International Massive Blackout in Iberia

[650lb Sumo]

A quick reality check for a lot of people who rely on technology and modern convenience. Every few years we have a massive blackout in the US. Whether it is snow in the NE, fires in Cali, hurricanes in NC, etc. People forget how critical electricity is.

How much is a backup generator for your home?

A lot of people find out how much they are about to get gouged after about 3 days without and they are all gone from Lowes. People start trucking them in and selling for 500%. Know what happens 2 months after the power gets restored? People sell them for pennies on the dollar because it could NEVER happen again.

People have got to learn to be more self reliant. You are gonna lose power. Get rid of nuclear, choke off coal fired plants and go green this is gonna happen more frequently.

I've got about 3200w of solar going into 1500AH of lithium. That powers 97% of my electricity needs. On days without sun I have a 13.5KW cummins that sips about .8 gal of diesel per hour holding 272 gal of diesel in my tanks. If that goes down I have a little 2k Honda EU generator that runs on gasoline.

TLDR: go buy a backup generator, even a predator from Harbor Frieght for under $1k. Do it today.

Do the generators charge the battery?

 

[Cole train]

I was only trying to be humorous with my comparisons of different versions of English, I wouldn't want anyone to think I was having a go.


It would be a bit less relaxed if this happened in say, Finland in winter. Although 12 hours or so wouldn't be long enough for people to get too cold.

We are somewhat well prepared for stuff like this due to "militaristic" nature of society

We got massive ads,courses and preparations internet sites called 72 hours that tell people to prepare for stuff like this

My friend is a massive prepper and also instructor on above mentioned project lol

72 hours - 72 tuntia

72tuntia.fi

 

[KnightTemplar]

I was only trying to be humorous with my comparisons of different versions of English, I wouldn't want anyone to think I was having a go.


It would be a bit less relaxed if this happened in say, Finland in winter. Although 12 hours or so wouldn't be long enough for people to get too cold.

If it happened in Finland during the winter, the Finns would just invade Russia and keep themselves warm with the blood and skins of Russian soldiers.

 

[650lb Sumo]

We are somewhat well prepared for stuff like this due to "militaristic" nature of society

We got massive ads,courses and preparations internet sites called 72 hours that tell people to prepare for stuff like this

My friend is a massive prepper and also instructor on above mentioned project lol

72 hours - 72 tuntia

72tuntia.fi

Yeah I was just thinking how much use solar panels are will vary a lot with where you are.

The energy is about 2½x from the warmest orange to the bluest parts of Europe, and obviously they didn't bother illustrating too far north. The south-west of the USA will be idk triple? more? the gloomier parts of Europe.

At the higher latitudes not only is the Sun weaker, you will also have no or not much daylight in winter. If there is enought for it be worth it, snow will have to be cleared from your panels - either by you with a brush or by using some electricity to heat them. Still you will have long or constant sunlight in summer. If you are somewhere with higher humidity not only will you get more snow but the moisture will gloom out some of the sunlight too.

This won't apply to many people, but if it gets to -45 or thereabouts your arctic diesel for your generator will start gelling as well. Possibly causing what we used to call a 'sense of humour failure' when I was doing my outdoorsy military stuff. If you have a petrol one as well though, like @Stoic1 however at least you would have that.

 

[west42]

A quick reality check for a lot of people who rely on technology and modern convenience. Every few years we have a massive blackout in the US. Whether it is snow in the NE, fires in Cali, hurricanes in NC, etc. People forget how critical electricity is.

How much is a backup generator for your home?

A lot of people find out how much they are about to get gouged after about 3 days without and they are all gone from Lowes. People start trucking them in and selling for 500%. Know what happens 2 months after the power gets restored? People sell them for pennies on the dollar because it could NEVER happen again.

People have got to learn to be more self reliant. You are gonna lose power. Get rid of nuclear, choke off coal fired plants and go green this is gonna happen more frequently.

I've got about 3200w of solar going into 1500AH of lithium. That powers 97% of my electricity needs. On days without sun I have a 13.5KW cummins that sips about .8 gal of diesel per hour holding 272 gal of diesel in my tanks. If that goes down I have a little 2k Honda EU generator that runs on gasoline.

TLDR: go buy a backup generator, even a predator from Harbor Frieght for under $1k. Do it today.

The issues with generators is today's ethanol gas will go bad after about 6 - 12 months. If you don't properly store generators by draining the gas tank as well as the carburetor, you will not have a functioning generator if it sits for a year. If it sits for 2 years or more you're going to need a new carburetor it won't be repairable. So basically if it's something that occurs once every few years having a backup generator isn't going to help most people

 

[chardog]

A gas oven won't work... as it requires power to turn on and control temperature.

Same for a gas water heater or a gas furnace. There's nothing to turn it on and control the solenoid valves.

However, a gas stove would work because all it needs is ignition and the dial controls intensity.

Gas Water heater should work, at least some of them. Manual igniter + phantom power from the heat it enough to have it going. Same with stove.

One of the reasons I love my solar system, the ability to survive these scenarios. If the outage has no end in sight, ration usage and i can last indefinitely.

 

[Long Dark Blues]

The issues with generators is today's ethanol gas will go bad after about 6 - 12 months. If you don't properly store generators by draining the gas tank as well as the carburetor, you will not have a functioning generator if it sits for a year. If it sits for 2 years or more you're going to need a new carburetor it won't be repairable. So basically if it's something that occurs once every few years having a backup generator isn't going to help most people

Very good advice about storage.

Any man worth his salt or that is serious about being ready for anything, runs his generator at least every other month for a little bit. Which should include shutting off the fuel line and letting the carb drain too.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

good advice on generators but that's just not an option in urban europe.

 

[Son of Jamin]

Gotta love media. The second sentence contradicts the headline.

 

[Stoic1]

The issues with generators is today's ethanol gas will go bad after about 6 - 12 months. If you don't properly store generators by draining the gas tank as well as the carburetor, you will not have a functioning generator if it sits for a year. If it sits for 2 years or more you're going to need a new carburetor it won't be repairable. So basically if it's something that occurs once every few years having a backup generator isn't going to help most people

Maintaining and testing your equipment is fairly elementary.

Changing your cars oil. Cleaning out the fridge. Changing the filter for your AC unit. All easy to do. And if you can't do it.... well....

Sucks to suck.

Modern technology and civilization has allowed people to become complacent.

 

[Stoic1]

Do the generators charge the battery?

Solar and generators charge the house batteries.

4kw inverter runs most of my stuff. If I need more the generator can pick up any of the DC needs like fans, lights, etc. I just can't run the microwave, airfryer, and washing machine while the AC is on.

 

[Scerpi]

Maintaining and testing your equipment is fairly elementary.

Changing your cars oil. Cleaning out the fridge. Changing the filter for your AC unit. All easy to do. And if you can't do it.... well....

Sucks to suck.

Modern technology and civilization has allowed people to become complacent.

Natural gas generators are the way.

They're extremely popular here.