Power Inverters can take the power from your car engine and turn it into power to run household appliances in emergencies. Since there have been several great power failures this year due to weather conditions like hurricaines, or just mystery outages like those that occurred in London, having a cheap way to back up power is a good idea.
For the average household a back up power generator at several hundred dollars is probably not a good idea. But a power inverter that can use the energy from your running automobile at a price a low as $25.95 is a great idea for backup security.
The way it works is that you run your car motor which produces DC -- direct current-- power. The Power Inverter plugs into your car's cigarette lighter, and changes the power to AC --alternating current -- suitable for running your household appliances like a refrigerator full of food. If you run the car for a half hour every so often during the emergency, it can keep the food from spoiling.
Practically speaking, you need to be able to bring your car near the house and have on hand a large UL approved extension cord to plug into the inverter which sits on the car seat. You can then run your UL approved heavy duty cord into the house.
Larger inverters can run several appliances, but are more expensive. I've listed several of the cheapest I could find below.
An added bonus from running the car is that you can open the hood and CAREFULLY place a pot of water or a frying pan on the hot engine and cook your dinner. Once long ago on a camping trip with friends I can remember cooking our dinner this way during a two day driving rain storm. Yes, I still love camping.
Handy things automobiles.
Again, please note be very careful to avoid whirling belts and other moving parts in the car!
So thank you Shay for bringing this to my attention. Often in emergencies its raining and the Solar Cooking Plans won't be very helpful. So instead, cars can be very helpful in emergencies! You are not helpless!
Some cheapies I found!
NORTHERN TOOL.com Type -- Power Inverter -- to search the site.
FREE SHIPPING on hundreds of items at NorthernTool.com
Here are some pictures and examples:
Coleman Power Inverter 200 Watt:
$25.99
Whistler Power Inverter 200 Watt:
$35.49
Coleman 800 Watt Power Inverter:
$73.95
Or --- you can build your own generator with an old lawn mower engine. Cool site with plans and pictures here:
http://theepicenter.com/tipoweek.html
Remember to Check out these other articles on Frugal Emergency Prep:
Frugal Emergency Prep
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art8641.asp
Cheap Emergency Prep
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art12781.asp
For more ideas Check out these Frugal Living Books!
Complete Tightwad Gazzette
The Complete Tightwad Gazzette
