# Car invertor as back up for Freezer



## sonofdet (Apr 20, 2008)

Was watching the Weather Channel and several people indicated that they ran there vehicle and plugged in an inverter in their cigarette lighter to provide electricity as an emergency back up. They run an extension cord from their vehicle to the appliance that they are using.

We have a small freezer and was wondering if this would work to provide some power to the freezer if the power was off for an extended period such as 7 days?

Would this set up potentially damage the freezer since it might not provide the proper amount of power?

What type of an invertor is the best one for this type of an application? 

This would sure beat having to buy a generator.

Any ideas would greatly be appreciated.


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

You would need to have a pretty big inverter, at least 2000 watts, as most freezers run between 800 and 1500 watt w/ about 5 times that to start the compressor.( drops back down to a lower draw after start).
You would have to run your vechile when using it, or the battery would get dragged down pretty fast.

Probably not the best idea.


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## PhilJohnson (Dec 24, 2006)

sonofdet said:


> Was watching the Weather Channel and several people indicated that they ran there vehicle and plugged in an inverter in their cigarette lighter to provide electricity as an emergency back up. They run an extension cord from their vehicle to the appliance that they are using.


I ran my mobile home that way for a year and a half. It works good for small stuff, like lights, radio, laptop. Doesn't work so good for vacuum cleaners. When I would vacuum the house I would have to keep the car running otherwise the battery would go dead. It is also tough on a battery as well. I went through 3 of them in a year and a half, although they were all used batteries to begin with. Later on I bought a deep cycle battery and left it in the car. That worked a bit better, but it still wouldn't be enough to run anything more than a very small fridge. I used two inverters with my system, a 800 watt and a 2000 watt for big loads like the vacuum.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

No, this is not a good idea. I had my van set up for camping and used two marine batteries and a 2000 watt inverter to power a dorm size refrigerator. The batteries would power it through the night, but that was about all. During the day, I recharged the batteries by flipping a switch and using the van alternator (also supersized) to get them back to a reasonable charge. In two weeks of constant driving and camping like this I would severely damage the batteries, but the $120 to replace them was cheaper than one night in a lot of motels. Go to Northern tools or one of the cheap tool places and pick up a small generator instead. Sometimes they can be as inexpensive as $125. With a freezer, you only need to cycle it on for about 4 hours a day to keep the food cold. Just cover the freezer with blankets when you are not running the compressor.

When Hurricane Wilma took out our power for over two weeks, I used a combination of a 5000 watt generator, 4 batteries, a 80 watt solar panel, and about 10 gallons of gas to keep our house running the entire time. The panel reduced the daytime draw on the batteries and each day I fully charged them with the generator, while it was heating water or running the washing machine. Even with that, I was stressing the batteries.


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

apart from all the other good answers here your cig lighter socket can only
supply at maximun about 180 watts because of thin wires and fuses.
not enough to run a fridge which means you would have to wire the inverter
a fairly large one (2000 to 3000 watt)directly to your battery with large cables.
deep cycle batteries and multiple battery installations can improve the
performance of this setup but you still have only about 500 to 600 watts
coming out of your car alternator and it does get expensive to run the car
just to supply the amount of power you can get out of a 4hp petrol motor. 

this type of setup works well when there is a lot of traveling being done
anyway so that the batteries are charging all the time.

it is very nice to run a few lights or computer a bit without having to have
a noisy generator running however


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Stay away from those cheapy **generators**
They are nothing but planned obsolescence...............
The voltage regulation is pi$$ poor.
Sooner or later something that you plug into it will smoke.
Would you want to damage your freezer ??


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Jim-mi said:


> Stay away from those cheapy **generators**
> They are nothing but planned obsolescence...............
> The voltage regulation is pi$$ poor.
> Sooner or later something that you plug into it will smoke.
> Would you want to damage your freezer ??


LOL Google "Neon John" and chicom generator for a different view. The guy runs a concession trailer on one with no problems. That said, I blew out the protection on a nice Tripplite Isobar using one. Voltage and frequency regulation are poor, as you note, but oddly enough it doesn't seem to be much of an issue for the small compressors in refrigerators and freezers.


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## sonofdet (Apr 20, 2008)

Thanks for all the great information. This is certainly one of the best places for information of all types related to Survival and Emergencies.

Gary


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

There are electric coolers that work very well with inverters or plugged directly into the cig lighter. Hubby is a truck driver and one of these is his fridge in his rig. We use it in the car when we go on trips. Won't hold alot of food, but works well for him.


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## radiofish (Mar 30, 2007)

sonofdet - As posted above, the wires going to the vehicle cigarette lighter are around 18 gauge. Not sufficent for a large current draw!!!! (Fire waiting to happen at least!!!) Plus what is the wattage required for running the freezer. Look for an "Amperage" rating on it. Then multiply amps by 110 Volts AC to get the total required wattage (Ohm's Law). If you want to use an inverter, get one rated for more wattage you require... How about a heavy duty extension cord to run from the battery source/ inverter to the freezer????

My 67 Ford truck the mobile command post - has a battery isolater and a seperate deep cycle battery for my ham radio equipment with a 100 amp alternator. I use 8 gauge heavy wires for power cables only drawing 150 watts output @ 30 amps peak current.. With my 240 amp hours battery bank for my ham radios inside the house, I use large cables to intertie the seperate batteries in parallel - maintaining 13.8 VDC in the system.

As Jim-mi said get a good quality generator for such an application as running the fridge and freezer. Remember that there will be a peak current draw (more than required to keep it running), in order to get the appliance's compressor and such started initally....

I have a 9 cu.ft. small chest freezer, and I use one of my generators to power it, after at least a day of no power due to storms up here..


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

Hate to sound like a smarty pants, but most of the time the power is out you can just open up your freezer and let the frigid temps keep stuff frozen. Otherwise, when the temps come up and you're worried about things thawing and ruining you can fill the freezer up with snow or ice that you have gathered off the ground, trees, and icecicles that are hanging everywhere. Most modern chest type freezers have a very good insulation value that will keep things frozen for a long time if you keep them closed. 
Using your car to power an inverter would be a last attempt. It's very in-efficient and those inverters deplete your battery quickly. If you're having to start your car every couple of hours to recharge the battery, the gasoline bill can get pretty steep.


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## sonofdet (Apr 20, 2008)

Radiofish,

Checked the freezer and it said 5 amps/11o volts. So 1000 watt generator at a minimum should be fine. Will look for a generator in that range. Was truly shocked by the cost of the Honda line of generators on Honda.com. 
Okie, when we are out for long periods of time it is not always because of snow and ice but high wind storms in the summer and spring. We have covered it with a blanket for a long period and that seems to help some as well. 

Thanks to all for the advise.


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

sonofdet that is the running wattage i think, to actually start the comp
in the freezer you could need up to twice that


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## newhomemaker (Dec 11, 2007)

I fill one gallon jugs to three-quarters full of water and place them in the freezer, while it's still working.

When the power goes out, the blocks of ice keep the freezer cold for quite a few more days. It's my favorite prepper trick.


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## radiofish (Mar 30, 2007)

damoc said:


> sonofdet that is the running wattage i think, to actually start the comp
> in the freezer you could need up to twice that


As I and damoc posted above, the required peak amperage needed to start the freezer's compressor, motor, etc., could be as much as twice than the 5.0 amps per hour X 110 VDC (average AC line voltage) = 550 watts per hour to run the freezer. Don't forget the fridge also. I bet you would also have a light or two, battery charger, or other items going at the same time too... Remember that you will ned fuel to run the generator, Folks were singing the blues, when gas was over $4.00 per gallon - to run their generators.... Got a place to store 20 or more gallons of gasoline safely????

Look at a 1,500 to 2,000 (2KW) watts generator. I know that Honda generators are expensive, but so is a freezer full of ruined food. One of my generators in a EM-650 (the small one)...

I don't resort to using a generator till at least 24 hours of no commerical power. Every major storm that comes along in off of the ocean with 40+ mph winds, knocks down trees and limbs which causes power outages here all year long.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Part of the problem of todays society is that people have gotten in a rut with "The BIG BOX Store" idea of cheap products and prices.

Along comes Honda with good products . . . . . . . . . . 
Yes its true for the price of many of the Honda generators you could literally buy several of the BIG BOX cheapy's.

Now lets talk Quality. . .Honda vs__________ . . .
. . . No comparison.

If you value your freezer and its contents (or any other appliances in your house) then the price of a good quality product--like a Honda--is not expensive.


my $ 00.0300 worth


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