When the power goes down, unless you want to practice living like the Amish, you’re going to want some backups. A really simple backup would be some deep cycle batteries. Here are the basics you need to know about deep cycle batteries. A deep cycle battery looks like a car battery and works in a similar way. Electrical output is connected via the terminals. This is has a DC 12 output (like your car’s cigarette lighter), or it can be connected to a power inverter which turns the DC 12 into a more conventional output, like a regular outlet.
Deep cycle batteries differ from a car battery in a few ways. Your car battery is designed to have a big draw regularly, to start the car, and then to be replenished by the engine via the alternator. A deep cycle battery is designed for a lower but more extended charge, which makes a deep cycle battery great for an emergency situation, such as the 2021 Texas polar vortex. Deep cycle batteries are also very popular in and used for boats and RVs.
Types of Batteries:
Lead Acid:
Lead acid batteries have lead plates that interact with an electrolyte fluid to store a charge. Lead acid deep cycle batteries generally last about 3-5 years, and can last about 200-300 cycles. For the best lifespan, its best to not let these fall below 50% while using them. Lead acid batteries have a variety of different subcategories including Flooded, Gel, AGM. The different subcategories have their pros and cons as far as cost, extending life, and versatility, with AGM being our favorite. These variations are relatively minor, especially compared to Lithium Ion batteries. You can read more about the variations HERE, but Lithium Ion batteries are starting to leave all other battery technology in the dust.
Lithium Ion
Lithium ion batteries are generally more compact, last longer, and have better battery discharge. Essentially, they’re just the better technology. Why even discuss the others? Lithium deep cycle batteries last about 3 times as long, but they cost about 5 times as much currently. They do offer about 10 times as many power cycles, meaning it won’t get worn out as quick if you use it frequently. What does all this mean? If you want to buy a battery pack as a backup and forget it, get lithium. If you use a battery a lot, like on a daily basis, go lithium. If you’re like me, and you use your batteries, but only a couple times per month, financially it just makes sense to get a more traditional lead acid battery. Battery technology has been becoming less expensive with time, so that’s something else to look forward to.
Power Inverter:
A Power inverter takes one form of power output and converts into another, in this case from the car’s DC 12v to a 110v AC current, or to put it simply, it turns it into a regular house outlet. As I mentioned above, you’ll need to figure out how much output you’ll want or need so you can determine which power inverter is right for you and your vehicle.
Low Power
This is your cheap starter option. I have one like this that I have in my vehicle for running small electronics inside my car, like a laptop charger, video player, or other small output devices. This will power up to 300 w, which is a start, but won’t run much inside your house as far as appliances go. If that’s not a big deal to you, cool. If you want heat, to keep your freezers going, or if you rely on electric life saving equipment, you’ll want more power coming through your vehicle generator. A small inverter like this doesn’t take advantage of all the power your vehicle has to offer.
Medium Power
This is good to 500, with a peak at 1000. This also has connectors to connect directly to your battery. This is nice because your car’s cigarette lighter 12 v has small gauge wires and can’t handle the higher output needed once you get into the higher wattage. If you’re planning on using any significant power, we’d recommend using the alligator clamps directly on the battery.
High Power
This is good to 2,000 watts. This is the only inverter that can handle keeping a freezer cold. The compressor in a freezer takes a lot of power, and you’ll need all 2,000 watts when that compressor kicks in. If you cycle through what you need connected to power and only have 1 or 2 items connected to this, you’ll be able to keep most things functional in your house, although not all at once, this will meet your needs.
Extreme Power
This will meet your needs. this puts out 4,000 watts. This is your set it and forget it option. It takes a bit more to install, but this can handle multiple freezers, or one freezer and some other appliances. This is also the only one that can handle an electric oven (I’d recommend getting a gas oven if possible. Electrical outages are more common than gas). This is the one you want. This is the one we recommend if you want your car to take the place of your generator. It’s also only 1/10 the price of a good Honda Generator. It’s the way to go, either as a generator backup, or as a first option.
You can turn your vehicle into a generator for a lot cheaper than you can buy a generator. It’s a pretty simple system. When the engine is running, the alternator charges battery. The battery sends power where you need… READ MORE
Charging and Battery Tending
Battery tenders ensure that your batteries remain charged. If lead acid batteries are left sitting, they tend to lose their charge over time. Furthermore, a tender also has a float mode that extends the life of the battery once it is fully charged. This particular tender also has a built in charger, so it can also charge your batteries between uses. You can just set it and forget it.
Battery Boxes:
If you’re planning on only using a few batteries, and generally not as a part of a larger bank of batteries, we recommend a battery box system with fuses and battery level monitoring built in. We us the battery boxes by Min Kota for fuses, monitoring use, and for protecting the battery. It also includes a DC port (cigarette lighter) outlet directly on the box, which means any chargers, accessories, or cords you can connect to your cigarette lighter you can connect directly to this box without any problems. These boxes are designed to be used with trolling motors, so they’re designed for some rougher use, and we can attest that they hold up well and have all the features you’d want.
the general rule of thumb with lead acid batteries is that you’ll only get half the energy output from the batteries for actual use. If the batteries are listed at 200 AH, a 12 volt battery (12×200=2400 watts) will only get you about 1200 watts per battery. You’ll want to determine your electrical output needs, then plan your battery bank to match, or double it if you’re using lead acid.
Deep Cycle Batteries as Part of an Alternate Energy System
People often make a bank of these batteries for a solar or wind system. The solar or wind will be replenishing the batteries as you use the electricity via an alternator. That’s a very simplified view of setting up an alternate energy source, but the point is, deep cycle batteries are often a huge part of those systems because of their ability to give off a long extended charge.
You can purchase the exact solar kit he used HERE, (and the price has dropped by about 50% compared to what he paid) but we recommend going bigger, like the one below. The kit he used has a relatively low power output. Solar technology has been improving, and this kit has twice the output.
Jackery Portable Power Station
If you only want a backup power system without having to think or build anything, the Jackery Portable Power station is what you’re looking for. It uses lithium ion batteries and has a built in inverter, outlet, USB ports, and a screen to give you a status update for your power levels. You can also get a solar panel that plugs into it as well. It’s a clean, simple system that gets the job done. It doesn’t have as much versatility or customization as building your own system, but this is the easy and effective way, and one that a lot of preppers go with.
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