This Master Electrician agrees with Borcehlet

 

One last thought on using the gen to provide house power. If one cuts the ground prong to stop the ground fault issue and something catastrophic happen to home, truck or person, I doubt the insurance adjustor will look kindly about ignoring code. Might be cause enough to deny your claim or if someone is injured you'd lose the lawsuit.

 

No, I'm not making fun of you. My reply was serious. Many soldiers, cops, special ops folk, etc. drive F-150's. Controlling the illumination of you and your interior (contents, long gun barrels, other occupants, etc.) is important, especially in a tactically dynamic environment. Heck, even when Mrs. EDJ goes to the mall and parks in the structure, all the interior lights and puddle lamps (side view mirrors), cargo lights, door unlock alarm honking, etc. do nothing but to show everyone there is a lone female weighted down by messy shopping bags and no one else in the interior to stop an assailant. It advertises her as an attractive (pun intended) target.

I fully concur that the lighting package options should offer a "stealth mode," preferably as a software update, to protect people's privacy and enhance their security.

 

Has anyone used the power outlets in back of the truck? if so how did it go? how long? how was fuel consumption?

 

I have a cord like in the first post with one heavy duty cord for my fridge and a few other medium/light duty ones to run power strips off of it. I have wanted to test for awhile but haven't gotten around to it yet. Should keep food cold, laptop and phones charged, and tv/internet on. Depending on conditions I can maybe prioritize my sump pump or fridge based on duration and weather. Maybe run a window unit or space heater in extreme temps. I know where I'm running it into the house to accommodate each cord that's going to a specific thing.

In all honesty I am up the block from a school so most times when power goes out it's back on before I can get up and go for the cords. occasionally if the weather is horrible or if it's a tough fix for the power co we'll be out for several hours or a whole evening, which is why extension cords remain my go to fix for the time being.

For now I have run lawn equipment off the 120s in scenarios where my outdoor outlet is a PITA to get to and it never breaks a sweat. All hiccups have always turned out to be me thinking it was failing only to realize the system's failsafes were telling me something had a faulty cord.

Just be aware that certain heavier appliances like a fridge need a thicker cord so they don't fry themselves trying to squeeze all the startup
juice they need through a cord too skinny to handle it.

 

I use the outlets many times. When transiting, many times I will stop at a Walmart. Now that I have my Power Boost, while at the Walmart, I plug my travel trailer into the truck bed. This way, I have AC power for my CPAP, the TV, and micro. And should I need it, the air conditioner.

This is an example of my PB truck bed 7.2KW generator being used. I go to all the home football games at my university. We park in a large field next to the airport. There are no amenities of course.

I tow a 24', 5500# plus Travel Trailer from home in the Richmond, VA area to Salem, VA. The PB got 10.18 mpg. This was 188.9 miles on I-64 and I-81. I drive a grandfatherly 63 mph when towing. Including Salem and the 2 days in Blacksburg tailgating, the TT spent 62 hours plugged into the bed of PB. As soon as I exited the interstate at Salem, I filled up the truck. That's why I know I got a hand figured 10.18 mpg on the way from home. I filled up the truck Sunday morning after we came down from the mountain. The round trip towing miles from when I first got off the interstate and when I came off Christian Mountain after staying at the airport at Blacksburg were 49.6. We used a total of 12.62 gallons of gas, and after subtracting the gallons used towing (49.6 miles / by 10.18 mpg = 4.87 gallons), I figure we used 7.75 gallons over the 62 hours the truck was supplying electricity to the TT.

If I had needed to use the air conditioner, the amount of gas used would have greater, of course.

This use is the prime reason I bought the PB. I got tired of hauling the twin Honda generators around, along with the gas needed to run them.

 

GREAT thanks for the details -