Use the car as a temporary generator during black out ?

[Mark]

On 18 Feb 2004 13:53:31 -0800, buywheels@hotmail.com (JW) wrote:

Is there such a device that you can plug into your car and is capable
of turning the car's DC 12V power into household 110V AC ? Please
don't laugh if this is a stupid idea, I am just wondering if the power
generated by the
small alternator on a running car would be enough to drive a force air
furnance during black out ?

My neighbour is buying an expensive Honda generator as a backup power
supply.
Since I can't afford to do the same and black out is not uncommon in
my area,
I am thinking if the alternator on my three cars can do the same trick
and
power at least the furnance during a winter black out ?

Appreciate if you can share your knowledge / experience.

I've been using a setup just as you describe quite reliably for the last 3
years. It's a DC inverter rated at 1500W (peak 2100W). You can find one for
under $200 if you shop around. Mine comes with 3 A/C outlets on it and I just
use one to backfeed my service panel through an unused 220 dryer outlet. I
just select the circuits that I deem "necessary" and have no problem during
power outages.

On the car side, you'll need beefy cables that connect from the car battery to
the inverter. #4 or larger for this size inverter. They can be a pain to
work with, but you will be maxing out the battery under full load and need
them. My alternator is 130A, so I have no problem keeping up with full load.
I suspect you can get away easily with a 90A one - but not much smaller.

On the house side, I take the 110 from the inverter in to a 220V plug that has
the 110 hot crossing both 220 hots. The neutral and ground remain normal.
Throw ALL breakers in the main panel and connect the plugs. Now, turn on 1
breaker at a time for where you want service and you should be fine.

My main concerns are heat and the fridge when we lose power. My inverter
keeps up with these things plus a few lights and small TV just fine.

Make sure your car is running when you try to use anything with a small start
load. If not, the inverter will draw too much juice and fail to start the
appliance due to lack of input power from the car.

 

[bob]

On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 17:21:10 +0000, Ignoramus7266 wrote:

In article <6de7f155.0402181353.be252c6@posting.google.com>, JW wrote:

Is there such a device that you can plug into your car and is
capable of turning the car's DC 12V power into household 110V AC ?

yes, it is called an inverter.

Or, if the alternator does not have a built in regulator, you could loop
the power back into the field terminal, and get variable dc current
(you'll need a volt meter to figure out how many rpms gives you 110v), but
its DC currnet, so it won't run brushless motors, but good for lights, etc.