I'm sure someone else has thought of this. I live in a condo without a garage so a generator is not practical. I lost power due to an ice storm on top of that I was sick with the flu(the only year I didn't get a flu shot). What I did was Purchase 2 large high capacity marine batteries rated for 1000 amp hours from Walmart. Believe it or not Walmart car and marine batteries are made by Johnson Controls. They are rated very high on quality and durability plus for $70 each you can't beat it. I ordered a Vector 1500 watt inverter from the net. I installed a regular 110 outlet just below the fuse box. The receptacles were separated so one plug is the right half of the panel. The other is for the left side of the panel. I used an open slot and placed a 15amp breaker for each side. The last was standard 12 gage electrical cords with 2 male ends on each for pig tails. If the power goes out all I have to do is turn off the main breaker, get the inverter out of the box, and plug it in. Takes about 5 minutes. It won't run the Air conditioner but all else runs fine. I tested it out with a full charge on The batteries. The furnace ran fine for 2 Days and the CFL's for lights use very little power. You do have to cycle between the refrigerator and furnace though(too much for the inverter). I use an automatic trickle charger for the battery charging/maintence. If your limited on options it's a great system. There's nothing worse than the middle of winter with no power, lights or Heat. Plus in the summer you have TV and even a computer or stereo. Home backup power ( photo / image / picture from RJ's Garden )
We checked this out with an electrical engineer since we live in a mobile home and have no place for a generator either. He said he only sees one problem. Batteries give off hydrogen gas when they charge and if it's not a well ventilated area there could be an explosion. Otherwise it looks good. dooley
This is true but you can look into sealed gel cell, or batteries for use with solar power systems. I bought these because they were cheap and effective. There are many other alternatives out there. The cost is higher but you pay for the quality. Call a solar power systems installer and you might get a better answer.
will show this to my DH. We do have generator.You can tell why in picture i posted Gardener have to have faith. when we had flood and lights go out- no power to run sump-pump. But had to run generator month ago. no power for 2 days. Not cheap to run with price of Gas $$$$$
