> BTW, I was shown a videotape last night produced by a man over toward
> Florida who runs his entire household, complete with HEAVY DUTY shop
> tools and washer /dryer and Air Conditioning off a 1200 Amp electric
> fork lift battery and a 8 KW invertor.  He doesn't even have PV or wind,
> and charges the battery about 6 hours every three days off a 12 KW
> Diesel generator.  His battery life is estimated to be about 15 years.
> (2000 charge cycles.)  HE can of course fire up the generator when he
> wants to run HEAVY AC loads like his arc welder and his giant table saw.
 
> HE claims he doesn't live any different than he did on the grid, except
> for some light maintenance, and that even with air conditioning a 3000
> square foot house, his Diesel bills average about $75 bucks a month
> during the heat and about $30 bucks a month otherwise.
 
> Very interesting Video!
 
Doesn't this sound just a little too good to be true? Perhaps I have a 
somewhat biased idea of the amount of power used for air conditioning that 
large a home; dosn't seem possible to me.
 
We are in the design stage of a house that size using PV and possibly a
wind generator and air conditioning is not even being considered and we
are far from Florida. 
 
James 
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