Hey Josh, very good points. I think it would be relatively easy to remove the battery and put it 1ft away too. This of coarse if your goal is to use it as a 'backup' for lights and not your computer system as that may be a pain.

I also have a case of 12v computer fans that I got for <20 that could work too.

One point you bring up that is interesting is using a larger battery... as long as it's 12v can it be ANY size? Say a car battery hooked up to one? Or is it dependent upon units? Like will it regulate until a certain size then turn off thus not utilizing the full capacity?
-Todd