If you have a car, you have a generator
You need an invertor, an extension cord and gas
Do that before the power goes out
With that you can run your car, invert the electricity and run it into your house to run any number of small appliances, chargers, lights and more.
Replies (3)
No. Just no.
The first time an appliance with a big motor (or fridge compressor) kicks in, you will likely toast your inverter or your car. Even if the smoke doesn't come out, your voltage will brown-out.
A car with a long 12v cable IS an excellent choice for recharging 12v batteries & running 12v electric blankets, lights, USB chargers, and any other camping / automotive kit you might have.
A car is potentially very useful in an outage, but its a long way short of being a whole-house generator.
This is true. I common mistake is not properly calculating the wire size needed from the battery to the inverter. Don't just use the cigarette lighter. Go direct from the battery with large gauge wire. Watts in is watts out. 3000w inverter takes 250 amps @12v. That's something like 4/o cable. Massive. 1500w will allow you to grind coffee.
