Star Simpson

Thinking about disaster preparedness. There are a million lists — I've rarely seen one include a simple car battery & inverter for power.

Out here in the PNW, grid power is unreliable enough that a lot of people have portable generators. Many even have fixed home gensets

And this isn't even for disasters so much as just routine seasonal storms. Half my city had no power for 12+ hours after high wind this week

So I don't see backup power as disaster prep. I file it with snow shovels and lawnmowers as a "everybody needs / probably already has one"

Also, srs Q: what would you use a single car battery + inverter for? Can't cook / run a fridge for long. Barely 4 hours of a TV or lamp

Amateur astronomers often run telescope gear off them over the night but that battery type even kind of sucks for that despite popularity

What would be better?

Deep cycle marine batteries handle those sort of slow draw repeated discharge cycles better. Better longevity, avoid plate sulfination, etc.