i built a poor mans back up system, i had a generator to run the main stuff like well pump, refrig, freezer, furnace, but who can store enough gasoline to run a generator all 24/7. so i got a large inverter, and a bunch of deep cycle batteries , and a large battery charger. hooked them up so i could use the generator transfer panel to run off the battery inverter system at times when i needed small amounts of electricity, like to run furnaces overnight. thaqt way i could run the generator 4-5 hours a day and charge the batteries while i was powering the major appliances.
now you need to figure out what you want to run, how many watts it will take, buy the inverter big enough to handle the load, they get enough batteries to power the thing for the ammount of time that you want to run between charges. just a little math, the manual that came with the inverter had the instructions on how to do the calculations. you can add as many batteies as you want, you just have to charge them, and they will take some room, but you can stack them if you need to.
the inverters come in different sizes, and also modified sine wave and sine wave, the sine wave are better for electronic items, the modified will run most things. the sine wave models are more expensive. smaller inverters 300 and 700 watt models i have seen at walmart in the automotive section. they make inverters to 4-5000 watts but without enough battery power they wont run for too long.
some inverters for sale:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/search/search.asp?r=ad/other&s=SEARCH&a=search&k=inverter
then i found this portable power pac:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...?storeId=6970&productId=200313775&R=200313775
alex
