How do you prep for future power outages?

[grsthegreat]

Pipes are very well insulated, so not sure how much is lost in heat. Also pipes run in lower floor , insulated soffit, so there’s more protection. I do know my waterheaters dont cycle often. And anyways, i also love my instant hot water anywheres. Trade off is wasted cold water running down drain waiting for hot water. Nothings free

 

[the old grind]

IMO during heating season 'lost HW heat isn't wasted even if inefficiently produced. It's aiding the main heating system in a way.

 

[ponytug]

Yup. There are definitely parasitic heat losses into the crawl space that possibly heat the house, lowering the load trivially on the furnace. But all of our water lines are insulated, so really not a big issue in the grand scheme of things. Also, with our system, the water only flows for a minute or so to transfer warm water to the end of the line and then stops. Air leakage around our window seals are a much bigger energy issue for us. Or the aluminum window frames (fire rated) that conduct heat outside and inside.

The house runs about 250W during the day. The water heater comes on once in the morning and perhaps once in the evening. The energy footprint isn't that big. Adding a solar preheat system is on the honey do list. If we oversized it, we should be able to mostly eliminate heating water with other forms of energy.

What the recirculating pumps do do is greatly help us save water. Locally, that is a huge issue, and lack of water much harder to cure than lack of heat or energy. These issues are often quite local. Two miles down the road one way, the well is 700' deep, 4gpm, (that's really expensive water) and three miles the other 75', 120gpm. Two miles farther either way, and there is no accessible aquifer that has been found. I have lived other areas where nobody thinks of water conservation.

All the best, Peter

 

[HEC]

With the US power grid system not being kept up to date in many cases or foreign cyber attacks a possibility anything can happen . My main concern is heat here in northern Maine along with food etc. .
I have 2 generators and fuel on hand but also a wood stove and wood in case of a long power outage . I have had to use a generator 4 times so far this winter . The longest was for 8 hrs. , not bad this year .

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Back to prepping for a power outage, I have a friend with a deluxe hot water system. It's a solar collector for when the sun shines and coils on the wood stove when it doesn't. He has little recirc pumps that are controlled by sensors, so the pump doesn't run when the heat source is cold. Both coils feed into a heat exchanger in a 200 gallon tank, and there is a tempering valve where it feeds into household hot water, so he has essentially unlimited hot water. If the tank is hot enough, 200 degrees or so, he can tap directly off of it for pressure washing. It sure cleans the crud fast.

Everybody is nuts about PV solar, but old fashioned solar hot water is cheap and reliable.

 

[Patrick Herd]

Power backup is pretty much covered here.
House has 12V lights throughout from when it was off grid, 1500W of PV panels and around 25kWh of batteries.
Inverter will pretty much power any AC loads apart from the induction cooker, camp stove takes care of that.
In the event of an extended outage in bad weather we have a shoebox sized generator and whatever is left in the EV to top up the batteries and keep the fridges going.
Primary bulk heat is wood and 10 hectares of plantation trees if we get short of firewood Backup and lazy heat is 3x mini split heat pumps.

Hot water is currently an LPG continuous flow unit, soon to be replaced with an electric storage cylinder and wetback from the fireplace. Will setup a diversion element from the PV when that goes in. I'm sure that change will raise eyebrows in this forum however electricity has a more reliable and cheaper supply chain for me.

 

[Katahdin]

I prepare for a 3 foot snow event and two weeks without power. So this includes stocking food and woodstove heating and cooking. In reality worst outages to date have been spring and fall with 3 and 5.5 day outages. Largest single snow event has been about 20 inches. My aim is to hunker down until the weather blows over and the roads are clear.

Fuel on hand is 40 gallons of gas in 5gal cans and 100 gallons of diesel in drums. ~250 gallons of heating oil/diesel in boiler tank.

Home power demand is light, 1-2KW average loads. Need 5KW 240V minimum for well pump. Hot water boiler only draws 300 watts.

3 Generators of different capacities:

1) 5.5KW Generac Wheelhouse, 2003 model, this is my "starter" generator. No regrets, it always starts easily and runs everything I need but the clothes dryer. This is my goto generator for unexpected/brief outages. Uses .5 gal/hour gas.

2) 2KW WEN inverter generator, 2017 model, very quiet and sips fuel. Easily runs 12 hours on one gallon of gas. Powers electronics, lights, fridge boiler at night and when I don't need 240V. I have it wired to feed the 120V circuits on both sides of the home panel.

3) Rural King 15KW PTO genetator, 2017 model, overkill for most of my needs, but it can run my electric oven, clothes dryer, and all essentials at the same time. Fuel consumption is .6 to 1.4 gal/hr depending on load.

I would not run a generator 24x7 unless temps are below freezing and I need to keep my pipes warm. In which case the small inverter generator would be run at night, remember the boiler only draws 300 watts. Also having the light circuits powered at night is handy.

I also have an RV Project with 200 watts of solar panels, 2KW inverter, and 2 golf cart batteries. This is sufficient to run my full size fridge during daylight hours when I'm away at work.

With the preps above, I was consuming about 5 gallons per day during the 5.5 day outage. 4 gals of diesel and 1 gallon of gas and was quite comfortable. During that outage I could have used the inverter gen more, and PTO gen less, thus further extending the life of my fuel stocks.

Re Water, I am considering adding a hand pump to my well, but the water tank holds pressure between generator runs for basic needs. I'll also draw off 5 gallons in a container for drinking.

During the 3 day power outage I had guests in the house. At night I turned off the valve to the toilet and we relied on collected rainwater for flushing. I was probably being too conservative, but the guests were city slickers and this was amusement for me.

I have two woodstoves, one being a 1917 Cast Iron Kitchen Stove with cook top and oven and cast iron pans and coffee percolator - an essential power outage item. The second being a larger steel catalytic woodstove, which is more useful for heating.

I've also used power outage led light bulbs and battery backed night lights to good effect to illuminate parts of the home when the AC is disconnected. Solar motion activated lights are also handy.

This all said, its kind of nice just to not have electricity for awhile and sit back and enjoy the quiet and warm glow of a woodstove and oil lamp.

 

[bmaverick]

I prepare for a 3 foot snow event and two weeks without power. So this includes stocking food and woodstove heating and cooking. In reality worst outages to date have been spring and fall with 3 and 5.5 day outages. Largest single snow event has been about 20 inches. My aim is to hunker down until the weather blows over and the roads are clear.

Fuel on hand is 40 gallons of gas in 5gal cans and 100 gallons of diesel in drums. ~250 gallons of heating oil/diesel in boiler tank.

Home power demand is light, 1-2KW average loads. Need 5KW 240V minimum for well pump. Hot water boiler only draws 300 watts.

3 Generators of different capacities:

1) 5.5KW Generac Wheelhouse, 2003 model, this is my "starter" generator. No regrets, it always starts easily and runs everything I need but the clothes dryer. This is my goto generator for unexpected/brief outages. Uses .5 gal/hour gas.

2) 2KW WEN inverter generator, 2017 model, very quiet and sips fuel. Easily runs 12 hours on one gallon of gas. Powers electronics, lights, fridge boiler at night and when I don't need 240V. I have it wired to feed the 120V circuits on both sides of the home panel.

3) Rural King 15KW PTO genetator, 2017 model, overkill for most of my needs, but it can run my electric oven, clothes dryer, and all essentials at the same time. Fuel consumption is .6 to 1.4 gal/hr depending on load.

I would not run a generator 24x7 unless temps are below freezing and I need to keep my pipes warm. In which case the small inverter generator would be run at night, remember the boiler only draws 300 watts. Also having the light circuits powered at night is handy.

I also have an RV Project with 200 watts of solar panels, 2KW inverter, and 2 golf cart batteries. This is sufficient to run my full size fridge during daylight hours when I'm away at work.

With the preps above, I was consuming about 5 gallons per day during the 5.5 day outage. 4 gals of diesel and 1 gallon of gas and was quite comfortable. During that outage I could have used the inverter gen more, and PTO gen less, thus further extending the life of my fuel stocks.

Re Water, I am considering adding a hand pump to my well, but the water tank holds pressure between generator runs for basic needs. I'll also draw off 5 gallons in a container for drinking.

During the 3 day power outage I had guests in the house. At night I turned off the valve to the toilet and we relied on collected rainwater for flushing. I was probably being too conservative, but the guests were city slickers and this was amusement for me.

I have two woodstoves, one being a 1917 Cast Iron Kitchen Stove with cook top and oven and cast iron pans and coffee percolator - an essential power outage item. The second being a larger steel catalytic woodstove, which is more useful for heating.

I've also used power outage led light bulbs and battery backed night lights to good effect to illuminate parts of the home when the AC is disconnected. Solar motion activated lights are also handy.

This all said, its kind of nice just to not have electricity for awhile and sit back and enjoy the quiet and warm glow of a woodstove and oil lamp.

Nice details.

Back in pre-2000 in the late 1990s, a massive ice storm hit the Toronto, Canada and norther NYS regions. Power outages last well over 5-weeks in the cold part of winter. School gyms, YMCA's, Salvation Army shelters and the like were filled beyond capacity.

5-weeks is a very, very, very long time. Power companies from 12 states went up to Canada to restore power to about 18-million people. NYS could send anyone because of their own issues with the ice storm in the northern upstate area.

With that said, I recall the people who traveled out west and got stuck in the winter storm out there with little food. A movie was made of it.

Preparing for a lack of services for 2 weeks is just the bare minimum. Having enough on had for 2 months should be natural for all. Being self supporting is really the goal in life. This way, no matter what comes your way, you're not reaching out to the system crying for help in the packed herd or voices.

 

[Industrial Toys]

It was in the fall. I don't remember if I still had my Onan 15KW PTO on a JD 770 or had my Onan/Kubota 7.5 Rig. I was well served by a Wood stove I had recently installed in the Rec Room downstairs.
Kicker is. No one was showing up to repair anything, anywhere locally. At the end of the Week, there was a n explosion of activity. Turns out, all the guys at Ontario Hydro had booked the week off for huntin!

 

[bmaverick]

It was in the fall. I don't remember if I still had my Onan 15KW PTO on a JD 770 or had my Onan/Kubota 7.5 Rig. I was well served by a Wood stove I had recently installed in the Rec Room downstairs.
Kicker is. No one was showing up to repair anything, anywhere locally. At the end of the Week, there was a n explosion of activity. Turns out, all the guys at Ontario Hydro had booked the week off for huntin!

Glad you had a better memory. I just know it was COLD then. The tail end of the ordeal was a few thousand nearly 12 weeks out still without power.

AWESOME having the PTO genset ready and with a diesel. Diesel stores well in the winter.

The best bang for the buck and the storage is LPG. Plenty of rural farms have them in my area.

With the ice storm up north or the sub-zero freezing in TX and the other states, it's best not to be trapped depending for help from the outside. As you mentioned, the response time was nearly nothing.

 

[check]

Well, in Toronto it was only about 4 days max.

Interesting story the black out occurred just as we were leaving the city towing are brand new boat, to head for the cottage. Did not have enough gas in the tank to get there all the way, which was 2 1/2 hours. But, I had 25 gallons or so of gas in the boat! Kept checking the gas stations on the way up, and all we saw was depressed people sitting on the steps with all the windows open in a hot day, looking very forlorn.

Finally stopped at Home Depot, which was on generators, and was going to head in and get a funnel and a hose to siphon gas out of the boat into the truck. LOL, there was a guy parked out front, who is delivering diesel for the generator and I made a joke to him “too bad that wasn’t real gas.“. He said, “well in fact I do have non-diesel gas on this truck as well. Pull over to the corner of the parking lot where there are not a lot of people and I’ll give you a couple of cans of it.” Well, that was more than enough to get to the cottage, but what was real funny was that people who had been coming into the parking lot spotted what was going on, and started to lineup behind me!

Anyway, all the way up to the cottage the gas stations were closed, or sitting and waiting for power to go back on, and it seemed that not even one of them had a generator.

 

[check]

Well, in Toronto it was only about 4 days max.

Interesting story the black out occurred just as we were leaving the city towing are brand new boat, to head for the cottage. Did not have enough gas in the tank to get there all the way, which was 2 1/2 hours. But, I had 25 gallons or so of gas in the boat! Kept checking the gas stations on the way up, and all we saw was depressed people sitting on the steps with all the windows open in a hot day, looking very forlorn.

Finally stopped at Home Depot, which was on generators, and was going to head in and get a funnel and a hose to siphon gas out of the boat into the truck. LOL, there was a guy parked out front, who is delivering diesel for the generator and I made a joke to him “too bad that wasn’t real gas.“. He said, “well in fact I do have non-diesel gas on this truck as well. Pull over to the corner of the parking lot where there are not a lot of people and I’ll give you a couple of cans of it.” Well, that was more than enough to get to the cottage, but what was real funny was that people who had been coming into the parking lot spotted what was going on, and started to lineup behind me!

Anyway, all the way up to the cottage the gas stations were closed, or sitting and waiting for power to go back on, and it seemed that not even one of them had a generator.

Just to finish the story, 5 or 6 miles before we got to the cottage, they had power! So, we spent the whole time up at the cottage (with our new boat), with full power, and did not return to Toronto until after the big power outage was over.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That was not the BIG ICE STORM though.

I will never forget that one though. Heading somewhere, radio station goes off the air, tune around and the whole band is Dead. Like something out of the Twilight zone.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I should mention that one of my essential survival tools is an antique wall mounted coffee grinder. I bought that after one icy morning when I was reduced to mashing coffee beans with a claw hammer.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I had used my parents antique coffee grinder in my teens for Grinding Charcoal to make Black powder.

One of my million backups is a propane camp stove that goes atop a handheld bottle. Can make a hot pot of water and pour it through a filter for coffee.

It does bother me, that WAY too much stuff is battery powered these days. As in not rechargeable. You have a few things quit and you could easily be down a dozen batteries, just like that.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I have so many coffee pots it's hard to count them. French press. Silex. Double dome drip. Percolator. Cowboy pot. Pyrex carafe w/integral drip cone. Camp stove Mr. Coffee that uses a propane burner instead of electricity. Single cup drip cone. 36 cup drip pot. And one electric automatic coffee pot.

When I used the claw hammer to mash beans, I threw them in the cowboy pot and made cowboy coffee.

I bought a propane camp stove 25 years ago, for emergencies. I've only used it once, for a breakfast cookout. I have a cheap table top propane grill, and a cast iron griddle that fits the top. With two burners and a griddle, you can whip up a pretty good breakfast. I don't grill over propane. Wood or charcoal gives a better flavor.

For power outages at home, we just cook on the wood stove. I suppose if we had a summer power outage we would use it, but we never have. During canning season I have a propane hot plate that is large enough to handle a large canner.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have just two coffee makers; both percolators. One plugs into the wall for daily use; the other is for camping, hunting, and power outages. I've spent my entire life working outside eating cold, oftentimes frozen sandwiches. When I go hunting for the day I pack my small cast iron frying pan, coffee pot and something good to cook. I used to start a fire and cook the old fashioned way, but now I have a nice little propane stove to bring along.

Showers were mentioned... you can take a passable one from a 5 gallon bucket scooping the water an old Maxwell House coffee container for a shower head. In summer, if I don't plan to go home after work I'll bring the above to clean up at the end of the day. After 8 hours with the sun beating down on it, the water is quite comfortable.

 

[grsthegreat]

one thing i dont have is any kind of coffee machine. i cant stand the stuff.

 

[check]

I have so many coffee pots it's hard to count them. French press. Silex. Double dome drip. Percolator. Cowboy pot. Pyrex carafe w/integral drip cone. Camp stove Mr. Coffee that uses a propane burner instead of electricity. Single cup drip cone. 36 cup drip pot. And one electric automatic coffee pot.

When I used the claw hammer to mash beans, I threw them in the cowboy pot and made cowboy coffee.

I bought a propane camp stove 25 years ago, for emergencies. I've only used it once, for a breakfast cookout. I have a cheap table top propane grill, and a cast iron griddle that fits the top. With two burners and a griddle, you can whip up a pretty good breakfast. I don't grill over propane. Wood or charcoal gives a better flavor.

For power outages at home, we just cook on the wood stove. I suppose if we had a summer power outage we would use it, but we never have. During canning season I have a propane hot plate that is large enough to handle a large canner.

As a kid, 60 some years ago, we would go camping in the mountains with my dad, and we would cook over an open fire. (The “grate” was always the first thing out if the car when we arrived.). We would just boil water on an old, soot-covered coffee pot, throw the coffee grinds in, boil it up, and drink it grains and all. Is that cowboy coffee?

 

[airbiscuit]

Is there any better breakfast than coming out of the tent on a chilly morning?