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<blockquote data-quote="GeneW" data-source="post: 4110037" data-attributes="member: 27284">One thing you should do in the meantime is an Energy Audit.&nbsp;&nbsp; You can go whole hog on a home energy audit, but I went a different way.I purchased a &quot;Kill-A-Watt&quot; meter (Amazon and many others sell these).You plug in the Kill-A-Watt meter into the wall outlet&nbsp; and then plug in your appliance into it.&nbsp;&nbsp; It will show you what the Appliance is drawing, both live and cumulative.&nbsp; It&nbsp; will also show you the Hertz as well as the actual voltage out of your outlet.Keep a list of each Appliance and write down the Kilowatts used over a specific time.&nbsp; This will tell you how much $$$ it costs to run the Appliance.In my case I was especially interested in how much power my CPAP used.&nbsp; It used far less than I figured by the CPAP label.&nbsp; I&#039;ve run my TV&#039;s, Radios, etc, but not yet the Refrigerator and Freezer.&nbsp; I especially, mainly, wanted to know my CPAP power useage.&nbsp; I then purchased, last Black Friday, a solar power generator to power it, and I also purchased a 200 watt folding suitcase type solar panel (portable) and a 100 AH LiFEPO battery for that purpose.&nbsp;&nbsp; Anyway, grab a legal pad or notebook and write down all the things running in your house.&nbsp;&nbsp; Run an energy audit.&nbsp;&nbsp; Do some figuring.&nbsp; Then you&#039;ll have an idea of how much power you need.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GeneW, post: 4110037, member: 27284"] One thing you should do in the meantime is an Energy Audit. You can go whole hog on a home energy audit, but I went a different way. I purchased a "Kill-A-Watt" meter (Amazon and many others sell these). You plug in the Kill-A-Watt meter into the wall outlet and then plug in your appliance into it. It will show you what the Appliance is drawing, both live and cumulative. It will also show you the Hertz as well as the actual voltage out of your outlet. Keep a list of each Appliance and write down the Kilowatts used over a specific time. This will tell you how much $$$ it costs to run the Appliance. In my case I was especially interested in how much power my CPAP used. It used far less than I figured by the CPAP label. I've run my TV's, Radios, etc, but not yet the Refrigerator and Freezer. I especially, mainly, wanted to know my CPAP power useage. I then purchased, last Black Friday, a solar power generator to power it, and I also purchased a 200 watt folding suitcase type solar panel (portable) and a 100 AH LiFEPO battery for that purpose. Anyway, grab a legal pad or notebook and write down all the things running in your house. Run an energy audit. Do some figuring. Then you'll have an idea of how much power you need. [/QUOTE]

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