Hi Kevin,

In trying to figure out how much power all your equipment will draw, I have 
a suggestion,

There is a little device that you plug into an AC outlet, than plug the item 
that you want to know its power needs into the device.  The device will tell 
you the Line voltage, current used by the device in question, killowatt 
hours used, etc.

The device is called "Kill-a-watt".  It is intended to tell you how much 
power various items around the house use.

You will need someone with sight to read it to you though.

You may be able to plug everything into the device via a power strip to get 
a reading of all the devices at once as long as you don't exceed the rating 
of the "Kill-a-watt"  I believe it is rated at 15 amps.

The cost is less than $30 depending on where you get it.

If you are interested, I will help you find one.

Howard T.  W A 9 Y B W

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gerry Leary" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 5:54 AM
Subject: Re: What's a good battery backup for an apartment?


> Well first let me suggest something.  An optima battery has a much better
> use cycle then the three batteries in the system.  Also Xantrex sells
> reconditioned 1000 watt inverters for less then $100.00  Connect one of
> those to an optima battery with easy to get low cost battery cables and 
> you
> can have a back up system for less then $250.  You do need to get a smart
> charger but they also sell those for about $40 reconditioned.  I have the
> roll around 1500 watt system, but they also make an 1800 watt system that 
> is
> meant to be a backup.  They do have prices on the site, but I don't 
> remember
> if they sell directly.  I will also tell you that the inverter that I have
> does make some radio noise, but I haven't tried grounding it, so I don't
> know how hard it is to make quiet.  I think the price is somewhere between
> $300 and $400.  I hope this helps.  Gerry
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Kevin Minor" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2011 9:27 PM
> Subject: Re: What's a good battery backup for an apartment?
>
>
>> Hi Gerry.
>>
>> I went to the Xantrex site, and the system they have looks like just what
>> I
>> want.  Two things are missing.  One is where can I get one, it looks like
>> they use resellers for this, and second, how much does this cost?  I'd
>> probably look at getting three of them to keep my apartment going.  I do
>> like the specs on them.
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Kevin Minor, Lexington, KY
>> [log in to unmask]