I saw a news segment where a person used his car with an inverter to power some appliances during the recent power outages. It seems like a reasonable alternative for those that for whatever reason don't own a generator.
How long would a car run on idle assuming it is a 4 cylinder that would normally get 28 mpg highway and has a 18 gallon tank? Would excessive idle damage the vehicle--if for example it ran for one week on idle?
Obvious downside is when the car is moved to refuel, etc. it can't be used at the house. Inverters are relatively cheap and I could run some cords in a pinch and power my oil furnace in the winter or refrigerator in the summer (don't see a need for both!) and maybe a television for news updates, etc.
The article itself seemed to imply that a the Prius was essential to the setup![[rolleyes]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/042.gif "Roll Eyes [rolleyes]")
. The Prius may be more efficient with its on/off battery cycle, but I would think an average car would give fair enough performance in a pinch.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/prius-its-not-just-a-car-its-an-emergency-generator/
How long would a car run on idle assuming it is a 4 cylinder that would normally get 28 mpg highway and has a 18 gallon tank? Would excessive idle damage the vehicle--if for example it ran for one week on idle?
Obvious downside is when the car is moved to refuel, etc. it can't be used at the house. Inverters are relatively cheap and I could run some cords in a pinch and power my oil furnace in the winter or refrigerator in the summer (don't see a need for both!) and maybe a television for news updates, etc.
The article itself seemed to imply that a the Prius was essential to the setup
. The Prius may be more efficient with its on/off battery cycle, but I would think an average car would give fair enough performance in a pinch.http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/prius-its-not-just-a-car-its-an-emergency-generator/
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