On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:20:26 -0800, Winston
wrote:

David Lesher wrote:
Larry writes:


Prius hybrid? What's the generator capacity of those beasties?
A/C, or straight D/C? Interesting idea.

www.priups.com

Near the end of our most recent outage, I ran my fridge
off an inverter connected to my car battery.
Just sat in the car reading a book for half an hour
with the car idling in the driveway.

Is that how long it took for the freezer/fridge to come back up to
freezing speed after six or so hours of outage?


I had all the parts so the setup cost me about
US $0.50 in gas.

I'm curious as to how much fuel a Prius in generator mode uses in
gallons-per-hour.


Served french - press coffee to SWMBO too.
A little inverter powered from another car battery
powered the bean grinder.

Cool.


She couldn't believe it.

I think my fridge is only 135W, so that's entirely possible in my SWAG
opinion.

--
Remember, in an emergency, dial 1911.

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:20:26 -0800,
wrote:

(...)

Near the end of our most recent outage, I ran my fridge
off an inverter connected to my car battery.
Just sat in the car reading a book for half an hour
with the car idling in the driveway.

Is that how long it took for the freezer/fridge to come back up to
freezing speed after six or so hours of outage?

I doubt it took more than 5 minutes after a ~3 hour outage, in
retrospect. I just figured that half an hour would buy me
another 3 hours without any question, even if it cycled a
couple times in the half hour. (We have medical supplies that
require refrigeration.)

I *might* not have rigged this up had I known that the outage
would only last ~ 4 hours in total. Then again...

I did step into the house to check at the beginning and near
the end of the half hour. The fridge was operating normally;
compressor was on at the beginning and off at the end and
the door light worked properly.

I had all the parts so the setup cost me about
US $0.50 in gas.

I'm curious as to how much fuel a Prius in generator mode uses in
gallons-per-hour.

Especially if you could also power other loads like a
NG furnace and washer/dryer for those extended outages.

(...)

I think my fridge is only 135W, so that's entirely possible in my SWAG
opinion.

The nameplate on mine says '8.2 A' or ~ 1 KW!
My little '1.5 KW (PEAK)' inverter had no problem with it, though.

--Winston

Steve Ackman wrote:
, on Sun, 26 Dec 2010 07:42:53 -0800,
Winston, wrote:

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:20:26 -0800,
wrote:

I think my fridge is only 135W, so that's entirely possible in my SWAG
opinion.

The nameplate on mine says '8.2 A' or ~ 1 KW!
My little '1.5 KW (PEAK)' inverter had no problem with it, though.

That 8.2 amps includes the elusive defrost cycle.

Yes, as well as those skin heaters that no one talks about.

Our big side-by-side with ice and water through the
door (not known for being the most efficient
configuration) had 11.2 amps on the data plate, but the
compressor only drew 122 watts. Average power
consumption over 311 hours was 75.4 watts.

I *suspected* that the 8.4 A figure was pessimistic.

Thanks!

--Winston

On Sun, 26 Dec 2010 07:42:53 -0800, Winston
wrote:

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:20:26 -0800,
wrote:

(...)

Near the end of our most recent outage, I ran my fridge
off an inverter connected to my car battery.
Just sat in the car reading a book for half an hour
with the car idling in the driveway.

Is that how long it took for the freezer/fridge to come back up to
freezing speed after six or so hours of outage?

I doubt it took more than 5 minutes after a ~3 hour outage, in
retrospect. I just figured that half an hour would buy me
another 3 hours without any question, even if it cycled a
couple times in the half hour. (We have medical supplies that
require refrigeration.)

Oh, it's mighty important to keep that $$$ stuff cold!


I *might* not have rigged this up had I known that the outage
would only last ~ 4 hours in total. Then again...

I did step into the house to check at the beginning and near
the end of the half hour. The fridge was operating normally;
compressor was on at the beginning and off at the end and
the door light worked properly.

Bueno.


I had all the parts so the setup cost me about
US $0.50 in gas.

I'm curious as to how much fuel a Prius in generator mode uses in
gallons-per-hour.

Especially if you could also power other loads like a
NG furnace and washer/dryer for those extended outages.

Rightio!


I think my fridge is only 135W, so that's entirely possible in my SWAG
opinion.

The nameplate on mine says '8.2 A' or ~ 1 KW!
My little '1.5 KW (PEAK)' inverter had no problem with it, though.

Wow, far cry from my Kill-a-Watt readings. I'll have to check for a
plate, but I don't think I saw one, just the listing inside the
fridge. 18.2 c/f

--
Remember, in an emergency, dial 1911.

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sun, 26 Dec 2010 07:42:53 -0800,
wrote:

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:20:26 -0800,
wrote:

(...)

Oh, it's mighty important to keep that $$$ stuff cold!

Especially stuff that cannot be bought for $$$$$$ during
an emergency.

(...)

I think my fridge is only 135W, so that's entirely possible in my SWAG
opinion.

The nameplate on mine says '8.2 A' or ~ 1 KW!
My little '1.5 KW (PEAK)' inverter had no problem with it, though.

Wow, far cry from my Kill-a-Watt readings. I'll have to check for a
plate, but I don't think I saw one, just the listing inside the
fridge. 18.2 c/f

As Mssr. Ackman implied, some fridge manufacturers put
the worst-case 0.005% duty cycle inrush peak energy conversion
number on their official nameplate. (Do you suspect a CYA move
here? I do.) Doubtless your kill-a-watt readings are *much*
closer to reality and solves the mystery why my inverter remained
quite cool to the touch.

--Winston