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I just invested in a deep freezer in an effort to have more food on hand/minimize trips the grocery store.

Being that it will have substantial $$ value in it while full, how do I protect this? I wasn't thinking like a back up generator, but is there a power supply that can juice it up for a couple days so that everything does not go bad or do i really need a back up gen?

thanks in advance guys

Frankly the cheap solution is a small gas generator that you run for a couple of hours a day.

68Camaro wrote:Frankly the cheap solution is a small gas generator that you run for a couple of hours a day.

And do not try to go cheap. That costs more in the long run.

They are not cheap but you might want to look into a propane gas Freezer...

http://www.lpappliances.com/Blizzard-freezer.html

I know they have those things for computers that will run them for a while after a power outage ( like a capacitor or something. ) I was also thinking something that turns on when you are not home.... if the power goes out .

TXBullion wrote:I know they have those things for computers that will run them for a while after a power outage ( like a capacitor or something. ) I was also thinking something that turns on when you are not home.... if the power goes out .

What is the power consumption of the freezer? Have a model number or link?

A typical battery backup for a computer (also known as a UPS = uninterruptible power supply) would probably only last a few minutes. There are some larger battery systems out there but how long it would last depends on the freezer and ambient temperature.

Honda EU2000 generator. Super efficient on gas. Super reliable. I love mine. It runs my fridge, a couple lights, and a TV or computer all at the same time.

Battery back up for that is going to be tough and expensive. IMHO, it's either stay close to home or lay out the dough for an automatic back up generator.

Whole house generators are installed to turn on when there is a power outage and turn off automatically when electricity is restored. They are not cheap, but might be worth looking at.

Xantrex Freedom 458 charger/ inverter with 2 deep cycle 115?? amphour
is what i have my freezer on.
It lets the main power pass thru until an interruption then uses the batteries.
I think mine would last a week with the power down and minimizing openings..
I got it on a trade and mostly use it to "equalize" the cabin batteries.

Tesla has that hang on the wall battery backup system that would handle your freezer and more.

fwiw watts = volts x amps try to get some info from the plate on your unit to calculate how much battery you will need. more than a few days you will need to recharge the batteries.

I know you want to stay away from a gas genset but my 800$ unit ran for over 3 weeks after Hurricane Ike. I just ran it last month for an hour to exercise it.

http://www.amazon.com/Danby-DCF072A2WDB ... B00O9ZKZHU

I think thats close to the unit right there


Thanks for the responses.

It sounds like generator might be the way to go.....

Is that Tesla thing a real product? I have heard about it but did not think it was to market yet.


Ok stupid question, if you get a generator and say i want to connect the deep freezer AND refrigerator to it, do I just need two extension cords that are long enough to run from the outside in? I suppose it would be beneficial for the unit to be able to also support a window AC unit in case you are without power during high heat summer?

TXBullion wrote:http://www.amazon.com/Danby-DCF072A2WDB1-Chest-Freezer-Cubic/dp/B00O9ZKZHU

I think thats close to the unit right there

According to one of the questions on that page the freezer draws up to 1.2A. Even something like this big power pack would only run the freezer for ~5 hours.

http://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-802-1500- ... ery+backup

And at that price, it probably makes sense to go for a backup gen.....

Probably posted here already , but does anyone have a recommendation on a generator then? Whole house one sounds great but I'm also not wanting to spend a ton for that setup so maybe just running a couple of items? I guess i would need to go through and measure power consumption of a few things and see what I would actually need then ?"

natsb88 wrote:

TXBullion wrote:http://www.amazon.com/Danby-DCF072A2WDB1-Chest-Freezer-Cubic/dp/B00O9ZKZHU
I think thats close to the unit right there

According to one of the questions on that page the freezer draws up to 1.2A. Even something like this big power pack would only run the freezer for ~5 hours.

http://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-802-1500- ... ery+backup
.

My unit has two 115 ah batteries [12 volt]
http://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-Freedom-I ... reedom+458
1.2 amp 120 volt is 12 amp 12 volt
drawing my batteries down to 50%, means I have 115 AH available.
Not quite a 10 hour run time,
probably figure 8 hours with the conversion waste.
But, and a big but at that,
my freezer compressor doesn't run constantly,
I'll throw a wild guess out their, that it only runs 10% of the time.
that gives me 80 hours down time.
It would be easy to add more battery capacity,
but I have a few solar {PV} panels laying around
Prices have really come down.

I have 1 of these kill o watt meters
http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electric ... watt+meter
that I used to use to check the draw on my system.
I am going to have to try to find it to see if it can record daily usage,
to get an accurate idea of actual demand from my freezer.
My new [tiny] inverters have a meter showing the draw and battery voltage.

natsb88 wrote:(redacted)

"May not"? Like "hardly ever. That setup is flat out illegal most places.

Mostly because some brain dead idiot (or in-law) is likely to flip the wrong breakers and load the powerlines, and electricute utility workers.

The patch cord used is also called a "suicide cord", for very good reasons.

TXBullion wrote:And at that price, it probably makes sense to go for a backup gen.....

Probably posted here already , but does anyone have a recommendation on a generator then? Whole house one sounds great but I'm also not wanting to spend a ton for that setup so maybe just running a couple of items? I guess i would need to go through and measure power consumption of a few things and see what I would actually need then ?"

When I was looking at backup power a long time ago, the generators on trailors were least expensive for some reason. Never make sense to me. Perhaps someone here knows why?

Mossy wrote:

natsb88 wrote:(redacted)

"May not"? Like "hardly ever. That setup is flat out illegal most places.

Mostly because some brain dead idiot (or in-law) is likely to flip the wrong breakers and load the powerlines, and electricute utility workers.

The patch cord used is also called a "suicide cord", for very good reasons.

Definitely a do not do this at home thing, but if you know what you are doing and can turn off the street line there is nothing technically unacceptable with this.

Mossy wrote:"May not"? Like "hardly ever. That setup is flat out illegal most places.

Mostly because some brain dead idiot (or in-law) is likely to flip the wrong breakers and load the powerlines, and electricute utility workers.

The patch cord used is also called a "suicide cord", for very good reasons.

Redacted. And why I bolded "turn off the main breaker." Only two people ever touch anything in the panel and even know how to start the generator. When they move out, the cord goes with the generator, and there is nothing left of the "setup" for anybody brain dead to misuse.

People improperly installing solar panels and wind turbines causes the same problem.

Lots of things can be done safely if you know what you are doing. I'm not a big fan of legislating Idiot-proofing. That just brings everything down to the level of the idiots

natsb88 wrote:

Mossy wrote:"May not"? Like "hardly ever. That setup is flat out illegal most places.

Mostly because some brain dead idiot (or in-law) is likely to flip the wrong breakers and load the powerlines, and electricute utility workers.

The patch cord used is also called a "suicide cord", for very good reasons.

Redacted. And why I bolded "turn off the main breaker." Only two people ever touch anything in the panel and even know how to start the generator. When they move out, the cord goes with the generator, and there is nothing left of the "setup" for anybody brain dead to misuse.

People improperly installing solar panels and wind turbines causes the same problem.

Lots of things can be done safely if you know what you are doing. I'm not a big fan of legislating Idiot-proofing. That just brings everything down to the level of the idiots

I have a 220 outlet in the garage next to the generator...and might have a cord to connect them in case of an extended outage. In the wrong hands, it would be a bad idea to connect the two, but in the right hands it would power the furnace blower, well pump, and keep the refrigerator/freezer running in case of an extended outage.

Engineer wrote:

natsb88 wrote:

Mossy wrote:"May not"? Like "hardly ever. That setup is flat out illegal most places.

Mostly because some brain dead idiot (or in-law) is likely to flip the wrong breakers and load the powerlines, and electricute utility workers.

The patch cord used is also called a "suicide cord", for very good reasons.

Redacted. And why I bolded "turn off the main breaker." Only two people ever touch anything in the panel and even know how to start the generator. When they move out, the cord goes with the generator, and there is nothing left of the "setup" for anybody brain dead to misuse.

People improperly installing solar panels and wind turbines causes the same problem.

Lots of things can be done safely if you know what you are doing. I'm not a big fan of legislating Idiot-proofing. That just brings everything down to the level of the idiots

I have a 220 outlet in the garage next to the generator...and might have a cord to connect them in case of an extended outage. In the wrong hands, it would be a bad idea to connect the two, but in the right hands it would power the furnace blower, well pump, and keep the refrigerator/freezer running in case of an extended outage.

Well This post has made me figure out what the double ended 220 cord that came with my generator is for. Thanks

https://www.amazon.com/Generac-6552-Gua ... ds=Generac

Everyone in my area has one of these. Every year you can count on being without electric for a few days and as many as 10 days at time.