitor Tzap,

What about Kheston's "portable" (in a sense - lol) power supply he chronicled
starting '08. ~4KW homebuilt with battery storage, very nice solution. Perhaps
Kurt could give some guidance (thanks to MrAl's help).

CeaSaR

[reloadron]

I personally thought the 2 KW Honda generator was a great idea. Every time this sort of subject comes along there are going to be the same questions. A few 5 gallon gasoline cans and a 2 KW Honda generator is fine as long as your power needs don't exceed 2 KW. Which brings us to needs. Earlier in this thread I posted how I got where I got based on my needs. Well OK my wants tossed in also. Everyone has different needs when it comes to emergency back up power. I would like to believe we start with needs, then wants and advance to nice to have. That determines the system combined with budget and available sources of fuel. You work from there.

Just My Take
Ron

[Bob Scott]

All I need is a generator big enough to power my gas furnace motor. After a while, wood smoke from the fireplace and candle smoke can feel suffocating. It starts to clog up MY lungs.

Luckily, we have not had a big many-days-long power outage for 3 years.

[Janitor Tzap]

Ok,

I've done some more data mining on the web.
I came up with this...
http://www.powersitter.com/powersitter.htm


Signed: Janitor Tzap