I must admit I have started to change my views on emergency lighting at least on a small scale. I have worked with 120 volt inverters and it has been fun, exciting and also a knowledge expanding experiment. Inverter based emergency lighting works well and provides access to cheap light bulbs. The light generated at times beats the glow from the household AC! The down side is that the inverter really sucks the battery fast. An inverter typically will draw 1 to 2 amps when it is working and unless you wire it correctly will draw a small current even when the system is off. The plus to an inverter is it is multi functional, you can drive lights, a fan, a drill and other appliances that are AC based and this really works especially in short bursts. In a power outage situation it is great. As long as the sun comes out and shines to replenish your battery you are in decent shape. The down side is again is that the inverter draws chunks of juice so you had better have a good solid battery bank and a good sized solar trickle charging solar panel.
With that all said I have been experimenting with 12 volt lighting applications using LED lights and I must say I am impressed. I will write more soon.
See you next time
Joe
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