Emergency Generators for the Home (Hilo: buy, camping, live in)

[oregonwoodsmoke]

It would make more sense to have a solar system. Even a small one would reduce your monthly electricity bill and could run a light and your fridge for you when the power is out.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

It would make more sense to have a solar system. Even a small one would reduce your monthly electricity bill and could run a light and your fridge for you when the power is out.

They don't work that way. When the power goes out your solar goes out unless you have a very expensive battery system and that isn't typical.

[ScottStielow]

Do what you think is right for you. Just rememeber to have gas in five gallon cans, (metal) like you would carry in your car for emergencies.

Have the basics on hand Bottled water, Batteries, Radio, Flashlights, batteris, Non-Perishable [SIZE=3]food.[/SIZE]

[CyberCity]

We've been through hurricanes, a large earthquake, and numerous additional power outages for various reasons. We've never used our generator during any of those. What we focus on is making sure we always have a good supply of drinking water stored. And, if we know a storm or other condition is coming (tsumani warning, hurricane warning, etc), we fill our large drums with fresh water. Without power, the water supply system(s) will not work for long.

[KauaiHiker]

We live on Kaua'i and we have a generator. A lot of people here do, because of the hurricanes in 82 and 92 (we moved here much later, but heeded the stories). Really, I think only a hurricane could take out electricity for more than a week (because it knocks down all the poles).

Which reminds me, I should do the yearly maintenance on the generator (check oil, run it for a while, add fuel stabilizer). It is kinda overkill, since we're campers and could probably live just fine without it--but we go it cheap from an estate sale. More importantly, we have a stash of plywood to cover the windows, as well as contractor bags and tarps to keep things dry. We also have about 20 gallons of water storage to fill up when the time comes. People who experienced the aftermath of the hurricanes said bleach (for making drinkable water) and toilet paper were the things in shortest supply.

Originally Posted by whtviper1

They don't work that way. When the power goes out your solar goes out unless you have a very expensive battery system and that isn't typical.

Grid-tied systems do shut down when there's a power outage, so that they are not energizing the grid where utility workers might be. But in a situation such as a prolonged power outage, there should be a way to manually disconnect the grid and reconnect the solar. Of course, you're limited to the size of your array and the daytime for direct solar-to-electricity conversion, but it could be enough to run a fridge and charge cell phones (assuming the company puts up emergency towers) and some AA batteries for flashlights. One aspect to consider is that solar panels are big and flat and may be damaged or ripped off by hurricane winds. I'd be interested in knowing how well they stand up.

[howlinowl]

One thing I did when we had our hurricanes here on the treasure coast of Florida (2 in 2004 within weeks of each other and one in 2005) that resulted in several weeks of no power was too take all my bottled water and pack every empty inch of the freezer with them. Basically turned my freezer into a oversized Igloo cooler. Kept the meat in the freezer cool enough to eat all of it during the next few days without it going bad, and as the water bottles would thaw, supplied cold water to drink. Of course, I had advanced warning of the approching storms. Unless you kept the water in the freezer 24/7/365 this probably wouldn't really help in event of an earthquake.

Finally bought a generator after the third storm in 2005. Of course, I haven't had to use it since then (and if I never have to use it ever, I'll be a happy camper). I have a slew of 2.5 gallon gas bottles that I fill at the beginning of hurricane season, use them in the car and refill as needed during season to keep the gas freshly rotated and after season is over, use them and keep the bottles empty until the next season.

Quite a number of folks had "whole house" generators installed after the storms. Bit of a waste of money in my opinion...considering that we hadn't had another major storm knock out power for weeks on end since 2005. I think they're either Nat Gas or propane powered. Diesel powered would be a waste of money, since most folks don't have a diesel powered vehicle and by now the diesel would'nt be any good sitting in a tank this long. Propane or Nat Gas should have a pretty indefinate storage period, no worries of fuel going bad.

[whtviper1]

I just got a very high wattage solar system and across the board they were unanimous, no electric power no solar. I'm sure there is a way to hook it up but it isn't part of a standard installation to run with no electric power or battery backup.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

I just got a very high wattage solar system and across the board they were unanimous, no electric power no solar. I'm sure there is a way to hook it up but it isn't part of a standard installation to run with no electric power or battery backup.

"across the board they were unanimous, no electric power no solar" with that configuration of a system. Yes, a grid-tie system with no backup storage batteries is useless when the grid goes down, but that isn't the only possible configuration.

People have solar systems all over Hawai'i that work fine when the grid goes down, either because they are not on the grid at all and are configured that way, or because they have backup batteries. There are controllers available which can automatically switch over from the grid-tie to a backup system. It all depends what you want to pay for.

For the unschooled, the power from solar panels is not connected directly to the lights and appliances in most applications. Instead it goes through a buffer of some kind, because the supply current is constantly changing with the sunlight falling on it. For many years the most practical way to buffer that ever-changing current was to use it to charge storage batteries, and then use the DC power from those storage batteries to power AC inverters to run household circuits.

With the rise of electronic power controllers, it became practical to use the utility power grid as the storage media/buffer. When the solar panels are generating more electricity than you are using, the excess is fed up into the grid. When they are generating less than you are using, power flows down from the grid. And if the grid goes down, the controller disconnects you from the grid, for safety reasons. But it is not difficult to add a backup battery system that allows you to use the solar generation when the grid is down. That isn't so popular a choice in urban areas, where power outages are rare, as it is in rural areas where grid outages are more frequent.

[HiloDiver]

I found this inexpensive solar water heater to be a lifesaver after the various Florida hurricanes knocked out power for weeks at a time. Had lovely hot showers daily.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by HiloDiver

I found this inexpensive solar water heater to be a lifesaver after the various Florida hurricanes knocked out power for weeks at a time. Had lovely hot showers daily.

I second the motion. I have one too, and it works well.