Saturday, March 03, 2012

Alternate Light Source

As I've mentioned, getting enough electrical power during winter is a challenge. One thing we do when the sun shines bright is charge up our Nautilus Booster Pack from Canadian Tire. The Nautilus is an 800 A portable battery that can start a vehicle, power 12 volt DC devices, and 120 volt AC appliances. This model gives us 33 amp-hours of stored energy.

It has an internal inverter for AC operation, but based on problems with a different brand, we've opted to use the built-in battery posts and an external inverter. After two years of use we've had no problems.

We can also plug DC devices directly into the built-in DC socket. The Nautilus comes with a bright LED light with a 3 m (10') cord. Because it's a DC light, it uses virtually no power. That gives Wayne the perfect alternate light source for reading on long, dark winter nights.

Regular price for the Nautilus at Canadian Tire is $249.99 CAD, but we got ours on sale. We always say, everything in Powell River goes on sale if you just wait long enough. -- Margy

5 comments:

  1. That looks great, Margy! And not expensive which is even better. I wonder if you can get these in the US? Will have to check this out.

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  2. Anonymous8:59 AM

    I need one of these batteries for if we have a hurricane! I think I'll do some research on it! Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Something to think about if one wants to save on hydro. Cost of hydro going up 12 % starting next month.

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  4. We had to use out backup power source yesterday, hydro was out for about 3 hours.

    Oh no, I see you now have word verification. Hoping this goes through as I have a devil of a time figuring out those letters.

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  5. I'm glad this post gave people an idea about an alternative power source. While the Nautilus is only available at Canadian Tire, there are lots of brands at other stores. Just read the label to find what you want.

    Crafty Gardener - I tried not using word verification for about a week. The spam getting through was more than 10 a day, clogging up my e-mail. I monitor my comments so I can remove any that are not generated by real visitors. I hated to go back to word verification, but couldn't think of another way. Sorry!

    Margy

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We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy