PART 1
I thought it prudent to at least begin my progress thread.
January/February of 2010 was the start of my journey with a massive week long ice fog, followed by a brutal Montana low/Alberta clipper/blizzard which knocked power out for weeks in some areas. We had highline towers fold like pop cans. Secondary poles snapped for miles in areas. It was ugly. To add insult to injury, the 6-8ft snow drifts, bitter -30*, no travel, no power, and no fuel made matters worse.. I managed to drain enough fuel out of everything (car, truck, lawnmower, snowblower) to keep the genny going a few hrs a day. It was ridiculous. Cords strung all over the house. Tripping genny breakers. Mass chaos..
Phase 1- My goal-24hrs of heat
I bought a Xantrex HF 2000W? series to at least supply our NG furnace with power. It was great, but not enough battery and the wrong kind of battery. (Mechanic at the time, so repurposed a number of old car and truck batteries to suit) I learned quickly, this was insanity and simply wasn't working...
I had been following the solar side of things for some time and became fond of Xantrex.
Spring 2010
Phase 2 -GOAL-2-4days of backup power
-During my annual junkyard crawl for hidden treasures, I found a 510Ahr, 24V forklift battery at the junkyard .. Retired for obvious reasons, but for the price, I load tested it with the old carbon pile tester, and I brought it home.
-Purchased my first REAL inverter charger, the XW4024 < I wish I had went straight to a 48V model now, but, I had a 24V battery.. Live n learn.
-Purchased a Airbreeze 400 W < hind sight is always 20:20. It did alright, but I could have spent that $$ on solar and been farther ahead.
-Outfitted a backup loads panel with the basics. Fridge, Freezer, furnace, a few lights. That cheap FLA battery was a perfect fit for learning the basics. charging, testing, maintenance, equalizing, etc. As time progressed, so did my backup loads. TV, Computer, Microwave, bedrooms, bathrooms. Funny how that works. Somewhere in the middle and a year or 2 later, that poor old forklift battery started showing it's limits. It had a hard life before me, and I didn't do it any favors being a newbie. Overcharged, Undercharged, Over-discharged. If it had been an AGM, I would have had fires.. Many many fires.... And probably and explosion or 2.
To be continued.. April snowstorm night #2 on snow removal duties.
I thought it prudent to at least begin my progress thread.
January/February of 2010 was the start of my journey with a massive week long ice fog, followed by a brutal Montana low/Alberta clipper/blizzard which knocked power out for weeks in some areas. We had highline towers fold like pop cans. Secondary poles snapped for miles in areas. It was ugly. To add insult to injury, the 6-8ft snow drifts, bitter -30*, no travel, no power, and no fuel made matters worse.. I managed to drain enough fuel out of everything (car, truck, lawnmower, snowblower) to keep the genny going a few hrs a day. It was ridiculous. Cords strung all over the house. Tripping genny breakers. Mass chaos..
Phase 1- My goal-24hrs of heat
I bought a Xantrex HF 2000W? series to at least supply our NG furnace with power. It was great, but not enough battery and the wrong kind of battery. (Mechanic at the time, so repurposed a number of old car and truck batteries to suit) I learned quickly, this was insanity and simply wasn't working...
I had been following the solar side of things for some time and became fond of Xantrex.
Spring 2010
Phase 2 -GOAL-2-4days of backup power
-During my annual junkyard crawl for hidden treasures, I found a 510Ahr, 24V forklift battery at the junkyard .. Retired for obvious reasons, but for the price, I load tested it with the old carbon pile tester, and I brought it home.
-Purchased my first REAL inverter charger, the XW4024 < I wish I had went straight to a 48V model now, but, I had a 24V battery.. Live n learn.
-Purchased a Airbreeze 400 W < hind sight is always 20:20. It did alright, but I could have spent that $$ on solar and been farther ahead.
-Outfitted a backup loads panel with the basics. Fridge, Freezer, furnace, a few lights. That cheap FLA battery was a perfect fit for learning the basics. charging, testing, maintenance, equalizing, etc. As time progressed, so did my backup loads. TV, Computer, Microwave, bedrooms, bathrooms. Funny how that works. Somewhere in the middle and a year or 2 later, that poor old forklift battery started showing it's limits. It had a hard life before me, and I didn't do it any favors being a newbie. Overcharged, Undercharged, Over-discharged. If it had been an AGM, I would have had fires.. Many many fires.... And probably and explosion or 2.
To be continued.. April snowstorm night #2 on snow removal duties.
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