Life on Battery Power

   Yikes! I hate the sound of the low power alarm on our inverter. I've been hearing it a lot lately. It's not surprising really considering the age of our batteries and how often I have ran them down well below 50 %. They are definitely due to be replaced but I want to get a better charging system first.  We hope to add  some solar this year but that will depend on price and availability.

   We don't really use much power. A couple of fluorescent lights, the modem and computer, and a 12 volt water pump we use for our shower are about it. If Ann wants to use the vacuum cleaner or some small kitchen appliance for very long we fire up our generator. I'd like to have a lot more battery capacity but big batteries have big price tags.

    I'm hoping to build a steam driven alternator that I have plans for but I don't have a heated shop built yet and it's not the kind of project you can work on while stamping your feet and rubbing your hands to stay warm. I guess I won't run out of projects for a while.