But you can't hide it without significant landscape effort.

Yep, to all.  Even the water heater will hold hot water for a while and warm water for an even longer while.  (especially when it's hot in the house )

Be diligent about opening fridge/freezer, don't just stand there with the door open wondering what to eat.

If it's not big enough to kick over the central A/C it's really just a waste of gas (and wattage).  

A portable A/C, which I do Not have, yet , uses about 700 watts.

While I have some big batteries, I only have powerpoles.  I need an inverter.  

Recommendations for a pure sine inverter?  Say around 800w for computer and recharge electronics?

This is something ive considered and known is a issue. But whats the alternative suffer along side the have nots? Well before Irma came along I know that during times of emergency I will be at work and my family will be home. So I made a anchor point in my yard for the genny. I took a 5gal bucket, 7ft of thick zinc plated chain and 50lbs of concrete. I mixed the concrete in the bucket, stuck the chain in it all the way to the bottom which then gave me about 5ft outside the bucket.  I then buried the bucket in the ground leaving me about 2.5ft of chain above ground to work with. So when irma came along i went and uncovered the chain that I coiled and burried about 4inch down so the wife and kid wouldn't trip all the other days of life. So if they think they are gonna snatch and grab a 300lb generator that quickly and deal with that monster chain that I well secured then theres lil more I can do to stop them.
I also placed that store bought window alrams on the fence gates and windows after the storm, since normal adt alarms would not be working.
The wife has requested I do something to provide more outdoor area lighting for the next time. So I will buy more of the same solar flood lights that I bought for my chicken coop which keeps that thing light from dusk to dawn. This storm really opened my wifes eyes.
Morning after the storm we came out to start clean up and set up (luckily I was not mandated off my shift and I was able to be home the morning) and right in front of our house some young African American kid who we have never seen before with his red antifa bandana covering his face (i swear to god this is a true statement of what occurred) just riding his bike around looking at all the houses. My wife was like WTF! I said 8 to 80 people look for opportunities to take what they want.

I always hear about this: needing a pure sine converter for computers. 

Do you run a laptop? Even if its a tower, the AC power gets converted to DC power anyway. I've run my laptop off some shitty generators, never any ill effects. The laptop power adapter converts to the necessary DC voltage just fine. I would imagine most flat screen TVs are the same these days as well.

In all practical actuality, a little 2 stroke HF generator that you have hooked up to a battery charger that charges a deep cycle battery full is far more economical IMHO. You can get laptop adapters for 12 cig ports, and every handheld device charges off 12v cig ports too.

Noticed you mentioned 1760 ah.

IIRC, golf cart batteries are rated at ~ 200ah [20 hr rate] so putting 2 in series in an 8 battery bank results in ~ an 800 ah bank at 12 vdc.

So that would be a capacity ---to abt 100% depth of discharge ---of ~7500wh.


I've been experimenting with used forklift batteries [see topic] and talking with the engineers at a couple mfgr's they spec their batteries to near full discharge, I was surprised.

Recommendations for a pure sine inverter? Say around 800w for computer and recharge electronics?


Interesting you ask...

Sitting in the container here mounted on the wall, 10" from my foot, is a Xantrex ProWatt SW 600 [sinewave] inverter that has been great for many years that runs continuously all year round from solar [unless I remotely shut it down in the winter because of cloudy days and snow on the panels, observed with remoted IP cameras].

Bought a few on eBay [for spares] and it's been fine.

Also changed the inverter in the Stealth trailer from a sq wave 'something or other brand' to one of these ProWatts.  Both of those inverters ran all the electronics including various PC's and laptops in the trailer -fine.


The Prowatt in the container is running all our AC needs, incl the PC with an Asus board and standard mini-case power supply I'm posting with.

I see one for less than $200 on eBay right now. Prices vary considerably.

I think it's nonsense, mostly -with some exceptions.

We've been using sq wave inverters since ~2000 -of various makes and with various PC's, with no issues at all.

I build all our PC's, [lots] have tried all sorts of combinations, have lived off grid or in trailers for almost 20 years, and think it's an emotional reaction similar to suicide cords [that preferably shouldn't be used]

Did notice that some of the Dewalt chargers didn't work properly with sq wave inverters.


Now, with the relatively new tech of high speed, high efficiency, high power, dirt cheap, semiconductors, there's no reason sine wave inverters need to cost materially more than sq wave inverters, other than 'marketing capitalization'.

Correct ---bad to do.

This is to point out how battery ratings are derived by the manufacturers.

I think most agree that 1/2 of capacity of rated is a reasonable use.

The Rolls-Surrett individual battery specs have a few detailed graphs confirming your point.

dup

I've heard that forklift batts have a fairly deep discharge and a very long life span. Some have had luck with a sort of reconditioning to bring back life. I assume it is a overcharge to burn off the build up on the bottom of the plates.

My system that I am building is going to be 24vdc. The trace invertor is 24vdc (120vac output only, no 220), the panels are 24vdc as well as the wind turbine. I will be running two banks of four 6vdc, for a total of 400ah @24vdc. The same I suppose. My goal is to not discharge more than 60% which is why I am going to have a gas gen bu of around 3kw/

I am a total newbie and winging it! Learning as I go. Any help and steerage is welcome. I have done a ton of research and parts buying but have not generated 1 watt yet.

I have been playing with batteries/ inverters / charger for a few years. I have over a dozen good batteries at home that I rotate charging. I have 12 more that are around 24 months old. Here are the batteries I get. I have ran out of room for them and do not get them anymore unless a friend wants some. Am I wasting my time with these?

I have a couple in 24V pairs x 4 that I use on a couple APC smart UPS for long run times. For a 50" LED TV, Roku, router, modem, a couple LED lamps I stopped the run time test after I got bored at 6 hours. I have some in 12V string for Inverter use. Plan is to run electronics off UPS / inverter when generator is off. I have a couple 30Amp Samlex chargers in 12V and 2- 24V chargers. No solar at this time.

Reading/following this thread has me thinking about a way to "loan" power to those close and could use it.

If we built a sub panel (nema 4x would be good) with a few, maybe three or four (really as needed per situation/build) 120vac outlets with a low amp breaker, say 5amps per outlet. 10amps if your generous and have the power. you could let a neighbor plug into said receptacle. You could agree to let them use it for "X" hours per day or whatever you choose. If you wired it through a group of timers, you would not need to be monitoring as much.


Any thoughts or ideas?

WSS

You know, I might buy them each a $79 H-F genny and a gas can Homer Bucket.

Or use automatically resetting breakers...  


Trying to reason with Sheeple over power usage and schedule, might be interesting when their 'comforts' are at stake.

Noise discipline is only half of the equation, light discipline is the other half.
If you have a silent genny but all the lights in the house are on it will be pretty obvious something is going on.

True, But if we traded security or perimeter patrol for power, or simply showing up when a threat is perceived. Wait, Sheeple/libs/entitle-ies. I am certainly not arming them LOL.

What if they were kinda onboard just no $$ to make it happen? I am kind of in charge of a well that supplies four locations, three of which are residences. The well is deep but I have access to two bores that I can pull 17gpm out of with no grid power. I'm probably the only one who has thought it through and has provisions to make it work. I need these guys in my side. Water and power will need to be defended in some circumstances. I have a few (not so local) guys that I will be sharing water with and I don't want them thinking I have cut them off.

i keep a couple of these battery powered alarms to watch my generator  they are battery powered and inexpensive and i have tested them all around my house so they work wherever i need a look out.  a friend of mine has been using one for 5 years as a driveway alert changes the batteries once a month.

https://www.harborfreight.com/wireless-security-alert-system-62447.html

I have not heard of a single verifiable incident of a person with a generator being attacked by someone that did not have one.    Maybe in The Walking Dead, or some other PAW fiction that sort of thing happens.   A hurricane that does not kill you or destroy everything you own is not TEOTWAWKI.  It's a couple of days of inconvenience.

Food for thought (because you didn't include this detail ):

The chain might stop them if they only focus on it.  If you bought a $5 lock however, your big-honkin' chain will be for naught.


And then there's the strength of your generator's body to consider. Why cut the lock/chain when the tube frame is an easy 5min with a hacksaw?

I live in California, I have heard of people being killed (murdered/killed, not attacked, it's not fiction here, it is "verifiable") for much less. Add a BIG earthquake to these entitled folks and it will get bad quick. We don't "evacuate" before an earthquake, we ride it out and then make choices.

I am not going to get in the minds of good people who have "only" lost half of everything they own or had just one family member killed and decide if it's TOETWAWKI. Maybe to a soldier or someone with military training, it's a couple days inconvenience. I love my family and home, I WILL protect them both to the best of my ability.

I have videos (CCTV) of thieves pulling into my companies yard, alarms going, fully lit, carrying off 300lb items for scrap. The police were given the videos, nothing they can do.

I think this is what the thread is about, going gray, flying low, taking care of yourself, etc. I think it is more of a Q/A than a fact finding adventure.

Note the above sentences begin with "I". It's my experiences and based on my opinion only.

WSS

This is more about not having to turn away your neighbors and making enemies out of them.

Also, in short outages, to keep them form coming over to borrow your generator, and then probably maxing it out to use it for petty shit like AC, lights, running their whole house, etc.

But 'good people' will kill to feed their families after only a few days. Baddies kill people every day for what they might have in their wallet though.

Reverse the sting.

Cart out your mower, tie the stop bar on.
Start it and wait.

Like hunting over bait.

Two ice storms and one tornado since we moved here in 2002.

We largely use our propane camping equipment. Silent. The lamp gives more than sufficient light. With a spare 20 pound and camper "tree" hooked up it can do a lot in a small area giving off both heat and light. Not to mention the grille - you live well grilling your special cuts to use them up before they thaw. It's nice to have comfort food.

Solar yard lights topped off the interior needs, you pull them at dusk and place in the bathroom, etc. A ten pack of those with a decent days worth of sunlight will last most of the night. Rotate back out in the morning.

Bathing? If you have water pressure then you have cold, good to go. Hot, boil up some on the cookstove and rinse. It's not hard living - the Osage in SW MO are reputed to have bathed daily every day of the year. Spring water was often their source. Same for the detainees in GTMO - a bucket of water and they did their routine.

More than most get if you spend two weeks in the box at Polk or Irwin. Take your family camping and they will have some idea of what it's like. Seeing America from an RV or motel room at the Grand Canyon doesn't cut it.

We did use some gensets loaned to us, fuel costs in the $3.50 and up were horrible for the little you get. If ice is available you can pack the fridge and freezer, if not - it's grille time. And what season a disaster strikes has some impact.

Not to forget - a wood stove in the house does a remarkable job of heating when your "all electric" has none.

I didn't buy a $5 lock for a $1k generator and the biggest chain I could find.

Baiting is illegal in MN. Haven't you ever heard the MN folk tale about the Indians and the crashed beer truck?

And this is MN... so I'd probably feel inclined to record myself lying in wait, shooting them, final execution shots, and then leaving them in my yard for a day before reporting it. I can't be sure that's a MN trait for sure, but don't want to test it.

After hurricane Andrew thieves were stealing generators at night while it was running.  The story I read at the time was that thieves would start a lawn mower (usually took them out of same people's shed) and then cut the generator off and take off with it...it gave them enough time before the owner realize something is wrong.  I don't know how common it was but local newspapers wrote about it.

During and after Irma my house never lost power but my parents and sister's house both lost power.  My parents have 6,500W/8,000W generator and they had stored 30 gallons of gas in gas cans.  I went over there after the storm and put the generator out back and hooked up their 2 refrigerator, 10k BTU portable A/C, box fan, 4 lamps with LED bulbs and a power strip so they could recharge their cellular phones and listen to radio etc.  I had instructed them to run the generator from 10AM to 2 PM and then from 8PM to 2AM...these were when they normally napped and slept.  I had expected 30 gallons of gas to last 4 days.  On the 3rd day the power came back on and the generator has almost no gas and there was 8 gallons of gas left in gas cans.  I wasn't concerned with someone trying to steal their generator as they live in community with friendly neighbors all around and limited access.

My sister too lost her power during Irma.  After the storm I went to her house to set up her generator.  She has 7,750W/9,000W generator but only 10 gallons of gas. I knew 10 gallons would only run for a day so I gave her my Champion 3000W inverter generator to use.  I hooked up her refrigerator, 7,500 BTU portable A/C and 2 LED lamps.  Unfortunately her next door neighbor was  diabetic and had to keep his insulin refrigerated so I hooked up his refrigerator, a box fan and a LED lamp at his house.  I instructed her to run both refrigerators for 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening along with fans but run only the A/C at her house and box fan at neighbor's house at night.  The generator was running about 14 hours a day.  That 10 gallons of gas was enough for 3+ days and then I brought 8 gallons of gas from my parents house plus 10 gallons I had at my house.  By the 5th day gas was easy to get so I took my inverter generator back and started running her generator which allowed then to run everything at same time.  She finally got power back on day 10 and all during that time she kept a loaded AR-15 carbine in her patio under a towel.  Knowing her she would not have hesitated shooting anyone who came into her poolside.

Large generators are great in that you can run bunch of stuff at the same time but they use a lot of gas and they are heavy. Both of these generators were using about 10 gallons per day (about 14 hours) while my inverter generator was using a little less than 3 gallons per day.  My father is 83 y/o and despite large tires he could not move the generator from his garage (front of house) to back yard and he had difficulty filling the gas tank with 5 gallon cans due to weight.  Same with my sister, she could not get the generator from her garage to her pool side due to weight.  She also had difficulty filling the gas tank with 5 gallon gas cans.  Finally neither my father nor my sister were able to start the generator with the pull cord so battery start feature on both were very convenient.  We were fortunately that I had serviced both my parents and sister's generator few months ago with oil change, new oil filter, new air filter and new spark plug on my sisters.  I also ran them with ethanol free gas for about 30 minutes until gas ran out and stored them that way so when they were needed they started immediately.  I keep a bucket with 5 qt. of motor oil, spare filters, spark plugs, funnels, spare power strips, extension cords and couple tools just to maintain all generators in the family.      

I'm considering getting both my father and my sister a inverter generator of about 3000W size with battery start feature.  A generator of that size will take care of everything they need in emergency with some power management and not require a lot of gas to store.  It would be small and light enough for them to roll it out to back yard and start it without problem.  Finally it would be a lot more quiet at night.

Great idea.  Going to have to check those out.

After Hurricane Ike hit here in Ohio my son borrowed an open frame Briggs and Stratton generator. It was heinously loud. He couldn't run the ac to sleep loud.

Added a car muffler to it and it was still LOUD!  

The engine itself was rattling and the intake was moaning so much that the exhaust was not the problem.

I now own a pair of Honda eu2000i generators. Stupid quiet and sip slowly at the fuel.

ETA:  last power outage I gave a grocery sack full of ice to all my neighbors to place in the fridge.  I emptied my ice maker on the generator power.  

My "enemy" neighbor first. Per Romans 12:20.

In 2004 we were on generator for two weeks we got our power back for a week and then we were out for another 2 weeks on generator. We didn't have any problem with the Neighbors at all. Completely different neighborhood and three or four days without the utilities this time and still no problem with the neighbors. Maybe you need a new neighborhood.