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A Prius can power your home in a snowstorm

By Peg Fong

Posted Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:16am PST

More from EcoGeek blog

The recent snow and ice storms in the northeast left hundreds of thousands of residents without power. In Harvard, Massachusetts, however, one Prius owner found a way to keep the lights and electricity going by using his hybrid as a backup generator.

John Sweeney ran his fridge, freezer, wood stove fan and even his television and lights using his Prius for three days while the power was out in his town. By using an inverter to convert the car's DC power supply into household AC, Sweeney was able to generate 120 volts

The New York Times wrote about this a year ago. The battery in the Prius is able to provide an uninterrupted power supply as long as the engine turns on and off periodically to recharge it. Any car battery can be used this way, but only hybrids start automatically when they need to recharge their battery. As long as the Prius has enough fuel, it can produce three kilowatts of continuous power. That's enough to maintain the basic household electrical needs.

After three days, Mr. Sweeney's Prius used up a mere five gallons of gas to power the electricity in the Sweeney household - a bargain and a real smart grid solution.

Via The New York Times and WBZTV

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Posted by James L Fri Jan 2, 2009 7:33pm PST
And the Prius doesn't have an alternator or starter. It uses the generator/electric motor to charge the batteries and start the gas engine.
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Posted by Gary W Fri Jan 2, 2009 7:36pm PST
Why doesn't every home have one of these?
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Posted by john doe Fri Jan 2, 2009 7:37pm PST
i have an idea on how he could have saved even MORE money..they said he used it to run the refridge and freezer? emmmmm wasnt there an ice/snow storm? PUT YOUR FOOD OUTSIDE IN A COOLER save even MORE electricity!
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Posted by cowboy Fri Jan 2, 2009 7:37pm PST
This story actually makes me like the Prius. A life saver in more ways than one.
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Posted by Harry H Fri Jan 2, 2009 7:38pm PST
Does Prius support this claim?? If so - why not advertise it??
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Posted by paulh Fri Jan 2, 2009 7:42pm PST
i think a prius might be more of a 'true off-road vehicle' than a ford escape!
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Posted by Stock Market Club Fri Jan 2, 2009 7:43pm PST
Rule number one, keep your tank topped off. LOL And for the nay sayers, make sure you are reading the story. Not normal house usage, just the minimum and as for the amount of fuel required, the engine doesn't run non stop, only as the battery pack wears down and this is no regular car battery. Great story though. http://renewable-energy-tv.blogspot.com
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Posted by NorahC Fri Jan 2, 2009 7:54pm PST
cool. or in this case, warm.
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Posted by Acarmelo1 Fri Jan 2, 2009 7:56pm PST
is the Ford Escape such a bad car????
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Posted by Randy B Fri Jan 2, 2009 8:16pm PST
Ford Escape? It wouldn't make it 10 yards down a true off road trail.
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Posted by go4it Fri Jan 2, 2009 8:17pm PST
Posted by rtshapiro: "The article indicates a continuous source of 3kW. Considering the losses/inefficincies of the inverter (approx 20%), that means the car's altenator would have to produce approximately 3,600watts, or 300 amps @ 12V. It is hard to beleive that the prius altenator could provide 300 amps continuously. Seems a bit made up. =========================== Back to 3rd grade "paying-attention-in-class", stud. The continuous power is supplied by the Prius **BATTERY**, not the alternator output. The 1.5L gas engine simply turns-on-and-off to **recharge** the battery, NOT to supply 3kW of converted power out - which it can never do. This "Prius as generated power" **DOES** work ... and very well, too.
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Posted by randy Fri Jan 2, 2009 8:20pm PST
ha a Ford is a piece of crap. Dodge all the way. I love my Big Gas Guzzler. ITs Loud and gets some people outa the way. Lets see someone do that in a prius lol
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Posted by Mike H Fri Jan 2, 2009 8:26pm PST
to the people saying its not feasable because of the alternator... those have HUGE heavy duty alternator. just think about it... its alternator would have to keep the batts charged, which are larger and have more capacity than a regular 12v car batt, it also has to power the electric motor under switching load... which a regular alt couldnt do. i think the guy is a genius... yeah yeah yeah, its easy and everyone can do it, but alot of people seem to find it hard to put two and two together is tight situations.
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Posted by crystelle_lemay@sbcglobal.net Fri Jan 2, 2009 8:26pm PST
Impressive, even if I was told that when I bought it, I never would have thought of it when the need come.
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Posted by Taz Fri Jan 2, 2009 8:29pm PST
What I am wondering is what size inverter was he using? And as far as the rest yes it could be done. A Prius is not a true gas engine guys its a hybred. Its runs off a large battery then the gas engine kicks in when the battery needs to be charged. Oh and an Escape is not a true offroad vehicle...........come on people.
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