[oclug] Batteries

[Jon Earle]

On Sat, 10 Aug 2002, Roy Hooper wrote:

> > You could do away with the Battery backup altogether. Home Depot has
> > a backup generator that goes for about $4500. It ties into your house

> There is one somewhat large problem with the small generators -- they
> generally do not provide enough AC power to power everything you normally
> leave on, some of the biggest culprits being:

>   - Air Conditioners
>   - Central Air fan (4+ amps!)

Try running a ground source heat pump!  My stepfather tried to run mine
during the ice storm with a 4.5kw genny and it couldn't start the
compressor.  My brother measured the current on the two wires leading to
the heat pump, and each was reading about 31amps.

Once the thing is running, it's not so bad, but starting it takes a lot of
juice.

What's I'm intereted in, is self generating power through a combination of
fuel cells, solar cells and windmills.  Not sure what the best combination
would be, but it's gonna be expensive to build any way with that heat pump
to run.  Also seems like most of the alternative power folks in this area
have dried up and disappeared.  Anyone know anyone in the area who deals
with such systems?

Jon