Use Prius in Power Outage?

i'm no expert, but did pass the journeyman exam - ..Just because the prius has a 100A fuse in front, doesn't mean you need 100 A wire to go between the invertor and the battery . ok , say 1200 Watts, (because we are only ever going to peak at 1200 and rest of time be below it) simple ohm's law application - P = EI. 1200 ( 14.4 volts) * I (current needed) , we solve for I. 1200/14.4 = 83 amps . Also consider the distance, 3 feet ? It's gonna sit in the hatchback so you will have almost no voltage drop. 8 AWG up to 50-60 amps, (Prob. would get you by) but you could do 6 AWG - I beleive 4 would be overkill unless you are at the peaks alot and in overly hot weather conditions. You could throw an 80 amp slow blow fuse in their for extra piece of mind. At the short distance of 3 foot its maybe $10 more for 4 AWG for 2 pieces.
Remember, you want this ancillary system fuse to go before the 100A fuse in the prius goes ...

 

In this case, do remember that a transfer switch is required, so that your house cannot be connected to both the utility grid and to your inverter / generator at the same time.

 

This is the simplest solution if you know in advance where emergency power will be needed. However, if you are going to use a portable generator, you need to be careful to follow safety instructions regarding ventilation - specifically with regard to carbon monoxide poisoning. NEVER use a portable gasoline generator indoors and make certain you position the generator well away from any CPAP equipment.

 

I assumed the generator would be outdoors and the CPAP would be indoors, connected with a cord run through a window.

 

Sorry. I actually didn't intend that as a reply to you jb. However I wanted to include your original comment for rshev's benefit. I assumed you would already know how to use a portable generator, but others... ...not so much.

I was lazy when I hit the reply button. Henceforth I will copy and past the quote.

 

The battery is under the bonnet, not the hatchback.

 

i dont know about a bonnet the HV bat is not being accessed , the 12v aux is beingaccessed, pulling some fascia aside with a clip remover tool is handy , alligator clips are then connected to the terminals, the invertor normaly comes with about 3 feet of#4 or #6 , maybe #8 cabling to connect to a 12V source.

 

Under the hood?

 

Ideally, and expensively, you would use a transfer switch, when you have a hurricane come around once a year or every other year and power is out for a day or a week, there is called the 'house power' switch, -- you turn the house power off so the grid is no longer able to supply it.
(this is your acting 'transfer' ha ) -- also a safety thing would be a lock on the house power panel switch so it cant accidentally be turned on.

then you plug in what some call a 'suicide cord' double male, coming from invertor to a plug prob. in your garage.
i have noticed doing this, i have all the big power users switched off in the breaker, A/C, heater, stove , fridge (maybe fridge for a breefe time), but the V drops make fan motors and lights a bit dimmer than normal and in this I suggest a 240V invertor.

 

Yeah, you could take juice from under the hood, but I was assumming people would be conecting to the aux bat in the rear corner deep pocket, closing the hatch so as not to let weather /humidity into your electronics space inside the car.

 

Chronon's Gen2 has the 12V under the hatchback. But OP posted this to a thread specifically for Gen4s, where the 12V was moved forward to the hood / bonnet.

 

In an unexpected emergency, yes, many folks will do this. But it won't pass electrical inspection because it is unsafe. Users planning ahead on using auxiliary house power ought to do it right, to avoid the risk of compounding the natural disaster with an additional human tragedy.

 

When I bought my used $300 2K Watt inverter generator I also bought a transfer switch. It cost more than the generator (north of $400). I figured I'd do it right. The inverter generator puts out voltage very similar to what you normally have from power company, so no dimming lights and fridge and freezer work fine. I run lights, fridges, outlets for internet stuff, outlets for environmental control for my snakes (resistive heaters), a pellet stove (motors), a blower for a wood stove (motor) and an oil burner for my oil-fired boiler (also motor). This way we can be fairly comfy in a winter power outage. No hot water or stove (both are electric), but we can cook outside on a grill and be warm at night and have some lights and internet if ISP Gods are willing.

Using "suicide" cord for anything other than suicide is silly, but will work in a pinch. May take a electric service man down with your suicide, but who is counting.

 

you're on a different gen car
Mine is a 2nd GEN battery in back corner of hatchback, guess that should have been clarrified earlier, 04-08? ..

 

i dont know where the term came from, it is simply a Male to Male extension cord, they just don't usually sell them. If the house power is on from grid of course that's where the problem lies. Many people forget/get distracted. Also, not everybody has the extra precaution of a lock on the house breaker - it is supposed to be on the box 'aka can' but that tab is often broken when trades people have togo into the attic in florida in june and they dont give a crap, they leave the ac on all day with the doors open, its not their money ...

If you shut the breaker off to the house and lock that house breaker box so grid power isnt coming in, then ideally you could plug into 240v laundry socket.

 

I assume that the OP has a Gen 4 - he/she's posted in the Gen 4 FORUM. So - he/she would have the battery under the bonnet.

 

Here, they're very illegal (not that there are degrees of illegality) - there would be large penalties if found - and if a death ensued, far more.

 

Totally agree but....

The OP says up to 7 days. We're talking losing everything in the fridge and freezer(s) before then. OP really should consider a generator if that matters. Also being in Cali., the OP also faces the ever present possibility of loss of power from earthquakes.

 

I know what a suicide cord is. I learned all that when I was doing research. I decided to NOT go with back-feeding (using suicide cord to feed power from generator into the house panel). I n our state it is illegal and a 10 circuit transfer box cost about $400 and I installed it myself saving a lot. It's not difficult to install and makes things very safe. Now even my kids can switch to generator power without endangering themselves or others (power company servicemen). I think it's worth the $400 to even potentially save a human being from getting a shock or worse. Just because it's possible to do it the cheap way doesn't mean it must be done that way. I figured I was improving the house by installing a proper code-compliant auxiliary power transfer switch, which is more of an investment than expense. Also with a proper transfer switch installed I can use whatever auxiliary source I want, be it my Prius or the generator I bought or something larger if I need in the future. It's a good thing to have if the power outages are part of life. Fortunately for us, our power is pretty rock solid and we had only total of maybe 80 hours of power outage (72 hours consecutive) in 12 years we lived in this house. Our town has its own power company and not only do we get better rates than neighboring towns, but also we have our own crew to work on the infrastructure and things get fixed really fast and rarely break. Also, in an unexpected and wonderful bonus, our power company is launching gigabit internet service using fiber to the house. Where we are there is no such service available yet and all we get is Comcast (no choice in this "free" market). Since our power company owns the poles and wires, they can get into the ISP business, which I think is pretty cool if fo no other reason than give Comcast competition.