generator

Whole Home Backup Power: An Affordable Strategy v3

inlet-generator-inverter-AC-unit

The evening of Tuesday, August 20th was the third time I’ve delivered my presentation on An Affordable Approach to Whole Home Backup Power. This time it was to  a meeting of the members of the Woodland Heights Civic Association. The meeting was held in the library at Travis Elementary School, which is quite literally across the street from our home.

The meeting was well attended. Actually, better than I was expecting. The WHCA business portion of the meeting went a little longer than expected, so my presentation was delivered swiftly. Even so, the presentation seemed to be well received.

This presentation is specifically for those who, for whatever reason, don’t want to invest the $15K necessary for an installed standby generator from the likes of Briggs & Stratton, Cummins, Generac or Kohler.

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On Batteries for Whole Home Backup Power

EcoFlow Ultra BasicIn recent weeks I’ve twice given my presentation on an Affordable Strategy for Whole Home Backup Power. The first time was online using Zoom. The second time was live at the July meeting of the Norhill Neighborhood Association. Both went very well. But as ever, the presentation changed a little from one outing to the next. In particular, a Norhill resident had a comment about battery storage.

This inspired me to show a couple of slides I had originally skipped in the interest of time. Simply put, I’m not a fan of whole house battery backup. And I’d like to explain the logic my position.

For the love of sunshine

Our is a modest home. A hundred+ year old Craftsman Cottage built by William Wilson Realty Company. This kind of home has a roof that’s all angles. There’s just not much contiguous space upon which to locate solar panels.

Further, one of the truly great features of our older neighborhood are all the mature trees. The place is just rich with grand old Maples, Pecans, Oaks and Sycamores. Even the occasional Loblolly pine. Our property has a mature Pecan in the center of the back yard.

All these big ‘ole trees tend to shade single-story homes like ours. Those houses that do have solar installations are mostly two-story homes, that manage to peer out beyond the treetops.

Oaks over the east end of Bayland Ave After Hurricane Beryl

So, we don’t have solar panels on the house. Many companies have tried to sell us on the idea, but in the end, it’s just not practical for this house, at this location. That makes this all about batteries, and batteries alone. Not solar+batteries.

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Deal Alert: Champion Power Equipment 8,750-Watt Gasoline Powered Open Frame Inverter with Electric Start and Quiet Technology

For anyone who attended my webinar on backup power, Tractor Supply Co. currently has a sale on the Champion 8750 Watt open frame inverter. Just $799.

Champion Power Equipment 8,750-Watt Gasoline Powered Open Frame Inverter with Electric Start and Quiet Technology

This one ticks all the boxes described in the presentation:

  • Clean inverter power (less than 3% THD)
  • 120/240V 30A locking outlet (L14-30R) provides 240 volt output
  • Electric start
  • Enough power to handle a central air conditioner (VS or soft start)
  • Quiter than a traditional generator

This is a good deal on a well-regarded device that delivers plenty of clean power without being too loud.

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Webinar: An Affordable Strategy for Whole Home Backup Power

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As promised some weeks ago, I’ve created a presentation that describes our experience arriving at a strategy for whole home backup power. Since there seems to be some interest in this sort of thing, I’ll be presenting it via Zoom on Thursday, July 25th at 7pm CDT.

The presentation draws upon the experiences from Hurricane Ike in 2008, Winter Storm Uri in 2021, the derecho in and Hurricane Beryl in 2024. It traces our evolution from a wholly ad hoc approach, to running our entire home (including 4T AC) from a portable inverter.

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An Affordable Strategy For Whole Home Backup Power

Predator 9500 InverterSince the crazy storm of May 16th took out power for much of Houston, there has been a lot of chatter about strategies for backup power. So much so that I posted to NextDoor to see what interest there might be in a seminar on the matter. My intent being to share our own experience and that of a few friends who have followed a similar path. The response was very strong, the thread resulting in over 160 comments in just a couple of days!

So, I guess I have to get busy crafting the presentation. While I do that, and for the very impatient, here is a list of related items I’ve written previously:

  1. Decisions: 2021 Household Projects – Describes our strategy for backup power and a new air conditioner.
  2. Connection Options for Backup Power – Details four ways so connect a portable generator to your home.
  3. Backup Power: 9kW-ish Portable Invertors – An overview of large, portable inverters in the 9 kW class.
  4. Central Air Conditioners: Variable-Speed vs Soft Start Kits – Considering how central AC can be run from a modest generator.
  5. How-To Geek: Be Careful Before Running Your Computer From a Gas Generator – Comparing a generator to an inverter.
  6. NYT on Household Energy Monitors – Using a cheap energy monitor to learn how much power our home uses, which informed our choice of generator.

It will take me some time to tie everything we’ve learned into a single (hopefully) coherent presentation. Given the level of interest, it will most likely be conducted as an online webinar. Details to follow as it progresses.

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