20wt for low load on small inverter generator at or below 0f?

[oil pan 4]

Would you do it to the backup for the backup generator?

Actually, this exercise has me thinking about getting an LiFePO4 battery, battery charger, and inverter setup for night time during these cold weather outages. It would run silently during the night for the little amount of power I’d need. Then I could crank the generator in the morning and charge the battery/run all the things in the house. It would put more load on the generator which may help me to get it closer to normal operating temp.

But, it is difficult trying to justify having more crap stored at the house for a thing that (maybe) only happens once every several years.

LiFePO4 batteries suffer from cold numbing. They're not a good match for operation in the cold. Also charging them when colder than +20f can result in permanent capacity loss.

 

[mitsuman47]

LiFePO4 batteries suffer from cold numbing. They're not a good match for operation in the cold. Also charging them when colder than +20f can result in permanent capacity loss.

I doubt I’ll get one because of the reasons stated earlier. But just for my knowledge, are they able to be stored and used indoors? Or, is that frowned upon? If I can use them indoors, they’ll be nice and toasty in the house due to me having the wood fireplace insert. It’ll overheat the house, even during single digit temps, if I’m not careful. lol

 

[cptbarkey]

Lol. I agree. Our infrastructure, and my body for that matter lol, is not made for the temps they get up north. Same as air conditioning not being in 50% of homes up north until about 20 years ago. Folks were dying during 100f heat waves up there. And, we’re still out doing yard work every day in those temps.

Thanks for the info. Which heater did you buy?

sorry for the late response, i went with this one. there are a zillion variants of the same thing on Amazon. It also jumped $30 since I bought it.

Amazon.com

search for diesel heater

Amazon.com : diesel heater

I am going to make the garage adapter this weekend and work on a tractor. Will run it inside instead of outside and pipe the exhaust out to see if its more efficient. Also bought a cheapo co2 monitor just in case. This guy demonstrates it pretty well.

 

[oil pan 4]

I doubt I’ll get one because of the reasons stated earlier. But just for my knowledge, are they able to be stored and used indoors? Or, is that frowned upon? If I can use them indoors, they’ll be nice and toasty in the house due to me having the wood fireplace insert. It’ll overheat the house, even during single digit temps, if I’m not careful. lol

For warm weather they're great and they last a long time I have had the same LiFePO4 battery for my suburban since 2015. And I got a small smaller sized LiFePO4 battery to repower my jump starter pack back in like 2013 and it's just now getting to where it's kind of weak and is really struggling.
My plans are to stick with lead acid AGM.
I'll put another LiFePO4 in the jump starter pack, that's it. Mainly for the weight savings.

 

[z71bill]

I would not run less than a 30wt. Its air-cooled. Run what the manual states or heavier, not lighter.

Did you miss the "0f or a few degrees lower than that"

Oh my bad - you mean 5W30 or 10W30!!

 

[M1Accord]

This may sound crazy but I would not hesitate to use my Fit as a generator. It has a decent size alternator that maybe the same as that of Accord and SUV even though the battery is a dismal 151R. I do have a 300W car inverter for my Accord and I should be reading to see if I can plug it in the Fit without damaging anything and use that to run the fridge if there is power outage during non-cold season. If it cold season, I would just put the food in the various large plastic container and keep them inside some of the cars with the windows partially roll down for outdoor freezer and run the Fit to keep warm if needed.

I thought about getting a generator but we rarely ever lose power here with buried power lines so the substation maintenance is our only concern and I recall only losing power 2 or maybe 3 times in the last 15 years.

 

[spasm3]

Did you miss the "0f or a few degrees lower than that"

Oh my bad - you mean 5W30 or 10W30!!

Or a 0w-30. I should have said xx-30. I didn't mean a straight 30.

 

[z71bill]

I think 0W20 will be what I put in all 3 of my generators the NEXT TIME I STORE THEM.

If it is really cold (below freezing) when I need them the next time - I change to 5W30 after a couple of hours on the 0W20
If it is 50+ degrees - I change to SAE 30 after 2-3 hours
If it is 75-80 degrees I change to SAE 30 after an hour
If it is 100 degrees I change to 15W40 after half an hour


Engine already hot - under constant use no need to use "light" oil

YMMV