To Do - Old

  • Buy trailer hitch and cargo carrier
  • Get extra 5 gallon water jugs
  • Research pricing on sandbags
  • Find a temperature sensor to put on the outside of the refrigerator - two of them: freezer and refrigerator side.
  • Get 4 more 5-gallon gas cans - need one extra to mix special fuel for the generator in
  • Buy 1500W inverter
  • Review batteries I have on-hand
  • Find battery charger
  • Buy another 20A solar charge controller
  • Get more wire for DC power systems
  • Buy trailer hitch and cargo carrier
  • Get extra 5 gallon water jugs
  • Research pricing on sandbags
  • Find new storm shutter company

Okay, I’ve learned more about power, so here goes.

Refrigerator

Turns out, it consumes 5.5KWH/day. If you assume perfect conversion from AC to DC, then that means 5.5KWH/12V = 458AH. That sort of capacity isn’t happening with a battery.

Batteries on-hand

I have two car jumpstarters: one with 17AH and another with 22AH. I also have an 8AH sealed lead acid battery on hand. The battery in my car is about 30AH and the battery in my wife’s car might be as high as 60AH.

The jumpstarters have built-in chargers which will save money.

The big question in terms of battery capacity is how long can the refrigerator maintain a useful temperature (below 40F for the refrigerator and below 0F for the freezer) without power? I’ll need to test that.

The 22AH unit can power the refrigerator by itself for 260W/12 = 21.666 A - roughly one hour at full load. :( Will it always be running at full load? How long will it take to cool down at full load?

To Do

  • Find a temperature sensor to put on the outside of the refrigerator - two of them: freezer and refrigerator side.
  • Get 4 more 5-gallon gas cans - need one extra to mix special fuel for the generator in
  • Buy 1500W inverter
  • Buy generator
  • Find battery charger
  • Buy trailer hitch and cargo carrier
  • Get extra 5 gallon water jugs
  • Research pricing on sandbags
  • Find new storm shutter company