Batteries are Cheap, Backup power is expensive

@larsman  - All snide comments aside, many audiophiles care about battery back up systems for one reason or another.  Either in case of a power outage or as a way of getting cleaner and more stable power than they can get from the power lines. 

Whether that’s to run a turntable, streamer or SACD player power still matters.   There’s currently an active thread about buzzing while on audio power so clearly the topic is relevant to many here. 

The main reason for starting this thread was to point out just how incredibly expensive a UPS was for some of this.  Of course, it's not as expensiave as an F-150 truck, but still,  I was not aware until very recently how much better your average battery generator was or a DIY solution.  I think the DIY solution I'm doing is like 10x cheaper per minute of runtime than the average UPS.  

@erik_squires - I know, I get your point, and it's a good one. 

As somebody who lives in an apartment and doesn't drive, to me 'UPS' is a delivery service and 'F-150' is some kind of fighter jet  

@erik_squires I like the idea of the generac, being all electric at our place as well. I don't have one either and we live in tornado alley of MO, not the worst part of MO but NE MO. I'd like to have the generac but it is expensive. I think they do offer some kind of payment plans though, just haven't looked into it. We've lived here for the last 12 years and have only lost power for a few hours, once. Another time or two, off for less than an hour. Not bad considering all the above ground power lines and trees. Seems like a recipe for disaster. We also get a lot of ice storms but have yet to lose power in one. 

Anyway, I hope you find the solution to your problem. It's not a simple or inexpensive one. Seems like you can solve the short term one easily enough but the long term one gets trickier. There are a lot of smallish gas and diesel powered generators that might serve you there. Might be cheaper than modding your SUV, not sure. Good luck. Post what you find. 

I do like the solar solutions but they are not cheap and the same lag time would apply.

@billpete 

Oh, me too! 

We have at least 2 significant power events / month here and that’s in good weather!  By that I mean the power goes out long enough to reset the microwave clock.  

We’re also subject to yearly events of fiber cables being cut which take out almost all our cell and Internet providers at the same time.  I just can’t have enough back up systems! 

Solar power comes in various flavors.  Depends how they are used.  Some use them as strictly back up power, to charge batteries until things go out, and others use the Solar power continuously during the day, no lag.  

Erik 

Eco flow has one on sale for > 50% off ($2K now) that looks like it may take care of your whole home.

The battery and transfer switch.

https://us.ecoflow.com/products/delta-pro-transfer-switch?variant=54491796635721

DeKay