Gut check - am I crazy?

[wmgeorge]

If and when things go to hell at least we will have the basics. Plus I own a AR just in case and know how to use it. You never know what the future holds, and now this Russia - China thing, who would have thought?

 

[Son of an Engineer]

He has a generator and 1000 gallons of propane for backup.

Tim propane tanks hold @80 of water capacity and a generator for that size residence would burn a lot propane an hour on full load.

 

[timselectric]

Tim propane tanks hold @80 of water capacity and a generator for that size residence would burn a lot propane an hour on full load.

Not my system. This is what they already have and use. Besides, a backup is just for temporary use.

 

[eXodus]

this should give 1 full day of autonomy.

60kWh battery storage

That sounds like a lot of energy you are using for a "cabin" My terrible insulated 2000 sqft home with a whole farm and outbuilding averages less then 50kwh. per day.

You might want to look how you use your power, 60kwh/d is a lot. New construction shouldn't need that much.

 

[Kornbread]

That sounds like a lot of energy you are using for a "cabin" My terrible insulated 2000 sqft home with a whole farm and outbuilding averages less then 50kwh. per day.

You might want to look how you use your power, 60kwh/d is a lot. New construction shouldn't need that much.

You don't have a wife that loves to cook, likes a cold home, dries laundry until it crunches, and a son that takes a shower until all the hot water turns cold. Everything is electric.

We average +60kwh a day and our house is very well insulated. Recently took the shop off grid but it looks to have only reduced the utility bill maybe ~$25. Other than a frig and freezer, not a lot out there that sees constant use.

 

[chadjones99]

well in the long run the cost of buying electricity like any other fuel will only go up. So in ten years what you are paying for power will likely be much higher than today. That being said 37K can buy a lot of electricity . ( minus 6k ) does your cabin have AC ? are you going to be charging an electric car? if not you can probably get buy with a smaller system that you can expand as needed.

 

[chadjones99]

~17k for the batteries - 12 48v 100ah batteries. Interesting point about battery replacement over time...

consider 48-volt server rack batteries. about 1600$ for 5 KW battery .

 

[chrisski]

Bingo. Do not confuse solar with saving money, they are entirely different things. (People will be along shortly to dog pile me for that statement) From a financial only view point there are way better things to do with your money.

I’ll meet this and raise the stakes to say most installations are net polluters.

Nobody ever asks about how much pollution a corvette makes.

 

[Kornbread]

I’ll meet this and raise the stakes to say most installations are net polluters.

Nobody ever asks about how much pollution a corvette makes.

6.2L that gets 27mpg on the hwy, which is better than my sons 1.3L Chevy Cruze.

 

[JRH]

I lived in Chas SC in 1989 .On sept 21st, 11.30 at night hurricane Hugo hit a Bullseye with 135 to 165 mph wind. It took out every tree and power pole in a 50 mile swath From the coast to Columbia SC and north to myrtle beach.

In most areas near Charleston ( and north) it was 4 To 5 weeks with no power , no gasoline , no grocery stores, no water . Martial law after 6pm, military troops in trucks riding along with AR 15’s saying do not leave your yard On loudspeakers or you will go to jail with no bail .food lines gave out cheese and ice only by the national guard starting at 8 AM with long lines.. the news said 40,000 power poles were lost in one night.I didn’t see any left.. even the big ones…
no one had power except the govt buildings and the hospitals. ( generators) ..
no bathing except for the few with a well and gen set…no gas , so no driving at all . after the first few days no stores had any food as it rotted. And if you found some it was sodas and crackers and cash only …
no sewage facilities , no banks and no cash unless you had it already, no one could accept credit cards ..no resteraunts .. bicycles were king . Walking became popular again.

I learned two things.. I still live by.
1) how little it took to actually live pretty good And laugh and sleep well And be sorta happy in the 90+ degree heat..

2) that I would. never let myself get caught like this again..

Hugo was the perfect practice drill for people…except those that died…it taught us all that survived.

its 33 years later and I’m still prepping for real stuff , not 40 kw per day luxury living , as thst isn’t how it works in that moment.
there is so much more that is needed .. we would have given 50 dollars to have use of ONE 15 amp outlet for a couple of hours.. 50 bucks for a shower…anything for just a cold beer or a cigarette.. charcole, lighter fluid. A chainsaw for trees down everywhere. A ton of things you don’t think of…

yes , you need to have some power , do all you can to have it , but ya don’t need anything like what you think…you will adapt DOWN real quick… we all did..and we’re better for it too.

Jim.

 

[Risky Rob]

I lived in Chas SC in 1989 .On sept 21st, 11.30 at night hurricane Hugo hit a Bullseye with 135 to 165 mph wind. It took out every tree and power pole in a 50 mile swath From the coast to Columbia SC and north to myrtle beach.

In most areas near Charleston ( and north) it was 4 To 5 weeks with no power , no gasoline , no grocery stores, no water . Martial law after 6pm, military troops in trucks riding along with AR 15’s saying do not leave your yard On loudspeakers or you will go to jail with no bail .food lines gave out cheese and ice only by the national guard starting at 8 AM with long lines.. the news said 40,000 power poles were lost in one night.I didn’t see any left.. even the big ones…
no one had power except the govt buildings and the hospitals. ( generators) ..
no bathing except for the few with a well and gen set…no gas , so no driving at all . after the first few days no stores had any food as it rotted. And if you found some it was sodas and crackers and cash only …
no sewage facilities , no banks and no cash unless you had it already, no one could accept credit cards ..no resteraunts .. bicycles were king . Walking became popular again.

I learned two things.. I still live by.
1) how little it took to actually live pretty good And laugh and sleep well And be sorta happy in the 90+ degree heat..

2) that I would. never let myself get caught like this again..

Hugo was the perfect practice drill for people…except those that died…it taught us all that survived.

its 33 years later and I’m still prepping for real stuff , not 40 kw per day luxury living , as thst isn’t how it works in that moment.
there is so much more that is needed .. we would have given 50 dollars to have use of ONE 15 amp outlet for a couple of hours.. 50 bucks for a shower…anything for just a cold beer or a cigarette.. charcole, lighter fluid. A chainsaw for trees down everywhere. A ton of things you don’t think of…

yes , you need to have some power , do all you can to have it , but ya don’t need anything like what you think…you will adapt DOWN real quick… we all did..and we’re better for it too.

Jim.

I have a small system, myself, to prepare for a grid failure.
Can you imagine an array of solar panels in such horrific wind? A good prepper might keep backup equipment in storage.

 

[timselectric]

I was there for two weeks of the aftermath. Repairing services on houses, ahead of the power companies.
It was life by generator. And 16 hour work days. Which was fine, because there was literally nothing else to do.

 

[JRH]

I have a small system, myself, to prepare for a grid failure.
Can you imagine an array of solar panels in such horrific wind? A good prepper might keep backup equipment in storage.

Haaa , your right… they would have been in blown to NC. We didn’t have any solar back then … but if we did it wouldn’t have been working the next day…. never thought about that…

 

[JRH]

I was there for two weeks of the aftermath. Repairing services on houses, ahead of the power companies.
It was life by generator. And 16 hour work days. Which was fine, because there was literally nothing else to do.

every man became a repairman overnite, every child became a yard worker and every mom became a nurse , cook, house keeper and friend.
my 42 ft sail boat was pushed out of Charleston city marina in to the highway , to be on the news weeks later with a giant hole in in its stern… bummer.

 

[Hedges]

$6000 is the price of a quality generator.
Utility rates are less than gas.
One member TrukinBear tabulated cost of power from his diesel generator at $1/kWh
So hook up to utility, have that as backup when socked in by weather.
That lets you buy a much smaller battery.

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[eXodus]

cold home, dries laundry until it crunches, and a son that takes a shower until all the hot water turns cold

Variable speed Heatpump A/C ? Double Pane insulating windows? Shade structures for windows?

Heatpump Dryer?

Heatpump Waterheater? Solar Thermal Collector?

 

[eXodus]

Other than a frig and freezer, not a lot out there that sees constant use.

No gaming computer or large Plasma TV running half day?

always recommend to check all plugged in things, you will be surprised what random electric devices are consuming.

 

[ChrisG]

I have a small system, myself, to prepare for a grid failure.
Can you imagine an array of solar panels in such horrific wind? A good prepper might keep backup equipment in storage.

These scenarios are why I think having a GT system like enphase (not their storage although it is slick) AC coupled with an off grid inverter like an Outback radian is the best value between code compliance, simplicity and preparedness. Consume all the solar you can and sell back if it makes sense and have AC coupling and battery for small storm or other ‘normal’ power outages. Also a store a few KW of extra panels in a safe location. If a catastrophic storm comes and tears apart grid tie and utility is out, throw some panels on the ground and DC couple to Radian and control your loads. This is what I’m planning for my primary residence in a metro area.

For my cabin, taking the off grid inverter approach only as 1) co-op pays nothing for sell back, 2) good number of outages,3) getting workers there to do repairs/etc is about impossible and maintaining everything myself anyway.

 

[Kornbread]

I lived in Chas SC in 1989 .On sept 21st, 11.30 at night hurricane Hugo hit a Bullseye with 135 to 165 mph wind. It took out every tree and power pole in a 50 mile swath From the coast to Columbia SC and north to myrtle beach.

In most areas near Charleston ( and north) it was 4 To 5 weeks with no power , no gasoline , no grocery stores, no water . Martial law after 6pm, military troops in trucks riding along with AR 15’s saying do not leave your yard On loudspeakers or you will go to jail with no bail .food lines gave out cheese and ice only by the national guard starting at 8 AM with long lines.. the news said 40,000 power poles were lost in one night.I didn’t see any left.. even the big ones…
no one had power except the govt buildings and the hospitals. ( generators) ..
no bathing except for the few with a well and gen set…no gas , so no driving at all . after the first few days no stores had any food as it rotted. And if you found some it was sodas and crackers and cash only …
no sewage facilities , no banks and no cash unless you had it already, no one could accept credit cards ..no resteraunts .. bicycles were king . Walking became popular again.

I learned two things.. I still live by.
1) how little it took to actually live pretty good And laugh and sleep well And be sorta happy in the 90+ degree heat..

2) that I would. never let myself get caught like this again..

Hugo was the perfect practice drill for people…except those that died…it taught us all that survived.

its 33 years later and I’m still prepping for real stuff , not 40 kw per day luxury living , as thst isn’t how it works in that moment.
there is so much more that is needed .. we would have given 50 dollars to have use of ONE 15 amp outlet for a couple of hours.. 50 bucks for a shower…anything for just a cold beer or a cigarette.. charcole, lighter fluid. A chainsaw for trees down everywhere. A ton of things you don’t think of…

yes , you need to have some power , do all you can to have it , but ya don’t need anything like what you think…you will adapt DOWN real quick… we all did..and we’re better for it too.

Jim.

Although not nearly as severe, we had an ice storm in, was it 2009, that left over 6" of translucent ice on everything. Our power was out for over two weeks. Long line for gas at the stations that had power. No generators for sale. After a few days, things like a shower or flushing the toilet were sorely missed. You would not believe how bad a toilet stinks after a couple days of not being flushed! Luckily, it was an ice storm, so we were able to put all our frig and freezer items into baskets and coolers on the porch, while keeping a vigil watch for the neighbor's dogs and coons trying to get our food. We found out that it is possible to cook scrambled eggs and soup on a kerosene heater.

Now we have enough pv generation/batteries to run the frig/freezers continuously and the deep well pump when needed, so that we have water to drink, can bathe, and flush the toilet. Other things that pull much current will need cycled with care. After the big ice storm, that became the plan; save the pennies, pay off our debt, and become more self sufficient, ie.; enough power that in case the grid fails again, we had the basics covered, although, all this is mute if a big wind blows those panels into the next county. Over time, the plan expanded to include protection, food, etc. in case of a real shtf situation.

 

[Kornbread]

No gaming computer or large Plasma TV running half day?

always recommend to check all plugged in things, you will be surprised what random electric devices are consuming.

Hah ... tv ... I go out to the shop to work on things and get away from that junk.