Run Whole House on Wimpy Generator?

[redpoint5]

Interesting point about using waste heat. An ICE probably wastes more heat in a 15 minute drive than all the hot water I'll use in a day. If only it could be stored for when its needed.

The 2 accessible vehicles these days are an EV and PHEV, so I'm not wasting heat energy so much anymore.

That brings me to the likely conclusion of this thread; using my PHEV as a generator in the event of an extended power outage. I bought a 3000 watt inverter, and can wire it into the 12v output of the PHEV. The DC/DC converter keeps the 12v battery topped off, and the engine will turn on any time the high voltage battery runs low.

[j-c-c]

I thought the current crop of car EV batteries run in the 240-600V range?
What common available invertor operates off of those ranges?

[vteco]

I have a 6 hp listeroid diesel one lung generator which will put out say 3kw usable with a 5kw gen head. I have a bank of 6 UL approved manual transfer switches which isolate the generator. That isn't enough to run the whole house(no water heater) but will provide water, refrigeration, and most lighting circuits, including kitchen if used conservatively. This system is used in power outtages in our rural area.

I have also lived on a homebuilt houseboat, off and on for 10 years which I traveled in for 1700 miles. In that I used a small gasoline powered generator, a 1200 watt inverter/charger (Heart Interface) and 3 deep cycle 100 AH marine batteries. Shore power occasionally recharged the batts whenever possible, since the generator was objectionable to run in close quarters. The inverter had an automatic transfer switch, automatic battery cycler as well as the normal stepped charge rate charger. It was very smart for the time.

Can what you are proposing work? Not for a whole house if the total house draw exceeds the inverter's capacity. Or if the demand period exceeds the batteries capacity. Seems like those figures are the first thing you want to establish before buying anything.

In fact, if you don't own one already, your first purchase should be a Kill-A-Volt.

Feel free to ask any questions about this subject, as I've been through years of this stuff.

[Logic]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Interesting point about using waste heat. An ICE probably wastes more heat in a 15 minute drive than all the hot water I'll use in a day. If only it could be stored for when its needed.

The 2 accessible vehicles these days are an EV and PHEV, so I'm not wasting heat energy so much anymore.

That brings me to the likely conclusion of this thread; using my PHEV as a generator in the event of an extended power outage. I bought a 3000 watt inverter, and can wire it into the 12v output of the PHEV. The DC/DC converter keeps the 12v battery topped off, and the engine will turn on any time the high voltage battery runs low.

Some electric cars are already V2H (Vehicle to Home)
or V2G. (vehicle to Grid)
Your's not?

It seems a waste to take HV down to LV then back up to HV again then AC it.
Especially when the HV battery already has a variable frequency inverter on it to control motor speed.

Maybe some sleuthing might come up with a way/circuitry to get HV AC from that inverter.
Perhaps even at the right voltage so you avoid needing a transformer.

As for heat from a PHEV;
a heat exchanger that just stands behind the exhaust would be easiest.
But not worth blumbing into the house hot water for once in a blue moon usage IMHO.
Time better spent playing UnDecember!?

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by vteco

Can what you are proposing work? Not for a whole house if the total house draw exceeds the inverter's capacity. Or if the demand period exceeds the batteries capacity. Seems like those figures are the first thing you want to establish before buying anything.

The DC-DC converter in the PHEV outputs something like 2,000 watts, which kinda doesn't matter much since the 12v battery buffers the output. During the day my house averages 500w, so the DC-DC converter can easily keep up with daily demand.

The inverter can't power the whole house because its 120v. It can power half my circuits though, which includes the main living areas, HVAC blower, washer/dryer (dryer is natural gas), fridge, deep freezer...

Runtime is infinite because the gas engine kicks on whenever the high voltage battery runs low. I get about 12kWh from a full charge, so that would last about a day of normal use, or probably 2 if the power was out. There is also a trick on the van to force it to run the ICE by opening the hood. It will charge the battery while the ICE is running, and will replenish the ~12 kWh in about 2hrs.

I've got everything needed to run this setup, just haven't tested it yet.