How’s this for ingenuity? Amid the massive power outages caused by Sandy in New Jersey and New York, a man has been using his Toyota Prius Hybrid to power his home lights, laptop computer, and even his television.
Bob Sakala apparently bought his Prius about 5 months ago for its impressive fuel efficiency. Little did he know that he would soon be powering his house with it. Bob did know it was possible to temporarily use a Prius as a power source, as he says he’d read about it on the internet years ago. After Superstorm Sandy knocked out his home’s power, he thought he’d give it a go.
After purchasing a 100 watt inverter and some heavy-duty extension cords from Home Depot, he found it could power a few lights, his laptop, and his TV. He wasn’t able to power a heater with the power of the Prius, but after upgrading to a 300 watt inverter he was able to power more lights. In the week Bob was using his Prius to power his home, he said he only used three quarters of a tank of gas.
Unsurprisingly, Bob says he was happy just to be able to keep his lights on during the power blackout, while hundreds of thousands of residents in New Jersey and New York were without power. At one stage, over 8 million homes and businesses in 21 states were without power.
Image CC licensed by Beth and Christian Bell: Prius power
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