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Old 11-15-14, 06:18 PM   #31
theoldwizard1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ecomodded View Post
Having a Propane fireplace as I do with 100# tanks will keep you warm threw the power lapse, as would a wood stove etc.
In-laws had 2 for backing up their heat pump during a power outage. I don't think they ever used them !

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Old 11-15-14, 06:50 PM   #32
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Default The Pico Has Landed!

The picoUPS, as suggested by Ormston, back at THIS_POST has arrived.

They were back ordered on the unit he linked to. The seller had a substitute HERE, same size, same functionality, same price.

Those guys ship fast!

The unit is about the size of two postage stamps.


It ships with cables, without instructions, but the manual and other goodies can be found HERE.

The silk-screened lables on the board pretty much tell you what you need to know.

I was looking for a lightweight solution, this is it.

Thanks, Ormston!

-AC
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Old 11-15-14, 08:40 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by theoldwizard1 View Post
In-laws had 2 for backing up their heat pump during a power outage. I don't think they ever used them !
Are you saying that having a back up heat source is a bad idea ?
Maybe you could ask them instead of making a statement that denotes the gas fireplace as less than useful.

Most people find them useful threw the winter and not just during black out.

Wizard seems to have some type of aversion to Propane
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Old 11-15-14, 09:39 PM   #34
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I have multiple heat sources. The Natural gas heat doesn't rely on electric blowers or igniters. Then I have my portable radiant heater, but only have two 20lb propane tanks to feed it.

Quote:
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Not everyone here is an electrician and most people think that they would be "in big trouble" with the POCO for cutting the seal.

Actually, pulling the meter is a good "visual" for a linesman to know he is not going to be zapped by the the house with light because someone is using a "suicide cord" !
I have cut their lock off a bunch of times. Its the only way to work on line side of the breaker box with out getting shocked to death and burning down the house.
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Old 11-15-14, 11:36 PM   #35
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I'm fortunate that "heat" is never a problem when the power goes out around here. It's usually 92°F with a feels like of 102°F during the day, and gets down to a low of 82°-84°F at night with humidity in the 70-95% range.

Now that I have the Norcold 40qt and 60qt compressor driven 12v/120v coolers, I've got some options for keeping things cold without running the generator quite so much.

If it looks like it might be awhile, there's always the 2kW inverter I picked up off craigslist for free, or the collection of smaller ones I have lying around.

The cell phones can recharge off the 20W PV setup.

Based on the measurements from my TED 1001, I could technically run my central air off the 5,500W generator, but finding ~10 gallons of gas each day gets to be challenging and expensive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


We are directly reversed , my heat needs are as strong as your cooling requirements.

For your air conditioning Power consumption you could use a small window unit to keep a few rooms cool threw the power outage. then a small er 2000w generator could be used.

a 5,000 Btu window air uses about 500w , 10,000 Btu uses about 900w
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Old 11-15-14, 11:40 PM   #36
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Quote:
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Are you saying that having a back up heat source is a bad idea ?
No NO !! I am saying they were fortunate enough to not need to use them !
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Old 11-15-14, 11:44 PM   #37
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That clarifies your statement a lot
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Old 11-16-14, 10:46 AM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AC_Hacker View Post
The picoUPS, as suggested by Ormston, back at THIS_POST has arrived.

-AC
AC, what are your battery/charger plans? I don't have any batteries around, so I'm looking FLA vs SLA vs something more exotic. Gotta take everything down to check the wall warts current/voltage and actual current draw first to do the math, I'd like at least a days worth of backup.

Pat
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Old 11-16-14, 01:57 PM   #39
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AC, what are your battery/charger plans? I don't have any batteries around, so I'm looking FLA vs SLA vs something more exotic. Gotta take everything down to check the wall warts current/voltage and actual current draw first to do the math, I'd like at least a days worth of backup.

Pat
Very good question.

In the manual, the tech note indicate that the picoUPS is tailored for Sealed Lead Acid (4Ah to 60Ah), which is OK for me. I have some heavy Ni-MH cells I'd thought to use but SLA suits me just fine.

I'm gonna make 12V connectors for my essential communication equipment, and measure the actual current draw, to see what capacity SLA I actually need to shoot for.

One day sounds reasonable, I'd thought of 2 or 3... not so much difference.

Best,

-AC
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Old 11-26-14, 02:07 AM   #40
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Good thread! Preparedness has become more important to me since becoming a dad and having little ones depending on me.
A couple of thoughts,
Old cellphones even without any service contract should still be able to access 911, as long as they are charged.
If you have a generator and a natural gas heater consider wiring the heater to use an extension cord end for power. Under normal conditions its plugged into a receptacle in your attic, emergencies its plugged into your genny.
I keep my cable modem and router on one ups, and my entertainment center on a separate ups. The CyberPower EC850LCD Ecologic 850VA/510-Watts Energy Efficient Desktop LCD UPS is pretty sweet and has a lcd display. Most of the time its just an overpriced surge protector but for the price of electronics I feel it gives me a little extra protection from low voltage and brown outs.
A cordless phone doesn't do much in an outage. Awhile back I was looking to replace an ugly corded phone to find out how hard it is to find unpowered corded phones. Goodwill turned out to be the best source at the time.

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