solar battery backup

solar battery backup

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By the time you get done assembling the individual components of a pellet stove battery backup system you've spent somewhere around $400. Here's how they stack up: AGM type 75AH deep cycle battery $175, 1000 watt inverter $140, inverter cables $20, and finally a 3 stage battery charger for $66.

When you think about it, $400 is a lot of money to spend on an equipment array that will power a typical pellet stove for a maximum of 12 hours maybe once or twice year.

Common sense might tell you the same $400 would better be spent on a portable generator capable of powering multiple appliances for extended periods. But there are circumstances when a battery backup system makes more sense.

1. The power outages you experience are not usually weather related and therefore not long in duration. This has been my experience. Although I live in Boston and have sat through a few hurricanes, they rarely cause a power outage. More often than not, the power outages we experience are the result of somebody who got a few too many bad ice cubes hitting a utility pole.

2. Batteries don't make any noise. For some folks, noise is their biggest issue. Sounds that you or I would barely notice, like the hum of a space heater, are enough to drive some people to distraction. Can you imagine their response to a 2 stroke generator droning on for hours on end?

3. The components of a pellet stove backup system have numerous other applications. For instance, the battery charger is available 24 hours a day to diagnose and charge any type of 12 volt battery. The inverter could be hooked up to your car battery to run your lap top when you're on the road. You could take the inverter and charged battery camping to run or recharge your portable TV and laptop. Or, you could make the entire system completely portable by adding one or two solar panels to keep the battery charged anywhere under the sun.

Check out my easy formula for sizing a battery backup system.

battery backup solar systems -- how they work