Posted: 8/22/2011 6:40:13 PM EDT
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I want to put in a 500-1000 watt system that will power my lights (cfls or florescent) and charge batteries SHTF. Basically my home can function on less than 350 watts with spike that are unknown for charging batteries, phones etc.
I want to wire in a stand alone system that will just take over most of my outlets and light, no dish or clothing washers. I used to be an electrician so the wiring is not a problem, Where can I store the batteries and what type? I have extra space in the garage but I can food in there so combustion is an issue. The garage can get 120 and -15. I understand the affects on lead acid but are other batteries less affected by temp or less likely to blow me up? Is there a solution to storing banks of batteries without living in Key West or HI? ETA changed bulb type |
| first, i would change out the lights for lower power requirement CFL's or if you can afford it LED's. second storage in the garage is fine but if it gets that cold in there build a dog box that is insulated and install a 60w light bulb to keep the temps up in the winter. a small vent will take care of any off gassing which shouldnt be that much of a problem as long as the charge input is kept low. i would run a stand alone 12v system in the house to limit the power loss from running an inverter. 12v LED lighting can be had from the web or even ebay cheap. as for batteries, AGM is your best bet and even better would be AGM 6v golf cart batteries. a bank of 4, 6 or even 8 if you can afford it would provide you with plenty of power if your run most of your lighting needs as the 12v listed above. thats how i would do it. |
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I don't yet have my own setup, so take this w/ a grain of salt. But shibumiseeker (pretty sure it was him) said here once re: lead acid batteries and H2 gas (paraphrased): Look at these golf courses with a bunch of golf carts. Every night, they roll them all into the enclosed basement, shut the doors, and charge them all night long. How often do you hear of a golf cart building blowing up. Made a lot of sense to me, and I suspect the threat is overrated. You could build a plywood box w/ a vent tube powered by a 12v PC fan to exhaust it outside if you're worried. I think the cold temps are a much bigger issue. I always envisioned them going into the basement here, but not sure if you have one of those. Stable temp. -Slice |
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"Made a lot of sense to me, and I suspect the threat is overrated."
Slice I think you're right. 
If the batteries are charged, temps of -15F aren't going to harm them. The question to the OP is how is he going to recharge them? That's the BIGGEST question. As far as best bang for the buck for a little 1000 watt system is 4 or so golf cart batteries from Sams at ~ $70 each. The next step is L16s at about $275 but only with about twice the capacity of G-Cs. For lang term duty I'd DEFINATELY go with flooded batteries for a lot of reasons others are sure to enueate. 
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| I have my batteries in my garage. Before I walled the shop section off, it would get somewhat cold even though it is well insulated and had a fire in the woodstove.. I did notice a slight drop in voltage but not significant. I use a combination of flooded lead acid and sealed lead acid batts. I built a very sturdy shelving unit with a locking door and vented it to the outside. Biggest cost was the wiring. If you can swing it, run 24 or 48 volts for the bigger stuff (well pump, etc.), 12 volts for lights, etc. |
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Quoted:
I did notice a slight drop in voltage but not significant. Yep, the batteries will have quite a bit less effective storage capacity when they get cold - which means that you may need to recharge them sooner and more often. However, they'll return to normal capacity as soon as they're warmed up again. The electrolyte in a fully-charged flooded-cell battery doesn't freeze until the temperature drops to around -60 degrees F. However, if the battery is only 50 percent charged, it can freeze at around -15 degrees ––- or at around +20 degrees if it's completely discharged. Moral of the story: Keep your batteries charged, if you can't keep 'em warm. |