Just putting this comment here in case it ever helps someone struggling like I did: when our power went out, I opened up the furnace to connect it to my generator with a long extension cord using the method you show above (hardware store plug splice). My newer furnace would not start up. Apparently, they are very fickle about seeing a ground in the circuit. I made a dummy ground plug that went into one of the two plugs on my generator, and once I did that the furnace kicked right on. Helpful video, though! Most people assume you need a ton of power to run a furnace.
Or you can connect the ground wire to the original ground wire from the electrical panel, just because you lose power, you don't lose the ground or neutral for that matter
@@herdHistruth That might work in this video above with an inverter, but in my case with the generator, I needed to make a bonding plug. Easy to do -- just buy an empty plug and run a wire from the green ground to the white neutral and plug that into the other socket of your generator. I suppose I should edit my original comment above in the fact that my furnace was more picky about seeing a neutral than a ground.
My advice is, if you have to jump in to any kind of wiring change or repair like this, take a few pictures of the original wiring configuration before you change anything. You might need them to switch the wiring back when the time comes. I've been able to perfectly revert wiring changes, over a year later, because I took pictures.
For what it's worth, you can wire the pig tail in permanently (including the ground) and then run it outside of the furnace (through the existing hole, or drill a new one, use a grommet or other wire protection) you can then replace the existing ON/Off power switch with a switched receptacle and plug the furnace into the new receptacle. In the case of a power outage, simply unplug the cord from the switched receptacle and plug it into the inverter, no need to rewire anything and you can have heat on in seconds with out taking anything apart. Takes approximately 10 minutes to change out and costs less than 10.00.
I lived in my truck camper for 5mo's using an inverter hooked directly to my battery while parked, just ran the 2nd set of battery cables through the glove compartment, and plugged a space heater into the inverter! Even had a cheap Wal-Mart Microwave to cook in, and could only run one or the other! Charged the battery everyday, driving to private contracts, to get back on my feet! Not easy to live like that, but very doable with a little knowledge!
Nice out of the box thinking. A few observations. As an off grid solar guy there is no way will it last days, just a couple hours at most. Average forced air furnaces pull 600-1000 Watts depending on the fuel source and fan size. Also, lead acid's 50% DOD on a Deep Cycle paired with Peukert's Law and inverter efficiency will really hamper the idea. To run that load you really need at least a 24v input voltage inverter and several 12v Lifepo4 batteries in a series parallel config. Another thing to note is that the inverter needs to be pure sine. A modified wave will likely damage newer variable speed blower fans, zone actuators and logic boards. Tuning in for the runtime test.
Exactly. A typical 12 volt camper battery is 100 amp hours but can only be discharged 50 amp hours. That is 50x12=600 watt hours. If furnace is 800 watts, then it will run furnace 600/800 = 3/4 hours. That said, if an inverter was connected directly to a running car, it would run about as long as there was gas in the car. It is also true that you should use a more expensive pure sine inverter to avoid damaging the furnace motor.
@@tgriebe If you go to the high side of 900ish watts that would be a 90 amp draw. I don't know of any car that can run that load at idle. This is why you don't see people running large appliances off of vehicles during outages.
@@MrMike-fn4hi hmm thanks guys for the input, I’m definitely going to try it out and see. It doesn’t run for 3-4 hrs. It will run for maybe an hr to warm up the place to 80 degrees and then sit for quite a while before I’d have to kick it back on. I may need to get crafty with the test video :) cheers all
@@diyhvacguy Exactly, the furnace usually won't have to run continuously. In the dead of winter, when it's 15 F outside, my furnace doesn't run more than 20 minutes per hour, guaranteed. Ironically, the more oversized your furnace, the less it'll run on the coldest days, but for a gas furnace the gas usage scales faster than the electrical use. I'm wondering now, in an emergency where you were running the furnace off a battery, if you'd be better off lowering the thermostat, to improve heat loss efficiency -- or cranking it up, to take the maximum advantage of a hot furnace by running it longer once the heat exchanger was toasty. Pain to test it both ways, though.
@@MrMike-fn4hi That is true, but the furnace doesn't run continuously. So the deficit of the (90 amps?) comes out of the battery. Between furnace cycles, the car continues to run and recharges the battery. One can also step up the idle speed with a little weight on the gas pedal.
For those worried about the battery life, you can always hook up the battery to your vehicle and let the alternator charge it up a couple times a day too for a short time.
Or just leave the battery in the car and run an extension cord from the 120v inverter. Even better if you can find space to put the inverter so the hood closes but also good to turn off the inverter when not using the furnace or you draw power off the battery. Run the car to keep it charged since you will need a charged battery to start the car anyway.
Alternator’s do not charge batteries, they maintain them. So you will be maintaining a battery with a low base charge. Not a deep charge a battery needs.
@@accordia79 SO when you jump start a car with a dead battery, with the only real power coming from another vehicles alternator, you're trying to say that the battery doesn't then get charged by an alternator? Whether its from the donor vehicle or your own vehicle once its able to run?
In 2009, I was not thinking of a power failure as the temps were -20 or so. Thankfully the prior owner had set the water boiler system with a plug cable kinda like yours. I had my fishing boat trolling motor battery on trickle charge. I also had an 800W inverter. The plug was longer, and I quickly brought the battery and inverter to the furnace room, providing heat for over 12 hours. I had a 1500w inverter in my work truck and it got us through the rest of the outage. Seeing this brought back that event.
GREAT JOB!! This is "Urban Survival 101". I am a firm believer of having a good battery on a trickle charger in the basement. If most people kept a battery like this, and a 55gal drum for water, Everyone would be much more prepared for anything. I really liked your demeanor and your expertise into laymen's terms.
Watch out for battery fires. I wouldn't have it trickle charging it in your basement. Maybe in a garage if you have a battery charging bay box to contain it if it pops...and you don't. You shouldn't trickle charge a car battery indefinitely.
You won’t get 2 full days, inverters are very picky about voltage drops, I run 2 batteries and a 2000 watt inverter in my van it drains the battery very fast just charging milwaukee m18 and M12 batteries
@@ikecostner1 I think that's going to depend on the size of the house and it's energy efficiency. My house is fairly small. I would guess my heater comes on about every 15 minutes and it's approximately 38 degrees Fahrenheit right now. It will run for about 5 minutes at each heat cycle.
I use this technique for nearly everything that I have to take apart that is complicated, e.g., automotive brake assemblies, or engine layouts - and it's saved me in several situations where I had significant time pass before repairs were made.
Here in Canada it's obvious that it's critical to have a furnace running during winter and power outages do happen. I'm glad that your other video, referenced at the end of this video, corrects the run time from your battery to be about 6 hours rather than 3 days. Very important for modern, high efficiency furnaces, that the inverter used is a "Pure Sine Wave Inverter" rather than a "Modified Sine Wave Inverter". High efficiency/Variable speed furnace motors actually operate on DC voltage and the electronics that control the motor can be fried by a Modified Sine Wave Inverter. Unfortunately, Canadians are gouged to death on prices: Amazon's cheapest 1,000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter is about $220.00 and a Deep Cycle Marine battery will run about $400.00. As noted, the cost of DC cables is extra and I would recommend an adequately rated fuse between the battery and the inverter. A realistic cost in Canada for this set up would be about $800.00. A separate trickle charger or solar charging capability would be a bonus. Still may be worth doing, especially if you don't want the noise of a generator growling beside your house.
@pete32 adn The DIY HVAC Guy clarified in his last video that his deep cycle marine battery only provided about 6 hours of run time for the furnace only. A new standard car battery's maximum would probably be 3 to 4 hours at best. Note that that is not continuous run time. As the furnace cycles on and off during the 6 hour period, the furnace is only running for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours until the battery is dead. Also, a typical car battery (not a deep cycle) can only be discharged 50% before it has to be recharged. If it's run flat before recharging, the battery will be toast after a dozen charges.
I wouldn't use a simple trickle charger. Canadian Tire and Amazon sell "smart" chargers. I have a Noco 3-bank and a DeWalt single bank for my boat and RV batteries to keep them over the winter. You would probably be better served by connecting two batteries to double the amp hours. So now you're up to $1,200 Canadian. That's why I'm looking at using a Bluetti or similar device. It will cost more, but it's something I'll be able take on camping trips and have around the house for other uses.
@D W I go to the dump with a meter and find the batteries that are still useable. Logging truck drivers throw out all 4 if one is bad. They are massive and hold a charge.
Really depends on the size of the motor in the furnace 1000 watts is ok for small furnaces but a big furnace can pull way more than 1000 I would advise to get your motors amps then calculate the voltage to get what size inverter you buy
Thank you very much for this valuable video. Every time we get power outage, I panic for my elderly parents going without heat. Now, thanks to you, they're going to be warm and safe. Really appreciate your time and efforts and sharing this with people.
Emphasis on the RV battery. It is generally a deep cycle and is ok with heavy discharges and recharges. While a standard automotive battery will work (if it saves your life and/or your home, then go for it), heavy discharges until empty will greatly shorten it's lifespan. Also, regardless of the type of battery, be sure it's always fully charged. Your automotive battery likely will be already. However, if you have a battery on the shelf or sitting outside for long periods of time, get yourself a battery charger (a Battery Buddy, etc) to keep it always ready for use.
Excellent idea! (North Dakota resident) As a side note, the 2 gal/day of condensate from my propane furnace tests consistently at 37ppm TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). Drinkable, clean water.
I've been prepping for a while now and have a Big Buddy propane heater with 2 tanks. This is the BEST idea I've ever seen to keep my family warm this winter. You are awesome man thank you!
I have a 2 tank big buddy. It will burn through those tanks in 15 hours. I got a 50 gal propane tank and adapter and that will burn about three, 10 hour sessions. Great video though, I've added to my arsenal of prep knowledge
@@ER-yv5mu The buddy's are alright but they burn way to much propane. I have a zebco travler propane heater that was made in the 70's that uses way less propane. My Zebco travler goes from 2000 to 7000 BTU's. I also bought a $100.00 Wood Stove if I need it.
@@jeepsblackpowderandlights4305 I do have propane. I have 2 two 100 pound tanks and a couple 30 pound tanks. I also have a small wood stove. I show all this on my channel.
This is definitely a great idea. I live in Canada and it gets really cold in winter. What a great option to have this inverter along with the peace of mind.
I had to do this with my basement sump pump once when we had massive rain for several days, and our power went out. It really saved us from flooding, most of my neighbors suffered that fate. I bought a gas powered generator a week later to have in reserve, and have never needed it for any emergency since. I now have solar panels connected to a charge controller, inverter, and gigantic deka battery for power to my shed. I can always run a cord to the house for emergency power, as well as the generator I still have at the ready.
@pete32 adn it's very much dependent upon where you live too. We have a high concentration of clay in our geographical area. When there's a heavy period of rain, the ground will eventually absorb the water and it takes a while for it to dry out again. The hydraulic pressure it puts on the foundation walls is released by the sump pump and associated drain tile system. It is a system that works as intended, and the only caveat is when the power does in fact fail.
FYI, modified sine wave is really bad for inductive loads such as the blower motors. They are very inefficient with those sorts of loads. Pure sine wave is what you want. It may last longer on the battery as well.
It’s the harmonics that cause excessive iron loss in motors. These extra losses show up as heat which deteriorate the winding insulation and cause failure. Also, the power that goes into heat robs the motors shaft power and makes the motor work harder for a given shaft load. This increases the winding current which increases the heat generated in the windings which increase the temperature of the insulation. A modified sine wave inverter needs to supply more power to a motor under a given load than a pure sine wave and significantly decrease the reliability and life of the motor. Also, most electronics need clean power to survive.
Just a quick thanks for this video. Just got hit with an ice storm and just finished rigging up the generator to the furnace. I'll be performing your more permanent mod later on. Glad I came across these video a few months ago. You saved the day! Love that the furnace pulls less than half of what my space heater was pulling from the generator.
@@no_country_for_real_men No, it doesn't, but then it's not meant for your heating system. You need a correctly sized generator for emergency power outages.
I have several backups for heating. I live in the U.P. of Michigan where winters are severe. There’s my home furnace just like this one. A 40’000 BTU ventless backup propane fireplace( Carbon Monoxide) detectors a must. A wood burner in the basement that heats the entire downstairs in an emergency. When you love 25 miles from the nearest town you have to be prepared. Food , water , fuel , and the ability to use what resources are available to stay safe , warm , fed , and ready for adversaries if necessary.
What you could do for a more permanent mod to your furnace is to add an A/B switch where A is the mains and B is that 120V pigtail plug that you just plug into the inverter when the power is out. Just make sure that there is no 120V on the pigtail when switched to mains.
@@diyhvacguy You can try a changeover switch but might be overkill for your furnace. You just need something to switch a load between two power sources.
@@diyhvacguy I ordered this one: Baomain Universal Rotary Changeover Switch SZW26-20/D202.2D with Master Switch Exterior Box 660V 20A 3 Position 2 Phase. $13 on Amazon
It will sap the juice out of the battery setting it on concrete. You need to place a pallet under that battery . Just a word of advice !!! Never leave a battery on concrete !!!!
@@donaldpiper9763 That old "word of wisdom" was debunked years ago. Many of us live off grid and have rows of batteries sitting on concrete. My 16 - T105 sit on 12" x 12" concrete pavers. Do they also "sap" the energy out of the batteries? No, but batteries, and especially lead acid, naturally have a power drain on them whether sitting in the car or on the ground. Why do people like you go on day and year after year thinking you are being helpful and smart and everyone else is stupid? Please stop the misinformation and go do some research on this subject.
This is terrific knowledge. My mind instantly started to make it even better. You could leave the battery installed in the car and run the power wires from the battery into your basement or a long cord from the furnace up to the inverter so that when the battery got low, you could just start the car to recharge the battery. Now, you’ll have to make sure you don’t dip down too low so that you can’t start the car, but, it would be a slightly more efficient time-saving way to do this. Another idea is to have two car batteries, side-by-side, and using the second outlet on the inverter plug in a portable battery charger. Now, you can run a battery down until it stops working, and then simply swap battery connections.
Last December (2021) my neighborhood lost power overnight for eleven hours during a blizzard/wind storm. We've burned wood most of our lives, but the current home I built uses an air source heat pump with a natural gas furnace for when temps are below zero F. I've been considering my options and really didn't want to punch another penetration into my well insulted home for other options. I am very appreciative for this video as I have decided this is my solution, i.e. fire up the natural gas heater to get through a future power outage and save my pipes. PS: TX is disneyland compared to MT, WY, and the Dakotas during the winter, but it is nice to have a place for women and small children too. 😉
Also what you can do is hook up the inverter in your vehicle and run an extension cord. Then you can power it for as long as you have fuel in the car! Cheers
@@diyhvacguy Some vehicles (Ford Lightening notwithstanding) have built in inverters providing 120 volts ac such as the Nissan Titan. Using an extension cord of sufficient length would allow you to use the vehicle's inverter to power the furnace. If you are going to run the vehicle to charge battery or power the furnace, better make sure you have adequate ventilation - don't run it in a closed garage!
The easiest solution for emergencies would be a small propane camping heating that’s designed to be run indoors. Mr. Heater makes the popular Buddy model. It’ll heat a room for several hours on one of those green Coleman 1lb propane bottles, and there are adapters to use 20lb grill bottles. Plus, when you’re not using it for emergencies, you can still take it camping, or use it in a garage/workshop.
That was fantastic, thank you for taking the time to explain it. I should have known b/c I love car audio, but this is an excellent idea. I was without power for 6 hours in Denver yesterday and we were all at home sick.
@@impulsora75 I haven't tried it yet Jose. But the thermostat is a low-voltage device that's usually on a battery backup such as a Nest Thermostat. If you look at your furnace you'll notice that the thermostat is powered by a low-voltage step-down transformer that draws a few watts. Nothing compared to the fan motor watt consumption, or the exhaust motor if you have a high-efficiency 90%+ furnace. Cheers bro.
Wow, I’ve never seen so many comments on one thread! Right or wrong, these are mostly good comments. Challenging ideas is ok, respectfully, of course. I’ve read some good points on both sides and really look forward to the test! Regardless of success or failure it’s been a great idea and experiment.
I prewired the furnace power shut off switch with a cord to plug into a power source like an inverter or generator power socket so I can connect the furnace during an extended power outage without any effort. Works perfectly.
I did some math, and in my worst cold month I would only run 5 hours and that would drain the battery 95% which is hard on it, but if a guy is careful he could run that furnace about four times a day for half an hour for two days to keep the pipes from freezing. Great tip for emergencies.
I measured my blower motor's current draw once and if I'm not mistaken it came out to 750 watts? Doesn't seem like a standard car battery will keep up with that for long. Speaking of car batteries (i.e., not deep cycle), keep in mind deep-discharging them will shorten their life _considerably_ (as in you'll only get to do it like 6 or 7 times on an otherwise perfectly healthy battery). An emergency is an emergency though.
I have a home battery backup solution which is just a bunch of 100AH 12v SLA batteries in parallel on an inverter and i did consider this but ultimately a furnace with a blower uses too much power for it to be viable for more than a few days without a generator. Especially when its really cold out where it needs to run for hours a day. A better alternative for long term power outage is to get a Valor natural gas insert fireplace that runs off of a couple AA batteries to spark and can run continuously to heat your home safely without needing any electricity at all.Its what i ultimately went with. So i can deal with a multi month power outage now in winter, no problem. Or second to that, just get a generator, modify your furnace to make it a plug in furnace like you did here and plug it into the gen. But in any case, great video.
Good job Very useful and simple Really like the way you were relaxed not arrogant and encouraging. You made this video like a PSA with heart. Ten stars
I did this last year in CA for my furnace when we had no power for 15 days during winter in the Northern Sierras. I had to use two large SUV batteries in parallel as I have a large furnace with five burners. The ignitors pull over 20 amps at 110 volts so they need over 200 amps from the 12 Volt DC batteries for about 15 to 20 seconds which a single battery was unable to supply. I had a 12 Volt trickle charger on the batteries powered from a separate backup generator which powered the rest of my house. The problem for any generator setup is driving the high amperage stuff like microwaves, coffee pots and heater ignites. As a side I used my prius as my generator to run my house as it only runs the gas motor as needed to keep the batteries charged which I hooked up to a 6KW inverter. Most generators burn 24 gallons of gas per day. My prius only burned 5 gallons per day as it runs only to recharge the main battery as needed, not continiusly.
That’s amazing thank you so much for sharing. This is what I ended up doing actually. Mounted the inverter in my truck, and then I’ll have a make pigtail for the furnace so it plugs into the outlet providing it with grid power. Then when power is lost, I simply unplug the furnace and plug that make pigtail into my extension cord to my furnace :)
Spencer, I was aware of the Prius trick (actually mentioned it above before I saw you did as well). I was told to limit the inverter size to 1000 watts though since there are limitations in capacity for the circuit that keeps the 12 volt battery charged from the traction motor circuit.
A gallon per hour if your generator is very large. If you are just keeping batteries charged you can get a 1000 running watt generator that will run about 6 hours on a gallon of gas.
In an area with ice storms that will take power out for days, I put in a transfer switch and keep a generator handy at all times. It also supplies the fridge to prevent loss of food and the sump pump in the the basement (in the north-east), with a finished basement, having the pump available is a necessity.
I have a similar setup (switch&generator), with my generator able to power the furnace, fridge, one bathroom, kitchen lights, living room lights/tv/internet. Now watching videos to help make a homemade battery backup energy storage to not have to run the generator nearly as much. Stumbled on this video and was like that is iffy stuff to set up he is talking about, and then try and do it in the freezing cold and dark. If only there was a unified set of regulations for power companies that made them spend money to plan for the worst-case scenarios.... Oh, wait a sec, there is, outside of Texas.
Just a helpful suggestion. At 1:31, where the power wires go through the hole on the left, consider putting a bushing in that hole and handy box. In time, the vibration from the blower motor may chafe back the insulation on those wires and short them to ground. Just a thought. . . .
A better way to do this is to change the wire that comes from the furnace. Disconnect it at the junction box. Put a plug on the end of it. Install a receptacle in the junction box. Plug the furnace in and it’s wired to the grid. Unplug it then plug it into the inverter. You do not even have to mess with the wiring in the furnace.
While this is definitely functional, it is also against code to have it not hard wired with a disconnect. You cannot have a furnace just plug into a receptacle.
@@puntacanaman1 True, but I did that to mine in case I have to plug it into a generator. Didn't want to spring the $100 for a transfer switch. When i sell the house, I'll hardwire it back.
@@puntacanaman1 just wondering: what if you had a disconnect to the 110v receptacle and plugged in the furnace on that receptacle (or inverter when power is out)? Basically replace the disconnect switch with a combination toggle switch/receptacle (under $20). Make sure to put a rubber grommet where the plug comes out of the furnace (if you drill a hole).
@@puntacanaman1 Not in Canada. The Canadian Electrical Code states there must be a means of disconnect within 3 meters of the furnace. When you do it this way the original furnace switch is still functional and you cannot get more disconnected than a plug. Nowhere in the code does it state the furnace must be hardwired.
Some corrections need to be made here. A furnace drawing 800 watts would be pulling about 80 amps off the battery. That is about the same amperage as a starter motor draws as you are starting your car engine, so the furnace would not run very long. As others has pointed out... It is important to use the more expensive pure sine wave inverters. Induction motors and transformers (which are what this furnace has) will run slow, hum loudly, and will run hotter on cheaper modified sinewave inverters. If you were going to do this, you would be better off hooking up the inverter to your car and keep the engine running the whole time, and run an extension cord to the furnace
I realize I was mistaken in my assumption that it would last for days in that my heater doesn’t run but for maybe 10 min increments so it’s not like mine stop running time. But I guess I was wrong.
That peak power draw from the furnace lasts less than a minute when the gas ignitors are activated. Beyond that, you're just powering the gas solenoids, computer control, draft fan, and main blower fan. Just hook up the inverter to your car outside, and run a long extension cord into the house.
A smarter move for most would be to put your invertor inline with the switch box. That way you dont have to open the body of the heater and you can still use the switch.
I have an sine-wave inverter. I like the idea of having it wired permanently to my electrical circuit. That way I can just hook up my portable generator to my transfer switch I had installed at the box and have clean power, but the inverter has a plug on one end and receptacles on the other. Code doesn't allow plugs and receptacles for furnace power, so I'm basically stumped as to how it can be hooked up to meet code.
I live in San Antonio and I did this when we lost power. But I ran the extension chord from my mounted inverted in my truck to my heater. I would let the heater run and get the house to temp twice then remote start my truck and let it charge the battery back up for a bit. It was a life saver
This was a great demonstration! I suggest a few tweaks. You fully demonstrated how to fire up your heater from a battery and an inverter. With just the purchase of an operating inverter and items a household already probably has, you can power your HVAC system. No need for a generator and all that maintenance; OR, this setup is a great lifesaving backup if you experience a generator failure. I would: 1. Get a power meter to get a good estimate of your draw from the heating system while ignited and running. Do the math to figure your electrical needs. A 200 watt blower and a 700 watt blower are going to be a big difference in how long your battery lasts. That new Bryant you have pulls way less juice than the old HVAC blowers. 2. This is for survival, not convenience. Keep the mom and kids alive. Close off parts of the house and force the heated air into a smaller area to run the heater less. 3. Make this simpler/easier. Leave the battery in the car and wire in the inverter at the car. Use a regular extension cord to get the power from the car down to the HVAC. 4. Run the car to recharge the battery when necessary. How often will depend on the battery and the power draw you computed. 5. Have a second vehicle or your RV battery in position to jump the power supply vehicle if necessary. 6. Do you have gas cooking appliances. If so, run a slow oven for cooking and extra heat without using power. 7. Get a handful of Wago connectors and leave them by the furnace for EZ safer temporary wiring.
Just remember that a byproduct of combustion is moisture, fine particulate, and formaldehyde - and a possibility of CO, so I wouldn’t recommend it. However, if you have an emergency and plan to use a gas range or oven (assuming the oven doesn’t require power for electronic controls), you will need to vent somewhat to avoid excess moisture and combustion byproducts. This is why your furnace uses a heat exchanger.
You can not power your whole house AC this way , the AC pulls a lot of amps at start up . I can’t even power up my whole house AC with a 8500/ 10000 start up watt gas generator .
Just mount the inverter under the hood of your truck and run an extension cord inside so you can start the truck once in a while to charge it up .. I'd also think you'd want a fuse on that lead to the inverter in case it becomes a welding cable :)
But don’t ya need too drive over 25 mph in order for that alternator too really charge back up a battery cause just idling and not moving I don’t think really charges back up that battery off the alternator.
Jody mounting an inverter directly to your truck is not adviseable. When the blower gan depletes the truck battery you will not be able to start the truck. A 2nd seperate battery is usually practical in this situation. Bless.
A much safer, and code compliant solution is to have a single transfer switch, such as a EasyTran TF151W pre-wired to the furnace. It has a 120v power inlet which will accept an extension cord. That way, an extension cord can be plugged in from the inverter or remote generator without messing with the internal wiring of the furnace during the outage, requiring only the flip of a switch.
Great video! But you failed to mention that the condition and capacity of the battery will have a large effect on the success of this idea. The battery from your car is meant to provide shorter bursts of high power to start your engine. Once it is running, most of the 12 volt DC power your vehicle needs is provided by the car's alternator. You would likely have better success, and longer run time, if you use a Deep-Cycle battery, which is designed to provide a smaller amount of current over a longer period of time between charges. Deep discharging of a regular car battery will definitely shorten its life.
I agree about getting a dedicated deep cycle. I did want to add, though, that there are some options for using the heat from the gas to keep the battery topped up. Specifically an appropriate Peltier array that can put out ~14VDC. You'd need to get a little creative with cooling the cool side... a heat sink and a CPU fan would work, but water cooling would be better. Lastly you'd want some diodes to keep from backfeeding the Peltier (assuming it's not already so equipped, depends if you're building from scratch or off the shelf), but such a setup could keep a system like this running indefinitely. The battery lights the fire, the fire charges the battery. You could also do the same thing with a Stirling engine if you don't mind your basement looking like some steampunk mad scientists lab. In either case you'd have to do a lot of tuning to get it just right, and there are issues with voltage regulation since the heat source would be variable.
@@nutbastard I don't think this would work because the battery isn't just lighting the fire, most of its power goes to running the high output fan to push air throughout the house, probably 500W or more. I'd love to know a way to keep it topped up though
@@thomasnunya1438 I'll be honest I didn't expect a fan on anything other than a furnace for a mansion to pull 500W, but let's run with it. The average car battery has about 1.3kWh from topped to flat. Let's ignore the inverter for now, but note that it will simply turn off below a certain voltage, and losses are at least 20%. Anyway, a modest home gas furnace will put off around, at the low end, 60kBTU, or ~17.5kW of heat. We only need to gather one seventeenth and a half of that to reach parity. I am looking at high wattage Peltier modules that are each capable of more than 100W output and the cost is around $1 per watt. So call that $500 for Pelts, worst case scenario. And that's assuming a 100% duty cycle for a 500W draw, when in reality it's going to be way lower than that, if we can believe that this guys setup is enough to run a furnace for 3 days? I forget how long he said exactly. Considering that a 100% duty cycle would flat the battery in less than 3 hours and he's claiming 36..... that's less than 50W/h. AND that's got to be high as well, since below about 80% DC voltage the inverter will shut off. So now we're down to a single 100W pelt at 50% efficiency being plenty to keep it topped up. Maybe get two for good measure. Like I said, the cool side plumbing would be its own project, and one would have to put some thought into this. I did some math before I even posited my first comment and I have to say that after some more research... I still think I'm right about this, or rather, I think it's feasible... I'm open to anyone poking holes in my math here. Beyond that, there are other methods - the Peltier idea is just what came to mind for a slap-on thermoelectric recovery solution. You could also tune down (or disable) the fan and tune down the gas and adjust the venturi and let convection do its thing to reduce the load, though you'd likely run into issues with the thermostats. But in a really dire situation, you can just jump all those wires and bypass all of that. Electrics only do exactly what you allow them to. If you ever encounter anything that won't do what it's supposed to and you see little round things with two of the same colored wires coming out, you can just connect those two wires together - be it thermostat or thermal fuse, inline components are exactly that - inline. It's the quick test for bad thermal fuses for when I left my meter in the truck. You just lesbian the female spades together and fire it up. If it works without that part, that's the part to replace, that'll be $350 please and thank you.
@@nutbastard My house is 1000 sq. ft. I measured the blower motor alone at 750 watts (1995 furnace). Sometimes that means the motor/bearing/etc. is failing, but that measurement was taken a good 10 years ago (with nothing replaced since).
I have that inverter and though motors are supposed to be okay with the modified sine wave output I am pretty sure it killed my old mini-fridge. Also running a fan off it in the shed during the summer makes the motor really noisy with a sick electrical hum like a transformer. To be safe I would spring for a pure-sine inverter so you could also safely charge electronics if you wanted.
I’ll be testing this setup to see how many days it will heat my home next week. I’ll keep note of any strange noises but I will for sure mention this in the test video! Thanks for sharing. Cheers
@@johnn3542 "Shouldn't" but I've read plenty claiming that the modified sine may interfere with or damage sensitive electronics like devices that need to charge. I never had problems running an older laptop off that inverter in my shed but I also didn't care if it got destroyed.
Can you give me the name of that inverter? Im looking to find a way to power my fridge because was told we were going to have rolling black outs! If i used two or three car batteries would and used that inverter would it hold a fridge for a couple of days?
For safety you need to install an Automatic Dual Power Transfer Switch (ATS). You don't want to go around fiddling with wires especially if it's dark. You are extremely optimistic about the duration of the battery life.
Since CCA on a car battery mean the amps it can provide in 30 seconds before voltage drops from 12V to 8V, you can expect a total of about 8,440 watts (844 amps x 10V average) of power from that battery. It is an 8 Amp furnace so 8amps x 120v = 960 watts per hour. 8440 watts/960 watts per hour = 8.79 hours of run time. Bear in mind a furnace also doesn't run constantly, and this doesn't take into account energy lost through heat in the inverter, etc.
considering that your typical load from a modern furnace is about 800watts, a typical size 42 or 48 car/truck battery on a 1500w inverter will run for quite a long time given that they're about 60-90ah depending on the quality of the battery. What sucks however, is that the sine wave that the inverter puts out is generally stepped (which is not great for your furnaces electronics and motors), only higher quality inverters should be used in use cases like this.
Illinois boy here, our furnaces run longer and more often than down in Texas I reckon. But I don’t the difference in required insulation values between the two states.
Change the 110v ac switch to a box with a switched outlet and put a 110v cord on the furnace to plug into the switched outlet. Now you can put an extension cord on the furnace when needed. Instead of using a battery, I have an already charged Ecoflow Delta Mini that I keep around for this purpose and for my sump pump. It can also be recharged with 12v from my car when needed or with solar panels if you have them.
This scheme is a much neater way of cutting over to "auxiliary" (inverter) power source, rather than fumbling with wiring at 3AM in a freezing house. I made a box with a switch so I can switch between mains power and another source - input spigot is on box. This way I can just plug in aux source, flick switch, and back in business.
Used this th-cam.com/users/postUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y for the first time this weekend. It powered everything in my Rpod camper plus a small heater for my friend’s tent. I love the remote start!This works better than my two Honda 2000’s Very happy with it. Just make sure to do a proper break in. The instructions don't talk about it. Look it up on TH-cam there’s some good videos on it.
You should add a small voltage meter to the setup to monitor the battery. That way you could keep an eye on battery capacity to prevent low voltage cutoff on the inverter. I agree with using deep cycle batteries or batteries in parallel, it will reduce stress and give longer runtimes. Another thought is a larger capacity (2000w or larger) lithium “generator “ could work without an inverter, since it already has 120v outlets. The other advantage they charge must quicker than lead acid, usually in just a few hours from a gas generator. Unfortunately they are $$$$$$!
Inverters shut off when the battery voltage is too low. Why would you shut it off before then?! Many inverters show you the battery voltage while they are running.
Not real hard I'm 70 and I can remember what I need to do. Besides I done it a lot to run a fan in the summer and a heater in the winter for my dogs in my van
That inverter and battery set up is also a great option to energize a well pump during outages. I have a 5000 W inverter from Harbor freight and a deep cycle marine battery. It handles the extra wattage needed to start the motor. It is perfect for intermittent use
My well is 220v. Do they make a 220 inverter? Right now I just have a manual pump mounted inside the well pipe. I can attach it to an outside spigot and pump water into the house when power goes out.
@@edflowers7456 I have no idea… Good question. I kind of think there is a way to rewire the output to double the 110 V rating, but I’m not sure how that is done.
My furnace must pull more power, tried 1000w and 2000w inverters with two parallel RV batteries and furnace would shut off after about 20 seconds. 3000w pure sine inverter and it works beautifully! Thanks!
Nice idea but as many of the other commenters stated, the run time in this format is very limited. Several years ago, I took this one step further by connecting the inverter to my INSTALLED car battery via a 100 Amp Anderson connector ( often seen on electric forklifts) and pigtail. With the engine running,you have a longer run time on the inverter. I did this during Superstorm Sandy and this method kept many furnaces and refrigerators going.
Man great idea! I noticed it was a marine deep cycle battery. That may last a little longer, takes a little longer to charge. Once charged it will last longer when not being used also. Just thought that it was worth mentioning. Thanks for the video.
You do not need to remove a car battery. Simply put your inverter under the hood and hook up to the battery. Run an extension cord into the house. This allows you to run the vehicle to charge the battery. I did this for days for several power outages that lasted 3-7 days. Simply ran the vehicle occasionally to keep the battery charged.
@@diyhvacguy Nothing beats a generator. But in hard times you do what you have to do. What I did kept the family warm in low teens temps . The key to under hood inverter is to keep it dry and keep the hood cracked open. Good content btw.
Yup!! I did the same back in 2010 during a freeze in El Paso that lasted for 3 days. The City had "planned brown outs" because our city's power grid couldn't handle the cold. The brown outs were 45 minutes long every two hours. I had a 400w/800W peak inverter in my Trans Am. Lucky for me it had a full tank. So for the 3 days it was enough to keep the furnace going . My furnace was already wired with a 115V power cord.
@@enriquealvarado2930 brilliant! Glad it got you through. So many people are going to be up a creek if/when this happens here. It’s nice to have the knowledge on different ways to achieve power in that situation. Thanks for sharing! Cheers
Yea! I didnt even think about mentioning that. Or for that matter you could connect it to the car and run it directly from that with an extension cord and then when it gets low, grab some gas if its accessible. Thats the thing about emergencies, there are so many variables. If there is no gas to be had, and no natural gas, and no power, alot of people will be in a really sticky situation! Thanks for the comment! Cheers
Helpful for people in emergencies, but it is better to permanently install a plug on the furnace and double throw switch, for example a toggle switch with ON-OFF-ON to have the option of grid power or inverter power. Check out the EZ Generator switch on Amazon, designed by US electricians. I also think it is smarter to have the inverter installed on your car, and if the battery gets low, you can start the engine to charge it. Depending on where your furnace is, of course. The best solution in my opinion is a solar powered battery back up system that can handle not just your furnace but your fridge, lights, and other critical loads and have a feed-in receptacle on your electrical panel. Just FYI, Black is negative for DC not neutral.
A starter battery will not last that long. He is using a lead acid duel cycle marine battery and not a starter battery. They are made differently. Don't use a car starter battery it will drop below 50 percent very quickly and damage the battery and you will lose heat very quickly.
Even the deep cycle batteries won’t last days. This won’t last more than a couple of hours max. A gas generator can be ran to power the furnace for days at around the same cost or a little more. It’s an out of the box idea but one that should only be used in an emergency and if you use the battery from your car.. expect to buy a new one because the plates inside will be destroyed from being discharged so low
@@joshualangley5550 Yep. In a pinch you can even use 12 volt tool batteries on a power inverter, but depending on what you are running. Those batteries can go dead instantly or last for hours. The same is for duel cycle marine batteries. If you have a inverter connected to your starter battery and have your car running then your battery is not supplying the power. You alternator is. Once you turn your car off then your battery is sending the power.
@clot shots You do know that water lines can freeze in just a few minutes right. Also I used to run a laptop off of my vans starter battery, and I could only run it for about 30 minutes max before my van would not start. One more thing to consider is if you are having to run back and forth to start your car. You will lose any warm air that you just made by opening the door. You are not doing yourself any favors by doing that. If anything just get a extra battery in the house that you can use, and once it goes down just connect to your car and charge it with your alternator with jumper cables. Less trips and less opening your door so the more heat you can keep in. I now have 1200 watts in solar and a 400 watt wind turbine generator, and a gas inverter generator for those types of days and nights. I also bought a 7000 btu propane heater for heat.
@clot shots Even if you are just opening the door to go in to your garage ( if you have one ). You would still lose heat from the house. Also if you are talking about water they can freeze even with insulation.
Yup, a lot of problems here. You'd need probably a half dozen or more of those batteries for a days worth of furnace operation (intermittent use) depending on thermostat setting. Connecting the inverter to a running vehicle would make more sense, but the vehicle would likely need a 100-120 amp alternator, and it would have to provide that amperage at idle unless you want to prop a stick against the gas peddle. Might just as well buy a generator. The "cord whip" on the furnace is a useful idea. I've installed a few for people with portable generators who just run extension cords to important stuff from the generator. The DIY HVAC Guy's method was a clumsy hack at best (sorry). There is no need to open the furnace to install the "cord whip" for alternative power sources. Simply replace the single pole/single throw wall switch, currently used for the furnace power, with a double pole/double throw/center off toggle switch. Wire the house line and neutral to one end of the switch, the "cord whip" to the other end of the switch, and the furnace leads to the center. When the switch is fully in one direction you have house power. When fully in the other direction, alternate power from the "cord "whip". The center position is "OFF" for servicing the furnace. All wiring changes take place in the switch box. Be sure to use a cord grip (protector) on your whip where it enters the switch box. Buy a blank cover for the switch box and drill appropriate diameter hole for the toggle switch to mount in. Some people will see that male plug hanging there and think "suicide cord", but when wired correctly, the only way there is power on the "cord whip" is if it is plugged into an alternate power source. And, when wired correctly, no way to accidently back-feed your alternative power source into your house wiring.
Thank you for this information. Very helpful. I did actually install a pure sine wave inverter in my truck so it can power the furnace as long as I have fuel in the truck. Thanks so much for watching! Make sure and subscribe to the channel for more helpful hvac tips and tricks! Cheers
I’m living in an off-grid studio with a power hookup & was wondering what I could do as a backup, and your video reminded me that I still have the inverter I bought in 2016 to run my laptop on the cross-country drive here, plus I just replaced my battery at Wal Mart. - plus I recently bought a compact jump-start lithium charger on Amazon. Good to know Thank you!
I used this same trick to get a hot shower from my +95 efficiency gas water heater. Fortunately our local code has it plugged into an outlet just above the heater via a 15 amp 110v cord. Very little draw on the battery as the heater once lit uses a small fan to pull air up through and outside.
For the record, this will not work with HVAC’s that rely on heat pumps or heating coils. This backup option is solely for natural gas or propane gas heating.
No problem with your hookup and all, but you mislead regarding the run time. A good deep cycle battery, fully charged, would run your furnace for about 45 min to an hour before going flat. Plus, discharging a flooded battery more than 50% of it's capacity is a no no. Works, but I'd recommend a 2000 watt portable generator instead.
I’m actually going to be installing this in my truck so it will run my furnace as long as I have gas in the truck. Stay tuned for that video! Thanks for the tips also. Cheers
Thanks for the advice. Its funny that I hear different advice. Someone else said its good to run the battery completely down. I actually ordered a 1000w pure sine wave inverter and I have it permanently mounted in my truck so I'll be testing using this setup on the next video. Theoretically it should run my furnace as long as I have fuel in the truck so we shall see. Thanks for the tips! Cheers
Had to do this exact same thing from 12/23/22-12/25/25 due to the mega wind and rain storm we just had in Maine, I have a Jupiter 2000 Watt that I purchased at harbor freight with a everstart 800 cold cranking amps marine battery from Walmart and it worked flawlessly on my hot air furnace.
Great video man. With the way the world seems to be heading these days, ideas like this are becoming that much more important. Also with a modest solar panel, you could keep the system running almost indefinitely.
That’s true. I’d love to do solar but if im doing solar, it’s gonna be for every electrical item in my home, and I’ll probably do a battery backup since otherwise you can only use the solar during the daytime when they are harvesting energy.
During & after #MarshallFire, electric and gas were both down (don't want gas spewing out of 1,100 leveled homes, after all) as the temperature dropped to deep freeze levels. Most houses that survived the firestorm had pipes freeze. Those with solar, battery backup, and electric heat or space heaters all came through OK. Ditto generators used to power space heaters. That disaster boosted the priority of a 5KW rooftop solar system for us. Aside from labor and permits, we'd be looking at $16k for panels, mounting, controllers, and batteries via Project Solar kits. Even better for full DIY, check out `DIY Solar with Will Prowse` th-cam.com/users/WillProwse for some good ideas and test results for panels, controllers, rackmount batteries. We can probably come in $14k fully DIY for our desired battery runtime on a 5KW system.
How many kilowatts that's crazy. You don't need 5,000 KW. I ran 10 years on 114 kilowatts kept my batteries up and I had furnace year round, lighting and television and charging my phone, fridge you name it, and I had $1,400 total in my system.
Thanks for the tip…never thought about it! If you wanted to install a double pole double throw switch you could permanently run the house furnace on regular commercial 120 volts or flip the switch and you are setup to use the inverter. By the way, you need a snap in cap to cover the open whole in the electrical box for safety and to meet electrical code. Great video, thanks again!
@@deadfisfhalequin2304 I've never had a terribly smart thermostat. What does something like a Nest run on? My old programmable one just uses two AA batteries.
I installed a plug on my furnace, then installed two outlet boxes next to the furnace. One box is 120 volts from the electric service in the house, and the other is ran to an electric inlet on the outside of the house. When the power goes out I simply start one of my generators and plug into the inlet on the house, then unplug the furnace from the house current and plug into the generator outlet. Quick, simple and completely isolated from the utility service.
Great video! I did notice that you mentioned the 1K inverter. Respectfully suggest that this is the minimum size for your 8 amp draw furnace. Anything smaller wouldn't be a good idea. Very clever! Here in Oklahoma this could be a very useful trick! Thank you.
at 120 volts and 8 amps that would be 960 watts. With the power loss in the inverter and wires and terminals. A 1100 watt inverter would be right on the edge of whats safe to use. In this case I would go with a 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter. The furnace would run smoother and make less heat through the inverter and wires.
Homeboy, this is great info! I could actually run a trickle charger to a dedicated deep cycle marine/solar battery that is connected to the grid, and then run a separate line of cables to a generator/car. super stoked! thank you!
Thank you so much for the support! Anything helps in an emergency situation. I ended up finding that if I put the inverter in my work truck and running an extension cord to the furnace it’s an even better solution. That way I can run my furnace as long as needed as long as I have fuel in the truck :) stay tuned for that video as well! Cheers
@@uhjyuff2095 As the people in New Jersey found out when Hurricane Sandy hit, fuel is pretty much gone in a day. As a matter of fact, gas cans were no where to be found also.
Yea that’s what everyone is saying. I ended up connecting the inverter to my truck and i can run the furnace as long as I have fuel in my truck. Much better long term power outage solution! Cheers
Thanks for taking the risk, showing old school simplicity. A car battery is about 1kwh. A gas inducer motor can consume well over a hundred W, often many hundreds (several amps at 110vac). As such might only be able to run few hours or so. Which may well be enough heat until the power returns. I connected the inverter to the car battery at the car, ran a extension cord to the furnace. Ran the car every so often to charge it up.
Thanks for sharing man! I cleaned the coil in my horizontal crawl space furnace/AC to day. Mine is strait like a condenser in a car. I already had the cabinet off one side to inspect the heat exchanger and couldn't believe how good it still looks. Through that door I could get to 75% of the coil with a long handle stiff dish brush but had to take the cap off the left side to finish where all the piping and drain is located. I used dawn and water in one bottle and water in another bottle to wash it all away. Probably not near as good as what you used but it looks 100% better. One too many times I had forgot to get the size of the filter and wouldn't buy the wrong one at the store while I was thinking about it. So this one caved in and collapsed. Can't let that happen again.
Excellent video!!!!! I've had something similar rigged up for over 2 decades! Run four 27 series deep cycle batteries run parallel with a battery maintainer. Inverters have come a long way in that time! (Basically, the same type of system, just bigger.)
That's really cool. I've got electric heat with a heat pump, which is great for my electric bill, but doesn't do much if we have a power outage in winter. I am wanting to wire into the electric panel a generator switch and then have that as backup for furnace, and freezers/fridges.
GREAT VIDEO. Wish I knew this a couple years ago But i'm so glad I have solar panels and backup generators.. never have to worry about this again in my life. In New York state you can actually get the stuff for free 🤷🏼♂️
Great Job! And it may possibly be one of the most important videos ever on You tube (given the loss of power we are experiencing in the Mid-West with -10deg F weather.)
Super idea. THANK YOU. Never thought about it. Going to do the same. My Jeep has the same set up built in..... LOL. I am also going to order a trickle charger for the batt and have it all ready in the basement.
Usually newest furnace doesn’t used bigger power and it’s very easy working with batteries just like you are showing but it’s only temporary, thanks brother for letting us know
You just got a new subscriber! We recently had 2 outages in 3 days, of 5 hours each, with outside temps around freezing. Could have used this info about a week ago! Now I have to get a battery, inverter and the cables!
I am not worthy of your great knowledge, what a lifesaver and game changer, you might of saved thousands of lives. I heard people froze to death down in Texas, totally unacceptable, thank you for this video, I already have an inverter I bought but not used it yet, for my Oxygen Concentrator to run in the car when I travel. I have had Covid-19 4 times and pneumonia last year for 6 months, 3 in a long stay hospital, almost died, but thank ole mighty God and thanik ole Mighty God for you sharing this video, it time for battery backup!
This is pretty neat hack. I have always wanted to go with an all electric system in my home to get rid of gas but you know what? I have never ever heard of Gas ever going out. So in an emergency you can either heat your home with a wood fireplace or use this handy hack.
Lots of modern furnaces are condensing furnaces, so you'll want to make sure to manage the condensate too. Mine is on a sump which has to be pumped. No power, no pump, then small lake forms in the basement.
Love it, bro. Thanks for the video. I live in TX and experienced the outage. Hated having to rely on Oncor to decide when I got power to warm up over those days. This survival 101 plan is what everyone needs to know. In fact, it is also a hack to reducing your electricity bill for several days out of the month. Being able to switch between a couple of inexpensive batteries that you can recharge (with your car) can save quite a bit of money each month.
Thanks for sharing, the simplicity of the idea makes it beautiful; it can easily be adapted to the supplies and equipment on hand. With enough cabling and a good pure sine inverter I might even be able to connect the furnace directly to a running car! Much appreciated!
One thing to add was the size of the converter for the DIY types. For example a hair dryer pulls up to 1500 watts. So need to make sure on the size of the converter.
Despite all the naysayers in the comments, this was FABULOUS information. I liked a comment someoneade that said you could put the battery back in your car and have your alternator recharge the battery. Excellent 👌
thank you so much for this information!! I was always worried about not being able to keep my home warm for my family in case of a power outage. I will purchase with your links bro!! Thanks again!
Just putting this comment here in case it ever helps someone struggling like I did: when our power went out, I opened up the furnace to connect it to my generator with a long extension cord using the method you show above (hardware store plug splice). My newer furnace would not start up. Apparently, they are very fickle about seeing a ground in the circuit. I made a dummy ground plug that went into one of the two plugs on my generator, and once I did that the furnace kicked right on. Helpful video, though! Most people assume you need a ton of power to run a furnace.
Or you can connect the ground wire to the original ground wire from the electrical panel, just because you lose power, you don't lose the ground or neutral for that matter
@@herdHistruth That might work in this video above with an inverter, but in my case with the generator, I needed to make a bonding plug. Easy to do -- just buy an empty plug and run a wire from the green ground to the white neutral and plug that into the other socket of your generator. I suppose I should edit my original comment above in the fact that my furnace was more picky about seeing a neutral than a ground.
@@msujdog I'm a 40 year electrician and know many tricks of the trade but thanks for your input.
@@herdHistruth
Yeah the only part of the video I didn't like was when he said ignore the green wire...🙄
@@herdHistruth Thanks for sharing nerd
My advice is, if you have to jump in to any kind of wiring change or repair like this, take a few pictures of the original wiring configuration before you change anything. You might need them to switch the wiring back when the time comes. I've been able to perfectly revert wiring changes, over a year later, because I took pictures.
great advice!
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I do this a lot! Having phones on us makes it so easy. I have a phone with a stylus, too, so I can make notes, circle things, inert arrows.
Yup. Good idea. Pictures don't forget
For what it's worth, you can wire the pig tail in permanently (including the ground) and then run it outside of the furnace (through the existing hole, or drill a new one, use a grommet or other wire protection) you can then replace the existing ON/Off power switch with a switched receptacle and plug the furnace into the new receptacle. In the case of a power outage, simply unplug the cord from the switched receptacle and plug it into the inverter, no need to rewire anything and you can have heat on in seconds with out taking anything apart. Takes approximately 10 minutes to change out and costs less than 10.00.
Watch my latest video :) cheers
That's funny. Good thinking :)
This is an excellent hack for an excellent hack.
@@diyhvacguy where?
@@Bachelor_Gabe
Where?? On his channel, of course!
I lived in my truck camper for 5mo's using an inverter hooked directly to my battery while parked, just ran the 2nd set of battery cables through the glove compartment, and plugged a space heater into the inverter! Even had a cheap Wal-Mart Microwave to cook in, and could only run one or the other!
Charged the battery everyday, driving to private contracts, to get back on my feet! Not easy to live like that, but very doable with a little knowledge!
Nice out of the box thinking. A few observations. As an off grid solar guy there is no way will it last days, just a couple hours at most. Average forced air furnaces pull 600-1000 Watts depending on the fuel source and fan size. Also, lead acid's 50% DOD on a Deep Cycle paired with Peukert's Law and inverter efficiency will really hamper the idea. To run that load you really need at least a 24v input voltage inverter and several 12v Lifepo4 batteries in a series parallel config. Another thing to note is that the inverter needs to be pure sine. A modified wave will likely damage newer variable speed blower fans, zone actuators and logic boards. Tuning in for the runtime test.
Exactly. A typical 12 volt camper battery is 100 amp hours but can only be discharged 50 amp hours. That is 50x12=600 watt hours. If furnace is 800 watts, then it will run furnace 600/800 = 3/4 hours. That said, if an inverter was connected directly to a running car, it would run about as long as there was gas in the car.
It is also true that you should use a more expensive pure sine inverter to avoid damaging the furnace motor.
@@tgriebe If you go to the high side of 900ish watts that would be a 90 amp draw. I don't know of any car that can run that load at idle. This is why you don't see people running large appliances off of vehicles during outages.
@@MrMike-fn4hi hmm thanks guys for the input, I’m definitely going to try it out and see. It doesn’t run for 3-4 hrs. It will run for maybe an hr to warm up the place to 80 degrees and then sit for quite a while before I’d have to kick it back on. I may need to get crafty with the test video :) cheers all
@@diyhvacguy Exactly, the furnace usually won't have to run continuously. In the dead of winter, when it's 15 F outside, my furnace doesn't run more than 20 minutes per hour, guaranteed. Ironically, the more oversized your furnace, the less it'll run on the coldest days, but for a gas furnace the gas usage scales faster than the electrical use.
I'm wondering now, in an emergency where you were running the furnace off a battery, if you'd be better off lowering the thermostat, to improve heat loss efficiency -- or cranking it up, to take the maximum advantage of a hot furnace by running it longer once the heat exchanger was toasty. Pain to test it both ways, though.
@@MrMike-fn4hi That is true, but the furnace doesn't run continuously. So the deficit of the (90 amps?) comes out of the battery. Between furnace cycles, the car continues to run and recharges the battery. One can also step up the idle speed with a little weight on the gas pedal.
For those worried about the battery life, you can always hook up the battery to your vehicle and let the alternator charge it up a couple times a day too for a short time.
Check out my latest video :) cheers
Good advice and you should actually do this regardless. Car "starting" (vs. "deep cycle") batteries aren't made to be deep-discharged.
Or just leave the battery in the car and run an extension cord from the 120v inverter. Even better if you can find space to put the inverter so the hood closes but also good to turn off the inverter when not using the furnace or you draw power off the battery. Run the car to keep it charged since you will need a charged battery to start the car anyway.
Alternator’s do not charge batteries, they maintain them. So you will be maintaining a battery with a low base charge. Not a deep charge a battery needs.
@@accordia79 SO when you jump start a car with a dead battery, with the only real power coming from another vehicles alternator, you're trying to say that the battery doesn't then get charged by an alternator? Whether its from the donor vehicle or your own vehicle once its able to run?
In 2009, I was not thinking of a power failure as the temps were -20 or so. Thankfully the prior owner had set the water boiler system with a plug cable kinda like yours. I had my fishing boat trolling motor battery on trickle charge. I also had an 800W inverter. The plug was longer, and I quickly brought the battery and inverter to the furnace room, providing heat for over 12 hours. I had a 1500w inverter in my work truck and it got us through the rest of the outage. Seeing this brought back that event.
GREAT JOB!! This is "Urban Survival 101". I am a firm believer of having a good battery on a trickle charger in the basement. If most people kept a battery like this, and a 55gal drum for water, Everyone would be much more prepared for anything. I really liked your demeanor and your expertise into laymen's terms.
Watch out for battery fires. I wouldn't have it trickle charging it in your basement. Maybe in a garage if you have a battery charging bay box to contain it if it pops...and you don't. You shouldn't trickle charge a car battery indefinitely.
@@anthonynicholson5523 great point sir
you're gonna get sick drinking that water buddy. When you are finished with this go outside and take a nice refreshing walk
@@robertmassucci1 not if you know how to properly prepare potable water from storage.
Can you hook up a Jupiter 5,000w power inverter to a car.If so what's the proper way to do it using up to 5,000w ?
I've known about these inverters for a number of years with boats.
I don't think I would have thought to do this trick...freaking awesome!!!
Glad you found it helpful :) cheers
@@diyhvacguy even better with a lithium battery , just saying should last longer buy 2 recharge one as the other is plugged in 😎
You won’t get 2 full days, inverters are very picky about voltage drops, I run 2 batteries and a 2000 watt inverter in my van it drains the battery very fast just charging milwaukee m18 and M12 batteries
@@ikecostner1 I think that's going to depend on the size of the house and it's energy efficiency.
My house is fairly small. I would guess my heater comes on about every 15 minutes and it's approximately 38 degrees Fahrenheit right now. It will run for about 5 minutes at each heat cycle.
I use this technique for nearly everything that I have to take apart that is complicated, e.g., automotive brake assemblies, or engine layouts - and it's saved me in several situations where I had significant time pass before repairs were made.
Here in Canada it's obvious that it's critical to have a furnace running during winter and power outages do happen. I'm glad that your other video, referenced at the end of this video, corrects the run time from your battery to be about 6 hours rather than 3 days. Very important for modern, high efficiency furnaces, that the inverter used is a "Pure Sine Wave Inverter" rather than a "Modified Sine Wave Inverter". High efficiency/Variable speed furnace motors actually operate on DC voltage and the electronics that control the motor can be fried by a Modified Sine Wave Inverter. Unfortunately, Canadians are gouged to death on prices: Amazon's cheapest 1,000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter is about $220.00 and a Deep Cycle Marine battery will run about $400.00. As noted, the cost of DC cables is extra and I would recommend an adequately rated fuse between the battery and the inverter. A realistic cost in Canada for this set up would be about $800.00. A separate trickle charger or solar charging capability would be a bonus. Still may be worth doing, especially if you don't want the noise of a generator growling beside your house.
Great advice.
@pete32 adn The DIY HVAC Guy clarified in his last video that his deep cycle marine battery only provided about 6 hours of run time for the furnace only. A new standard car battery's maximum would probably be 3 to 4 hours at best. Note that that is not continuous run time. As the furnace cycles on and off during the 6 hour period, the furnace is only running for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours until the battery is dead. Also, a typical car battery (not a deep cycle) can only be discharged 50% before it has to be recharged. If it's run flat before recharging, the battery will be toast after a dozen charges.
I wouldn't use a simple trickle charger. Canadian Tire and Amazon sell "smart" chargers. I have a Noco 3-bank and a DeWalt single bank for my boat and RV batteries to keep them over the winter. You would probably be better served by connecting two batteries to double the amp hours. So now you're up to $1,200 Canadian. That's why I'm looking at using a Bluetti or similar device. It will cost more, but it's something I'll be able take on camping trips and have around the house for other uses.
@D W I go to the dump with a meter and find the batteries that are still useable. Logging truck drivers throw out all 4 if one is bad. They are massive and hold a charge.
@@binderdundit228 good idea
Really depends on the size of the motor in the furnace 1000 watts is ok for small furnaces but a big furnace can pull way more than 1000 I would advise to get your motors amps then calculate the voltage to get what size inverter you buy
Thank you very much for this valuable video.
Every time we get power outage, I panic for my elderly parents going without heat.
Now, thanks to you, they're going to be warm and safe.
Really appreciate your time and efforts and sharing this with people.
Emphasis on the RV battery. It is generally a deep cycle and is ok with heavy discharges and recharges.
While a standard automotive battery will work (if it saves your life and/or your home, then go for it), heavy discharges until empty will greatly shorten it's lifespan.
Also, regardless of the type of battery, be sure it's always fully charged. Your automotive battery likely will be already. However, if you have a battery on the shelf or sitting outside for long periods of time, get yourself a battery charger (a Battery Buddy, etc) to keep it always ready for use.
Yeah little car battery just run an extension, idle the car at night and solar the battery at day.
golf cart batteries are designed to charge and discharge hundreds of times. I use thr in my solar generator. it lights half the house and boiler
Excellent idea! (North Dakota resident) As a side note, the 2 gal/day of condensate from my propane furnace tests consistently at 37ppm TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). Drinkable, clean water.
Thanks.
I've been prepping for a while now and have a Big Buddy propane heater with 2 tanks. This is the BEST idea I've ever seen to keep my family warm this winter. You are awesome man thank you!
Glad you liked the video and found it helpful. I’m going to be doing a video on heat sources with no gas or electricity soon :) cheers
I have a 2 tank big buddy. It will burn through those tanks in 15 hours. I got a 50 gal propane tank and adapter and that will burn about three, 10 hour sessions. Great video though, I've added to my arsenal of prep knowledge
@@ER-yv5mu The buddy's are alright but they burn way to much propane. I have a zebco travler propane heater that was made in the 70's that uses way less propane. My Zebco travler goes from 2000 to 7000 BTU's. I also bought a $100.00 Wood Stove if I need it.
Yoy prep with propane ? Get a wood stove.
@@jeepsblackpowderandlights4305 I do have propane. I have 2 two 100 pound tanks and a couple 30 pound tanks. I also have a small wood stove. I show all this on my channel.
Anybody who doubts the legitimacy of this video needs this information more than they know! Nicely done.
This is definitely a great idea. I live in Canada and it gets really cold in winter. What a great option to have this inverter along with the peace of mind.
I had to do this with my basement sump pump once when we had massive rain for several days, and our power went out. It really saved us from flooding, most of my neighbors suffered that fate. I bought a gas powered generator a week later to have in reserve, and have never needed it for any emergency since. I now have solar panels connected to a charge controller, inverter, and gigantic deka battery for power to my shed. I can always run a cord to the house for emergency power, as well as the generator I still have at the ready.
@pete32 adn it's very much dependent upon where you live too. We have a high concentration of clay in our geographical area. When there's a heavy period of rain, the ground will eventually absorb the water and it takes a while for it to dry out again. The hydraulic pressure it puts on the foundation walls is released by the sump pump and associated drain tile system. It is a system that works as intended, and the only caveat is when the power does in fact fail.
FYI, modified sine wave is really bad for inductive loads such as the blower motors. They are very inefficient with those sorts of loads. Pure sine wave is what you want. It may last longer on the battery as well.
Awesome thank you for the tip. I just ordered a pure sine wave inverter so that’s what I’ll be testing with.
It’s the harmonics that cause excessive iron loss in motors. These extra losses show up as heat which deteriorate the winding insulation and cause failure. Also, the power that goes into heat robs the motors shaft power and makes the motor work harder for a given shaft load. This increases the winding current which increases the heat generated in the windings which increase the temperature of the insulation. A modified sine wave inverter needs to supply more power to a motor under a given load than a pure sine wave and significantly decrease the reliability and life of the motor. Also, most electronics need clean power to survive.
Just a quick thanks for this video. Just got hit with an ice storm and just finished rigging up the generator to the furnace. I'll be performing your more permanent mod later on. Glad I came across these video a few months ago. You saved the day! Love that the furnace pulls less than half of what my space heater was pulling from the generator.
It doesn't help us people with total electric central heating
@@no_country_for_real_men No, it doesn't, but then it's not meant for your heating system. You need a correctly sized generator for emergency power outages.
I have several backups for heating. I live in the U.P. of Michigan where winters are severe. There’s my home furnace just like this one. A 40’000 BTU ventless backup propane fireplace( Carbon Monoxide) detectors a must. A wood burner in the basement that heats the entire downstairs in an emergency. When you love 25 miles from the nearest town you have to be prepared. Food , water , fuel , and the ability to use what resources are available to stay safe , warm , fed , and ready for adversaries if necessary.
Spent 20 years living UP there when we used to get 25+ feet of snow every winter. Every little bit helps.
What you could do for a more permanent mod to your furnace is to add an A/B switch where A is the mains and B is that 120V pigtail plug that you just plug into the inverter when the power is out. Just make sure that there is no 120V on the pigtail when switched to mains.
Someone else mentioned this. Can you find a link for the right switch I’d need?
@@diyhvacguy You can try a changeover switch but might be overkill for your furnace. You just need something to switch a load between two power sources.
@@coondogtheman right on. Thanks bro!
@@diyhvacguy I ordered this one: Baomain Universal Rotary Changeover Switch SZW26-20/D202.2D with Master Switch Exterior Box 660V 20A 3 Position 2 Phase. $13 on Amazon
@trucker 9000 that would be a waist of energy/electricity.
This is an awesome thing to teach people who may be in a pinch and just need to warm up their house. Very helpful. Thanks!
It will sap the juice out of the battery setting it on concrete. You need to place a pallet under that battery . Just a word of advice !!! Never leave a battery on concrete !!!!
@@donaldpiper9763 That old "word of wisdom" was debunked years ago. Many of us live off grid and have rows of batteries sitting on concrete. My 16 - T105 sit on 12" x 12" concrete pavers. Do they also "sap" the energy out of the batteries? No, but batteries, and especially lead acid, naturally have a power drain on them whether sitting in the car or on the ground. Why do people like you go on day and year after year thinking you are being helpful and smart and everyone else is stupid? Please stop the misinformation and go do some research on this subject.
@@donaldpiper9763 nah. That was batteries of yesteryear. Totally fine now.
This is terrific knowledge. My mind instantly started to make it even better. You could leave the battery installed in the car and run the power wires from the battery into your basement or a long cord from the furnace up to the inverter so that when the battery got low, you could just start the car to recharge the battery. Now, you’ll have to make sure you don’t dip down too low so that you can’t start the car, but, it would be a slightly more efficient time-saving way to do this. Another idea is to have two car batteries, side-by-side, and using the second outlet on the inverter plug in a portable battery charger. Now, you can run a battery down until it stops working, and then simply swap battery connections.
Last December (2021) my neighborhood lost power overnight for eleven hours during a blizzard/wind storm. We've burned wood most of our lives, but the current home I built uses an air source heat pump with a natural gas furnace for when temps are below zero F. I've been considering my options and really didn't want to punch another penetration into my well insulted home for other options. I am very appreciative for this video as I have decided this is my solution, i.e. fire up the natural gas heater to get through a future power outage and save my pipes. PS: TX is disneyland compared to MT, WY, and the Dakotas during the winter, but it is nice to have a place for women and small children too. 😉
Also what you can do is hook up the inverter in your vehicle and run an extension cord. Then you can power it for as long as you have fuel in the car! Cheers
@@diyhvacguy Some vehicles (Ford Lightening notwithstanding) have built in inverters providing 120 volts ac such as the Nissan Titan. Using an extension cord of sufficient length would allow you to use the vehicle's inverter to power the furnace. If you are going to run the vehicle to charge battery or power the furnace, better make sure you have adequate ventilation - don't run it in a closed garage!
The easiest solution for emergencies would be a small propane camping heating that’s designed to be run indoors. Mr. Heater makes the popular Buddy model. It’ll heat a room for several hours on one of those green Coleman 1lb propane bottles, and there are adapters to use 20lb grill bottles. Plus, when you’re not using it for emergencies, you can still take it camping, or use it in a garage/workshop.
That was fantastic, thank you for taking the time to explain it. I should have known b/c I love car audio, but this is an excellent idea. I was without power for 6 hours in Denver yesterday and we were all at home sick.
Hey Matt did you have to mess with thermostat? Does thermostat stay on during power outage?
@@impulsora75 I haven't tried it yet Jose. But the thermostat is a low-voltage device that's usually on a battery backup such as a Nest Thermostat. If you look at your furnace you'll notice that the thermostat is powered by a low-voltage step-down transformer that draws a few watts. Nothing compared to the fan motor watt consumption, or the exhaust motor if you have a high-efficiency 90%+ furnace. Cheers bro.
Wow, I’ve never seen so many comments on one thread! Right or wrong, these are mostly good comments. Challenging ideas is ok, respectfully, of course. I’ve read some good points on both sides and really look forward to the test! Regardless of success or failure it’s been a great idea and experiment.
Thanks so much! Yes lots and lots….. and lots of comments to reply to haha
I prewired the furnace power shut off switch with a cord to plug into a power source like an inverter or generator power socket so I can connect the furnace during an extended power outage without any effort. Works perfectly.
maybe dumb Question ??? Thermostat power Nest Common wire
@@deadfisfhalequin2304 Thermostats are battery powered.
I did some math, and in my worst cold month I would only run 5 hours and that would drain the battery 95% which is hard on it, but if a guy is careful he could run that furnace about four times a day for half an hour for two days to keep the pipes from freezing. Great tip for emergencies.
Exactly! Thanks for these points. Stay tuned for the test video! It will post soon. Cheers
I measured my blower motor's current draw once and if I'm not mistaken it came out to 750 watts? Doesn't seem like a standard car battery will keep up with that for long. Speaking of car batteries (i.e., not deep cycle), keep in mind deep-discharging them will shorten their life _considerably_ (as in you'll only get to do it like 6 or 7 times on an otherwise perfectly healthy battery). An emergency is an emergency though.
I have a home battery backup solution which is just a bunch of 100AH 12v SLA batteries in parallel on an inverter and i did consider this but ultimately a furnace with a blower uses too much power for it to be viable for more than a few days without a generator. Especially when its really cold out where it needs to run for hours a day. A better alternative for long term power outage is to get a Valor natural gas insert fireplace that runs off of a couple AA batteries to spark and can run continuously to heat your home safely without needing any electricity at all.Its what i ultimately went with. So i can deal with a multi month power outage now in winter, no problem. Or second to that, just get a generator, modify your furnace to make it a plug in furnace like you did here and plug it into the gen. But in any case, great video.
Good job
Very useful and simple
Really like the way you were relaxed not arrogant and encouraging. You made this video like a PSA with heart. Ten stars
I did this last year in CA for my furnace when we had no power for 15 days during winter in the Northern Sierras. I had to use two large SUV batteries in parallel as I have a large furnace with five burners. The ignitors pull over 20 amps at 110 volts so they need over 200 amps from the 12 Volt DC batteries for about 15 to 20 seconds which a single battery was unable to supply. I had a 12 Volt trickle charger on the batteries powered from a separate backup generator which powered the rest of my house. The problem for any generator setup is driving the high amperage stuff like microwaves, coffee pots and heater ignites. As a side I used my prius as my generator to run my house as it only runs the gas motor as needed to keep the batteries charged which I hooked up to a 6KW inverter. Most generators burn 24 gallons of gas per day. My prius only burned 5 gallons per day as it runs only to recharge the main battery as needed, not continiusly.
That’s amazing thank you so much for sharing. This is what I ended up doing actually. Mounted the inverter in my truck, and then I’ll have a make pigtail for the furnace so it plugs into the outlet providing it with grid power. Then when power is lost, I simply unplug the furnace and plug that make pigtail into my extension cord to my furnace :)
Spencer, I was aware of the Prius trick (actually mentioned it above before I saw you did as well). I was told to limit the inverter size to 1000 watts though since there are limitations in capacity for the circuit that keeps the 12 volt battery charged from the traction motor circuit.
Great tip. Thanks.
Gotta love the concept of a hybrid. Do they make them with 50A power receptacles?
A gallon per hour if your generator is very large. If you are just keeping batteries charged you can get a 1000 running watt generator that will run about 6 hours on a gallon of gas.
In an area with ice storms that will take power out for days, I put in a transfer switch and keep a generator handy at all times. It also supplies the fridge to prevent loss of food and the sump pump in the the basement (in the north-east), with a finished basement, having the pump available is a necessity.
I have a similar setup (switch&generator), with my generator able to power the furnace, fridge, one bathroom, kitchen lights, living room lights/tv/internet. Now watching videos to help make a homemade battery backup energy storage to not have to run the generator nearly as much. Stumbled on this video and was like that is iffy stuff to set up he is talking about, and then try and do it in the freezing cold and dark. If only there was a unified set of regulations for power companies that made them spend money to plan for the worst-case scenarios.... Oh, wait a sec, there is, outside of Texas.
Just a helpful suggestion. At 1:31, where the power wires go through the hole on the left, consider putting a bushing in that hole and handy box. In time, the vibration from the blower motor may chafe back the insulation on those wires and short them to ground. Just a thought. . . .
Noted! I have since picked up a 100 pack of bushings :) cheers
A better way to do this is to change the wire that comes from the furnace. Disconnect it at the junction box. Put a plug on the end of it. Install a receptacle in the junction box. Plug the furnace in and it’s wired to the grid. Unplug it then plug it into the inverter. You do not even have to mess with the wiring in the furnace.
While this is definitely functional, it is also against code to have it not hard wired with a disconnect. You cannot have a furnace just plug into a receptacle.
@@puntacanaman1 True, but I did that to mine in case I have to plug it into a generator. Didn't want to spring the $100 for a transfer switch. When i sell the house, I'll hardwire it back.
@@puntacanaman1 just wondering: what if you had a disconnect to the 110v receptacle and plugged in the furnace on that receptacle (or inverter when power is out)?
Basically replace the disconnect switch with a combination toggle switch/receptacle (under $20). Make sure to put a rubber grommet where the plug comes out of the furnace (if you drill a hole).
@@puntacanaman1 Not in Canada. The Canadian Electrical Code states there must be a means of disconnect within 3 meters of the furnace. When you do it this way the original furnace switch is still functional and you cannot get more disconnected than a plug. Nowhere in the code does it state the furnace must be hardwired.
@@puntacanaman1 When your freezing in your own home, who cares about the code.
Some corrections need to be made here. A furnace drawing 800 watts would be pulling about 80 amps off the battery. That is about the same amperage as a starter motor draws as you are starting your car engine, so the furnace would not run very long. As others has pointed out... It is important to use the more expensive pure sine wave inverters. Induction motors and transformers (which are what this furnace has) will run slow, hum loudly, and will run hotter on cheaper modified sinewave inverters. If you were going to do this, you would be better off hooking up the inverter to your car and keep the engine running the whole time, and run an extension cord to the furnace
Yes, I actually hooked it up to my work truck so I can power the furnace as long as my truck has fuel 👍🏽 thanks for watching! cheers
I realize I was mistaken in my assumption that it would last for days in that my heater doesn’t run but for maybe 10 min increments so it’s not like mine stop running time. But I guess I was wrong.
That peak power draw from the furnace lasts less than a minute when the gas ignitors are activated. Beyond that, you're just powering the gas solenoids, computer control, draft fan, and main blower fan. Just hook up the inverter to your car outside, and run a long extension cord into the house.
A gas furnace only draws a fraction of that.
@@ScottDLR I have 2 - 2 ton furnaces. Each draws 550 watts. Obviously a larger furnace would draw more. That's why I said 800 watts
A smarter move for most would be to put your invertor inline with the switch box. That way you dont have to open the body of the heater and you can still use the switch.
I have an sine-wave inverter. I like the idea of having it wired permanently to my electrical circuit. That way I can just hook up my portable generator to my transfer switch I had installed at the box and have clean power, but the inverter has a plug on one end and receptacles on the other. Code doesn't allow plugs and receptacles for furnace power, so I'm basically stumped as to how it can be hooked up to meet code.
I live in San Antonio and I did this when we lost power. But I ran the extension chord from my mounted inverted in my truck to my heater. I would let the heater run and get the house to temp twice then remote start my truck and let it charge the battery back up for a bit. It was a life saver
This was a great demonstration! I suggest a few tweaks. You fully demonstrated how to fire up your heater from a battery and an inverter. With just the purchase of an operating inverter and items a household already probably has, you can power your HVAC system. No need for a generator and all that maintenance; OR, this setup is a great lifesaving backup if you experience a generator failure.
I would:
1. Get a power meter to get a good estimate of your draw from the heating system while ignited and running. Do the math to figure your electrical needs. A 200 watt blower and a 700 watt blower are going to be a big difference in how long your battery lasts. That new Bryant you have pulls way less juice than the old HVAC blowers.
2. This is for survival, not convenience. Keep the mom and kids alive. Close off parts of the house and force the heated air into a smaller area to run the heater less.
3. Make this simpler/easier. Leave the battery in the car and wire in the inverter at the car. Use a regular extension cord to get the power from the car down to the HVAC.
4. Run the car to recharge the battery when necessary. How often will depend on the battery and the power draw you computed.
5. Have a second vehicle or your RV battery in position to jump the power supply vehicle if necessary.
6. Do you have gas cooking appliances. If so, run a slow oven for cooking and extra heat without using power.
7. Get a handful of Wago connectors and leave them by the furnace for EZ safer temporary wiring.
Just remember that a byproduct of combustion is moisture, fine particulate, and formaldehyde - and a possibility of CO, so I wouldn’t recommend it. However, if you have an emergency and plan to use a gas range or oven (assuming the oven doesn’t require power for electronic controls), you will need to vent somewhat to avoid excess moisture and combustion byproducts. This is why your furnace uses a heat exchanger.
You can not power your whole house AC this way , the AC pulls a lot of amps at start up . I can’t even power up my whole house AC with a 8500/ 10000 start up watt gas generator .
@@toledojeeper2932 agreed. I was only referring to the heater portion. And NOT a heat pump or resistance heater.
May be worth mentioning that most furnaces have a kill switch that is activated when service panel is removed.
Yes I’ll mention that when I do the test video. Thanks for the tip! Cheers
It turns the furnace off but it can still be bumped and turn stuff on so be careful reaching in there. Better to shit it off at the SSU or breaker
EASY to forget that switch too
All do now and it’s required by government epa
@@diyhvacguy Could you just connect the wire to the kill switch instead of the furnace?
Just mount the inverter under the hood of your truck and run an extension cord inside so you can start the truck once in a while to charge it up .. I'd also think you'd want a fuse on that lead to the inverter in case it becomes a welding cable :)
But don’t ya need too drive over 25 mph in order for that alternator too really charge back up a battery cause just idling and not moving I don’t think really charges back up that battery off the alternator.
Ya lol. Needs a fuse forsure.
@@BLUExEYEDxSLICKT When you start your vehicle and idle .. it hits 14.x volts. it's charging.. just not putting out full potential amperage.
@@BLUExEYEDxSLICKT No, you don't need to drive any distance. Driving just wastes gas on moving the vehicle. Idling will recharge a battery just fine.
Jody mounting an inverter directly to your truck is not adviseable. When the blower gan depletes the truck battery you will not be able to start the truck. A 2nd seperate battery is usually practical in this situation. Bless.
You speak clearly and slowly. Although I have 2 generators, I'm going to get an inverter too. Thank you for putting up the video!
Of course! 🙏🏻
A much safer, and code compliant solution is to have a single transfer switch, such as a EasyTran TF151W pre-wired to the furnace. It has a 120v power inlet which will accept an extension cord. That way, an extension cord can be plugged in from the inverter or remote generator without messing with the internal wiring of the furnace during the outage, requiring only the flip of a switch.
Exactly what I was thinking!
Great video! But you failed to mention that the condition and capacity of the battery will have a large effect on the success of this idea. The battery from your car is meant to provide shorter bursts of high power to start your engine. Once it is running, most of the 12 volt DC power your vehicle needs is provided by the car's alternator. You would likely have better success, and longer run time, if you use a Deep-Cycle battery, which is designed to provide a smaller amount of current over a longer period of time between charges. Deep discharging of a regular car battery will definitely shorten its life.
I agree about getting a dedicated deep cycle. I did want to add, though, that there are some options for using the heat from the gas to keep the battery topped up. Specifically an appropriate Peltier array that can put out ~14VDC. You'd need to get a little creative with cooling the cool side... a heat sink and a CPU fan would work, but water cooling would be better. Lastly you'd want some diodes to keep from backfeeding the Peltier (assuming it's not already so equipped, depends if you're building from scratch or off the shelf), but such a setup could keep a system like this running indefinitely.
The battery lights the fire, the fire charges the battery. You could also do the same thing with a Stirling engine if you don't mind your basement looking like some steampunk mad scientists lab. In either case you'd have to do a lot of tuning to get it just right, and there are issues with voltage regulation since the heat source would be variable.
@@nutbastard I don't think this would work because the battery isn't just lighting the fire, most of its power goes to running the high output fan to push air throughout the house, probably 500W or more. I'd love to know a way to keep it topped up though
@@thomasnunya1438 I'll be honest I didn't expect a fan on anything other than a furnace for a mansion to pull 500W, but let's run with it.
The average car battery has about 1.3kWh from topped to flat. Let's ignore the inverter for now, but note that it will simply turn off below a certain voltage, and losses are at least 20%.
Anyway, a modest home gas furnace will put off around, at the low end, 60kBTU, or ~17.5kW of heat. We only need to gather one seventeenth and a half of that to reach parity.
I am looking at high wattage Peltier modules that are each capable of more than 100W output and the cost is around $1 per watt. So call that $500 for Pelts, worst case scenario.
And that's assuming a 100% duty cycle for a 500W draw, when in reality it's going to be way lower than that, if we can believe that this guys setup is enough to run a furnace for 3 days? I forget how long he said exactly. Considering that a 100% duty cycle would flat the battery in less than 3 hours and he's claiming 36..... that's less than 50W/h. AND that's got to be high as well, since below about 80% DC voltage the inverter will shut off. So now we're down to a single 100W pelt at 50% efficiency being plenty to keep it topped up. Maybe get two for good measure.
Like I said, the cool side plumbing would be its own project, and one would have to put some thought into this.
I did some math before I even posited my first comment and I have to say that after some more research... I still think I'm right about this, or rather, I think it's feasible... I'm open to anyone poking holes in my math here.
Beyond that, there are other methods - the Peltier idea is just what came to mind for a slap-on thermoelectric recovery solution.
You could also tune down (or disable) the fan and tune down the gas and adjust the venturi and let convection do its thing to reduce the load, though you'd likely run into issues with the thermostats. But in a really dire situation, you can just jump all those wires and bypass all of that.
Electrics only do exactly what you allow them to.
If you ever encounter anything that won't do what it's supposed to and you see little round things with two of the same colored wires coming out, you can just connect those two wires together - be it thermostat or thermal fuse, inline components are exactly that - inline.
It's the quick test for bad thermal fuses for when I left my meter in the truck. You just lesbian the female spades together and fire it up. If it works without that part, that's the part to replace, that'll be $350 please and thank you.
@@nutbastard My house is 1000 sq. ft. I measured the blower motor alone at 750 watts (1995 furnace). Sometimes that means the motor/bearing/etc. is failing, but that measurement was taken a good 10 years ago (with nothing replaced since).
Super cool, nice work!
Great idea , one piece of advice on car battery's , set it up on something wood , concrete will drain a battery 👍
I have that inverter and though motors are supposed to be okay with the modified sine wave output I am pretty sure it killed my old mini-fridge. Also running a fan off it in the shed during the summer makes the motor really noisy with a sick electrical hum like a transformer. To be safe I would spring for a pure-sine inverter so you could also safely charge electronics if you wanted.
I’ll be testing this setup to see how many days it will heat my home next week. I’ll keep note of any strange noises but I will for sure mention this in the test video! Thanks for sharing. Cheers
When you charge electronics the charger changes it to dc, shouldn't matter if it's a pure sine wave
@@johnn3542 "Shouldn't" but I've read plenty claiming that the modified sine may interfere with or damage sensitive electronics like devices that need to charge. I never had problems running an older laptop off that inverter in my shed but I also didn't care if it got destroyed.
Can you give me the name of that inverter? Im looking to find a way to power my fridge because was told we were going to have rolling black outs! If i used two or three car batteries would and used that inverter would it hold a fridge for a couple of days?
Modified sine wave is bad for inductive motors. Pure sine wave is far more reliable.
For safety you need to install an Automatic Dual Power Transfer Switch (ATS). You don't want to go around fiddling with wires especially if it's dark.
You are extremely optimistic about the duration of the battery life.
Watch my latest video :) cheers
Since CCA on a car battery mean the amps it can provide in 30 seconds before voltage drops from 12V to 8V, you can expect a total of about 8,440 watts (844 amps x 10V average) of power from that battery. It is an 8 Amp furnace so 8amps x 120v = 960 watts per hour. 8440 watts/960 watts per hour = 8.79 hours of run time. Bear in mind a furnace also doesn't run constantly, and this doesn't take into account energy lost through heat in the inverter, etc.
considering that your typical load from a modern furnace is about 800watts, a typical size 42 or 48 car/truck battery on a 1500w inverter will run for quite a long time given that they're about 60-90ah depending on the quality of the battery.
What sucks however, is that the sine wave that the inverter puts out is generally stepped (which is not great for your furnaces electronics and motors), only higher quality inverters should be used in use cases like this.
If your furnace is in the garage you can also hook your battery up to your car and let good old fossil fuel charge it while you're running things
Illinois boy here, our furnaces run longer and more often than down in Texas I reckon. But I don’t the difference in required insulation values between the two states.
Change the 110v ac switch to a box with a switched outlet and put a 110v cord on the furnace to plug into the switched outlet. Now you can put an extension cord on the furnace when needed. Instead of using a battery, I have an already charged Ecoflow Delta Mini that I keep around for this purpose and for my sump pump. It can also be recharged with 12v from my car when needed or with solar panels if you have them.
This scheme is a much neater way of cutting over to "auxiliary" (inverter) power source, rather than fumbling with wiring at 3AM in a freezing house. I made a box with a switch so I can switch between mains power and another source - input spigot is on box. This way I can just plug in aux source, flick switch, and back in business.
The most important and useful video in the history of TH-cam.
Used this th-cam.com/users/postUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y for the first time this weekend. It powered everything in my Rpod camper plus a small heater for my friend’s tent. I love the remote start!This works better than my two Honda 2000’s Very happy with it. Just make sure to do a proper break in. The instructions don't talk about it. Look it up on TH-cam there’s some good videos on it.
Side note: boats typically have deep cycle battery’s and will hold power for longer. In theory the deep cycle battery should let you run it longer.
You should add a small voltage meter to the setup to monitor the battery. That way you could keep an eye on battery capacity to prevent low voltage cutoff on the inverter. I agree with using deep cycle batteries or batteries in parallel, it will reduce stress and give longer runtimes. Another thought is a larger capacity (2000w or larger) lithium “generator “ could work without an inverter, since it already has 120v outlets. The other advantage they charge must quicker than lead acid, usually in just a few hours from a gas generator. Unfortunately they are $$$$$$!
Check out my latest video :) you’ll like that one. Cheers
Inverters shut off when the battery voltage is too low. Why would you shut it off before then?!
Many inverters show you the battery voltage while they are running.
Not real hard I'm 70 and I can remember what I need to do. Besides I done it a lot to run a fan in the summer and a heater in the winter for my dogs in my van
That inverter and battery set up is also a great option to energize a well pump during outages. I have a 5000 W inverter from Harbor freight and a deep cycle marine battery. It handles the extra wattage needed to start the motor. It is perfect for intermittent use
Thanks for sharing!
@Tristan correction: 3000W
My well is 220v. Do they make a 220 inverter? Right now I just have a manual pump mounted inside the well pipe. I can attach it to an outside spigot and pump water into the house when power goes out.
@@edflowers7456 I have no idea… Good question. I kind of think there is a way to rewire the output to double the 110 V rating, but I’m not sure how that is done.
My furnace must pull more power, tried 1000w and 2000w inverters with two parallel RV batteries and furnace would shut off after about 20 seconds. 3000w pure sine inverter and it works beautifully! Thanks!
Nice idea but as many of the other commenters stated, the run time in this format is very limited. Several years ago, I took this one step further by connecting the inverter to my INSTALLED car battery via a 100 Amp Anderson connector ( often seen on electric forklifts) and pigtail. With the engine running,you have a longer run time on the inverter. I did this during Superstorm Sandy and this method kept many furnaces and refrigerators going.
I have another video on this. Thanks for the comment! Cheers
Man great idea! I noticed it was a marine deep cycle battery. That may last a little longer, takes a little longer to charge. Once charged it will last longer when not being used also. Just thought that it was worth mentioning. Thanks for the video.
You do not need to remove a car battery. Simply put your inverter under the hood and hook up to the battery. Run an extension cord into the house. This allows you to run the vehicle to charge the battery.
I did this for days for several power outages that lasted 3-7 days. Simply ran the vehicle occasionally to keep the battery charged.
Yea! This is exactly what I did. I’ll be posting a video on that soon. Thanks so much for sharing!!
@@diyhvacguy Nothing beats a generator. But in hard times you do what you have to do. What I did kept the family warm in low teens temps .
The key to under hood inverter is to keep it dry and keep the hood cracked open.
Good content btw.
@@ptmmatssc13 thanks man!
Yup!! I did the same back in 2010 during a freeze in El Paso that lasted for 3 days. The City had "planned brown outs" because our city's power grid couldn't handle the cold. The brown outs were 45 minutes long every two hours. I had a 400w/800W peak inverter in my Trans Am. Lucky for me it had a full tank. So for the 3 days it was enough to keep the furnace going . My furnace was already wired with a 115V power cord.
@@enriquealvarado2930 brilliant! Glad it got you through. So many people are going to be up a creek if/when this happens here. It’s nice to have the knowledge on different ways to achieve power in that situation. Thanks for sharing! Cheers
THE BEST KNOWLEDGE ON TH-cam. THANK YOU
Very cool. Never though of that. Beats using the generator for small outages. Also can always connect to car to recharge if possible.
Yea! I didnt even think about mentioning that. Or for that matter you could connect it to the car and run it directly from that with an extension cord and then when it gets low, grab some gas if its accessible. Thats the thing about emergencies, there are so many variables. If there is no gas to be had, and no natural gas, and no power, alot of people will be in a really sticky situation! Thanks for the comment! Cheers
Where is this test video
@@mauricelewis1650 workin on it. Make sure and subscribe and click the bell so you can see when it comes out :)
Ordered the inverter from Amazon.
Helpful for people in emergencies, but it is better to permanently install a plug on the furnace and double throw switch, for example a toggle switch with ON-OFF-ON to have the option of grid power or inverter power. Check out the EZ Generator switch on Amazon, designed by US electricians. I also think it is smarter to have the inverter installed on your car, and if the battery gets low, you can start the engine to charge it. Depending on where your furnace is, of course. The best solution in my opinion is a solar powered battery back up system that can handle not just your furnace but your fridge, lights, and other critical loads and have a feed-in receptacle on your electrical panel.
Just FYI, Black is negative for DC not neutral.
What a great idea. Winter outages are usually due to storms and can last a few days. Keeps the house warm and avoids frozen water lines
A starter battery will not last that long. He is using a lead acid duel cycle marine battery and not a starter battery. They are made differently. Don't use a car starter battery it will drop below 50 percent very quickly and damage the battery and you will lose heat very quickly.
Even the deep cycle batteries won’t last days. This won’t last more than a couple of hours max. A gas generator can be ran to power the furnace for days at around the same cost or a little more. It’s an out of the box idea but one that should only be used in an emergency and if you use the battery from your car.. expect to buy a new one because the plates inside will be destroyed from being discharged so low
@@joshualangley5550 Yep. In a pinch you can even use 12 volt tool batteries on a power inverter, but depending on what you are running. Those batteries can go dead instantly or last for hours. The same is for duel cycle marine batteries. If you have a inverter connected to your starter battery and have your car running then your battery is not supplying the power. You alternator is. Once you turn your car off then your battery is sending the power.
@clot shots You do know that water lines can freeze in just a few minutes right. Also I used to run a laptop off of my vans starter battery, and I could only run it for about 30 minutes max before my van would not start. One more thing to consider is if you are having to run back and forth to start your car. You will lose any warm air that you just made by opening the door. You are not doing yourself any favors by doing that. If anything just get a extra battery in the house that you can use, and once it goes down just connect to your car and charge it with your alternator with jumper cables. Less trips and less opening your door so the more heat you can keep in. I now have 1200 watts in solar and a 400 watt wind turbine generator, and a gas inverter generator for those types of days and nights. I also bought a 7000 btu propane heater for heat.
@clot shots Even if you are just opening the door to go in to your garage ( if you have one ). You would still lose heat from the house. Also if you are talking about water they can freeze even with insulation.
Yup, a lot of problems here. You'd need probably a half dozen or more of those batteries for a days worth of furnace operation (intermittent use) depending on thermostat setting. Connecting the inverter to a running vehicle would make more sense, but the vehicle would likely need a 100-120 amp alternator, and it would have to provide that amperage at idle unless you want to prop a stick against the gas peddle. Might just as well buy a generator.
The "cord whip" on the furnace is a useful idea. I've installed a few for people with portable generators who just run extension cords to important stuff from the generator. The DIY HVAC Guy's method was a clumsy hack at best (sorry). There is no need to open the furnace to install the "cord whip" for alternative power sources. Simply replace the single pole/single throw wall switch, currently used for the furnace power, with a double pole/double throw/center off toggle switch. Wire the house line and neutral to one end of the switch, the "cord whip" to the other end of the switch, and the furnace leads to the center. When the switch is fully in one direction you have house power. When fully in the other direction, alternate power from the "cord "whip". The center position is "OFF" for servicing the furnace. All wiring changes take place in the switch box. Be sure to use a cord grip (protector) on your whip where it enters the switch box. Buy a blank cover for the switch box and drill appropriate diameter hole for the toggle switch to mount in.
Some people will see that male plug hanging there and think "suicide cord", but when wired correctly, the only way there is power on the "cord whip" is if it is plugged into an alternate power source. And, when wired correctly, no way to accidently back-feed your alternative power source into your house wiring.
Thank you for this information. Very helpful. I did actually install a pure sine wave inverter in my truck so it can power the furnace as long as I have fuel in the truck. Thanks so much for watching! Make sure and subscribe to the channel for more helpful hvac tips and tricks! Cheers
I’m living in an off-grid studio with a power hookup & was wondering what I could do as a backup, and your video reminded me that I still have the inverter I bought in 2016 to run my laptop on the cross-country drive here, plus I just replaced my battery at Wal Mart. - plus I recently bought a compact jump-start lithium charger on Amazon. Good to know Thank you!
I used this same trick to get a hot shower from my +95 efficiency gas water heater. Fortunately our local code has it plugged into an outlet just above the heater via a 15 amp 110v cord. Very little draw on the battery as the heater once lit uses a small fan to pull air up through and outside.
For the record, this will not work with HVAC’s that rely on heat pumps or heating coils. This backup option is solely for natural gas or propane gas heating.
Thank you, Was wondering if it would work for oil burning hot air furnace...apparently not?
@@dcalkins2808 The actual fuel shouldnt matter. But good question.
No problem with your hookup and all, but you mislead regarding the run time. A good deep cycle battery, fully charged, would run your furnace for about 45 min to an hour before going flat. Plus, discharging a flooded battery more than 50% of it's capacity is a no no. Works, but I'd recommend a 2000 watt portable generator instead.
I’m actually going to be installing this in my truck so it will run my furnace as long as I have gas in the truck. Stay tuned for that video! Thanks for the tips also. Cheers
Thanks for the advice. Its funny that I hear different advice. Someone else said its good to run the battery completely down. I actually ordered a 1000w pure sine wave inverter and I have it permanently mounted in my truck so I'll be testing using this setup on the next video. Theoretically it should run my furnace as long as I have fuel in the truck so we shall see. Thanks for the tips! Cheers
Had to do this exact same thing from 12/23/22-12/25/25 due to the mega wind and rain storm we just had in Maine, I have a Jupiter 2000 Watt that I purchased at harbor freight with a everstart 800 cold cranking amps marine battery from Walmart and it worked flawlessly on my hot air furnace.
Great video man. With the way the world seems to be heading these days, ideas like this are becoming that much more important. Also with a modest solar panel, you could keep the system running almost indefinitely.
That’s true. I’d love to do solar but if im doing solar, it’s gonna be for every electrical item in my home, and I’ll probably do a battery backup since otherwise you can only use the solar during the daytime when they are harvesting energy.
And we are talking 20-40k for that setup.
Maybe TH-cam will pay for it someday 😂
During & after #MarshallFire, electric and gas were both down (don't want gas spewing out of 1,100 leveled homes, after all) as the temperature dropped to deep freeze levels. Most houses that survived the firestorm had pipes freeze.
Those with solar, battery backup, and electric heat or space heaters all came through OK. Ditto generators used to power space heaters.
That disaster boosted the priority of a 5KW rooftop solar system for us. Aside from labor and permits, we'd be looking at $16k for panels, mounting, controllers, and batteries via Project Solar kits.
Even better for full DIY, check out `DIY Solar with Will Prowse` th-cam.com/users/WillProwse for some good ideas and test results for panels, controllers, rackmount batteries. We can probably come in $14k fully DIY for our desired battery runtime on a 5KW system.
How many kilowatts that's crazy. You don't need 5,000 KW. I ran 10 years on 114 kilowatts kept my batteries up and I had furnace year round, lighting and television and charging my phone, fridge you name it, and I had $1,400 total in my system.
Thanks for the tip…never thought about it! If you wanted to install a double pole double throw switch you could permanently run the house furnace on regular commercial 120 volts or flip the switch and you are setup to use the inverter. By the way, you need a snap in cap to cover the open whole in the electrical box for safety and to meet electrical code. Great video, thanks again!
That’s a great idea. Thanks for sharing. And thanks I noted that hole so I need to grab a cap for it and a cover for those wires. Cheers
Put a cord on that furnace, and put an outlet on the furnace breaker. You could unplug it whenever you want.
maybe dumb Question ??? Thermostat power Nest Common wire
@@deadfisfhalequin2304 I've never had a terribly smart thermostat. What does something like a Nest run on? My old programmable one just uses two AA batteries.
I installed a plug on my furnace, then installed two outlet boxes next to the furnace. One box is 120 volts from the electric service in the house, and the other is ran to an electric inlet on the outside of the house. When the power goes out I simply start one of my generators and plug into the inlet on the house, then unplug the furnace from the house current and plug into the generator outlet.
Quick, simple and completely isolated from the utility service.
Great video! I did notice that you mentioned the 1K inverter. Respectfully suggest that this is the minimum size for your 8 amp draw furnace. Anything smaller wouldn't be a good idea. Very clever! Here in Oklahoma this could be a very useful trick! Thank you.
at 120 volts and 8 amps that would be 960 watts. With the power loss in the inverter and wires and terminals. A 1100 watt inverter would be right on the edge of whats safe to use. In this case I would go with a 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter. The furnace would run smoother and make less heat through the inverter and wires.
I do believe a 1K inverter with two plugs will actually only be 500 per plug.
@@alandeon Depends on the inverter.
Homeboy, this is great info! I could actually run a trickle charger to a dedicated deep cycle marine/solar battery that is connected to the grid, and then run a separate line of cables to a generator/car. super stoked! thank you!
I wish you knew how much I love these kinds of videos. Thank you for taking the time to share the knowledge. God bless you. Subscribed!
Thank you so much for the support! Anything helps in an emergency situation. I ended up finding that if I put the inverter in my work truck and running an extension cord to the furnace it’s an even better solution. That way I can run my furnace as long as needed as long as I have fuel in the truck :) stay tuned for that video as well! Cheers
@@diyhvacguy use a portable generator! Someone might steal your truck when you are sleeping!
@@uhjyuff2095 As the people in New Jersey found out when Hurricane Sandy hit, fuel is pretty much gone in a day. As a matter of fact, gas cans were no where to be found also.
@@1965myctahg propane generators are cool
Great video! I'm onboard with the entire process but I'm skeptical about how long the battery can power the main blower.
Yea that’s what everyone is saying. I ended up connecting the inverter to my truck and i can run the furnace as long as I have fuel in my truck. Much better long term power outage solution! Cheers
Thanks for taking the risk, showing old school simplicity. A car battery is about 1kwh. A gas inducer motor can consume well over a hundred W, often many hundreds (several amps at 110vac). As such might only be able to run few hours or so. Which may well be enough heat until the power returns. I connected the inverter to the car battery at the car, ran a extension cord to the furnace. Ran the car every so often to charge it up.
Thanks for sharing man! I cleaned the coil in my horizontal crawl space furnace/AC to day. Mine is strait like a condenser in a car.
I already had the cabinet off one side to inspect the heat exchanger and couldn't believe how good it still looks. Through that door I could get to 75% of the coil with a long handle stiff dish brush but had to take the cap off the left side to finish where all the piping and drain is located. I used dawn and water in one bottle and water in another bottle to wash it all away. Probably not near as good as what you used but it looks 100% better.
One too many times I had forgot to get the size of the filter and wouldn't buy the wrong one at the store while I was thinking about it.
So this one caved in and collapsed. Can't let that happen again.
Excellent video!!!!!
I've had something similar rigged up for over 2 decades! Run four 27 series deep cycle batteries run parallel with a battery maintainer. Inverters have come a long way in that time! (Basically, the same type of system, just bigger.)
That's really cool. I've got electric heat with a heat pump, which is great for my electric bill, but doesn't do much if we have a power outage in winter. I am wanting to wire into the electric panel a generator switch and then have that as backup for furnace, and freezers/fridges.
GREAT VIDEO. Wish I knew this a couple years ago
But i'm so glad I have solar panels and backup generators.. never have to worry about this again in my life. In New York state you can actually get the stuff for free 🤷🏼♂️
Great Job! And it may possibly be one of the most important videos ever on You tube (given the loss of power we are experiencing in the Mid-West with -10deg F weather.)
Super idea. THANK YOU. Never thought about it. Going to do the same. My Jeep has the same set up built in..... LOL. I am also going to order a trickle charger for the batt and have it all ready in the basement.
Usually newest furnace doesn’t used bigger power and it’s very easy working with batteries just like you are showing but it’s only temporary, thanks brother for letting us know
You just got a new subscriber! We recently had 2 outages in 3 days, of 5 hours each, with outside temps around freezing. Could have used this info about a week ago! Now I have to get a battery, inverter and the cables!
Good tips. I had the same idea about power outage but don't know how to turn up the motor of my furnace. Now I know how. Thanks.
I am not worthy of your great knowledge, what a lifesaver and game changer, you might of saved thousands of lives. I heard people froze to death down in Texas, totally unacceptable, thank you for this video, I already have an inverter I bought but not used it yet, for my Oxygen Concentrator to run in the car when I travel. I have had Covid-19 4 times and pneumonia last year for 6 months, 3 in a long stay hospital, almost died, but thank ole mighty God and thanik ole Mighty God for you sharing this video, it time for battery backup!
I have a stand by generator, some people already know about the inverter, but most dont, good video 👍
This is pretty neat hack. I have always wanted to go with an all electric system in my home to get rid of gas but you know what? I have never ever heard of Gas ever going out.
So in an emergency you can either heat your home with a wood fireplace or use this handy hack.
That's a genius idea. I have 3 boats, so I always have boat batteries around the house. I'm headed to harbor freight this week
Lots of modern furnaces are condensing furnaces, so you'll want to make sure to manage the condensate too. Mine is on a sump which has to be pumped. No power, no pump, then small lake forms in the basement.
Love it, bro. Thanks for the video. I live in TX and experienced the outage. Hated having to rely on Oncor to decide when I got power to warm up over those days. This survival 101 plan is what everyone needs to know. In fact, it is also a hack to reducing your electricity bill for several days out of the month. Being able to switch between a couple of inexpensive batteries that you can recharge (with your car) can save quite a bit of money each month.
Thanks for sharing, the simplicity of the idea makes it beautiful; it can easily be adapted to the supplies and equipment on hand. With enough cabling and a good pure sine inverter I might even be able to connect the furnace directly to a running car! Much appreciated!
Of course! Thanks for watching
This is the only video that exactly resembles my furnace setup
Without gas, which also happened in some Texas locations, this would not work. That said, I appreciate and agree with video. Thank you!
I got all of that just sitting in my basement...thank you for this now I know!!🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
Great idea, and tutorial. For those of us who may not be able to afford generators. Thank you sir. We’ll executed video.
One thing to add was the size of the converter for the DIY types. For example a hair dryer pulls up to 1500 watts. So need to make sure on the size of the converter.
Good idea. You should hard wire in a "two way switch" so you can flip it between "line and battery" and leave it connected full time.
Despite all the naysayers in the comments, this was FABULOUS information. I liked a comment someoneade that said you could put the battery back in your car and have your alternator recharge the battery. Excellent 👌
wonderful...if our power is out another two days here in Michigan I'm going to use this knowledge.....thank you so much 👍🏾🧠
thank you so much for this information!! I was always worried about not being able to keep my home warm for my family in case of a power outage. I will purchase with your links bro!! Thanks again!