[aprssig] Shack backup power

[Lee Mushel]

This "grid tie" is a thread that I've always had trouble understanding and I 
was totally unaware that it even existed but I see now there is a name that 
we can use for the specific thing.

My objective was to be able to continue my  life without   concern if the 
farmer's co-op electric power company stopped service.  And it is remarkably 
reliable.  In the past five years I don't think we have been without power 
for a total of twelve hours.   But I also knew that others had not been so 
fortunate and that lack of commercial power for a period of a week or more 
wasn't unheard of.   This thought of this in a Wisconsin winter was 
distinctly unpleasant.

So, I was willing to pay for a system that would supply a significant 
fraction of my routine power demands and make sure that my life would not be 
significantly interrupted in any way.  Well pump, refrigerators, freezers, 
water heater, furnace and wood stove blowers  are all automatically 
transferred to my generator about a minute after any interruption in 
commercial service.   Since I did most of the work myself the cost was 
$4,000.   Yes, you could say that I paid $333 per hour (so far) for this 
capability.   At first my wife complained bitterly about this "senseless 
expense."   But after the first time that unit "fired up" fed by LP gas from 
the 500 gallon tank and she was able to water her flowers on the hottest day 
of the year all complaints stopped.   And I am now asked whether or not I've 
changed oil in that engine and why haven't I waxed the enclosure of the 
unit, as recommended by the manufacturer!   And she has commented that she 
feels secure in the dead of winter when news of power outages in other 
places occur I guess I simply feel that my decision was sound.

And a separate gasoline powered inverter generator with deep discharge 
batteries serves the ham shack.

73

Lee  K9WRU
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Bruninga " <bruninga at usna.edu>
To: "TAPR APRS Mailing List" <aprssig at tapr.org>
Cc: <solarDIY at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 2:27 PM
Subject: Re: [aprssig] Shack backup power