For the past few years during electrical emergencies, innovative people have been using their hybrid Toyota Prius to power their homes.
During an ice storm last week Sweeney, of Harvard, Mass., powered his house by hooking it up to his Toyota Prius. The Prius, a hybrid vehicle, starts the gasoline-burning mode of its engine every 30 minutes to recharge the battery with an internal generator. In turn, Sweeney ran his refrigerator and freezer, wood stove fan, lights and television off the car's battery.Sweeney, an electrical engineer, explained the simple procedure he used.
"I pulled out this thing I have, an inverter, that converts the current from the car to 120 volts, which is what the appliances in your house run on," Sweeney said in an interview. "The car ran for three days, turning itself on for a few minutes every half an hour, and it burned about five gallons of gas."
Sweeney estimated he used 17 Kilowatt/hours of energy, drawn from the Prius, while the power was cut off from his house. boston.bizjournals.com
According to news reports, about 1,200 homes in eastern Massachusetts are still without power 11 days after the ice storm hit on Dec. 12.
Sweeney is obviously knowledgeable and very resourceful. Certainly what he did allowed him to manage to remain in his house and keep his pipes from freezing. Having said that, the cost of powering your appliances with gasoline is considerably higher than with juice from the electric company and a lot worse for the environment. In the short run I'd say it made perfect sense. But it's hard to find a way to pollute more while heating your house than with a wood stove.