SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Revolution? Loved that series.
ENER Nationwide Blackouts Possible
- Thread starter Abert
- Start date
Revolution? Loved that series.
West
Senior
Ha! We are finally stocked up on Lume.
Bring on Armageddon! Plus I like the fact that I will not have to shower or bath for weeks!
Right on....
lumedeodorant.com
Bring on Armageddon! Plus I like the fact that I will not have to shower or bath for weeks!
Right on....
Home
Lume's doctor-developed deodorants are hypoallergenic, baking soda free, and safe for sensitive skin with outrageous 72-hour odor protection for your whole body. Shop now.
lumedeodorant.com
Goodbye World was one. 2013.
Many different character plots.
Some decent scenarios fleshed out.
Some things were silly.
Typical movie...
colonel holman
Veteran Member
~Most folks have whole house gennies here. I judge them useless for long term grid down, although wife really wants one. My plan would be to wire it to very few breakers for very selective and intermittent use: freezer… until freezer contents can be otherwise preserved; water pump for once every other day or less to run well pump to top off water stores (lots of them); recharge 12v batteries if solar is inadequate (short daylight season an cloudy days). I prefer other uses for the propane gennie fuel. Prefer to rely on other energy sources (solar, firewood, propane heat-cook)
SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Our plan is to use the gennie just long enough to get all the food out of my freezers canned up. We are self-sufficient in all other aspects from electricity of any kind if need be, with a small solar array to recharge small items, and we heat and can cook with firewood. I've even spent this summer already canning most meats from my freezer just to be on the safe side. I would hate to know that if the power goes off permanently, I had to can everything at once if I had no fuel to keep the gennies running. Why wait?
night driver
ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
If yer looking for the book version where electricity stopped working, Steve Sterling wrote a 3-4-5 book series which started with "Dies the Fire"
I have to agree, a good thought provoking series of books.
One point I do want to add to the conversation. If you planning on using a solar power system as backup, remember you end up be subject to the weather to one degree or another. Solar panel efficiency falls of significantly without direct sun exposure. A week of heavy overcast cloud cover is not unusual where I'm located, especially this (winter) time of year.
I would also point out that solar panels often need to be mounted off the ground to catch good sun. Having to mount panels this way tends to make them an easy target for intended damage. Been there, done that. If you can manage it, a spare panel or two of at least minimum capability is a good thing.
Definitely thoughts to keep in mind.....
gjwandkids
Contributing Member
That is also true. Canning over a fire is possible but very finicky. I'd much rather use propane.
I'm glad it wasn't your intent.
Raggedyman
Res ipsa loquitur
for those with solar that may be concerned with accumulations of snow on the collectors . . . some good news
Many industry experts recommend you do not attempt to remove snow from solar panels. Even with a roof rake, doing so may void your solar panel warranty, or worse, you could hurt yourself.
In most cases, the sun melts the snow off solar panels much quicker than many think - quicker than the ground and even your roof. Panels retain warmth and are often installed at an angle, so when the storm blows over even heavy snow slides right off. more at link below - read time 3'
DON'T BE
Many industry experts recommend you do not attempt to remove snow from solar panels. Even with a roof rake, doing so may void your solar panel warranty, or worse, you could hurt yourself.
In most cases, the sun melts the snow off solar panels much quicker than many think - quicker than the ground and even your roof. Panels retain warmth and are often installed at an angle, so when the storm blows over even heavy snow slides right off. more at link below - read time 3'
How to Take Care of Snow on Your Solar Panels
How to Take Care of Snow on Your Solar Panels
Bridey Rose
Veteran Member
Hey, don't laugh. We'll need those EV chargers to charge our portable power stations when the grid goes down.
Suckers
You do have a portable power station, don't you?
Ecoflow Portable Power Station
SurvivalRing
Rich Fleetwood - Founder - author/coder/podcaster
This is our local forecast for the next three days. Here in Rawlins we’re just under 7000 ft above sea level…the winter storm watch says 13-18 inches of snow above 7500 ft. Interstate 80 is going to be shut down for at least two days…maybe more…at Elk Mountain…Just an FYI... looking like some nasty winter weather moving in today... would be wise to anticipate power outages with these blizzards...
"Ominous satellite images capture major storm bearing down on West Coast that will cause havoc across US - as forecasters predict three feet of snow, tornadoes, blizzards and heavy rain"
Approaching storm system expected to run havoc across the US
A major storm system brewing in the Pacific is set to hit the US on Saturday and bring snow, tornadoes and heavy rainfall across the country throughout the following week.www.dailymail.co.uk
It’s going to be a pluperfect mess…
John Deere Girl
Veteran Member
Anything that makes one more self sustainable would be on that list. Seeds, livestock such as chickens, goats, sheep, rabbits, or cows would help if one really believes hard times are coming. However, I'd think about whether or not I can grow the feed to take care of them, because it's not feasible for a lot of people.
West
Senior
Don't forget the water one needs for livestock especially. Just one cow needs about 20 gallons a summer day.
Old Reliable
Veteran Member
I like this guy's take on our power grid.
POWER GRID ATTACK | False Narratives Cover Up the Truth.
Run Time 28:08 M
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfIoS5Ep8UU
POWER GRID ATTACK | False Narratives Cover Up the Truth.
Run Time 28:08 M
20Gauge
TB Fanatic
Do I expect total blackouts nation wide? Not this year or the next 5.
I do expect a lot more of what happened last week in NC. Either stupidity or criminal activity that shuts down sections of the grid for days or weeks on end. That I expect to happen a lot more than now.
I also expect it to hit large population centers 1st. Mostly California
I am running behind on this. My mom was supposed to help with freeze drying stuff ... I bought the freeze dryer and she was/is putting in her time. The problem is that my mom is kinda stuck on the "fun" and "easy" stuff ... candy, ice cream, veggies, "neat" things she sees on youtube. We have enough eggs for 2+ years at this point. So not kidding. After Christmas I guess I am going to have to be a little bit brutal and tell her that playtime has to end and we need to focus on cleaning the freezers out ... hers and mine ... and getting more of substance into the FD. Every time I try and schedule some time to cook for the FD she has some other project going in the space. I love my mom. I love that she wants to help. But she doesn't like to think about potential problems because she already has so many she has to deal with during normal waking hours.
I moved the freeze dryer to her place and she is so proud of it. I'm gonna hate having to bring it back to mine if I can't get her to accept the need to changing.
I think things are going to get worse right about the time they institute the digital currency thing ... or start phasing it in. My husband thinks that will start in about 2 years but I'm inclined to think it might be closer to 5, hard to say at this point. With FTX and other issues with crypto type currencies people are backing off their potential "trust" in such a system. But that will align nicely as a way to control things/people while other crap blows up around us.
SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I bought my very first pressure canner back in the Spring. It has been going almost every week, sometimes twice a week, ever since. I've almost emptied one chest freezer of meat and will start on the other one next. I wanted to can up all the ground beef first, since that is what we eat most. 72 pint jars so far. I'm hoping to start on all the other meats, next, plus more dry beans, butter, etc.
John Green
Veteran Member
I believe you are correct.
Same here. Trust me, they run out really fast when you really are trying for the "whole house" thing. We've put it in the budget and pulled it out many times. When the power goes down our neighbor's immediately kicks on. Loud bunch of nonsense as it runs a wall unit AC (window shaker) in two rooms (one of them the master bedroom), his well, and the breaker to his frig and freezer. Also runs the breaker to his washer and dryer because of the circuit it is on and because his wife can't handle dirty laundry backing up.
I want something for our well but in Florida we have to have them drilled too deep for a well bucket or simple hand pump ... at least for secure potable water. We had a solar generator but we kept losing the prime on the well due to it being so deep and a submersible pump and the solar gen not able to keep it powered up sufficiently to keep it running through the water system we have ... peroxide and salt. Additional problem is the well is closer to the barn than it is the house. We plan on some experimenting out our BOL this year but who knows if it will work. For now at least I am fixated on water storage at the BOL and water processing at our primary home. At our primary we are backed up to a pond and swamp and normally have access to water 24/7/365 but it will need significant processing to make is usable for anything other than gardening. At our BOL a sinkhole in the utility easement drained the natural spring and it hasn't come back. We are going to try and fill the sinkhole and repunch into the spring assuming it still exists. There is a year-round wet pond on the property next to us near our fence line but I wouldn't use it on a bet due to cattle and horses having fouled it for around 50+ years.
Next comes a cistern set up using run off from our new barn and the new carport we built. We've already installed the gutters for both but need to get the water tanks fixed up and make sure that we can keep it from growing algae without having to use too many chemicals. Maybe a solar powered UV system.
I swear the money goes out as fast as it comes in.
Even the "cold" here in Florida runs batteries down real quickly. We learned that the hard way when we were counting on a solar set up to run our well during power outages.
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I sort of agree with you.
I talk about going back to 1800's living, and that is a possibility, and I think it's important to prepare for that type of living, in reality I don't think a total grid down forever is in the cards.
Rolling blackouts with 2-8 hour uptimes is more like what I see, as a nation wide thing. Saw a headline of a new breakthrough in Fusion so all this may be mute anyway. Or it could be hopisium.
Nevertheless people all over the country have, and can experience 1-2 weeks without power due to lots of different things including weather.
The main reason I don't go for a total blackout forever scenario, is banking, and governmental operations depend on electricity. I mean they don't really care about us, but they need it. And if they are using it and don't share it with us little ignorant people, us little ignorant people might just get to the point where we have had enough. So throwing us some crumbs in the 2-8 hour variety will keep the peasants in line.
With inflation that's my 2 bits, instead of cents.
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
FYI you've probably already checked this out, but they do make hand pumps for deep wells, and I'm assuming 100 feet plus. However, the cost is like snot-de-business high, and IMHO to high to warrant the cost, for a possible use sometime in the future.
As I have stated elsewhere there is an alternative being a windless manual draw. You won't get much per draw, so multiple draws will need to be done.
BUT.....if we do go with 2-8 hour uptime in electricity, like Venezuela, then we would need to be prepared to have all the taps open to collect as much as we can.
Lowe's still sells "wash tubs" in 1, 2, and 3 sizes.
bw
Fringe Ranger
Food-grade 55-gallon plastic barrels, as used by soft drink bottlers. About $20 each from your local hardware stores.
SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
We have 2-55 gallon plastic rain barrels (plan to get another one this Spring) and a 650 gallon water tank that is set up with a rain catchment system, plus the large size wash tubs. We already have water stored in several of those plastic barrels you mention, too. This set up will work for us, unless we're in a drought. Then, we will simply bring water from the pond or creek just below our house. We haven't gone through a drought, yet, where they ran dry.
I'd look into buying an inverter that you could hook up to your car battery and plug your freezer in for an hour or so a day. If you cover the contents with a mylar space blanket, then wrap the outside with sleeping bags or comforters, the food will stay frozen with only fairly short "on" periods.That’s a huge blanket statement.
Even for a lot of preppers, going several weeks of a blackout is a tall order.
We would be fine for a week but any longer would be a little sketchy. Im not worried about having food but I AM worried about potentially losing all of the meat in the freezers.
Not all of us are able to afford a generator.
This reminds me; I need to stock up on more candles and fresh batteries.
I just opened a large pack of batteries that I bought last spring and every single one had corroded! Grrrrr!!! I need all sizes but that’ll cost a pretty penny.
Of course, UNWRAP the outside of the freezer before plugging it in... if you block the air flow slots, it can overheat and burn out.
Summerthyme
We had a load of clothes in the washing machine when a 1000 year flood took out our electric poles and primary roadway.
( we're on a ridge-top, damage was a couple miles away)
A 7500 watt gas generator would not run the "high-tech" washing machine.
A 1000watt pure sine wave inverter hooked to 12volt batteries would not allow the machine to run.
Being summer, we broke out a clean 5 gallon bucket and a new toilet plunger.
We had 2 under 10 years old staying with us. They thought "washing clothes" with the plunger was great fun.
I later showed them a spring about a 1/4 mile away where their great-grandmother and 3great aunt would do laundry. By hand. With water heated on a campfire. Every couple weeks...
They still talk about "doing laundry" on the deck during that outage. We went 7 or 8 days that time. Other outages have been longer.
I rambled. Point I was making: our high-tech washing machine wouldn't work. Yours might not either. Make other provisions...
( we're on a ridge-top, damage was a couple miles away)
A 7500 watt gas generator would not run the "high-tech" washing machine.
A 1000watt pure sine wave inverter hooked to 12volt batteries would not allow the machine to run.
Being summer, we broke out a clean 5 gallon bucket and a new toilet plunger.
We had 2 under 10 years old staying with us. They thought "washing clothes" with the plunger was great fun.
I later showed them a spring about a 1/4 mile away where their great-grandmother and 3great aunt would do laundry. By hand. With water heated on a campfire. Every couple weeks...
They still talk about "doing laundry" on the deck during that outage. We went 7 or 8 days that time. Other outages have been longer.
I rambled. Point I was making: our high-tech washing machine wouldn't work. Yours might not either. Make other provisions...
SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
That's the main reason for my #10 wash tubs with 2 sizes of rub boards, plenty of Zote laundry soap, and a washing table outside on our deck. A fire ring just off the side of the deck for heating water, and an outdoor clothesline for drying. Most people have no idea what all it's going to take, once the power goes out.
Barry Natchitoches
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Ca
While I agree with the sentiment behind what you post here, for some of us, that is impractical.
I live in the greater Memphis area. Suburban Memphis, yes, but still Memphis.
For alot of us who live in city areas, any form of a generator that cannot be kept totally noiseless and completely hidden puts us at risk of attack from Gibsmedat Gangs who will think nothing of stealing the noisy generator and then breaking our door down to get whatever else might be in there.
And that is assuming we could get the fuel to run the thing.
It is great when people have the means to move to the country.
But not all of us can do that, for a variety of valid reasons.
The rest of us must make the best with what we have.
cary,
While I agree with the sentiment behind what you post here, for some of us, that is impractical.
I live in the greater Memphis area. Suburban Memphis, yes, but still Memphis.
For alot of us who live in city areas, any form of a generator that cannot be kept totally noiseless and completely hidden puts us at risk of attack from Gibsmedat Gangs who will think nothing of stealing the noisy generator and then breaking our door down to get whatever else might be in there.
And that is assuming we could get the fuel to run the thing.
It is great when people have the means to move to the country.
But not all of us can do that, for a variety of valid reasons.
The rest of us must make the best with what we have.
Raggedyman
Res ipsa loquitur
a running generator does have the liability of literally shouting "SOMETHING OF VALUE LIVES HERE" . . . as quite as you try to make them they will still be heard - and from a greater distance than you might think.
vector7
Dot Collector
Listening to Jeff Brown on GB this morning said all you need is few of table spoons of water and the amount of lithium in your cell phone to generate the energy you would consume for 10 years and the technology is here and wouldn't take but a few years to ramp up to. He predicts a couple of compact fusion reactors would be made before 2030. They are about the size of a semi trailer.
psychgirl
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you! Thays a good idea too!
SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
In the end, Barry, that's all any of us will be able to do. Generators are certainly not the "cure all" for everything. Cary and I see our generators as only a "stop gap" measure in order to make the transition from having electricity to basically having none, permanently.
night driver
ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
we will ALL be wearing clothes for MUCH longer between washings, as well.
we WILL soon be understanding of Roses and Lavender Nosegays...
we WILL soon be understanding of Roses and Lavender Nosegays...
This. I dont see a govt shutdown of the grid. They want control. If you kill all the power there is no way to control. Their challenge is going to be providing enough to keep the masses at bay while implementing their energy policy and dealing with the very real infrastructure issues. Longer term outages will be due to weather, cyber and physical attacks, infrastructure failures and not the powers that be pulling the plug.
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Like this one?
2000 Watt Continuous/4000 Watt Peak Modified Sine Wave Power Inverter
Amazing deals on this Power Inverter 2000W Continuous 4000W Peak at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
Price is 169.00
Anybody see anything wrong with this? Thinking about buying one myself.
Side note: Your car needs to be close to house to run appliances, and you will need gas for car.
I also think this would be the minimum size to get. Harbour Freight has some bigger ones, for bigger prices.
bw
Fringe Ranger
You can get them with lids or with a closed top and bung holes. With lids they're good for collecting rainwater, and you can dip a bucket or scoop to get water. With bung holes (get a wrench) they seal nicely and you won't get bugs or critters. With a bung you can put a faucet in the bung hole and turn the barrel on its side, and just open the faucet to get water. Otherwise with a bung you'll need a siphon or a barrel pump. Either way for longer storage you'll need bleach or equivalent to keep growth under control.
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
The point to my posts is:
They are available, and is the one I put up, super quiet, as noted in my post you can have a conversation standing next to it, and not know it is running. And as I said if you cover it with an insulated box, will quite it further.
It's not just for country living it's also for city and high rise apts, with balconies.
Fuel of any kind will always be a problem. Prep/store some.
But one should consider in a grid down and possible Gibsmedat gangs roving, is to keep your lights off, and only run the genie a couple of hours a day, or so to bump freezers and frig. be watchful and cut the genie off when you see rovers coming down the street.
The only exception to that is necessary medical equipment.
The thing is people default to the genie's of yesteryear where they sounded like screaming banshee's, that you could hear on the next continent. That is NOT how it is today with the NEWER genie's. You would be told in no uncertain terms to turn it off in an RV Park, and is the reason the new ones were developed.
Believe me those ones are loud. I ran a RAT Rig in the guard, and they were powered by 2 -5 KW genies on a trailer that was pulled behind. I never wanted to turn them on, with the noise, I figured the enemy would zero in mortar's in seconds once those things got turned on.
And BTW I've said all this a couple times already just in this thread. Get one of the new ones you'll be surprised.
20Gauge
TB Fanatic
Agreed.
We are used to having to bleach the water. We also have 80+ gallons in storage at all times for washing etc. Plus another 80+ gallons just for drinking.
I love the twist off top barrels, they are perfect for watering the chickens.
The bung type we cut small holes in the bottom for the chickens, they feed from that and it lasts over a week on food. Easy to refill also.