Backup Power

That's part of the reason I prefer "hand fired". While the power doesn't go off nearly as often as it used to, it's nice to know there can be some heat in the house and a place to create a hot meal, if it does go off.

As a matter of , the power did go down yerterday evening after dinner. I was downstairs near the F/B watching TV and fell asleep. Woke up to the kids upstairs yelling, "Daddy the lights we out", It was good to be able to see via the red glow from the stove, before I could find a flashlight and candles! It was nice knowing the heat would keep pumping away! With the way the weather's changing, I feel '"ready for whatever nature throws our way".

I have a power inverter I paid about 100.00 and you can hook it up to a running car and it'll give you hours and hours of electricity. However long a car can idle on a tank of gas. I always make sure to fillup right before a storm. A UPS will get you about an hour or so if the lights go out too. I love my stoker but then again I've never had a manual so....

I too have a 300 watt inverter, and deep cycle battey's from my sailboat. I can run the TV from this setup, but not all night. The inverters still in the boat and I need to charge the batteries, soon! Last night was just a warning! Stll got alot of things to do to prepare before "the big one" hits!

Another item to help maintain one's independence ....

It's a "two holer"!

JiminBucks wrote:I too have a 300 watt inverter, and deep cycle battey's from my sailboat. I can run the TV from this setup, but not all night. The inverters still in the boat and I need to charge the batteries, soon! Last night was just a warning! Stll got alot of things to do to prepare before "the big one" hits!

Yanked my 2 deep cycles out of the fifth wheel yesterday and put them on the float charger as well. Dug out my inverter and put it near them just in case. If we lose power and I can show the wife that my gadget collection is actually useful, well...I may be able to buy more gadgets!!

Do you guys use a trickle charger when the batteries aren't being used?

how do you know what size power inverter to get to run a stoker? Can it run a 240v well pump as well?

You can get the specs for the motors you want to run from the manufacturer then size the inverter accordingly. I was told by one dealer that the Alaska Channing would draw about 100 watts running the combustion motor and stoker motor and that they got 17 hours out of a size 24 marine battery last winter during a power outage. Adding in the convection motor would obviously decrease the run time.

You can buy 240V inverters, but I'm not sure how much battery power you'd need to run a well pump. A lot I suspect.

17 hours if pretty damn good. That is my next project to buy a marine battery and trickle charger. Then I can hookup the inverters I have. Is there anyway to have the power switch over automatically?

traderfjp wrote:17 hours if pretty damn good. That is my next project to buy a marine battery and trickle charger. Then I can hookup the inverters I have. Is there anyway to have the power switch over automatically?

Probably, but the cutover switch might be hard to source if you can't do it yourself. I've also got a small collection of photo voltaic chargers (solar) that would extend the run time quite a bit.

Funny how the Subject has went off on a Tanden here!
For you all interested in Deep Cycle Batteries and are in Eastern Pa, I get mine at the Factory Store here at East Penn MFr in Lyons Pa near Kutztown. You can get good deals on seconds, mostly cosmetic damages on these. East Penn makes Decka brand FYI.

As far as running a well pump off of battery power, your gonna need a bank of Deep cycles and a big invertor, Big bucks. What about just adding a water storage tank inline with the current system to extend the life of you existing pressure. For example, I had a 85 gallon solar water heater tank that even thought is shut down and cool now, I can still tap into cold water if really needed!

I think using a invertor and deep cycle battery would be a good combo for a couple of days of heat! at 100 watts , is that a constant draw or does it cycle on or off!

As far as charging, you can keep it on a trickle, or just charge it up every couple of weeks , that's what I had to do on my sailboat, since there wasn't any juice at the marina! The deep cycle battery can take the abuse of a complete draw down!

JiminBucks wrote: at 100 watts , is that a constant draw or does it cycle on or off!

As far as charging, you can keep it on a trickle, or just charge it up every couple of weeks , that's what I had to do on my sailboat, since there wasn't any juice at the marina! The deep cycle battery can take the abuse of a complete draw down!

If you had a coal-trol, the load would vary some, but without it I think the load would be constant.

Harbor Freight has inexpensive solar chargers that are designed to sit on the dash of a vehicle and plug into the cigarette lighter. I use them to keep batteries topped up. My dad uses one to keep his 40' all electric motorcoach batteries up to snuff in the early winter.

Av8r, that bug it really annoying!
Anyway if it's a constant 100 watts draw, then you have to do the math. If your battery has a max of say 500 AMP hrs . I think an AMP is watts x voltage? Been awhile since I've thought about this stuff!

Here's a link "http://www.rpc.com.au/products/services/faq-info/calc/calculator.html"

Amp Hours

The Amp Hour rating tells you how much amperage is available when discharged evenly over a 20 hour period. The amp hour rating is cumulative, so in order to know how many constant amps the battery will output for 20 hours, you have to divide the amp hour rating by 20. Example: If a battery has an amp hour rating of 75, dividing by 20 = 3.75. Such a battery can carry a 3.75 amp load for 20 hours before dropping to 10.5 volts. (10.5 volts is the fully discharged level, at which point the battery needs to be recharged.) A battery with an amp hour rating of 55 will carry a 2.75 amp load for 20 hours before dropping to 10.5 volts.

Reserve Minutes

Reserve minutes is the number of minutes a battery will carry a 25 amp load before dropping to 10.5 volts. (10.5 volts is the fully discharged level, at which point the battery needs to be recharged.)

Opps, it's Amp = Watts divide by Voltage!