emergency power supply

[Packerfan78]

Hi Guys,
Sorry if this topic has already been brought up. Last night we had a horrible storm that knocked our power out for 8 hours. We have this happen once a month during monsoon season here in Phoenix. Atleast where I live. I am curious if anybody has any suggestions for a power supply that would be strong enough to power a fan and a tv for a few hours. I have a generator for long term power outages but am just looking something for a few comforts until the power comes back on. It would be nice to just go to the closet and grab a power supply and plug my tv and a fan in so the kids aren't going crazy. I have one of those power supply/ car jumper/ compressors in my truck and I tried it last night and it wouldn't even power a fan.

[bcksknr]

     I'm one of those people who always seem to be too warm. One thing that helps is a 10 inch portable fan called "O2 Cool", at least that's what my brand is. I've seen similar fans all over. It has two power settings and can run on eight "D" cell batteries or an included plug in to run on off of a "cigarette lighter" socket. I use it mainly to keep some air moving at night in our camper. The batteries seem to last forever and it is really quiet.
     As to a TV, there are flat panels that will run on 12 volts. I'd suggest checking out an RV dealer; they have all sorts of 12 volt items. If you go the route of buying a heavy duty deep cycle battery so that you can hook it up to a small inverter to get 110 volts to power your existing appliances, be aware that inverters will drain a battery pretty fast. I have little faith in those jump start power supplies for emergency use. They are usually a big plastic case with a little rechargeable battery inside . If your serious about a short term battery backup, get the biggest deep cycle RV battery you can find. If you run an inverter off of that battery for electronics you will probably need one that puts out pure sine wave current versus modified sine wave. Many electronics won't work properly on modified sine wave current and pure sine wave inverters are more expensive.
    You might be better of buying a small inverter generator. They are light weight, very quiet and put put "clean current". For the cost of a battery and an inverter you might be better off buying a generator of this type.

[Mr. Bill]

Howdy, Packerfan78!  I've moved your post to our "Other Energy Sources" board.  You might like to check through the older posts in this board for possible ideas.

TVs nowadays don't use a lot of power, so maybe you could use an uninterruptable power supply intended as a computer backup.  I'm not sure what to suggest for the fan, though.

[Carl]

  Buying new 12 volt devices can work though may be costly as a simple inverter and large storage battery allows using current appliances and a power / extension cord can distribute power readily about the house.The BATTERY ,on the other hand is a heavy beast and as I like to call it ...a RENTAL, because they do not last long before going bad (3 to 5 years) and they go bad even if you don't use them! This can be costly for entertainment of kids though add greatly to peace of mind. Add the wattage's of the devices you want to power say TV 60 watts,fan 50 watts and you get 110 watts or about 11 AMPS from a battery/inverter ,then multiply this by 10 (for hours) and we get 110 Amp Hours needed...but the battery must not be 'used' more than 50% level and so our simple battery must have 220 Amp Hour capacity ...that is a good bit of battery.

  I tie an inverter to my car battery and it ,at engine idle,will run 400 to 500 watts into my house at a 2 and 1/2 hour per gallon of fuel rate ,so this also is a possible solution. I have indoor batteries also ...about 500 Amp Hours to power my Ham radios and fridge and my car is my generator for long term or portable needs.

[Packerfan78]

Awesome! Thanks guys. I like the battery powered fan idea and the rv battery/inverter idea. Im just looking for a few comforts that I can do quickly while still staying inside. On the plus side my rain barrels are getting filled up.

[mountainmoma]

I would just go with the inverter connected to your vehicle, idling the vehicle and running the extension cord to the house.  Steve Harris talks about this extensively, I know there are threads or links to that somewhere around here. I have one, Carl has one, I bought a set up like this for one of my adult children. No worries of having a power outage and finding out your battery back up is dead.  Not very expensive. Easy to do.

I am busy right now, look here http://solar1234.com/     



   How to Power Your House from Your Car with an Inverter

We get horrible rain here too, but It doesnt take much to run out and connect this, especially for the reliability and the price.  If you park in the garage, you wont get wet, but do open the garage door part way if you have the car in there idling

[Carl]

  While use an internal bank of batteries to power my Ham radio and refrigerator when power outages happen , I depend on the vehicle mounted system for longer duration outages as my solar (120 watt,max 5 amps to batteries) will not keep up with the refrigerator...so I can start the car and carry in an extension cord so as to power the refrigerator for TWO HOURS and let it rest for 5 hours ( I get rest too) as while I power the refrigerator,I also run chargers to add juice to the battery bank. While I can automate this as I did at my BOL,I find it occupies my mind to keep up with it myself. Note that many battery operated fans can,and should,use rechargeable batteries  for the environment and YOUR ECONOMY...this also can occupy and anchor the kids into good habits and lend to satisfaction of having some control over THEIR world.

  My car mounted inverter allows me to drive to my parents home and power their water well when the limited ,above ground storage, needs topping off (we rarely freeze here.)

[Packerfan78]

Ok guys as im sitting in a local black out i will tell you what works for me as temporary basis. I bought 2 solar lamps that also had a fan function. I bought some of the battery powered spray fans at the swap meet for 5 bucks. I have a bunch of led flashlights i got at tractor supply. I have a few battery back ups that double as cell phone/ipad chargers. 1 german shepherd and 1 cattledog(security dogs). One battery powered radio i also got at the swap meet. So my experience is for temporary purposes what i have has gotten me by. My children are asleep the dogs are outside patroling. I also have an ice cold keg in my home made kegerator in case i get too hot.