!! POWER OUTAGE Suggestion to all hatchers !!

[Shadowgrass]

I am fortunate that I have a generator that I bought last year. But, I hear about everyone worrying about losing power during a hatch, and when they do their is a mass panic. Why worry, take some of the worry out and purchase an inverter. Best $20 you will ever spend. I think it may be because a lot of people don't know what they are. They invert 12VDC from your car into AC power, which is what your house runs on. So, a 400W inverter from Walmart, like THIS is $19. All you do is take the battery clamps and connect them to your car battery and run an extension cord into the house and voila, instant backup power from your car/truck. Granted it won't run your heat, or large appliances, but it will run your bator and brooder lamp and possibly another light if total is under 400w, you get the idea. Most table top incubators run about 40w. So, do yourselves a favor and take some worry out of the hatch, BUY ONE!! Good luck.

**Update**
Consequently, they just issued a tornado watch for all of SE Michigan till 10pm and I am about day 15 of Black Copper Marans.

 

[klf73]

I got one of these from cabelas but got the $60 one that has the option to clip to the battery or plug into the lighter....i so like the latter better

 

[Shadowgrass]

Yes, this one I suggested has both options. Light duty you could plug it in. If you were pulling near peak, I would suggest connecting it directly to battery.

 

[ranchhand]

How long can a car or truck battery last with an incubator connected to it? And still be able to start the vehicle?

We do have a large capacity generator, but living in hurricane alley, I want to preserve truck batteries and fuel first. I have to admit that in the event of another Hugo, the last thing I'll be worried about is the incubator.

 

[Shadowgrass]

Most automotive batteries have a 25 ampere reserve capacity. The inverters have a built in DC supply shortage shutdown mode. If less than 10.5 volts is detected, an audible alarm will sound. If it drops below 9.5v it will shutdown completely. To avoid any problems I would idle the vehicle every so often to recharge the battery. Of course, if you're in an extreme situation where you could experience a hurricane, earthquake, etc, the concern for your eggs will be limited. However, if you need light, or a radio, or laptop, it will run those just fine as well without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a generator.

 

[ranchhand]

That's why we got a 5500? watt generator? (Sorry, elec. is not my strong suit) To run a fridge and a couple of lights.

 

[jag]

Lately I have been thinking that I wanted to invest in a computer battery backup to hookup to the incubator when it's on. Some are expensive, but some are decently priced.

 

[naakte]

what a great idea!!!!! where can i buy an inverter? my plan if I lost power was to blanket my incubator and race to my daughters house ( 20 miles away) with my heater full blast. I like your idea so much better.
Hugs Donna in Branson