How long can you (and your family) survive if the grid went down for an extended period?

[Solarcabin Channel]

Most of you have your solar power systems installed so just running the basic necessities for your home how long can you run your system if the grid was to go down for an extended period and you can't get gas, propane, or resupply?

You all probably remember the Texas blackout of winter 2021: "At the peak, over 5 million people in Texas were without power, with 11 million experiencing an outage at some point, some for more than 3 days."

Share your experience with blackouts and your backup systems you have in place or want to get and maybe it will help other people.

Not interested in political views and this is just a "what if" thought experiment to stimulate ideas.

Consider the following:

Water system and heating water for cooking and bathing
Fresh and frozen food storage and preparation
Emergency health devices like a CPAP or oxygen machine
communications systems like phone, internet, or short wave radio
Heating or cooling your home without gas, propane or a generator.
Transportation if you need to leave your home
security to keep your family safe like alarms, cameras etc,
Taking care of special needs people that live with you
Entertainment to pass the time
sanitation and waste disposal if septic and water is cut off

 

[Q-Dog]

Hurricane country here. The most I have had to go is 7 days without grid power, and a few times it was 6 days. It sometimes takes 3 or 4 days before the roads are cleared and we can get out.

In the 22 years I have lived in this house we have never lost natural gas service.

My setup is in my signature.

 

[Brett V]

Water system and heating water for cooking and bathing
...I have my own well. Water heater easily runs on batteries/solar

Fresh and frozen food storage and preparation
...That's classified

Emergency health devices like a CPAP or oxygen machine
...Not needed but we're well stocked on meds

communications systems like phone, internet, or short wave radio
...Extra class amateur with all the gear

Heating or cooling your home without gas, propane or a generator.
...Batteries/solar easily run the heat pumps and pellet stove.

Transportation if you need to leave your home
...Got it covered, roads or no roads

security to keep your family safe like alarms, cameras etc,
...Off network cameras, two dogs, ample supply of pew pew and freedom seeds.

Taking care of special needs people that live with you
...NA

Entertainment to pass the time
...Library of over 600 DVD's

sanitation and waste disposal if septic and water is cut off
...I have my own on property septic system

 

[Danke]

3 days.

 

[JRH]

Most of you have your solar power systems installed so just running the basic necessities for your home how long can you run your system if the grid was to go down for an extended period and you can't get gas, propane, or resupply?

You all probably remember the Texas blackout of winter 2021: "At the peak, over 5 million people in Texas were without power, with 11 million experiencing an outage at some point, some for more than 3 days."

Share your experience with blackouts and your backup systems you have in place or want to get and maybe it will help other people.

Not interested in political views and this is just a "what if" thought experiment to stimulate ideas.

Consider the following:

Water system and heating water for cooking and bathing
Fresh and frozen food storage and preparation
Emergency health devices like a CPAP or oxygen machine
communications systems like phone, internet, or short wave radio
Heating or cooling your home without gas, propane or a generator.
Transportation if you need to leave your home
security to keep your family safe like alarms, cameras etc,
Taking care of special needs people that live with you
Entertainment to pass the time
sanitation and waste disposal if septic and water is cut off

All of the above mentioned , and satisfactorily….
BTW… you didn’t address self protection as in calibers and different toys… …..
that may be the ultimate resource in many situations…

 

[Solarcabin Channel]

All of the above mentioned , and satisfactorily….
BTW… you didn’t address self protection as in calibers and different toys… …..
that may be the ultimate resource in many situations…

Unless it takes electricity it isn't relevant to the discussion.

 

[OffGridForGood]

Rural living,
3 freezers, 3 fridges, cold room and large pantry,
good relations with neighbours (we trade what we produce with what they produce)
Good Well, and septic,
All onsite produced heating fuel for wood furnace, plus 1 year supply of wood pellets (pellet furnace, running on solar) pellet BBQ if we need to reduce use of electric stove during winter. Need to build or buy an E-Quad to replace the ICE machine.
EV if we need to go anywhere. - this would be the biggest hurdle in winter, we would need to ration use if no utility for winter EV charging.
Solar is monitored on SA using local area network - no internet required.
Wikipedia on a memory stick - just in case we need to reseach something after loss of the web. fits in a pocket.
huge surrounding area of wild lands filled with game, 250,000 freshwater lakes full of good fish.
My greatest concerns: The Unprepared, Hail, Forest fires.

 

[JRH]

Unless it takes electricity it isn't relevant to the discussion.

Uhhh , my red dots are electrically powered…that counts ya know.

 

[Brett V]

Unless it takes electricity it isn't relevant to the discussion.

I disagree. If you can't defend your preps, the unprepared will kill you and take what they want.

 

[Nobodybusiness]

Most of you have your solar power systems installed so just running the basic necessities for your home how long can you run your system if the grid was to go down for an extended period and you can't get gas, propane, or resupply?

You all probably remember the Texas blackout of winter 2021: "At the peak, over 5 million people in Texas were without power, with 11 million experiencing an outage at some point, some for more than 3 days."

Share your experience with blackouts and your backup systems you have in place or want to get and maybe it will help other people.

Not interested in political views and this is just a "what if" thought experiment to stimulate ideas.

Consider the following:

Water system and heating water for cooking and bathing
Fresh and frozen food storage and preparation
Emergency health devices like a CPAP or oxygen machine
communications systems like phone, internet, or short wave radio
Heating or cooling your home without gas, propane or a generator.
Transportation if you need to leave your home
security to keep your family safe like alarms, cameras etc,
Taking care of special needs people that live with you
Entertainment to pass the time
sanitation and waste disposal if septic and water is cut off

Indefinitely at this point.

System provides all the power to all electric house.
Well provides water.
Have septic for sewer.

Transportation is another thing.
I guess if SHTF I wouldn’t be traveling much and around the area I could use the electric Trike I built.

The cameras are powered from solar.

Have to burn trash and food scraps get composted.

Food is going to be an individual thing but most of us have put back enough.

Entertainment is easy.

 

[JRH]

I disagree. If you can't defend your preps, the unprepared will kill you and take what they want.

Your totally correct…no one starves, freezes or thirsts to death peacefully…

 

[JRH]

Unless it takes electricity it isn't relevant to the discussion.

it does …. Seriously…

 

[Zapper77]

48 hours - 9 months

 

[OffGridForGood]

Uhhh , my red dots are electrically powered…that counts ya know.

and solar runs the lights in the re-loading room...

 

[sparrowhawk]

Most of my power outages are pertty short in duration. The longest one I had was for 3 days due to a hurricane. The rest are 1 day or less. As it is my system provides at least 80% of my current needs and what the grid provides I could do without if I had to. In the spring or fall I could run almost indefinitely without the grid. The only times it might be a bit of an issue would be in the middle of winter or summer. And even then it would be dependent on the amount of sunshine during the outage.

 

[JRH]

and solar runs the lights in the re-loading room...

Damn , you a have a dedicated room… if a fight breaks out ,I’m on your side..

 

[trad]

What is missing from most of your thoughts is how long can you survive if the most critical piece of equipment in your project goes BOOM when the grid is down, and you cannot get it replaced.

What happens then? We are all vulnerable to a certain extent.

 

[Solarcabin Channel]

What is missing from most of your thoughts is how long can you survive if the most critical piece of equipment in your project goes BOOM when the grid is down, and you cannot get it replaced.

What happens then? We are all vulnerable to a certain extent.

True enough and old off gridders always kept backups for necessary equipment and backups for backups.

My system is small and simple and has 3 redundant systems. So I have extra controllers, inverters and even batteries. I have backups for my OD water heater and I have a wood stove with water heater and an ebike and pedal bike with a big dog trailer to get supplies or bug out if I can't use the car.

After 20 years off grid through many hard winters I have learned to always have backups on hand because Murphy's law of anything that can go wrong will go wrong is a fact especially living off grid.

 

[OffGridForGood]

What is missing from most of your thoughts is how long can you survive if the most critical piece of equipment in your project goes BOOM when the grid is down, and you cannot get it replaced.

What happens then? We are all vulnerable to a certain extent.

Then I walk to the storage room, pull out a spare, and install it.
At least that is the plan.
I will admit I bought a 'spare' inverter, but once I had it sitting in the storage room, yeah, I installed it, put this to work.
Other than the inverter, I have lots of spare parts.
I do have an entire 24v portable system and a smaller super portable 12v system as well as my main 48v main system. I have some options if the SHTF.

 

[Solarcabin Channel]

Then I walk to the storage room, pull out a spare, and install it.
At least that is the plan.
I will admit I bought a 'spare' inverter, but once I had it sitting in the storage room, yeah, I installed it, put this to work.
Other than the inverter, I have lots of spare parts.
I do have an entire 24v portable system and a smaller super portable 12v system as well as my main 48v main system. I have some options if the SHTF.

Power stations and portable panels are a good backup. I use mine for camping and just keep them charged in the event I get a few days of low solar or a system component fails. I can always get by with one of those until I get a component fixed or replaced.