New to all of this

[The Hermit]

I have not purchased anything yet. Each time I think I found "the one", I some see something new, and then that becomes "the one". So I thought I better ask so as to try avoiding buyers remorse.

I'm not looking for a long term, off grid type setup. I'm thinking more of an emergency situation, where power is expected to return with in a few hours to a couple days. I'm in Wisconsin, so a heat source is a consideration. However, at 52, I've yet to experience an outage that lasted more than a couple hours. The current political climate has me concerned that's going to be changing, whether due to cost, unrest, or aliens finally landing (after the 2020 we all experienced, I'm only half joking!).

I live alone so my power needs aren't extreme, although I'd like have enough to have family come and stay if it was beyond just a few hours. I have a lot of electronics, but really, only the phone is a necessity. Preferably I'd like to have a light, my TV, PS5, modem and router. Don't figure I'll need the fridge for short term outages, and if it's long term, I have a ton of survival food. More or less I'm trying to keep from sitting in the dark, being bored to death. I've been looking at some LION energy models, until I saw Will's video. Will is not the first to open a Jackery, and comment on its quality and workmanship. Jackery was my first choice, only because of the portability factor. "IF" things were bad enough that I had to head to the trailer. Of course, then my usage needs would increase. Mini fridge, coffee pot being the two largest factors.

Any opinions on the Jackery 1000 or 2000? Would either suit my immediate needs, while allowing for the possibility of extended use? I read somewhere that the cycles on the battery were only about 500, is that true? It seems awfully low for the price, compared to others, including LIONS.

Thanks

 

[snoobler]

Welcome to the forum.

If you want to power with solar, start with link #5 in my signature to determine your available solar.

Start with an actual list of the items you want to power, how much power they use, and how long you want to run them per day. Populate the spreadsheet from link #1 in my signature.

Once you've completed the above, you can then intelligently select or design a solution.

 

[OnTheRoadAgain]

I have not purchased anything yet. Each time I think I found "the one", I some see something new, and then that becomes "the one". So I thought I better ask so as to try avoiding buyers remorse.

I'm not looking for a long term, off grid type setup. I'm thinking more of an emergency situation, where power is expected to return with in a few hours to a couple days. I'm in Wisconsin, so a heat source is a consideration. However, at 52, I've yet to experience an outage that lasted more than a couple hours. The current political climate has me concerned that's going to be changing, whether due to cost, unrest, or aliens finally landing (after the 2020 we all experienced, I'm only half joking!).

I live alone so my power needs aren't extreme, although I'd like have enough to have family come and stay if it was beyond just a few hours. I have a lot of electronics, but really, only the phone is a necessity. Preferably I'd like to have a light, my TV, PS5, modem and router. Don't figure I'll need the fridge for short term outages, and if it's long term, I have a ton of survival food. More or less I'm trying to keep from sitting in the dark, being bored to death. I've been looking at some LION energy models, until I saw Will's video. Will is not the first to open a Jackery, and comment on its quality and workmanship. Jackery was my first choice, only because of the portability factor. "IF" things were bad enough that I had to head to the trailer. Of course, then my usage needs would increase. Mini fridge, coffee pot being the two largest factors.

Any opinions on the Jackery 1000 or 2000? Would either suit my immediate needs, while allowing for the possibility of extended use? I read somewhere that the cycles on the battery were only about 500, is that true? It seems awfully low for the price, compared to others, including LIONS.

Thanks

Hello and welcome !

Your situation sounds similar to mine
I was only looking for emergency backup in case of extended power outages.
I live in a hurricane prone zone and was without grid power for 3 weeks and a few days after hurricane Wilma in 2005.

I've been slowly adding "equipment" over the years and I'm up to 1000Watts in solar panels in storage now.
I also just bought an EPever solar charge controller ($200) and a Jackery 500 Explorer.

If only your phone is a necessity, then that will be easy. You could look at a Jackey 240 for that and a 100Watt solar panel and budget solar controller.

If you bought a Jackery (or similar) Solar Power Generator and went with at least a 1000 unit, you'd probably have all the power you'd need for the light items you mentioned. If you went with a Jackery 1500 or 2000 then you should be set. Just remember to store it when not in use at about 40% battery level to preserve the battery.

Another inexpensive option is a 2000 watt gasoline powered generator if you wanted a non solar dependent source as a backup. Good ones start around $300 and can run for a day or more on one gallon.

I would also strongly suggest you look into the inexpensive chinese diesel heaters. You live in a cold climate in the winter months.
Those heatersd are superb, use little energy and provide tons of dry heat.

I would also recommend you invest in a few solar panels, a budget charge controller and at least a couple hundred hours in batteries (even lead acid).

The solar panels will keep your Jackery SoGen charged and the batteries are just extra backup power to your Jackery.

Just a few suggestions from my limited experience. YMMV.