HOw many watts? Little giant incubator

[Denim Deb]

We have a hurricane heading this way, and may very well lose our power. And, while we have the generator, depending on how long the power is out, I don't know that I want to run it 24/7. Wouldn't be a problem except for one thing-I have eggs in my incubator. They go into lock down on Sunday.

I do have a power pack w/a 400 watt inverter. Right now, it's at the farm, but I'm planning on bringing it home tomorrow, and charging it up. Will this be powerful enough to run the incubator during an extended power outage? Or, would I be better off just running the generator 24/7?

 

[Neko-chan]

I'm no expert, but I don't think the generator should be run 24/7, as that's hard on the generator, and your fuel supply. If you can set up the powerpack with success, I think it'd be worth it.

Do you have a woodstove? I've never incubated eggs before, but if all else fails, is it possible to create a "mother hen" environment by moving them closer to or farther away from a heat source like a woodstove/fireplace?

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm no expert, but I don't think the generator should be run 24/7, as that's hard on the generator, and your fuel supply. If you can set up the powerpack with success, I think it'd be worth it.

Do you have a woodstove? I've never incubated eggs before, but if all else fails, is it possible to create a "mother hen" environment by moving them closer to or farther away from a heat source like a woodstove/fireplace?

Remember, it's still summer here! I can just imagine what my hubby would say if I made a fire now! And, I don't want to run the generator 24/7. Can't say the same for my hubby. (Maybe we should have 2?)

 

[sunsaver]

You could alternate them run the generator to charge the power pack, then use the power pack to keep things on and give the gen a break. Don't know if 400 watts is enough for you incubator. Whats the watts on it? If it has an amps listing on the back by the power cord, just multiply that no. x 120 volts to get the watts.

 

[Denim Deb]

It's not listed on the plug. But, I realized that it listed the wattage on a little sticker by the temp control. It's 40 watts! So, I should be good. I just don't know if I'm going to get anything to hatch. I'm getting kind of discouraged. I took out an egg that cracked today, and I'm wondering if I have another one since I'm still smelling something rotten. I just can't find any that seem to be cracked.

 

[sunsaver]

I dont know anything about hatching eggs, but it sounds like you should be able to run your incubator for several hours between charges. I hope you're on high ground away from any creeks. It's easy to get complacent when you haven't had any strong hurricanes in several years. I'm going to be worried about you, DD. So are you planning to stay?

 

[Denim Deb]

There's no place for me to go. And, even though we have a lake 1/4 mile from us, and a cedar swamp behind us, we're actually pretty high. I'm not planning on going out on Sunday until this is past. I filled up the truck tonight, I'll be filling the bike either tomorrow or Saturday, and I'll be filling up a couple of 5 gallon containers for the generator tomorrow. I was going to do it today when I filled up the truck, but hubby didn't want me to because it was pouring! If we do lose our power, I'm going to suggest to hubby that we NOT run the generator constantly, but only for a few hours at a time, like at night. After all, if it's out for a few days, there's no reason to run it during the day since we won't be home. As long as we have it running for a few hours a day, the stuff in the fridge and freezer should stay cold enough.