Can you Power your House with an Alternator: Does it Work?

If you plan in skipping the vacation to buy a generator, we wouldn’t support it! You can always find a way to play cheap and save money! Pick up a car alternator and it will do the job of a generator.

So, can you power your house with an alternator instead of a generator? Oh, yes, you have all the right to do it! All you need is to use the alternator and recharge storage batteries. And there goes AC voltage to power the whole house. Don’t work hard, work smart!

Generator vs. Alternator

Let’s learn a little bit about what an alternator is and how is it different from the alternator. It will be easy for you to judge if you know the ins and outs.

Alternators: First of all, let’s start with the alternator. An alternator is a system that will generate electricity by turning mechanical energy into electricity. In the alternator, there’s a magnet that rotates and creates current so that it can distribute energy.

And the magnetic pole of the rotor keeps rotating. As a result, the magnetic flux cut the stator conductor. When this happens, EMF prompts in them. When the magnetic pole goes through alternating rotating S and N, the EMF induces.

With it, they also induce a current in the armature conductor. Here, it rotated in a clockwise direction first and then goes in the opposite direction. In this process, it produces alternating current.

Generators: On the other hand, generators are well-known appliances in our houses. It works almost in the same manner as the alternator. It changes mechanical energy into electrical energy.

But the best part about generators is they can produce both DC and AS. With this one, you can get direct current and also alternating current.

What is Better a Generator or an Alternator?

Check the chart and you’ll know that generators are less efficient than alternators. On the other hand, alternators also have high output compared to generators. And as alternator only uses the necessary amount of energy, it is capable of conserving more energy than generators!

Factors	Alternator	Generator
Output	Higher output	Lower output
Output Current	Only alternating current	Both direct and alternating current
Size	Small	Large
Energy Management	Conserves more energy	Conserves less energy
Voltage Production	Only when required	Continuous
Efficiency	High	Low

How to Power your House with an Alternator

People often get confused about how to power your house with a car alternator. Well, it isn’t that tough! All you need is to gather the gears and connect the terminals. But make sure you ensure precision.

Step 1: Gather the Gears

If you have a perfect Generac home generator added to your house for power during the power outage, you are lucky. But if you don’t have one, a car alternator can also do the job! For this, you will need an alternator that comes with an electronic regulator.

Along with this, a power inverter is required here. Not to mention, to make the process work, electrical wire is necessary. Don’t forget the 12-volt car battery to power the alternator. And along with these, you will need a 5-horsepower gas engine for power requirements too.

Step 2: Use the V-Belt

In the next step, you have to get your hands on both the alternator and the gas engine you have gathered before. Your job is to connect the alternator and the gas engine. For the process, you will need a V-belt.

Get the V-belt and connect them. When the engine will run, a pulley on your 5-horsepower gas engine shaft will turn the alternator’s pulley. And eventually, the alternator will generate power!

Step 3: Recharge the Battery

After you are done with the previous step, here, you have to add the large red terminal on your car alternator and the car battery’s positive terminal. Connect both of these so that you can ensure power.

Once the battery’s positive terminal and the alternator’s large red terminal are connected, move to the negative wire of the alternator. Add this one to the battery’s negative side. Once you start the gas engine, the battery will get recharged.

Step 4: Work with the Inverter

Now get your hands on the red positive terminal of your power inverter first. You have to connect it to the battery’s positive terminal.

Once you have connected the positive terminal of the battery with the red positive terminal of the power inverter, you have to search for the black negative terminal of the wire.

Well, learning how to wire an alternator as a generator isn’t too tough but if you are confused or new to the wiring sector, you can always choose to settle for a professional

Step 5: Connect the Black Terminal

When you get the black negative terminal of the wire, you have to connect it to the power inverter. Keep in mind that you must pick up the right size of power inverter depending on how many devices you are going to run with this one.

If you have so many devices to run with the alternator, you will require a large power inverter. In that case, the cost will be a little extra because, without additional batteries, the power inverter won’t work.

With the small inverters, there are built-in electrical outlets where you can plug appliances. If you are settling for a larger power inverter you can wire it to the power panel directly too. And when you are done working with the inverter, you are done with powering the house with the alternator!

How much voltage can an alternator produce?

To know if the alternator will do the job for your house or not, you need to learn how much voltage it can produce. If you use an alternator, you will see that the voltage produced by this appliance is about 1-1/2 to 2 volts higher than your battery voltage.

If you keep a charging system idle, it will generator 13.8 to 14.3 volts or close. In this case, there should be no lights or appliances switched on.

And if you don’t want to invest your brain so much on the alternators, check out the Firman Generator reviews and pick up an ideal generator for your house. They are worth the money you pay!

Wrap Up

So, is it too tough to power your house with the alternator? No, right? You only need to know the basics of electrical wiring to add the alternator and reduce the requirement of a generator for the house. But certify that you are careful with the wiring. And if not, you always have an option of calling the electrician!