Battery Power in SHTF Situations

[Ex313]

I'm not referring to civil unrest types of SHTF although this could be part of the scenario.

I have some friends who live near Seattle.
There is a wild fire up there. To add to the misery, the power went off. They had to go outside and sit in the car with the AC on because the wife is a stage 4 cancer patient.
They've been keeping in contact with their friends and family using Facebook posts.
They're talking about evacuation but the order hasn't been given as of the last time I looked.

Given this scenario I'm trying to think like McGyver;

If I had the ability to charge a battery with say, a Solar Panel , how big would it need to be in order to keep the AC on in my car without running the gasoline powered motor? Is there a way to run the compressor without turning on the engine?
The AC in their apartment isn't going to be available.
Is there a battery operated AC unit that could be used to keep a room cool and how would you keep the batteries charged?
The object of this is to provide care to the cancer patient who isn't going to be very mobile.

 

[harrycalahan]

Setting up to run the cars AC would take a lot of doing and would not be feasible. Those compressors usually rob 8-10 engine hp so you can imagine how large an AC motor would have to be to operate and how many electrons yada yada.

Id have a solar setup with a small room and a small 250 sq ft window unit. Those only draw a few amps on AC.

 

[edzackley]

Your car's AC is powered by the serpentine belt, which wont be moving anytime the engine is off.

A high efficiency window unit for a single room, run by a 12v battery through an inverter would likely be your cheapest option. Run time will depend on battery capacity and current draw by the unit selected.

Charging via solar is an option, but has lots of variables like: cloud cover, panel size and wattage, etc...

 

[jeep78]

You can't run the ac without running the car.

Your best bet is a window ac unit and a portable generator.

Solar is doable, but cost will be much more than the generator once you get enough batteries and enough panels (no, one panel and battery won't do it)

 

[hamburglar3]

if you get a generator, you can syphon gas from your neighbor vehicles when they leave

 

[jeep78]

You can't run the ac without running the car.

Your best bet is a window ac unit and a portable generator.

Solar is doable, but cost will be much more than the generator once you get enough batteries and enough panels (no, one panel and battery won't do it) not to mention the inverter and charge controller.)

 

[harrycalahan]

One other thing is, your home will be better insulated than your car. AC run time will be a lot less and more efficient even though you’re cooling more sq footage as opposed to an uninsulated steel shell of a car.

Depend on solar for long term run time and a geny for short term due to cloud cover, smoke, etc.

 

[StuP]

You'll need a good battery bank. Inverters aren't terribly efficient and ac uses some power. A small gas gen is the cheapest option.

 

[hondoptc]

We live in hurricane country so we lose power at least once a year. Before I got my full home generator I used a Generac GP5500 and a portable AC unit to cool the bedroom. It worked well. Solar is an option, but you will need a sizable solar array, batteries and a charger/inverter.

If you are rich, get a Tesla Solar roof and a Tesla power-wall. That is the ultimate. You can run the whole house for days and not even realize the power is out.

 

[41mag]

Just to give you an idea on solar..... my neighbor just put panels on his house . Enough to run the whole house, with battery reserve set up (mandatory) , everything installed was $20k . Now he sells power back to power company. His meter runs backwards. If power disconnects, it will run the whole house, fill batt reserves then shut down until there is a drain on reserves.
It is a nice system. But $20k initial investment is kind of steep. It will pay for itself, eventually.