Frederick Sparber wrote:
Save yourself a lot of expense, Stephen, get a reliable
gasoline-fueled 2.5 - 5 KW genset and a 25 to 50 (345 lbs full) gallon
propane
tank and several extension heavy duty cords to reach the appliance
you want to power as needed. With a needle valve you can bleed
the low pressure propane gas into the gas engine air intake according
to load demand.
Say what? You run it on propane, with a manual adjustment of the amount
going in? Freaky, I had no idea you could do that.
My "issues" with a genset were that, first, we're a little reluctant to
keep barrels of gasoline around the place, and, second, I hate to shell
out big bucks for something that will only be useful in an emergency ...
which may never come. In principle, at least, a grid-connected
battery-backed-up solar panel rig could be used to run the house a good
bit of the year, and if I live to be 115 or so it might even pay for itself.
Otherwise a "wind-charger" and deep-cycle batteries for the long term.
and.... http://www.invertersRus.com/
That's amazing -- I had no idea a 3 KW inverter could be had for a few
hundred bucks!
As the wind charger -- we live in a woods, so I'm not sure how well it
would work for us. (Maybe if it were on the roof?) But we have a
south-facing sloped roof with no trees shading that side, which made the
idea of solar panels seem appealing. But if it's going to take 250
years to recoup the cost difference versus some other approach, maybe
solar cells are not such a hot idea...
Fred
