Powering my house with the MB - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Graminal95 · #31 12-14-2008, 11:19 PM

Jeremy5848 that is true....see post 15 it's been addressed.

babymog · #32 12-15-2008, 12:49 AM

Um, no. It is (was) a 42kva genset, would burn around 3gph with a good load. I sized it so it would run the pool, the Jacuzzi, the A/C, the motorhome, the 'fridge, the freezer, lights, entertainment, ... just like running on the grid only without it. Anything that can be done, can be overdone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spark3542

You're off by a decimal. Your house genset would use more like 0.3 GPH, and that's even a a good load.

Run your genset on a WVO/RUG blend for about $0.16 per gallon and your cheaper than the grid.

turbobenz · #33 12-15-2008, 02:45 AM

Just for fun

1 us gallon of diesel fuel contains roughly 35,000,000 Calories

Which is 40.705 Kilowatt Hours

Imagine if your diesel engine, alternator, and inverter were even 50% efficient as a whole

I bet using a car as a generator is probably less than 2% efficient (someone want to do the math?), and a generator is probably around 5%. Not to mention voltage drop in your wires, which wastes a lot more than you think.

I have an old robin (subaru) 1 cylinder 5k gasoline generator. I was going to convert it to run on wood but, well, thats hard.

pawoSD · #34 12-15-2008, 03:36 AM

By far the cheapest form of power generation is a natural gas generator.....it costs like 3-4x less to run than a diesel or gas unit. Especially when sized for "emergency use", perhaps 3500-5000 watts. Plenty to keep important stuff working and still have some entertainment power. (Run fridge, furnace, etc...) + some lights (CFL) and tv's......and computer.

Also, essentially unlimited fuel source with no need to refill it.

Running off an inverter off the car engine at idle is super inefficient....and a good way to ruin the alt/battery if you use more than a few hundred watts.

Being a 240d, I sure hope you have it set to as high an idle as possible....

asnowsquall · #35 12-15-2008, 07:01 AM

So my question is how many people have experienced a natural disaster like this ice storm? Did his creativity get him through the storm?

Have a nice day.

chasinthesun · #36 12-15-2008, 11:17 AM

Ive come across some real good deals on mb salvage ,my latest was an 84 parts car I bought for $250.,it gave up its motor to put new life into one of the coupes Ive been slowly getting on the road.Really thinking along the lines of Finding another good parts car like this one and sitting it to the back of the shop as a generator ,you have the tank ,the engine mounts ,the battery tray .Instead of building a complete generator around the motor ,make the car the host and mount the gen head to the top of the motor bay ,longer belt from the pulley and bolt a nice set of brackets for mounting purposes ,it would need a dog house but in the end it would all be their .Take it out on the road as a blown MB diesel.

Jeremy5848 · #37 12-15-2008, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graminal95

Jeremy5848 that is true....see post 15 it's been addressed.

My recommendation was addressed to TheDon, not to you.

Pooka · #38 12-15-2008, 01:05 PM

Please keep us informed on how this goes. Running the house from the car that is. A list of everything you have would be nice, too.

I live in a home that was build in 1961. It has a medallion on the outside that proudly proclaims "Total Electric Living" so this is information I could really use.

The great thing about this is that it is a generator you can drive. You are not going to be driving much during an ice storm so you will not really need the 'car' part of your generator.

I think there is a horror story somewhere that starts out, "Some said it was a car, some said it was a diesel generator. In reality, it was both." I could be wrong about that, though.

Just think: I could power my house on WVO. I wonder if I could get an 'alternative power credit' with this?

Pooka

lutzTD · #39 12-15-2008, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pooka

Please keep us informed on how this goes. Running the house from the car that is. A list of everything you have would be nice, too.

I live in a home that was build in 1961. It has a medallion on the outside that proudly proclaims "Total Electric Living" so this is information I could really use.

The great thing about this is that it is a generator you can drive. You are not going to be driving much during an ice storm so you will not really need the 'car' part of your generator.

I think there is a horror story somewhere that starts out, "Some said it was a car, some said it was a diesel generator. In reality, it was both." I could be wrong about that, though.

Just think: I could power my house on WVO. I wonder if I could get an 'alternative power credit' with this?

Pooka

I think someone guessed about a 2% efficiency through an inverter in a previous post. Probably not a good long term solution. But if you could jack the car up and remove a wheel and replac it with a pto generator, like the model T running a belt driven sawmill, then you would be in better shape. you could even use the criuse to adjust to load, assuming of course it works

pawoSD · #40 12-15-2008, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lutzTD

I think someone guessed about a 2% efficiency through an inverter in a previous post. Probably not a good long term solution. But if you could jack the car up and remove a wheel and replac it with a pto generator, like the model T running a belt driven sawmill, then you would be in better shape. you could even use the criuse to adjust to load, assuming of course it works

I believe red-green did something similar with the possum van. Used it as a PTO to run something.

Even better would be a platform with a dyno type drum that instead was a generator (or connected to one) Drive car onto it, lock it in place (could use a securing mechanism on the front wheels)....then set the cruse to the right speed to run the system, and it would compensate for load. That'd be awesome. I wonder how much usable power you could get from such a system...not to mention it'd count all those miles!

The rotating mass of the drum could soften the effects of load changes too, it'd act like an energy buffer!

lutzTD · #41 12-15-2008, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

I believe red-green did something similar with the possum van. Used it as a PTO to run something.

Even better would be a platform with a dyno type drum that instead was a generator (or connected to one) Drive car onto it, lock it in place (could use a securing mechanism on the front wheels)....then set the cruse to the right speed to run the system, and it would compensate for load. That'd be awesome. I wonder how much usable power you could get from such a system...not to mention it'd count all those miles!

The rotating mass of the drum could soften the effects of load changes too, it'd act like an energy buffer!

I like it, then you could use the car as needed and no messy tire removals.

ConnClark · #42 12-15-2008, 03:40 PM

Now if you were to run a coolant loop into your house for heat, you would be getting a much greater return on your fuel expense.

lutzTD · #43 12-15-2008, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ConnClark

Now if you were to run a coolant loop into your house for heat, you would be getting a much greater return on your fuel expense.

thats a really good idea, but unfortunately the Florida sun doesnt make the return as good for me as it would for northern DIYers

asnowsquall · #44 12-15-2008, 06:57 PM

great, just what I need, another project.

Rabbit diesel? hhmmmm...

rwthomas1 · #45 12-15-2008, 08:48 PM

While using the MB is a smart way to keep things going, and certainly understandable given the circumstances, a small generator is a much better idea. I have a small 2000watt Honda "suitcase" type generator that works very, very well. Runs for 10hrs or so at half load on a gallon of gas. Can be had for @$800. RT