What became of the "LEAF TO HOME" Power the house Kit?

[NullPointer]

I just successfully used this proposed setup to power my fridge during a power outage due to Hurricane Sandy. I purchased a Xantrex pure sine wave inverter, 1000W continuous, 2000W surge, along with a pair of #2 AWG 18" leads. I connected the negative terminal of the Xantrex inverter to an empty hole on the chassis of the car's DC-DC converter, as recommended on this thread. I used an extension cord to connect the fridge in the kitchen to the inverter in the garage, 25 feet away.

My fridge is rated at 6.5A max, and draws close to this level of current when it is first plugged in. However the typical draw is around 1A or less, with a total power usage of 2 kWh over 24 hours. So this target usage is well below the rating of the inverter and the DC-DC converter.

The day before the storm, I had charged the car to a full 12 bars. During the power outage, I used this setup to power my fridge for 8 hours, drawing 0.49 kWh total. The car dash showed 12 bars (full) and an estimated range of 100 miles when starting this setup, and after 8 hours was down to 11 bars and an estimated range of 90 miles.

[HairyCairy]

What a great use of your vehicle in an emergency, pending any long term effects.
I was hoping when you get power restored if you could show a picture of the set up you used to run your refrigerator.
I would like to prepare my own contingency plan for an emergency. I would default to generator first, and leaf as last resort. I would also like to prepare a list of devices that the leaf could run in an emergency off of an inverter style set up like you have in place.
Good luck, hopefully you get power back soon.
The Hairy One
Ohh and Phil...always love reading your posts...learn something new every time.

[mxp]

I just successfully used this proposed setup to power my fridge during a power outage due to Hurricane Sandy. I purchased a Xantrex pure sine wave inverter, 1000W continuous, 2000W surge, along with a pair of #2 AWG 18" leads. I connected the negative terminal of the Xantrex inverter to an empty hole on the chassis of the car's DC-DC converter, as recommended on this thread. I used an extension cord to connect the fridge in the kitchen to the inverter in the garage, 25 feet away.

My fridge is rated at 6.5A max, and draws close to this level of current when it is first plugged in. However the typical draw is around 1A or less, with a total power usage of 2 kWh over 24 hours. So this target usage is well below the rating of the inverter and the DC-DC converter.

The day before the storm, I had charged the car to a full 12 bars. During the power outage, I used this setup to power my fridge for 8 hours, drawing 0.49 kWh total. The car dash showed 12 bars (full) and an estimated range of 100 miles when starting this setup, and after 8 hours was down to 11 bars and an estimated range of 90 miles.

This is pretty amazing pre-planning and the use of the Leaf! Once the storm passes over, pls share some pictures of your setup.

If you have some time, perhaps you can write-up a step-by-step how to implement this?

Many thanks! I hope you/and your family survived Sandy....

[TonyWilliams]

I just successfully used this proposed setup to power my fridge during a power outage due to Hurricane Sandy. I purchased a Xantrex pure sine wave inverter, 1000W continuous, 2000W surge, along with a pair of #2 AWG 18" leads. I connected the negative terminal of the Xantrex inverter to an empty hole on the chassis of the car's DC-DC converter, as recommended on this thread. I used an extension cord to connect the fridge in the kitchen to the inverter in the garage, 25 feet away.

Is this inverter "weatherized" enough to be left under the hood and hard wired?

Power - Surge Rating 2000 W
Power - Output (Watts) 1000 W
Voltage - Input Range (Volts) 10.5 - 15.5 Vdc
Waveform Tru
Waterproof NONE

[KillaWhat]

Very Cool!

[gascant]

Actually, I doubt you would want to leave and inverter under the hood permanently, or even semi permanently. Even more so if the LEAF was already in the garage and one was using it for backup power for a fridge. I think a good solution is to go with a set up like the one used in this example for the Prius, i.e., a good connector that is permanently mounted in the LEAF and can be easily accessed by the inverter cables with the mating connector: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?aakikthaeny66f0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Of course, as mentioned above, do not hook the negative cable up directly to the battery (-) terminal, as the author of the Prius article did.

I've thought about making a setup like this to have access to AC power at times when I've had the LEAF on display (with the inverter outside the car). It would allow driving a 300-500 Watt audio system and a laptop, and/or some sort of monitor to show videos. Much better than using battery/jumper cable clamps to pull the power, especially when people are around and looking at the car.

[mksE55]

to clarify, Positive AUX battery terminal NEG to body ground , turn car on, turn inverter on and voila 1000watt AC power. 20 hours of quite battery UPS does sound nice when the power goes out. Next idea Wall mount Inverter ,Wire into breaker box and then just cable between the two when needed. Seems like a weekend project before hurricane season hits full force.

[ebill3]

to clarify, Positive AUX battery terminal NEG to body ground , turn car on, turn inverter on and voila 1000watt AC power. 20 hours of quite battery UPS does sound nice when the power goes out. Next idea Wall mount Inverter ,Wire into breaker box and then just cable between the two when needed. Seems like a weekend project before hurricane season hits full force.

I have done my share of house wiring, but I don't like that "wire into breaker box" suggestion. That is something for a qualified electrician, not a do-it-yourself week end project.

I'll stick with extension cords of the proper size.

[mksE55]

emergency only.

[ebill3]

Really thinking worst case scenario, wire into breaker box. turn off mains for safety ,but if you needed some electricity food water, radio info. look at NJ. this is getting life and death serious. I dont exactly worry about codes at that point.

Well, I wasn't thinking of codes either. I was thinking 'life and death serious'. Of course, if you are infallible and you, or someone else not knowledgeable of the lash up, couldn't possibly back feed into the grid and zap the lineman trying to restore your power, then no problem.

You can take care of the essentials with a few 12 ga extension cords from the inverter. Worked just fine for me when I lived in the sticks and used a small generator. Wasn't worth the expense or trouble to have a proper transfer switch installed.