How useful is the 400w inside cabin power plug for emergency situation

[Sylvester]

Was wondering how useful the inside cabin power plug is in case there is any emergency. I don't have a generator and was wondering what the best purpose for this feature of the truck would be in case there is a major power outage.

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[Hot Runr Guy]

400 watts is next to nothing. you can charge your cell phone, you won't be running your fridge off it.

HRG

 

[Sirslayer]

400 watts is really ain’t much. A laptop a couple tablets and maybe a small 200 watt refrigerator would max out the 400 watt. I have an 110 volt out in my cabin of the Maverick but I only use it to charge my laptop and electric shaver..

 

[paneubert]

The 12v cigarette outlet as well as any inverter you may or may not have in the Maverick are a great emergency source of power. Assuming you have a well-ventilated area to idle the truck, and potentially some extra gas laying around. You aren't going to be powering your entire house, but you for sure will be able to charge your cell phone, power a 12v refrigerator/freezer, etc... You might be surprised how little amperage and wattage are used for some common appliances. A modern fridge/freezer running on 120V only draws 3-5 amps when running. To start the compressor in the cooling system you will need more amperage for a very short time (half a second or less). To mitigate the risk of it blowing your fuses when it spikes, it is smart to buy a separate battery that you can start the 120v appliances with while also having that separate battery trickle charge from the Mav idling. For example, something like a 12V LiFePO4 Battery. I have a 100Ah one that I would use for this type of scenario. Since it has a 100 amp BMS on it, it can handle anything you throw at it.

Edit to add: Not trickle charging the 12V LiFePO4 Battery at the same time as using it to power a 120V fridge. More of a "Charge the 12V LiFePO4 Battery with the Mav during the day when you can defend from roving bands of looters, then use the LiFePO4 overnight to keep food cold while you sleep and the Mav is turned off" type situation.

 

[paneubert]

400 watts is next to nothing. you can charge your cell phone, you won't be running your fridge off it.

HRG

Well....maybe yes, maybe no. Google tells me " Running wattage for most household refrigerators, is usually between 350 to 750 if the voltage is 120. However, the average wattage will usually only be between 100 to 300 watts, because the compressor only runs about 30% of the time "

Yeah, it is gonna exceed the standard 400W inverter, but not often. Blown fuses are a possibility though..... I suppose I am imagining a scenario where someone is not relying on the 400W inverter and is using something beefier hooked up to the battery. Either the Mav battery (which sure as hell can handle the compressor load for a fridge), or a separate battery that is being trickle charged via the 12v cigarette when not being used to power the 120V household appliances.

 

[bgn]

Pretty useless. I haven't run anything on it that I couldn't run off 12v. It's a modified sine wave inverter that Ford has been using forever, and it trips on even stuff that's under the 400w limit.

 

[Haha48]

I use the inverter to charge a jackery power bank. It can do 12v but charges faster on 120v inverter. Then I use a igloo gp20 fridge freezer plugged into the jackery running off 12 volts. Doing that short drive charges the 240 jackery up and it runs for 16 hours more or less depending on how hot it is outside and how cold you set the fridge. Freezer 16 hours fridge alot longer 19ish. So camping you drive it keeps it running then stop and the jackery runs. Works out well for car camping/travelling

It's a 12v fridge freezer.

You could get a bigger jackery and charge it but it takes longer to charge they also have bigger inverters in them.

You can do laptops, radios, tool batterys small things like that.

For heat a 12v blanket and a jackery work well. The truck would turn off after 30 minutes with the key off or when the battery drops below a certain amount

 

[Timothyd]

400 watts is next to nothing. you can charge your cell phone, you won't be running your fridge off it.

HRG

Yeah, there are many other ways to prepare for an emergency. 400w is just a convenience.

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