When Your Power Goes Out You Realize How Ready You Really Are... Or Not
Imagine you're enjoying a relaxing day at home with your family... a winter storm is brewing outside; but you heed no concern with it because you're bundled up inside the furnace kicking out heat, coffee freshly made in the pot and your electronics humming along. Life is good!
Then all of a sudden... everything dies. No more TV (binge watching the latest drama series_. Your cellphone and laptop batteries aren't fully charged. And you're afraid to open the refrigerator because if you do, you take the chance of spoiling the food inside; which by the way you just spent over $100 on at the grocery store the day before.
Yeah... that's how life can be. Things like this happen and you really start to understand how much you really on modern technology; and how you world comes to a screeching halt when the power and electricity is cut off.
last night I missed out on being a guest on @pennsif's radio show due to a power outage and I am upset about it; also about the other issues that arose here. I will get over most of them I suppose, but am feeling frustrated. This too shall pass, right?
Life is put on hold. No lights mean you can see well as the sun sets. No power means no instant anything.
So this (losing power for over 12 hours) really brought into perspective how ILL-PREPARED and vulnerable my homestead is.
I have wanted solar panels for years, but local utility company regulations are a red tape nightmare. But after the last experience, I am going to be delving into solar power more seriously.
At one time I did have a generator, but gave it to my son years ago as he raises calves and need the power in the event of an outage. That generator ran everything in my house except my water (well) pump. I miss it now.
So temporarily I will get a generator until I can figure out what to do with the solar power situation. Not necessarily a whole-house generator; just one that will run the main powered appliances (ie. furnace, refrigerator and some smaller technology devices).
I've been seeing many posts here on steemit recently about battery banks, how to set up the schematics of the solar power and other great information for beginners like me. I will be scouring steemit and other resources to get all the info needed and checking my actual power usages from the local utility company to make sure I will be supplying my homestead's needs for power in the event of another outage.
Power outage is especially a big deal if you need it for heat and live in a cold climate (-30C for the last week at my house). Wood burning stove as a back up to the furnace is a good idea.
When we moved into our current house there was lots of construction happening in the area. We received a massive wake up call when the water main supplying our area got hit by an excavator. We didn't have municipal running water for 4 DAYS!!! Luckily we had stores we could go buy water at but if they weren't there..... We started to store water in 5 gallon bottles and we also got a Berkey (mainly for fluoride removal) because it could filter rain water into drinking quality if the situation was ever that dire!!
Great article, solar is very finicky system and there is more opinions out there than days in the year about pieces and components. I have installed a few systems from varying manufactures and makes and they all seem equal IMO. Don't stress when you see people hyping this brand or that cause they all pretty well work the same!! =)
WOW! four days? That's just crazy!
But yeah, things like this really make you realize so many different aspects of what's wrong with my personal assessment and potential issues that could be.
Not stressing anymore but it definitely made me rethink a lot.
Personally, here in Michigan with the cloudy winters and northern sun angle.... I dont think solar panels are a great solution.
For power outages a good sturdy generator (or two) and 5-20 gallons of good gasoline that you regularly rotate into use(your vehicles until its needed for generators) is a far cheaper and more dependable option than solar panels. Battery banks are ok.... With grid power and a smart control panel they may serve you well.... But at best will only help you through a 24 hr outage. And they are not cheap.
Generators will run as long as you feed them gas!!
It is all depends on you and where you live and factors and factors!
So sorry you missed being on @pennsif's show!!
Take care!
Peace -@em3
Yeah, I'e been weighing some options here. I told hubby that when we get tax return, we either investing in solar or generator(s). With the winter storms and ice we get here. plus the high winds all knocking out power, I don't want to feel vulnerable again. And trust me, he didn't like it either. Instead of having a day off work resting or binge watching TV, he had to help me get things prepared for when the power came back on and making sure nothing was either thawing or freezing up. Wasn't his idea of a good day.
@goldendawne,
That sucks about the power outage. It always catches you off-guard. Here are a couple of things that I set up in my home to help minimize the impact.
Good luck,
@tincanjunction
all good ideas. :) I still have a land line for a phone. When the power is out if you have an old rotary phone it will work
GREAT ideas!! Trust me I'm on the hunt for alternative lighting, heating and other necessities right now. We had an ice storm yesterday morning and I was praying every minute for the power to stay on.
We are working on a combo solar and wind power for our homestead. We have a way to go before we get everything in place, but we use generators and back up batteries for now. he power seems to go out regularly here and I don't want to depend on it anymore. Solar panels we need to import and customs is a stinker on this one. But wind generators we can build from scratch here. I am not a mechanical engineer but I am willing to learn!
I thought about wind too- in this area we tend to get the downdraft of wind from the lake and bay- plus I know a school district that uses wind turbines. It's quite amazing really.
Yeah, when we are so used to all the technologies that make our lives easier, it's really hard to go through the day when we suddenly lose it all.
I had this happen quite a few times as well and it was really boring to live without electricity!
Now with this post you gave me an idea to find some of the lantern and solar DIY projects. :D
Rydhi
xox
Don't know what area of the country you live in but in my location I don't believe solar panels would help in a winter storm. When we have a storm blow in and it will be cloudy for days. I'll stay with my generator for now.
We will get a generator, but in regards to the cloudy skies; this is where a battery bank will come in handy.
We'd be happy to try and answer any questions you have about solar or give you some pointers if you ever need them. We've installed solar on two properties and have learned plenty along the way. When I say "we" I mean my husband who is very technical whereas I am not. :)
I will message one day this week...Love to hear from people who have already installed; it would help me immensely- thank you!
I grew up in a remote location in India with observing power cuts most often as my dad was appointed as assistant engineer in electricity department only to that place under govt scheme to electrify the village we spent two years of my childhood there.it used to be 6 hrs of power cuts daily, initially it made me and my siblings mad as we can't watch favourite cartoon but as the time passes we started enjoying power cuts too.generally power cuts were carried out at night where we used to live was uphill place and we used to spent the night under the sky onto the terace of our house seeing the moon,stars,making designs out of it,pointing the brightest star as self territory.some times I miss that part.yeah that were some of the greatest days of my life.now it's gone,can't put it back😢
I remember when my kids were younger and we'd lose power. We had the generator and use it sparingly to conserve the fuel because we never knew when it (power) would come back on. I can recall playing board games and simply family things to pass the time.
We have really become too dependent on power, devices and other electronics.
Wow, great to see hour your childhood was with 6 hours power outage now its history
Not really brother,at least 20℅ of Indian population still live with no electricity,Indian govts are taking some positive steps to reduced that number.but still it's a long process & it may take considerate time to electrify every corner of the country.
This is really painful in modern day to know there are still places without electricity. It's same here in Nigeria and even the parts with electricity suffer days of power outage.
I believe one day things will be better.
No nation can grow beyond it's power supply
My deepest empathizes with them,but I think they can grow educationally economically,& socially with or without electricity,it's just obstacle in day today life though it's significant one,but if they strive hard they can make a better tomorrow for others.hope prosperity prevail for them
I hope so too, as an engineer
The growth or industrialization of a place is tied to the power available, even electricity is needed for proper education. Some demonstrations cannot be done properly without power.
Ahhhhh, my dear friend. I'm sorry you missed the show and had to go without the grid for 12 hours. It is indeed a wake up call eh! If you ever want to talk, contact me privately and we can have some frank discussions about the REAL vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them.
I will definitely take you up on that offer.
Yeah, I feel awful about the radio show. Hoping to reschedule for the next week or two.