I live in a small 4 room house with a mini split AC system. The minisplit is too big for my generators to power. So last year I bought a small 5000 btu window AC just to be able to cool one room if necessary with my existing gennys. Maybe you could consider a 5000 btu unit instead of 10k to reduce your power requirements?. Anyway, the new window AC is still sitting on my shelf. I tested it to see if my honda could power it, and it did. But I never installed it into a window. I figured I would intall it if and when necessary, but otherwise just leave it in storage. But my point was just to go as small and as efficient as possible with the AC unit due to power requirements. Not sure how your house is laid out but worse case you could cover doorways with blankets to confine your space to where 5000 btu might just do the job.
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Thanks, yes. Getting a smaller window unit for the bdr is part of our discussions. A side issue in our discussions is how to power the central AC on a gen for longer (2+ days) outages in the summer. With the humidity down here, not only will the house turn into an oven - mold is a real problem and it comes on fast. Having AC available 24/7 isn't just a 'pleasantness' - it's critical.
One other time in my life, "critical AC" was a factor and that did not end well. PO will figure this all out and I support and yield to his choices. The rest I leave to God.
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I just bought us a little solar generator to use until we get everything else figured out!
It's the Anker S2000 - and we can use it to make a pot of coffee without having to drag out the butane stove, and for whatever other small things until we fire up the big gens.
2010wh LiFePo, 1500w inverter (<10w idle suck), 43lbs, 400w solar input. It's normally $999, but the Labor Day sale (ends tomorrow) kicks it down to $649. Very pleased!
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MG did good. It's perfect for a coffee maker, microwave, etc. Being in the woods we occasionally have the power go out for an hour, maybe 4. No sense in firing up the gens for that. This unit is a perfect fit as a stop gap.
"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787Comment
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After purchasing my Bluetti unit, I find out that lithium batteries in these things don’t like being stored long term at 100% charge. It’s supposed to limit their service life. But if you purchased one if these things for emergency use, well then of course you want 100% charge available when you need it. I’ve seen recommendations to store these things at 60 to 70% full charge. So in an unexpected power outage you are already starting behind the curve. In my own recent power outage I fired up the powerstation around 0300 just to get things going and then at daybreak I fired up the generator to top up the charge to 100%. So it would seem that the best way to use one of these contraptions is to pair it with a genny. Seems stupid, I know, but I guess it’s the best we can do with this battery technology.Comment
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It might be the 60-70% is referring to long term storage?
Unless my owner's manual says otherwise, I'll be using my S2000 at least once a week - and then topping it back up to 95-100%.
Inor Your input would be most welcome here.
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That's how we are going to work ours. The unit I am getting will run everything in the house but the central air. I'll keep it charged by the wall outlet and recharge after the power goes out by the Generators. It will take less then two hours for the gen to recharge plus it has pass through so I can run things while charging. Take to long to recharge by solar panels unless you have a huge array. Ill have a couple of back up panels is all.
"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787Comment
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My Anker S2000 arrives today YAY!
Also, an electrician is coming next week to wire in a switch and receptacle for the water pump so we can power it with a cord>generator if need be. For some reason, the owner/builder of this place didn't home run the pump to the panel. Time to fix that.
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It was shocking yesterday working in the pole barn . Pops was a Korean Conflict er SeaBee who was good at making whatever was laying around work. Sometimes wiring is questionable.
The home and barn shared the same circuit for 3 AC's. The barn as 2 fuses for little things. Today I wire the light switch back in., as I found out it's hard to walk to the light pull chain in the dark 10 ' from the door .
I left the switch out as I didn't now why the fuse blew. It was the white wire came off the top of the switch that sparked. Should have tightened screw more
Looking for a outdoor camera system nowComment
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We are good to go.
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I have the coffee pot the Church Food Pantry didn't want in the man cave / deer blind. It's a 10 cup reservoir with a 12 cup pot. So what could happen when Church Lady pours a little too much ? Coffee this time anyway.😎Comment
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Finally got around to getting a soft start put on my AC unit outside. I was going to do it last year but things came up and totally forgot. The soft start (VFD) is going to allow me to run e central air on my large generator, not to mention saving me money on the power bill. A DIY guy comfortable with wiring could install it himself but I have an electrician coming over today to install it. This way I know it's done right, I won't electrocute myself, (MG would be pissed) and I won't blow up my compressor.
Last edited by Texas PO; 09-23-2026, 09:06 AM.
"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787Comment
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I have been considering a soft start for my minisplit AC system for a long time now. This spring I got off my ass and actually measured the amp draw when the unit starts up. I was surprised to see that it wasn’t a normal hard start surge but a gradual rise in amp draw. A quick call to my Lennox install dealer confirmed that this machine already has a sort of soft start built in from the factory. One in the plus column!Comment
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