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JaxMax 
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Joined: March 01 2006 Status: Offline Points: 801 |
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 Posted: March 27 2006 at 9:33am |
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Daydreamer-
Here in Florida, after the hurricanes heat and humidity was a problem. (Hurricanes only occur during the summer) All we could do was open the windows and run small battery powered fans and take cold showers. We could run a small fan for about 3 hours on a car battery (12 volt) and an inverter before we had to recharge the car battery with the generator.
I lent these to several friends who did not have generators and without exception using the small fans was the #1 use of the temp inverter power.
If you can attach tarps over your mobile home (tie them to trees or something else) and leave at least 3-4 feet space for airflow between your roof and the tarp, you can reduce your temperature by 10-15 degrees. We did this for friends living in a mobile home and it worked when there is direct sun exposure. Use the silver not the blue tarps. Tarps of all types avaiable at Lowes, Home Depot, auto parts stores.
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He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.Proverbs 13:20, The Bible
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zoe17
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Joined: February 06 2006 Status: Offline Points: 236 |
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Posted: March 28 2006 at 9:45am |
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Having a large 6500W and a 2000EU genny is good.Run the big one for a few hours during the day to keep freezers/fridge cold, recharge batteries. At night wheb needed a EU can power the travel trailer A/C or a window unit placed in a bedroom to coll instead of running cental air. Having 200# of propane for genny is good, having a natural gas line to genny is great. Having 150 gallons of gasoline for whatever is also good. My outside shed is full.
Running a small quiet genny at night will be a security risk, so it will only be used if it is a neccesity.
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Daydreamer
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Joined: February 24 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 439 |
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Posted: March 28 2006 at 12:58pm |
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JaxMax, thank you so much for the tarp idea. You really have me thinking now. I know that they sell tarps big enough to cover huge piles of those large round bales of hay so they would have one big enough to do this job.
I'll have to get enough rope to get to the trees. We do have trees within 10 or 15 feet of our mobile home so it would be a stretch but I think we could make that idea work. We might have to have something at the edge of the tarps to help stabilize it. I'll talk to my husband about this. He's more of the engineer mind. I'm sure he can come up with a plan.
Thanks for sharing this idea.
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Don't put off tomorrow what you can PREP today
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co_ski_bunny
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Joined: March 30 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2 |
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Posted: March 31 2006 at 11:11am |
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I see a few posts here where people are going to use their Coleman stoves to cook. I have one of these...one less thing I need to buy
 My question is, I have seen other posts where you can't burn propane indoors. Does anyone know if this is correct? If so, for everyone who has a Coleman, are you going to use it outside? Would using by an open window help?
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Guests
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Posted: March 31 2006 at 12:03pm |
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I will be using mine inside...but I have the option of my using my screened in back deck..that is were my bbq is...but if I were to use my coleman indoors I would do so near an opened window....
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Daydreamer
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Joined: February 24 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 439 |
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Posted: March 31 2006 at 7:11pm |
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We will be using ours inside most of the time. We will just open a window to be on the safe side.
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Don't put off tomorrow what you can PREP today
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Posted: March 31 2006 at 11:17pm |
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I read a post somewhere on this site suggesting the Cobb cooking system for cooking: http://www.cobbamerica.com/ It only needs 5 to 10 charcoal briquettes and with good ventilation can be used indoors after being lit outdoors. Used outdoors, it wouldn't be as conspicuous to the neighbors as a propane grill would be. I bought the Cobb from the Canadian site: http://cobbcanada.ca/ I posted on their message board asking about boiling water and received this response:
I don't have any charcoal yet so I'll have to wait to give that a try. If I used the Cobb in winter when there was no electricity, I'd probably try using it in my attached garage with the garage door partly raised. I'd want to conserve as much heat as possible inside my house and I can't do that with the windows open for ventilation.
By the way, does anyone know what a "billy" is?
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Bridge Lifter
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Posted: April 09 2006 at 8:26pm |
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I am debating wether to use propane or a dual fuel stove for cooking.
Any suggestions? Thanks! |
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2ifbyC
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Joined: March 30 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 533 |
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Posted: April 10 2006 at 7:12am |
May I suggest that you buy the marine deep-cycle (D-C) type batteries. They will provide power for longer periods and withstand recharging much longer than an automotive battery. Get the gel cells if you can afford 'em. The money you spend on deep-cycles will save you $$$ in the long term.
They are large and heavy. I have a small wheeled tote/wagon that holds two of the D-Cs and two small lawn tractor batteries which makes for easy mobility for recharging.
I also live in Florida, central Gulf Coast, and have lost power many times for up to two weeks. Besides 5 gallon gas cans I also have a boat with a 35 gallon tank. Normally I have enough gas for the normal outage. But since the BF could last much longer I'm in search of 15 gallon plastic barrels to extend my gen set time.
Edited by 2ifbyC - April 10 2006 at 12:12pm |
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Survival does have an 'I'!
Dodging 'canes on Florida's central Gulf Coast |
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prepmeister
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Joined: March 28 2006 Status: Offline Points: 32 |
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Posted: April 13 2006 at 8:10am |
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I am looking for an affordable generator. Does anybody have any recommendations? I plan to only use it for a small chest freezer, maybe a few lights, or small appliances (bread maker) etc. I also want to use it to charge marine deep-cyle batteris. Do I need to look for anything special for this? Pep Boys has a sale on a coleman 3125 peak watt, 2500 watt continuous gas powered generator. One gas tank runs 10 hrs at 50% load. It only costs $239.00 after a $20 rebate. Any thoughts? Perhaps I should go more wattage or another brand? Honda's are extremely expensive.
One other thought, do I connect the generator to a 12V battery charger and then connect the battery charger to the battery? Or do you connect straight from generator to battery terminals? I've never had a generator before so please bear with my idiot like questions. Thanks.
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2ifbyC
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Joined: March 30 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 533 |
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Posted: April 13 2006 at 8:36am |
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First of all, add the wattage of all the devices you plan on powering with your gen set. Most generators have a ‘surge’ and ‘run’ wattage rating. Buy a gen set that has a ‘run’ rating at least 20% higher than your total wattage. Depending of your age and physical capability, you might want to consider an electric start. Last year I aggravated an old ball injury in my shoulder starting a gen set. I now have an electric start and the old unit is my back up. Besides if the weather is bad I can have my bride of 37 years start that sucker. Buy a good electronic battery charger that has a deep cycle capability. Start the gen set, connect the charger to the batt, plug the charger into the gen set and then turn on the charger. That’s a good price on the PEP Boys unit, but remember you get what you pay for. Google around for gen set comparisons and find what meets your needs. Good luck! |
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Survival does have an 'I'!
Dodging 'canes on Florida's central Gulf Coast |
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prepmeister
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Joined: March 28 2006 Status: Offline Points: 32 |
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Posted: April 13 2006 at 11:24am |
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2ifbyC,
Thanks for your help! One other thing, for your Gel batteries, what AH rating do you recommend? The higher you go, the pricer they get. I thought you might have a good feel for what size to get (is AH84 good enough or should I go higher?). Thanks again.
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2ifbyC
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Joined: March 30 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 533 |
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Posted: April 13 2006 at 11:54am |
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prepmeister,
I have the D900Ms : http://www.dcbattery.com/optima_blue.html . I purchased mine year before last via the web. I can't remember where! I had to search hard for 'em for at that time there was a shortage. I think the military had pretty much consumed most of 'em.
Another nice thing about them is that they store very, very well and they have excellent recovery.
Shop around for the best price with shipping. They are heavy!
Now in all honesty, you can go with less expensive batts and probably meet your needs. But I didn't want to cut corners when it came to hurricane outages.
Again, good luck!
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Survival does have an 'I'!
Dodging 'canes on Florida's central Gulf Coast |
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prepmeister
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Joined: March 28 2006 Status: Offline Points: 32 |
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Posted: April 14 2006 at 11:50am |
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2ifbyC,
What size inverters do you have? I currently have a 500 Watt continous/1000 Watt surge, and a smaller 200 watt cig. lighter one. Do you see a need to buy an even larger one? Based on your experiences from Florida, what size was the most practical connecting up to your GEL battery?
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2ifbyC
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Joined: March 30 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 533 |
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Posted: April 14 2006 at 12:14pm |
I currently have 1000, 400 and 300 watt inverters. The smaller ones are for fans and small TVs primarily. The 1000 is for large screen TV, computer, tabletop shortwave radio, fan and a some lighting if needed. I haven't found a need for more at this time. So you look 'good to go' if your situation is simular to mine.
With the inverters you have, size really isn't an issue with the larger batts. Now I do have a couple of smaller lawn tractor batts for the fans since they are so portable.
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Survival does have an 'I'!
Dodging 'canes on Florida's central Gulf Coast |
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prepmeister
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Posted: April 14 2006 at 12:38pm |
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2ifbyC,
How long can your 1000 inverter/Gel cell keep your large screen setup running given a full charge?
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2ifbyC
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Joined: March 30 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 533 |
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Posted: April 14 2006 at 1:53pm |
I really don't know in that I recharge my batts at least every other day during an outage. I have at least one TV on at all times. I just ran a test on my 32” LCD TV and the cable box. I used a ‘KILL A WATT’ meter which reads voltage, current, wattage and Hertz (cps). Great little unit that costs under $30. Sure lets ya know what your equipment requirements are. TV = 139W @ 1.4 Amps CB = 24W @ 0.4 Amps So for my batts I would say at least 40 hours, probably more just for the TV and cable box. There is a little power consumption within the inverters also. |
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Survival does have an 'I'!
Dodging 'canes on Florida's central Gulf Coast |
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prepmeister
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Joined: March 28 2006 Status: Offline Points: 32 |
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Posted: April 14 2006 at 2:02pm |
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2ifbyC,
40 hours is very good. I'm off to find a D900! Thanks for checking on this. It has been very useful.
By the way, I found a guy looking to get rid of a generator that he only used once a couple years ago. He said is is a 5000 watt unit and he only wants $50 for it. He is moving and can't afford the weight.
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Posted: April 14 2006 at 2:29pm |
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I'm thinking of getting a couple of Deep Cycle batteries for minimal lighting when the generator is off. I only plan on running it 3-4 hours a day, just long enough to wash clothes, catch up on the news and get some hot water. Any suggestions for a FAST battery charger to use while the generator is running?
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Posted: April 14 2006 at 2:36pm |
Ski Bunny,
A LOT of manufactured homes are shipped from the factory with propane powered stoves and heaters. It must not be an unsafe practice or H.U.D. would not certify the homes for Fnma loans. During the Hurricanes of 2004, we got hit 3 times, and burned the Coleman indoors with no problems. Also, almost 100% of Recreational Vehicles use propane for the range/oven, hot water AND refrigeration. Must be pretty safe!
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Boiling water on the Cobb is easy. Just remove the cooking grid and place your pot or billy straight on to the fire basket (the wire grid that contains the briquettes).