Using A Car Battery To Power Your Furnace During A Power Outage

[@lieutenantcolonelnicholson9228]

Wow you admitted you made a mistake in your first video! Takes real character to do that. You have integrity and skills! CARRY ON!

[@jakefriesenjake]

What mistake? I watched most of the other video. That it wouldn't power the furnace for days? I knew right away that the fan blower would knock that battery out in no time. Other than that, the furnace flame would run for a while.

[@KrustyKlown]

@@jakefriesenjake Exactly... the plug install is a great idea... but must be plugged into a gas generator or large bank of batteries.

[@prairiepucker9392]

@@KrustyKlown Or else the inverter could be connected to the battery of a small tractor with a settable throttle next to the house. That will be my setup. 25 HP diesel sips fuel.

[@KrustyKlown]

@@prairiepucker9392 my favorite is to just heat my house with a gas fireplace insert, no electricity required. We use it for ambience & comfort .. and for emergency heating.. it also is a backup for furnace failures (like a burned out ignitor or such).

[@prairiepucker9392]

@@KrustyKlown Yep, have one of those also. And a pellet stove in the basement. And two large wick-type kerosene heaters. And a large airtight wood stove. But nothing circulates air like the furnace. The furnace blower motor failed during a Jan. cold snap about 30 years ago and the wood stove kept things tolerable and no frozen pipes. But 30 years later the 'romance' has gone out of cutting, hauling, stacking, moving to the stove, and hauling ashes.

[@KGchannel01]

This whole series of videos is hugely important, like a public service, especially for people like me who live in Buffalo or other great lakes regions that get slammed with snow on occasion!

[@aftabkhanize]

Bravo You have come out with a GREAT and a SIMPLE idea for common people in today"s world to keep themselves warm during snow storm and freezing temperatures. God Bless you.

[@Mr.Stanley88]

I have 2 inverters in my truck powered by 2 massive batteries. We get power outages every winter and summer and my truck powers the house. Tv, electric skillets and crock pots . Mobile hot spots for entertainment. Great video

[@thomasblackwell9507]

Living in Texas, myself, I really appreciate this.

[@MoreJamesSmith]

Not sure if anyone covered this, but here's a suggestion: Run the furnace only when you need to during power outages. The cycling on and off of the furnace takes energy. Also, the inverter uses a bit of energy as well even when in idle. So in a power outage, run the furnace in long increments only when you have it manually on. When you are not running the furnace, shut off the inverter.

[@petermajor4599]

excellent

[@Real_Tim_S]

As I mentioned in another DIY HVAC Guy video - thinking about how to not draw power running the inverter until it's needed is possible. Most thermostats are demand contact closure (advanced ones have more conductors but the principal is the same). Getting a modern heater to work with an inverter battery backup is not hard, but takes a bit of thought. It could be hard-wired in with a few relays: one to detect a power failure reconfiguring the connections for direct inverter control, and anoher to handle low-voltage switch-over (short the heater-facing demand contacts, present the thermostat contact closure to an inverter enable control circuit - probably another relay driven by a low curent detection circuit with a hold-up for the controller's logic time-out). Look at simple timing/delay relays... like the venerable TE-8816U. A brave and skilled HVAC tech should be able to figure this out in no time.

[@jjgmail2]

Another excellent point!

[@sesolar5854]

@@Real_Tim_S or as a much less sophisticated solution, put a HD battery switch on the + cable to inverter in the truck

[@acars9999]

Agreed.

[@jjyemg2397]

17 years ago we had an 11 day outage and I had this weird idea to disconnect the wiring for the oil fired boiler and put a male plug on it. Then ran the extension cord to my truck where I had a power inverter in my car. It was nice to have heat and hot water after so many days of a 40 degree house

[@paradislarry]

THANK YOU ... I'm a 65 year old guy on disability who lives in a comfortable Mobile Home community. I bought an EGO 4 Battery Storage system (1000 bucks) that I can charge with the additional purchased solar panels & connections if necessary, & the batteries also run my EGO Snowblower. I had also bought a 100 dollar switch to allow me to do what I assume your added 120V box does but mine goes onto the main panel. I enjoyed seeing the/your simpler way of connecting directly at the 110 input on the furnace. I've used my EGO system to run my computers during rain storm blackouts. I could run my computer for 8 to10 hours if needed, but plug in a Shop Vac type draw, & the DC simply can not keep up. I'm hoping my little system gets me thru 4 or 5 hours in a Winter storm outage. (I live in New England USA) just south of Vermont.

[@rla1000]

Great video. Watched both parts of this. You have great camera work, great delivery, great explanation, no extraneous talking, clear and concise. (And no music!) Other Tubers could learn from you. Question - what happens if you don't switch off house power to the box and plug in another external source of power (or don't I want to know?!) Thanks for posting.

[@toddstidham8374]

During a bad winter storm about ten or so years ago we got through about 5 days using an old 1200 watt Triplite inverter wired to my Jeep Patriot battery and powering our heater and a few lights. We'd run the Jeep at idle several times a day and let the temps in the house swing from about 55 to 70. Thankfully it was freezing out so all our refrigerator/freezer contents just went into boxes or coolers on the covered rear patio. Watched a few movies on a tv/dvd combo too. It worked great and we only burned about 5 or 6 gallons of gas in total.

[@soldieron9965]

I had the same idea after watching your video, I pondered your idea for 2 days before I realized, why not just run a extension cord from your car with a inverter already hooked up to your car, and start the car when your battery gets low, thanks for remaking your video, your really helping lots of people! 🇺🇸

[@diyhvacguy]

Thanks so much! Happy to help :)

[@sellC1964]

If you have a remote starter, or a remote starter that starts at a preset battery voltage, you wouldn't even have to leave the house!

[@smallish_mk3733]

shit you could even buy a 320amp car audio alternator and hook it up to a exercise bike. those alternators are designed to put out more amps at lower rpms. at this point you might aswell just buy a generator though lol

[@FlugPoP]

Great Video. Just a tip, use only "heavy duty" extension cords and the shortest length it take to make it to the furnace. There is a ton of loss in cheap/inexpensive cords. And if you use a cheap inexpensive cord it it can draw a lot of amps/watts (waste of power) and can cause the cord to heat up and or trip a circuit breaker.

[@Cannibal440]

The furnace is only pulling 4 amps while running. Even a 16 gauge 100' cord is good for 10 amps.

[@damienpv]

Read my mind plus that gives the option to use the rest of the cord some where else 👍

[@penguinpie5056]

as someone who has melted jumper cables under load I heartily endorse this product or person.

[@josephkordinak1591]

That's a great idea. I work in a power plant in Texas and worked through the storm. I recommend everyone have an alternate source of power and/or heat. I personally have 20kw Kubota Diesel Generator with a 50 gallon fuel tank so I will be good for a bit. You have gotten me thinking though. I think I will get an inverter and do that little mod on my furnaces just in case.

[@richardprice5978]

how many housing 🏡 did get bulldozed? as my parents childhood Utah 1950 home in the 90's had the pipes freeze ( gas and or power was out for 72+ hours, nothing my parents utilities/company wise could do anything about, kinda like the Texas outages ) and bust open and dad in 90's considered bulling/starting over again

[@DigitalMediaCanada]

Wow. Just found your channel. I love it! I really like how you are testing and explaining absolutely everything. Nothing is left unsaid. Great job. Looking forward to watch more of your videos!

[@craiggornik7081]

Great videos! One important note.. Many of today's cars will stop the charging system at idle to increase MPG. If you plan to use this as your back up, test run it on your car/s to make sure you have a system that will work. Also, consider your choice of vehicles. Your natural reaction would probably be to go to your truck but if you have a 4 cylinder car available, it will run a lot longer on a gallon of fuel and work just as well.

[@diyhvacguy]

Great advice. Thanks for sharing! Cheers

[@craiggornik7081]

@@diyhvacguy Thanks, really well done vids. Simple, direct and easy and you don't break any "islanding" laws. New sub.

[@tgriebe]

On many such cars, turning on the headlights forces it into charge mode.

[@richardprice5978]

🛑starting car engine's i remember have batteries protection programs so it should work and maybe even better? simi-truck's have this as well to keep the battery's happy

[@Bassguitarist1985]

Very good advice. Most vehicles come with an ELD or electronic load detector controlled by the onboard vehicle computer that will in turn control the output of the alternator. Simply connecting a load to the battery at the terminals prevents the sensor from working as intended. For his application with his truck I don't think he has that issue as the older Toyota tacomas did not have such a system.

[@LarryRichelli]

I was watching your videos and then I just bought a newly built home and also I got a Ford F-150 Lightning. I checked my furnace and it already plugs into an AC outlet so my setup turned out to be simple. One extension cord form the truck to the heater!

[@isettech]

Pro tip, use your hybrid vehicle if possible. The engine will shut down for long periods of time instead of running all the time. Fuel consumption for an entire weekend for me was about 1/4 tank during a winter storm. Powered the furnace, TV, some lights, and the computer.

[@OGCJ10]

What kind of setup did you have?

[@isettech]

Originally a 2002 Prius with a 2KW modified sine inverter. The plan was while not driving the climate control, lights, etc would be off and the electric power steering would have no load, so the DC side was all available for the inverter. Worked fine, even though it was well before the days of readily available sine wave inverters. Inverter was in the trunk with the battery. Locked a spare key inside the car to secure the car while running.

[@thebluelunarmonkey]

When my prius gets older, I want to connect a DC/AC solar inverter to the traction battery (~200VDC). There's inverters that accept a wide range from 50VDC to 500VDC. An inverter on the 12VDC side can only safely support max 100A.

[@906MediaProductions]

@@thebluelunarmonkey look up plugoutpower, they make inverters designed to use with the Prius HV battery.

[@thebluelunarmonkey]

@@906MediaProductions I know about plugoutpower. They charge $2600 for about $700 worth of equipment.

[@YOUCanFixAnythingAuto]

This is great! Even the advice in your earlier video would have saved me 3 days ago when our power went off in -5 Fahrenheit weather with a -30 degree wind chill. Fortunately our power was only off for 3 hours and our house only dropped to 55 degrees! I checked my furnace, and since it only has a pilot light, i calculated that the furnace will run on less than 250 watts. I figured a $50 500 watt inverter should do the job. Thanks again!

[@frankdelucey2137]

I use “wire grommets” on all through firewall wires in my vehicles. The high end ones are also waterproof. If you use silicone and the wire moves it might tear and cause the wire to rub against the metal and short out. Amazon has them.

[@staberdearth3130]

I have an inverter and 110V outlet in my 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. The thought was to use this but for a vented automatic kerosene heater that heats a family room and kitchen. It is what I mostly expected. Even though the startup draw is 250W and run draw is 50W on the heater, the inverter is only rated for 150W. That’s why I’m here for this system.

[@nd4spdbh]

Its great to have all these options available for sure! If using something like this, just note that @ only 500w AC, you are pulling ~ 550w DC (assuming 90% efficiency of the inverter) or 46 amps @ 12v. The alternator on some cars might not be able to output enough amps at or around idle rpms to keep the battery charged.

[@johnwang9914]

Inverter efficiencies are 95% when under full load but as load is always sporadic, over all efficiencies are often stated as 50%. The problem is that the inverter will still draw power when idle and unless it's really record keeping cold, your furnace will spend most of the time just being idle.

[@Razor2048]

Many cars will not put out enough for a 550 watt load if there is a low idle, e.g., 600 RPM, same for some pickup trucks as well, though some will have a mode where the engine increases to an idle of 1500 RPM to deliver more power. Though even without that, if the duty cycle of the heating is short enough, then the alternator will quickly top off the battery after a heating cycle ends. On my crappy Mitsubishi, it will do close to 450 watts before the voltage drops to about 12.4V (using a current clamp on the alternator while operating without a battery while idling. During that time, engine load also increases from 20% to 29%. The most common alternator found in the average V4 (2 to 2.4 liter engine) car, will be 125 to 150 amp units that will output about 14 to 14.5V. Many are designed to offer the bulk of their power at lower RPMs, since it is likely for modern vehicles to spend much of their time between 1000 and 2000 RPM. PS if you are running something extremely demanding, and you start pushing the engine to speeds like 4000RPM to maintain voltage, then you are likely to destroy the diodes and other passive on the alternator, as you are likely pushing them well beyond their limits. Issues like that are common for people who try to do things like run a 2000 watt speaker system in their car and show off to their friends by blasting music (sadly still a common jerk move that is done here in NY). Beyond that, a 125 amp alternator is not designed to deliver 125 amps nonstop, instead they are more designed to handle up to around 75% of their rated capacity for more sustained loads.

[@johnwang9914]

@@Razor2048 I think it is important to note that we're talking about running the blower and electronics of a gas central air furnace from a car battery removed from your car, not of running it all from a car engine through the alternator. The power consumed by the electronics can probably be disregarded and if the blower is a 1/4 hp induction motor, we're talking about 186 watts but only for when the blower is running which would not be all the time. A typical car lead acid battery holds 1,323 watt hours but you really don't want to deep cycle lead acid batteries, even deep cycle batteries loose 5% of their lifespan with a single deep cycle so you really want to maybe use 25% of the battery's capacity, 50% if you don't mind some damage to the battery so we're talking about 1.8 hours to 3.6 hours, however even though inverters are 95% efficient under full load, they still consume power when under no load so they are considered to be 50% efficient under sporadic loads which this is hence you can expect 0.9 to 1.8 hours with a single average car battery depending on the duty cycle required, more if you elect to require refurbishing or replacing the battery.

[@terryharris3393]

@@johnwang9914 it is definitely a car battery in a car application but maybe the car is not on when the blower is. This application is so flawed by the choice of an automotive battery that it would be better to have the car on and the alternator supply the load. Where did you get 1325Wh in a car battery? Most are much less that 100Ah and are not rated by Ah but by cold cranking or cranking amps. Deep cycle batteries used in off grid or UPS applications will always have the Ah listed as well as other informative specs like C20 of others. For lead acid batteries of any kind the 🎉reliability curves show that 50% DoD does not reduced reliability as much as over charging and typical numbers are 500 cycles from 100% to 50% with 20% loss in capacity.

[@johnwang9914]

@@terryharris3393 Sure, are you going to drive the car to your furnace. It's even in the previous video that he took the battery to his furnace and he said in the video that you would remove the battery from your car. Maybe you should watch the videos.

[@tgriebe]

Thanks for going to the work to make the video and show the negative nellies that this is in fact a viable alternative when you are in a pinch and need to run the furnace to keep the pipes from freezing.

[@diyhvacguy]

Thanks man I really appreciate that. The KZbins is RIDDLED with negative nellies 😂

[@WilliamsFamily204]

An important point is you don’t want to discharge your battery below 50% to avoid damaging/sulfating the plates. A RESTING voltage of approximately 12.2 volts is 50%. In order to know while discharging the battery you need a battery monitor. Another video idea would be to use a cheap Harbor Freight or other 100 watt solar panel to maintain the battery and charge it fully (even on a cloudy day) then seeing if your battery stays above 50% on a cold night.

[@wellcraft19]

And you really don't want to discharge a STARTER battery at all. They are built to provide a lot of power (CCA) during short bursts. Their plates are not designed to deliver a low output over extended periods of time. That's what deep cycle batteries are for (or never Lithium based ones).

[@ThailandAmazing]

Lithium is the answer

[@papasammeh]

I'm a huge proponent of lithium but one premise of this video is to run the furnace - you don't want to charge lithium if the cell temps are below 32. So make sure if you have a raw lithium battery it supports a temp sensor disconnect. The other issue is making sure you don't recharge the lithium too fast from alternator - you can burn one out quite easily as the internal resistance of lithium is quite low thus allowing it to suck in tons of amps during a recharge cycle. Making sure a DC to DC charger that can regulate the current.

[@terryharris3393]

@@papasammeh I don’t think gas powered cars have alternators that should be charging LiFeP04 batteries. Maybe newer vehicles that have a power system may. The charging requirements of lead acid cells are vastly different as evidenced by off grid MPPT charge controllers that require a battery type to be selected least bad things happen and void the warranty. 😢

[@greenidguy9292]

Why not use a trickle charger to replenish the battery as it discharges as long as it doesn’t exceed the capacity of the inverter, I believe that is doable, but I could be mistaken.

[@fvrrljr]

saw your first video and once again Awesome video this is for extreme emergencies. 100 ah deep cycle battery aka marine lead acid battery is about $100 versus $800 for lithium iron phosphate. get 2 marine batteries at walmart a used 350W solar panel (monocrystalline or polycrystalline) to charge your batteries one at a time while one is being used. ideal would be a proper solar installation with battery back up, but' this video is for those who don't have solar system but in a "what to-do in a emergency" situation. got to remember the Dc to AC convertion losses of electricity plus the length of extention cord loss too. still my hat off to you young man 👍

[@rickdaystar477]

Living in a rural area we have outages a few times a year from trees knocking power out. Almost all outages last from 2 hours to 8 hours a setup like this would bridge the gap providing short term electricity for the furnace. As a short term energy source,I think it's a great low cost fix.

[@kenwittlief255]

@@jimmason2388 dont you have a cabon monoxide alarm in your home ?!

[@richardtrowell8812]

@clot shots My mother has a fireplace insert runs on gas and leaves it on low all winter so the heat pump doesn't run up the electric bill. City gas or propane work even when power is out. But then you would still need something so your food doesn't spoil.

[@richardtrowell8812]

@clot shots Where I live it would spoil. Hurricane more of a threat than cold weather. Was watching due to recent power station attack.

[@richardtrowell8812]

@clot shots I don't like frozen milk or eggs. 😂

[@khibbard8030]

Really great walk through of how to change the furnace wiring up. We bought a product made in Canada designed for recharging camper batteries and emergencies called a CarGenerator. Waterproof pure sine wave inverter that attaches to your car battery and has 2 receptacles for your power cords. Love it!

[@AD-xc1qz]

Thank you good man! Had a power outage recently. During the snow storm, my family was kept in warm house!

[@rickschlosser6793]

Thank you for this. An inexpensive, great idea. I live in the north, record low in my community is -56C. I would just let my truck idle until the power returned. It will idle for 12 hours on less than half a tank.

[@realsteel8113]

For those who are a bit more handy, an old lawnmower and a car alternator from a junkyard welded up into a support frame and permanently assembled in a small shed just outside next to the central air condenser unit with wires running alongside the fluid transfer tubes. Could use a 5 or 10 gallon fuel can. Should last about 2 days 😬 (Lawnmower idles around 4-5 hours per gallon)

[@sNEAKYnIGHTmUPPET]

if you are running an alternator, then by definition it is NOT running at idle, it will be under a heavy load.

[@shmehfleh3115]

Or, you know, just buy a generator. The inverter's built in, the engine is optimized for the load, you''ll get a lot more watts out of it, and you get all the safety advantages, like onboard circuit breakers and the ability to earth-ground it.

[@mikerayle6103]

That would work as well a little more involved and would want the rpms measured to make sure your not overworking the alt/ voltage regulator but not a bad idea at all. If you don't already and can't source a generator. Might want to wire in a battery so it's voltage stays more constant as well. And only run every so often instead of constant.

[@echo5delta]

@@shmehfleh3115 hahaha! Exactly!

[@dennisrphymurphy7929]

@@shmehfleh3115 Very true. I live in an area in Canada that has longer power-off times that my generator fuel tank will last (about 11 hours). Long term storage of gas is problematic due to the ethanol content, and when the power goes out, so do the pumps at the gas station. I have a 12 volt system as a backup to my backup...lol.

[@GeraldWilhelmBradenComposer]

Thanks for the update! If the battery will only run the furnace for 6 hours, I decided that my best bet is just to use the 10k Honda generator I already have. I have 7 separate 20a circuits on it, and I have only used 5 of those circuits to power my main house and apartment so far when the power goes out. I can use those last two 20a circuits to run the furnaces for my house and apartment in a winter emergency, and save the money from buying inverters and batteries. I will ask an HVAC friend of mine to wire in a special plug to each of my furnaces, to plug into my generator for emergencies. Thanks for your great ideas and help! ...Peace! 🎼❤☮

[@tgriebe]

Well, duh. if you already have a generator wired in, this video is not for you.

[@diyhvacguy]

Amen

[@GeraldWilhelmBradenComposer]

@@tgriebe Ha! I still thought it these were great videos, and you let me know that I could add an external power plug to my furnaces!

[@jackreston8188]

You need to show how you changed the on/ off switch to the furnace to a plug in set up.

[@hkippOH]

He has a Video already for that.

[@milwaukeeroadjim9253]

After watching your first video I did some investigation and most info said you need a much larger inverter or deep cycle battery or multiple batteries or it just wouldn't work. Today's video shows it will work. Thanks

[@diyhvacguy]

Thanks for watching! Cheers

[@Razor2048]

One type of heating system that can last for many days on battery are the super old fashion steam based heaters. Since the battery is only used to open a damper flap during the power on cycle, and then the remaining power use is for the temperature and pressure sensor, as well as keeping the gas valve opened. Since there are no fans, some units can have a steady state consumption of 5-10 watts. Furthermore depending on the steam based system, and the control box used, you can use straight DC power if you bypass the bridge rectifier to improve efficiency.

[@kenwittlief255]

you can get a gas fireplace with a thermo couple thermostate that stays hot in the pilot light. It will operate when the power is off but the blower will not augment the heat transfer into your room.

[@gregkadorian9342]

That dawned on me the last snowstorm.

[@fatherofmimes4236]

Excellent timely upload. Thanks for your time and effort! One note for safety, if your vehicle or generator is inside a garage you must ventilate the exhaust raise the door or a window slightly and put a small fan to get the CO2 outside. many of the victims became Ill /Passed away during the Texas crisis from CO2. Desperation and lack of knowledge = Tragedy... Thanks again!!

[@diyhvacguy]

This is great information. Sometimes I take for granted that people know this but you can never be too cautions. Thanks for this :) cheers

[@jcampbell2481]

Not CO2. Its the CO that can kill you.

[@jons2447]

Hello, Dave; Thank you for this BRILLIANT! video! I knew we can use our cars to provide some power. My old ex-police car has a high power charging system & could use 2 batteries. This applies to gas heat only, but it shows the way you think & I like it. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!

[@diyhvacguy]

Thanks for the comment! Cheers

[@ptravers9077]

@@diyhvacguy I am glad u looked at the comments. I grew up doing HVAC (my father was a Forman he did very large jobs universities and hospitals mainly, my older brother a journeyman plumber so I have been doing both against my will my whole life ) and I wouldn't recommend this at all if you actually paid attention to the comments you would have seen them mention that a marine battery is better and yes you switch to a regular car battery to test and see how long it would work amd it does.. but at what cost. A 12v car battery isnt made to be drained slowly at all it made to burst power and recharge. Let's say you did this for two days charged it up after every three time the funuce ran the battery would have experienced a life time after abuse.. and could still be to weak to burst a charge strong enough to move your starter.. you can get a cheap 100$ 2cycle generator and it would be cheaper and better than ruining a car battery.. also the motor is most definitely thermal controlled it runs do move the rest of the heat and runs until it is cool but it wouldn't mess up a cycle or anything if turned off while still running .. you would just be wasting some heat... smh..

[@lifeongps]

Great Vid! I think the idea to the car is a nice idea but not Genius, just another option! You did the same thing hooking up to a battery sitting next to your furnace? That is Genius! It is the same thing only one battery is in a truck and one battery is sitting next to your furnace. I choose the battery next to my furnace and I will have two batteries for back up! I have the HVAC guy coming out to make the connections! Thanks

[@Inisfad]

Looking forward to learning more about this, particularly from your next video. While I’m fine with heat (fireplaces, etc.) my issue is my freezer, which is stocked with food. I have a small generator, but the car/inverter thing is a great backup. And certainly to learn how to run the freezer without electricity or fuel will be a plus.

[@marusholilac]

I'm in VA. During Hurricane Isabel I had no power for 5 days. I ran my 21 cu ft freezer with a cheap HF 700W inverter for 5 days with my F150 idling. It used a half a tank of gas. The freezer draws only 137W if you put it in "Sabbath Mode" (no defrost). I froze jugs of ice to transfer to the fridge, which uses more power and which didn't have a way to defeat the defrost cycle. I've since moved on to a solar storage system, so I can lend my inverter to a neighbor next time.

[@NaturalBornGriller]

100%, however the inverter allows for effcient, quiet power. as much as you need exactly when you need. Use the generator to charge up the batteries - it can run full speed and put all of it's generated power into the battery instead of just running doing nothing most of the time when your freezer is idle. Basically you just go out every say 6 hours and run the gen for 30 min.

[@Inisfad]

@@NaturalBornGriller Thank you for this. This is a real learning experience for me, having no background in any of this whatsoever. I had bought a small 1200w generator, specifically for the freezer, and had been told that it only needed to run for about an hour, 2x a day, to keep the freezer frozen. The battery/inverter is a much better idea, and your suggestion of using the generator to charge the battery is solid. And quiet….lol. If you have more info/suggestions I’d appreciate hearing them. I’m ‘researching’ all over the internet, and thus far your suggestion is the best I’ve heard.

[@chrisgreen177]

Awesome video! Necessary show of ingenuity with a survivalist mentality. Most would probably load the car up with the family and just sit here burning gas, but this is definitely a more practical option.

[@billharris6886]

Hi Dave, thanks for all the effort you put into this video. Ideas like this are worth their weight in gold when power goes out and the house is getting cold rapidly; using items the average person already has on hand to possibly save your life with. Your furnace looks small, I'm guessing 50,000 - 60,000 BTU input? A 100,000 BTU unit would probably use a proportionally higher wattage. I have been interested in backup power since the early 1980's so, have learned several lessons the hard way during extended outages. A car 12 volt system is one source of limited backup power, in the past, I have actually made up inverter kits for friends to run a few lights in the house off the car battery. Some limitations to note: I don't recommend trying to pull more than 400 watts (about 30 amps) from the system while the engine is running, that's about the safe limit with the engine idling. Car alternators have a rated output with the alternator shaft speed at 5,000 rpm. At idle, the shaft speed is about 2,000 rpm and, with no overload protection, the alternator will overheat itself trying to keep up with high load currents. Car batteries have a very short life when used with a power inverter with the engine not running. They are designed solely for short term high cranking current, discharging them more than about 30% of their capacity (12.4 volts with no load) (this means 70% of the capacity is still left) will significantly shorten their life. A Marine Battery is a better choice, as they are a compromise between starting and deep discharge (but not more than 50% (12.1 volts no load). With those low cost 12 volt power inverters, I have regularly witnessed huge errors in the front panel readout. Also, I have had some inverters destroyed if turned on while the engine is being cranked so, I would recommend disconnecting the inverter from the battery while starting the engine. Of course, when using your car for power, care must be taken to prevent carbon monoxide from getting into the house and ideally the garage. As a heat backup, I would recommend a small (10,000 btu) ventless wall heater, placed in the center of the house. They don't require electricity and burn cleanly, although do consume oxygen. I used this type of backup for 3 years in an old drafty house that was built in 1900. In a super insulated, tight (no air leaks) house, the ventless gas heater may not be a good option.

[@ryanhealey239]

Hi Bill, Do you have recommendations on good inverters? Thanks!

[@behvac]

HVAC Bryant repair person. This furnace is a 80% 70,000 BTU furnace with a 3 ton blower motor. Each burner in most gas furnaces burn at 20,000 BTU's this has 3 in shot burners. The next model up in the Bryant family would be 90,000 BTU , then 110,000, and max BTU would be 140,000 to get more heat you would twin 2 furnaces together. The blower motor and fan Motor and step down transformer is the only thing on the furnace that uses 120 volts the 70,000 BTU furnace will use about 9 amps of power. For my house I bought a 6000 watt generator that will run well pump, have gas water heater so no power, can't use stove, but I have gas grill. runs all lights, and frig.

[@billharris6886]

@@ryanhealey239 Hey Ryan, I can probably steer you in the right direction. To begin with, I made a career of designing high reliability communication transmitters, receivers, and power supplies so, inverters are very familiar to me. In 2018, I decided to put together a whole house off-grid solar system on the cheap. I ordered all the stuff off of eBay and began the learning experience; would low cost Chinese components do the job? On the subject of inverters - No! I ordered 10 different models in several different wattage for a 24 volt battery system. All 10 inverters failed for one or more reasons just trying to use them in normal, non-abusive, real world setups. Since your life depends upon these inverters when you are using backup power, the quality has to be there. I ended up going with an inverter that is commonly installed in yachts; the Magnum Energy, MagnaSine series. This is a 24 volt, 4,000 watt inverter that uses a traditional laminated iron E/I core 60 Hz power transformer. I have used it to power the house for 2 years now and haven't had any problems with it, even with it taking some accidental abuse. You may want a lower power inverter or hope to spend less money (that one cost $1,250 in 2019). You do get what you pay for though. What you want to look for is an inverter made in the US and with a 60 Hz power transformer, which makes it more rugged. Once you figure out the wattage you want and input voltage, you can go to Amazon and look at reviews for that size inverter. You mostly want to look at the 1 - Star reviews to get an idea of the problem areas. A good inverter will have a large overall number of reviews because, people have determined the unit to be one of the best bets. Next look at the percentage of 1 - Star reviews, it should be under 10% (Of course, the lower the percentage the better). Of the problems mentioned in the 1 - Star reviews, are these problems you can live with or, not worth the gamble? 12 volts is nice because it is based around the system used in cars, boats, and RVs (making it very popular for accessories) but, it's quite limited due to the super high battey currents needed. If you need more than 1,000 watts, it's best to go with a higher battery voltage system (24 and 48 volts). The highest wattages are best handled by the 48 volt system, which has 1/4th the current of a 12 volt system. In anticipating your question: Why didn't I just design my own inverter? Not practical, just buying the individual components would cost several times more than buying a completed unit. Also, I don't have that much free time. If I devoted 100% of my time to such a project, I may be able to have a practical working unit in 2 years.

[@docwilson5384]

Bill Harris thank you for that information because i would have did exactly what you just said not to do....Peace

[@billharris6886]

@@docwilson5384 Thanks for the response, glad to help.

[@zacattack4029]

It’s a fantastic idea and will help a lot of people problem is that the short male extension you added is illegal.

[@diyhvacguy]

Eh, I’ve spoken with tons of electricians and most say it isn’t. It’s kind of up to your inspector. But it’s easy to revert it back if need be.

[@diyhvacguy]

And in an emergency, who cares

[@rabbitdrink]

shhhhhhhhhhhh

[@doctorprepperisprepared]

The house has a gas furnace and I made the input power modification like yours on mine a decade ago during a major power outage. I ran it during the outage using my Honda 3000u genny for the entire two and a half weeks of the outage. There have only been sporadic outages here ever since that winter time emergency.

[@diyhvacguy]

Awesome thanks for sharing!

[@richardprice5978]

lol your smarter than my parents in the 88-90's in SLC Utah USA 🇺🇸 totalled out 120K~ 1/3 of a normal average joe 1950-1980 home in damages as all of the pipes froze and busted open, my adult mindset it im not reliving my past 4YO self with the housing always under heavy construction as dad didn't finish inside intel about 2004 way cheaper to keep it from happening in the first place rather than restoring it

[@richardprice5978]

@dumpers all utilities were cut off as my parents just signed the mortgage in fall/winter and the bank wouldn't let them pay for the utilities in intel next month/20-days ish later still didn't stop the damages but the week of sining and getting the keys there was probably time to have had a backup heating solution and that would have probably prevented the damage's also mom tried getting out of the loan/house on the basis of fraud but some how it didn't go anywhere/work as it was the utilities+bank's fault

[@f.w.1318]

I did the same thing years ago with my truck powering space heaters, they consume more power so I had to buy an extra battery (marine deep cycle) I connected the additional battery with jumper cables then connected the inverter to the marine battery. Worked very well.

[@danieltaylor4819]

This seems to work well, but I have a small 2000 watt generator for power outages. I simply hooked up a quick disconnect on the wires going to my furnace and if the power goes out I can run an extension cord to the furnace and run it off the generator. My little 2000 watt generator will run about 8 hours on a gallon of gas and power a couple lights and small tv as well.

[@acars9999]

Great tip BTW. I have done this to have internet during a power outage - powered by an old F-150. I didn't need to run the furnace that time.

[@glgermain]

I've been looking into this for my home, and have discovered a few things that might be of help to people. (1) You need to be able to connect your inverter to your furnace quickly, and be sure you're not also connected to your electrical panel. If you do not disconnect from your electrical panel, you run the risk of electrocuting a lineman working on the electrical grid, and if the power comes back on you will fry your inverter and heating system. It's also illegal. In the first video, the panel was disconnected from the heater on the inside by undoing the heating connections. You would have to do this every time there is an outage, and then reconnect, which is a lot of trouble. You'll also likely be working in the dark with flashlights - not an ideal situation for inexperienced homeowners. It would be much smarter to re-wire your on-off switch to a double pole double throw (DPDT) switch with three positions - on, off and on. This type of switch will have 6 wire connections - 2 for the hot and neutral coming from your electrical panel, 2 for the hot and neutral coming from your inverter or generator, and 2 in the middle for the hot and neutral going into your furnace. You would wire your service panel line into one position (say top), your inverter line into the second position (say bottom), and your heater into the middle position. When the switch is up, the middle heater line will be connected to the electrical panel, and when the switch is down the heater will be connected to the bottom inverter. The panel and inverter will be isolated from each other in any possible. In the middle position everything will be disconnected just as the switch is now. The ground wires can all be combined inside the box (if that's where they are). It's much cheaper to buy a simple dpdt (dual pole dual throw) switch than to buy a separate inverter adapter plug (which cost about $80 or more). You have to be sure that your switch is rated to cover the voltage and amperage that you'll be using (in the US at least 120 v, and 15-20 amps). You'll also need to add a electrical pigtail coming out of the switch to plug into the inverter line. I am waiting for my parts to arrive to make this modification, as my heater is hardwired into my panel with no plug. (2) I understand that some advanced furnaces will check to make sure that the circuit has a neutral-ground connection, which occurs in the electrical panel. Most inverters and generators are made to plug into an electrical panels and so do not have their own neutral ground connection - they are made to rely on the electrical panel's connection, and you don't want to have multiple neutral-ground connections on your home circuit because your protective circuit breakers may not operate properly. These are called floating ground inverters/generators. If your heater checks for a neutral-ground connection, it will not operate correctly with a floating ground inverter/generator. Usually, the blower will not come on. You will have to bond your neutral/grounds in order to get your heater to work when using a floating ground generator or inverter. You can do this by plugging in a neutral-ground cheater plug into one of the other plugs on the inverter or generator that shares the same circuit with the other plug that you're using for your furnace. Some people instead put a cheater plug in a power strip which has a circuit breaker in it, plug the heater into the power strip, and power line from the powerstrip into the inverter line. That seems like a better solution than blowing a fuse in your inverter if you have a ground fault (if it works to avoid blowing a fuse). You can buy or make a neutral-ground cheater plug pretty easily - there are videos talking about this. (3) I think it's a really bad idea to run your car battery down at all to run your furnace for a cycle or two. Car batteries are absolutely terrible in deep cycle use. They are made with very thin electrical plates to provide a ton of current to start a car, and need to be promptly recharged after starting. Running your car battery down below 12v is a sure way to shorten its life, and someone will not watch it carefully enough and will run it dry. Car batteries may only last 10 cycles if run down. Instead, start your car before running the furnace to use power from the alternator, and hopefully keep your battery fully charged. That way you can start your car to get more gas and won't kill your battery. (4) Rather than permanently installing your inverter line in your car (which is problematic if you remove your inverter and have the 12v positive and negative dangling around for a likely short which would be catastrophic), it might be better to have a short cable with battery clamps on one end, and inverter ring terminals on the other end. That way you can attach the inverter under the hood when you need it (rather than keeping your door open to run your line). The problem is finding or making the cable because inverter ring terminals to battery clamp cables are not easy to find. And it's very important that your 12v cables be good quality - you may be running 70-100 amps through this cable for long periods of time. So you need a thick copper cable, not some junky copper clad aluminum cable like many jumper cables are made from (which are made for very short term use). Many of us won't have the tools to make a cable like this. So I haven't figured out this part of the problem yet. I have a good, short, thick cable with battery clamps that I harvested from a dead lead-acid jumper pack, but I don't have a hydraulic crimping tool to add inverter lugs. I need a friend with a hydraulic crimping tool! (5) in order to avoid a spark when hooking your battery up to your inverter, which is both dangerous and bad for your equipment, connect the last leg to your battery through a resister or tester light to let the capacitors in your inverter charge up before making the last battery connection. This will avoid the spark which can be damaging to your inverter or battery, and you run the risk of an explosion when there is a big spark near a car battery which puts out some flammable gas. I hope this is helpful.

[@tgriebe]

Paragraphs are still free on KZbin.

[@glgermain]

@@tgriebe Are you kidding? I had to watch 10 commercials to write that. With paragraphs, it would have been 12. Nothing's free.

[@jasonsoch7677]

just solder the inverter lugs, just need solder and a torch. way better connection.

[@joelk9603]

When running the heavy 12VDC power cables through the firewall in your truck, be sure to install a rubber grommet in the hole, and maybe a bit of caulk or tape to ensure a tight fit. The grommet keeps the sharp sheet metal from cutting the insulation on the 12VDC cables, and it keeps the engine fumes inside the engine compartment. Great idea and very nice instructions for keeping the furnace running during a power failure!

[@diyhvacguy]

Thanks for the tip. I did add a groomer there 👍🏽 cheers

[@nickm9102]

If you are going to play with an inverter on a Vehicle long term I would suggest looking into a secondary Alternator. This allows for a you to connect a Deep cycle Battery that is totally independent of the Vehicle electrical system. this also means that if you overdraw the battery, you don't strand yourself or lose your primary method of recharging. it can also be used as a vehicle jumper if you ever needed to.

[@Grandassets]

or a marine A/B battery switch ....

[@acars9999]

That's a good tip I would not have considered.

[@tomTom-lb5cu]

Great video. The only thing I’d recommend is having a jumper box for your vehicle . It could be very easy running your battery down and not being able to start your vehicle I think the jumper boxes are a good thing for modern vehicles anyways with all the electronics. One other mention is the start by your battery could cause trouble more then a spark so just take your time. Nice job I love all your ideas. It’s very helpful and taking some of the mysteries out of home heaters. 👍🏼

[@lovettrealtor]

Vehicle as a generator, or charge the battery with harbor freight solar panels. In any case, it's a great idea. Also, if you have more batteries, you could connect them in parallel to get more run time.

[@keithosterkamp6207]

12.5 is actually a little low for A standard car 12 v battery. Most I’ve experienced run over 13vdc when fully charged and need somewhere over 14vdc input to recharge. If yours is running that low consistently I’d have it checked at one of the Autoparts places to see what longevity it has left in it.

[@glgermain]

What happens to your solar panels when you run your furnace at night? Or on a cloudy day? And how many panels will you need to keep the battery charged - probably a lot. This is great if you have lots of panels and lots of battery capacity, but that costs lots of money to protect in the event of an emergency.

[@ThailandAmazing]

Or buy a tiny generator to top battery off with solar back up

[@kenwittlief255]

@@glgermain you cant run the furnace directly from solar panels you always need at least one deep cycle battery to supply a steady 12V to the inverter. If you have a big enough battery bank, it will get you thru the night, or even a few day cloudy days But solar panels are expensive: About $250 to $300 for enough panels to charge a single $100 100A-hr battery in other words, for the cost of one solar panel, you could buy 3 more batteries, and charge them when the power comes back on. Or buy one battery and a small generator. Run your house off the generator during the day and charge the battery. Run the inverter off the battery over night - silence.

[@embracethesuck1041]

If you have the fuel to run your car, you have the fuel to run a generator. These all seem like weird avoidance of the most obvious, simple and efficient solution.

[@sesolar5854]

I would not advise running the furnace without vehicle running since automotive batteries won't last long if drained downed then recharged. I would run the vehicle most of the time and only plan for one or 2 times without the vehicle running if extended outage causes use of this setup for multiple days. Also a truck is not required and this should work with any vehicle. Another great video...thank you and keep them coming

[@Sammyadams432]

I had a receptacle near my furnace and it was connected with a pigtail permanently. So when the power went out I just unplugged it and plugged it into the extension cord running off the generator which would also run off an inverter with same results. Advantage of that is not having to mess with internal wiring of the furnace during a power outage.

[@briangc1972]

Unfortunately current IRC building codes require the furnace to be hardwired to a switch or fused disconnect. Plug in cords are no longer legal, so newer homes won't have that set-up.

[@robertlyman9789]

Most furnaces in AZ are just plugged into an outlet

[@briangc1972]

@@robertlyman9789 Only in the older homes. All new construction and newer homes built to newer IRC requirements are hard wired. (I'm an HVAC guy in Phoenix, I work on them)

[@Morningdovecamp]

I watched your first video. Which I was very interested in knowing how that could all work. However, I thought I could never play with those wires so easily. I am so glad you worked with all the comments and then showed this method which I do think I could do! 👍. Thank you so much for putting this info out there in a simple straightforward way. The first video was very valuable because I had no idea what and how a furnace works. I have a much better understanding of the furnace and batteries now because you took the time to video and explain it ! 👍. Thank you again. I have subbed

[@hitekrednek66]

GREAT VID! I love these survival tips/tricks. This is a great idea and would have not thought about this. Thanks sir!

[@diyhvacguy]

Thanks man. The OG subscriber right here ladies and gentleman. 👊🏼🙌🏼

[@hitekrednek66]

@@diyhvacguy Thanks! keep the good stuff coming sir and you will be blessed.

[@shmehfleh3115]

A few thoughts: Car engines aren't design to idle for extended periods of time. For one, there's the danger of CO buildup if it's idling inside a closed space like a garage. For another, engines can overheat without sufficient airflow, even in cold temps. A kilowatt is an awful big load to place on a car's charging system. Just by way of example, the 4-banger Taco's alternator is rated for a maximum output of 80 amps @ 12 volts, which is 960 watts. Don't forget that the alternator has to keep the truck's battery charged, the ignition firing, the electric fuel pump running, and all the other electrical systems energized. Also, regular car starter batteries are optimized to provide a ton of current for brief amounts of time in order to crank the engine. If you try to treat one as a deep-cycle battery, you'll dramatically shorten its lifespan--especially if you manage to drain it completely. Adding the ability to connect your furnace to an auxiliary power supply is a good idea in the case of a power outage. (Assuming of course that the power outage hasn't affected the stations that pressurize the gas in your neighborhood too.) I'd go one step further though, and invest in either a big deep-cycle battery, some sort of generator, or both.

[@yearroundhvac8057]

Yes, great video . I have been messing with small solar kits and small inverters. The real reason it drains the battery so quick was yes the fan blower , but also the inverter itself takes a lot of power turning 12 volts to 110 , I was shocked how much power it Drew . Using the car battery helps .

[@PJM454]

Solar panel recharging the battery system would be a great video. Specifically what wattage of solar panels would you need to charge the battery to sustain your furnace which in turn you could use to begin your off the grid journey.

[@diyhvacguy]

I have two companies that are sending power stations and solar panels so that will be coming out soon for sure! Thanks for the comment! Cheers

[@rushrucker1785]

That's what I was thinking. What about something like an "Ecoflow Delta Pro" hooked up to the furnace? It already has an inverter so you could just plug in the furnace. Then you could use your car or portable solar panels to keep the battery charged without doing a bunch of wiring.

[@2326TX]

👍 yep, I've told people for along time to use their vehicle as an emergency generator. I have one inverter mounted in my pickup, and then I have another that is "portable". I put Anderson connectors on both tractors and my truck, with an Anderson on the portable inverter. So I can just move it to where I need it. 1200W mounted in the truck, and a 2500W I can move between the small workmaster 40 or the T6 tractors.

[@briankrian3834]

A small generator from Harbor Fright is likely less than $500. Add that to your consideration. If you have an extended power failure, a generator can also be used to keep your refrigerator running.

[@diyhvacguy]

Yes a gen set is obviously a better solution but this is an alternative as stated about 3 times in the video, when you CANT get a Gen set. Cheers

[@terryharris3393]

Better make it an inverter generator.

[@Firewlkre]

Dual fuel generator that uses propane, its easier to store burns cleaner and its cheaper and you can use the tank from the bbq you probably already have.

[@fmaples1]

Good advice, even life saving for anyone with a gas furnace and no power from the grid. Everyone should get a good pure sine wave inverter at least 1,000 Watts. It also provides light from table lamps to read a good book while you stay warm.

[@diyhvacguy]

Any good books you’d recommend? The Knowldege Was a good read for anyone looking for a good book :)

[@fmaples1]

Actually for me, I would probably look at KZbin videos like yours... 👍

[@jbdragon3295]

This whole battery with furnace is not a bad idea. Even if you only run it a little bit to make the battery last longer. No need to heat your home to much doing this. 50 to 60 degrees is good enough. Dress warmer, get under blankets. You don’t want to freeze, but you may need everything to last, maybe for days. You just never know. Drain your battery in a few hours or stretch it out for a few days.

[@davidgeorge8541]

I totally agree with what jbdragon3295 says. You do not need to run your furnace continually during a power outage. You also don't need to keep the heat at your normal room temp either. Running the furnace every couple hours and at a more conservative temperature will add hours to your total runtime. The same with your refrigerators and freezers. A fridge only needs to run a cycle every 4 hours or so and a freezer that is well insulated can be charged up a couple times a day if that. I am speaking from experience with hurricane Fiona here in Atlantic Canada. Something I found out though was that my Samlex 2212 inverter has a power save mode where if no load is connected, it will pulse its output until it senses a load of a certain wattage. It will then turn on fully and go back into power save mode once the load is disconnected. However, my oil fired forced hot air furnace did not like the pulsing once the furnace had turned off after a complete cycle. It confused the furnace controls and it started behaving erratically. I turn power save mode off before connecting up the furnace or plug in (3) 40 watt LED bulbs (they're in a fixture) into the output of the inverter to act as a ballast for the furnace load.

[@brnmcc01]

It's a really bad idea. Just go get a small generator to run your furnace, and be done with it.

[@brnmcc01]

@@davidgeorge8541 If it's cold enough outside to need to run a furnace, you don't need to worry about running a fridge.

[@davidgeorge8541]

@@brnmcc01 absolutely correct if it’s cold out, but during Fiona folks were running generators for hours just to power a fridge and freezer. A lot of wasted gas in my opinion.

[@brnmcc01]

@@davidgeorge8541 Yeah, a fridge or freezer don't run continually if door is left shut for awhile, they get down to temp and turn off. And if they have a generator running all day, if there's no load on it, it's wasting a lot of gas. A small inverter generator like a Honda i2000 is good for that though. If there's no load, they idle down to a pretty low RPM, and only ramp up if something turns on. I lent one to one of my customers, Dave, that had a tree fall across his driveway during a June storm last year, and I only refilled it twice that weekend. The tree took down the powerline to the house from the road, but when it got yanked off the pole transformer, it blew a hole in the side of the can when it arc'd out. So he was out all weekend from Friday afternoon until mid Monday morning before POCO could come out and change the transformer, and repair the broken neutral splice. Those little generators are only enough for TV, a few lights, his upright freezer, wifi, and kitchen fridge, but can run many hours like 7-8 on one gallon of gas. Better than $500 of food going to waste, and not being able to take a shower all weekend.

[@turtletrade]

Gen 2 Prius makes the best backup generator. Only runs I.C.E. when battery needs recharging, hyper quiet, runs for about a week on a tank of gas. If you run low on fuel, unplug and drive to gas station.

[@stgr3294]

Some after market remote car starters have a low voltage autostart mode that you can use. For instance, when the battery voltage gets down to like 10.8v it will start and run the engine through the preset time which will hep the alternator recharge the battery. Typically the run time is about 15 minutes and then it will turn back off automatically. Would be useful in a setup like this for emergencies.

[@diyhvacguy]

Dude! That would be rad. My little beater Tacoma actually has a pretty nice remote start that I had professionally installed. I wonder if it has that feature?

[@woohunter1]

@@diyhvacguyhmmm, even if I doesn’t, set an alarm on your phone to remind you to start your truck from the comfort of your house every 4 hours or so to charge the battery.

[@denisewildfortune4058]

My 2022 Ford F-150 can use the Ford Pass app, which allows remote starting. Interestingly, it allows scheduled starts and can be one time or repeated on a schedule. You can add multiple scheduled programmed starts to span the time needed to keep the battery above the minimum safe voltage. This option might be worth a look.

[@elmerkilred159]

Most large Chevrolet pickups, and Suburbans (2500) have connection terminals that are already hardwired for connecting inverters under the hood located near the battery, and fuse box. They are more for powering auxiliary power supplies for campers, and trailers, while you are driving down the road. The extension cord that you use should be heavy gauge wire. (The orange extension cord with a black stripe). You can also hardware in an electrical "inlet" receptacle to the furnace, so that the power cable will work with either your generator, or inverter.

[@docwilson5384]

The DIY HVAC Guy i wanna thank you and your family you are a real good person to take time out your day to help us your subscribers with your skills. Much Blessing and Respect to you and your family...Peace

[@diyhvacguy]

Thanks so much man. I really appreciate that. You guys are why I do what I do! Knowledge is power. 👊🏼 cheers

[@sidwhiting665]

Great video! Some inverters come with the clamps for the battery and/or a cigarette lighter plug in so you don't even have to hook directly to the battery, but you do have to remember to turn the ignition switch to get the current flowing!

[@thebaldingbuilder8400]

My family was stuck without power for 7 days after a fluke snow storm. I had a full tank of gas in my Escape and 10 gallons to spare. I ran some lights and the heat for just over 6 days for my house from my vehicle. I had just ran out of fuel when the county cleared the road to my house. I was able to get out and get fuel in town. As I was driving up to the house the power came back on. The issue I had was my battery and alternator both died within a few months but we didn't freeze. I bought a generator the next week. Two weeks later we were out of power for 13 days due to lines being down from high winds and ice.

[@diyhvacguy]

Wow, this is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing! This is super cool that you made this work for 7 days! An alternator and battery is a cheap price to pay compared to bursted pipes and a flooded home. What happened for the longer power outage that came after?

[@glgermain]

Interesting experience. Why do you think the battery and alternator died - over-use? Alternators run for long car trips, but not continuously for days. That's a cautionary tale - but still better than freezing.

[@stephensanford4383]

My furnace is plugged into an outlet (that is also used for my lawn sprinklers) with a three foot cord. It is super easy to unplug the furnace from the wall outlet and into a cord that runs to the inverter or generator.

[@testtesting2868]

The fan blower motor takes a LOT of wattage to move the cfms through the house.

[@diyhvacguy]

500 watts for me.

[@dgeorgaras4444]

Isn’t there a low fan setting that would lower wattage.

[@tgriebe]

@@dgeorgaras4444 If you lower the fan speed too much the over temp limit switch will pop.

[@ronk9830]

@@dgeorgaras4444 Heating usually uses the low fan speed, anyway.

[@ronk9830]

@@tgriebe Probably wouldn't be a major problem, it'd just reset and retry its cycle...

[@johnspruit7296]

This is incredibly valuable information. Thankyou for posting. Im in Ontario Canada. Gets down below -30 C / -20 F often. But thinking of our US neighbours in " sunny " Texas that rarely have to think about real COLD. Now here is a cheap solution for the rare real EMERGENCY occasions . also ; This winter all across Europe will be a test of peoples resiliency and ability to adapt .

[@stevenhickman6059]

Love the videos, depending on the situation it would probably be easier to heat part of the house with an alternative fuel (or gas wall heater) and use the battery for powering Smaller devices. All options should be on the table in those situations though.

[@deanbusch2727]

I live in Canada and it gets cold. I have a portable booster pack with a 110 outlet built in. I then bought a kerosene blast heater, the power pack only runs the fan and the electric starter. my blast heater is a 80K btu unit and as a test I tried it in my basement, within 10 minutes it was too hot in the basement, my second test was in my shed and the I ran the heater for 40 minutes and still had over half the power left in my booster pack. So good short term heat in an emergency.

[@PgPgDn]

When connecting a power inverter to the battery, you should also consider a fuse or breaker inline of the positive lead.

[@kenta3148]

I looked through the comments to see if someone covered the fuse concern. Safer to have the fuse/breaker and install it close to the Battery terminal.

[@dudleysmith5111]

Excellent! Thank you for providing “real” data! For just one isolated battery 6 hours is very good. Other discussions of small battery banks with solar recharging would definitely be worthy of an investment! MUCH cheaper than a $14,000 Genrac system if all you need is to keep warm and eliminate the possibility of frozen pipes, pets, kids and spouse.

[@reneek7721]

I do have solar panels now I need an inverter. 🤔

[@henryleon6384]

very smart kid, i was actually in the process of getting one for my work van< but now i will get a second inverter for an unpredictable outage, thank you

[@spiculum1836]

If you don't have heat or gas at home and its super freezing outside, shutoff the water main in the house, turn on a faucets to drain the pipes so your pipes don't burst and bundle up with blankets and eat your emergency rations.

[@diyhvacguy]

I’ll be posting a video on heating your home with no gas or electricity very soon so stay tuned!

[@tgriebe]

Opening the faucets doesn't drain the system. You either have to blow out the lines with compressed air or have a drain on every low spot.

[@kenwittlief255]

opening a faucet in your basement will drain most of your water pipes also after you turn off the water main flush your toilets so the tank wont freeze you would have to pour windshield washer fluid down all the toilets to keep the goosenecks from freezing and all your sinks, and the dishwasher drain. the main thing just turning off the water main will keep your house from FLOODING if a pipe freezes and splits

[@cryptickcryptick2241]

@@diyhvacguy Kerosene heaters are a great way to go. Lots of heat and no power. Oil lamps are also an option. Each oil lamp gives off about 1,000 BTU. (This is of course going to depend on the flame height.) Homes typically have furnaces that give off 24,000 to 36,000 BTU (2 to 3 tons). So it would take about 25 oil lamps to fully heat a house. (in an emergency having a dozen oil lamps, 2 in each room, would help a lot)

[@JustMe-ew4rr]

I’m glad I will answer new wood stove in my fireplace no more headaches no more gas and save money

[@lloydrmc]

Good to know a 1000 watt inverter will do it. Saves me figuring it out myself. I would hesitate using a high frequency inverter like that on a highly inductive load like a blower motor. Low frequency inverters cost more, and are far less prone to failure in that use case. I appreciate that you're setting this up as as emergency preparedness, and you might consider installing a welding cable socket - connected to your battery - as it could also be used to connect jumper cables.

[@diyhvacguy]

That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[@terryharris3393]

Are you maybe conflating high frequency inverter with modified sine wave inverter? Pure sine wave inverters are resonance power converters that are charged at high frequencies. Their outputs are rather clean, maybe not as clean as your Pioneer linear amp but pretty good. Also their load and voltage regulation are sufficient for any load in your home: inductive or electronic.

[@calvingeisinger2639]

@@terryharris3393 There are high frequency pure sine wave inverters and low frequency pure sine wave inverters. Most, if not all modified sine wave inverters today are high frequency. Check out the Aims line of inverters. They sell all three types. A low frequency pure sine wave inverter rated at 2000 watts continuous has a starting current rating of 6000 watts due to the massive transformers used and can maintain that current for up to 10 seconds or more. A high frequency sine wave inverter rated at 2000 watts only has a peak current of 4000 for less than 2 seconds typically. For this reason, starting inductive loads like motors are less troublesome for low frequency inverters. I use a 2500 watt Aims LF (low frequency) inverter to run 2 household fridge’s and 2 medium chest freezer’s along with other lights and miscellaneous (all at the same time) when our power goes out. And since I live on an island, it happens quite often in the winter time. Every high frequency inverter I have used fails under heavy starting load even though it may be rated at twice or three times the wattage of a low frequency inverter. The low frequency inverters are built to withstand heavy starting and running loads. They do consume more watts in standby but you just factor that in when sizing the battery bank and yes, I have two trucks with the battery charging capabilities to my inverter battery bank. My system is designed to handle up to 200 amps of charging capability since I have no guarantee when my power will come back on.

[@ThatEEguy2818]

Dude, you need a fuse at the battery + terminal. That cable rubbing the edge of the hole in your firewall is a fire hazzard. Need a grommet in the hole to protect the wire, and a fuse at the battery. Both, not one or the other.

[@diyhvacguy]

Noted. Thanks for the tips bro. I’ll do that!

[@defjamsgreen]

This is An awesome video . Really and truly , a car battery is not really good to use to run the central heater furnace or other loads off an inverter because it’s uses almost all of that power from the battery to start the vehicle and the alternator puts the charge back in it before it kills the battery 🔋. Like the other commenter said below , use a 12 v deep cycle , AGM or best yet 2 x 6 volt golf cart batteries connected in series for 12 v with a lot of amp hours 100 - 250 AH , not CCA as in car batteries . You can go this route as the car can charge them or get some solar panels to do that . Keep it up and running and May the solar be with you .😊😊

[@michaelford2120]

I think this is a great idea. I also think there may be a slightly involved way of extending the run time of the inverter, battery and furnace. If you were able to have a simple mechanical thermostat (set close to the homes thermostat) that could close the power switch on the inverter, using a 12v relay from the battery power, that inverter wouldn't have to run the entire time in between heating cycles. It could simply close the circuit to the inverters power switch using this 12v relay controlled by the mechanical thermostat. Here's the involved part. Once on, you really would want to hold the relay on with a (holding circuit) say until the furnace cycles completely off. This means the inverter would be off in between heating cycles. The mechanical thermostat would start your inverter and once running the furnace would have to keep it on by holding the relay on until the homes heating cycle finishes and the furnace and blower are all the way off. This should extend the time considerably. Hope this isn't too complicated. Lol

[@adamstalilonis8787]

Great comment!

[@kenwittlief255]

before you do all that measure the current draw of the inverter running with nothing plugged into the AC socket. It might be very low, and not worth the trouble to shut it off when the furnace is not running.

[@michaelford2120]

@@kenwittlief255 this is true, it would be worth checking the inverters usage under load and not under load to know for sure. But if it does draw alot by just keeping the inverter on, it would worth it for extending the running time.

[@CC..Jeremiah9_24]

This could be life saving information gentlemen, please, if you would, come to a consensus and tell us what is the best to do. Thank you. Much appreciated.😊

[@raytribble8075]

I installed a 20kw Generac Stanby Generator with a 300 gallon propane tank and ATS (automatic transfer switch) 6 years ago and that is the best money I ever spent. But I also have a 16’ V-Nose cargo trailer I use for camping… I have 3 100 ah Dakota Lithium LiPo batteries inside with 6 100 watt Grape Solar panels on the roof and a Harbor Freight 2000 watt modified sine inverter alone with a 500 watt pure sign inverter (to run my CPAP while camping) and I can run almost everything in my house except HVAC (my house is total electric). I have 3 8000 btu window AC’s it will run in the summer and I use my wood stove or one of my diesel heaters if needed in the winter. As you point out, we have many options if we just think about. If you are a camper or prepped… you have what you need as long as you have food and water.

[@tomray4139]

Since EIA began collecting reliability data in 2013, U.S. electricity customers have consistently experienced average total power interruptions of about two hours (106 minutes to 118 minutes) per year when major events are excluded. 6 hours using a battery sounds like an inexpensive solution that will work in most cases.

[@diyhvacguy]

Thank you for this comment. I appreciate your input as I’m sure others who read this will too! Cheers

[@InternetDude]

I just found your channel yesterday, I really like your style. Subbed!

[@diyhvacguy]

Thanks so much!

[@catsaregovernmentspies]

I just found it tonight. Just watched the video showing a DYI furnace replacement, now watching this. Awesome information. 👌

[@BigManAlaska]

I see you did a follow up and I hate to leave off uncertain information on a previous topic. After asking around about the potential damage and what was recommended to prevent damage from surge or lack of voltage I finally got the device name. It's called a (power conditioner) and made in California by a company called Furman. It's not to be confused with a simple surge protector because it cleans up the power signal and puts out a consistent 120v. The price can vary from $23-$74.99 and is highly recommended for use when running off generator and battery powered systems. I'll see if I can dig up the link and provide it in a minute.

[@BigManAlaska]

Hopefully I helped you help someone else 😃 have a blessed day 😊

[@toki8199]

Nice I did this recently in the summer when the power went out for the whole day I had my truck idling for almost 8 hours supplying power to my inverter running my fridge lights and fans and charging my phone 😁

[@Anger-i6n]

yes I run straight from my car to furnace . Start car to recharge battery. When gasoline gets low go to filling station that still has power and fill up again.

[@DavidGuns]

You sure can get shocked from your battery and 12v system on any vehicle. As a 30 plus years of a mechanic I have seen it happen many times, I seen a guy melt his gold wedding ring to his finger from the battery by having his hand with the ring on it.

[@diyhvacguy]

Oh wow, how did that happen?

[@906MediaProductions]

@@diyhvacguy almost always things like that happen when they're using a wrench around the battery and the ring becomes part of the circuit, I doubt the guys actual skin was the cause. But yeah it'll get a ring or wrench glowing red hot real quick.

[@deanb949]

David, that's a dead short, not a shock.

[@ArthurJohnnyjohn]

This is great! I never thought about doing this before, it could of came in handy when we lost power in the past for 3 days - would of saved $$ on other fuel means.

[@DeadKoby]

This kind of info is good for emergencies. After hurricane Sandy, we installed a generator that runs on natural gas........ so we are in very good shape...... but then you have to learn to maintain and test it to be sure it's healthy. You ALWAYS need to be prepared and armed with knowledge and supplies.

[@diyhvacguy]

Amen brotha

[@ptso7580]

Hey, just for giggles. Get a clamp meter and check the Amps at various places and times? Like the blower start up running amps the extension cord and at the battery when the temps are low and high. Thanks for putting in the time and vids. 👍😁

[@timz7548]

Emporia sells a product called the Vue that allows you to do this in realtime and monitor the usage on many circuits in your house simultaneously. This helped show me that my gas furnace hit 900+ watts briefly for about 20 seconds before reverting to running power of more like 500 watts for the duration of the cycle. Outdoor temperature doesn't influence this, only increases the runtime when colder.

[@ptso7580]

@@timz7548 Those things are cool and I believe it's slightly cheaper than Sense. But a HVAC tech should have a clamp meter all ready and can do every thing the Emporia can do for free. Data logging is nice. Ability to see the actual individual circuits in real time is also cool. App needs internet to function properly? Might be wrong on that. Clamp meter can also be used on the battery and charging system at the vehicle end. Free is free. Watch more his videos, so YT can give him some ad money 💰$$ so he can buy cool testing equipment.

[@timz7548]

@@ptso7580 Yeah the Emporia app needs internet to function. I like the functionality better than Sense for my use from what I've seen of Sense videos. Emporia's individual smart plugs do the same thing for individual devices for a lot less money (like the way his furnace is setup). Their whole house system and individual plugs use same app and interface. Any clamp meter is great if you only need to see a snapshot of amps at any given time (or a maximum). Enjoyed HVAC tech's previous video where he added the switched outlet and pigtail to the furnace. I had an emergency last winter and wish I had thought of this at the time. I'm going to follow up and do that. For anyone that thinks they can skip the ground and just use house ground from instead of inverter/generator, don't count on that from newer furnace electronics because of ground fault detection. The way the video showed to do it essentially bonded the floating inverter/generator ground to house ground bus, which is what you want.

[@ptso7580]

@@timz7548 You don't need the switch outlet combo just a appliance cord, but it all depends on your local AHJ. If you set up the pigtail, and your furnace is in a damp location GFCI protection is advise. But somehow I think you got everything covered so... Enjoy your holidays and good health to you kind sir. 😊

[@avflyguy]

I would propose that this is for *very* short term use only. If you want to get by on the cheap, then this is your answer, if you don't mind getting up every few hours, go outside in the cold while the truck alternator recharges the battery. Since we know most newer furnaces don't draw a lot of amps, a HarborFreight 1000 watt dual fuel inverter generator is far more sensible. On a standard BBQ propane tank, it will run all night long, while everyone is sleeping comfortably.

[@krukabman]

You can mount it. I use old serpentine belts and flat washers to get it tight. On places you will need to use a hex bolt instead of a sheet metal screw a step drill bit will cut nice holes in the serpentine belt where a standard twist won’t.

[@lazyrrr2411]

your Honesty is refreshing 👍 i had thought of using my car to simply RECHARGE the furnace battery & switch between 2 of them in rotation . Of Course , i just HAPPEN to have a small Honda "camp generator" i've been using for emergencies ... but i hadn't considered the INVERTER 👌

[@lawrencecavens5760]

One good thing to note is make sure your battery health is at 90% capacity or better / do a load diagnostic to see this- A battery that is within the 5 year of age is good, - and you have a alternator that is relatively in good shape and not to worn out. Remember heat and charging at high amperage wears out the brushes and slip rings of the alternator.

[@katieleonard6391]

I love your forward proactive thinking. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us, much appreciated!

[@diyhvacguy]

Of course!

[@lisamitchell1355]

I purchased a inverter back 15 year’s ago for my dad who had severe COPD and Asthma so he could do his breathing treatments, we got hit with a major snow storm that shut down all businesses, no power at all in the whole town, but, he was able to get his treatments because of the inverter.

[@mangeload]

I have 400w solar 30 amp mppt charge controller 2 deep cycle batteries & a 1500 watt inverter. Excellent knowledge thank you for sharing. You got my sub.

[@diyhvacguy]

Right on, thanks for watching and the support! Cheers

[@patparsons7215]

Thanks for the great idea. I have tested your idea with the tankless hot water (hot water on demand) and it worked very well! Thanks from Canada!

[@cheezblock4lllll]

Ive been watching for a while now. I gotta say THANK YOU. Not oly for the video but the test its self savein people from freezing an possibly helping so many out of a big emergency

[@abbyrhodes814]

Hurricane Sandy hit and I parked my Jetta diesel next to the house and used battery jumper cables to a cheap inverter to run the sump pump. Caps in the pump were ruined after a day of running on the dirty power but I saved my basement.