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we are in an area that is right at the end of the supply chain, for everything not just power, power cuts are a normal part of life, living without power isn't hard to do it just takes a bit of organising and readjusting.
It will certainly be easier if you plan ahead. I think I could manage ok, but am taking steps towards making it easier. I really wish solar wasnt so darn expensive, even with diy. One thing I need to have ready by spring is a solar pre heater for water. Not only will it help save on the electric bill, but in a loss of power I'm not taking a cold shower!....
 
We are so spoiled. Three years ago, we had a hurricane come through here that had our power out for a week. I was able to borrow a generator and moved the small ac unit from my shed to my living room window.
If we had an outage now, well, no generator and one of my danes chewed the cord off the ac unit anyway. I have enough clothes that I wouldn't have to do laundry for at least 2 weeks.
I can't stand in a cold shower, but I wouldn't have problems with a "washcloth bath" in cold water and now that I've cut my hair short, that's not an issue either.
Yes, I'd be uncomfortable in this heat for a couple of weeks, but I'd live.
I keep very little food in the fridge or freezer so that would be eaten first with very little if any loss, so we could still eat. I do have a propane grill that I can also put charcoal in, if necessary and I have a spare bag of that.
I think my next purchase definitely needs to be a battery or wind up radio, although I can always listen to the radio in my truck or on my cell phone. I can also charge the phone in the truck. Yes, I definitely should get that third backup radio.
I have to say, there isn't much I would miss if we lost electricity for awhile.
 
or on my cell phone. I can also charge the phone in the truck. Yes, I definitely should get that third backup radio.

Most cell towers have 12hr, 24hr or 3days of backup power of fuel/battery, did your cell work 3yrs ago when you lost power for a week? we have 3 days of cell usage here in a power outage, in the first two days of the outage we had we could only text due to network congestion, internet and phone calls was out of the question on our phones.
 
Most cell towers have 12hr, 24hr or 3days of backup power of fuel/battery, did your cell work 3yrs ago when you lost power for a week? we have 3 days of cell usage here in a power outage, in the first two days of the outage we had we could only text due to network congestion, internet and phone calls was out of the question on our phones.
I'm not worried about being able to call or text anyone. My youngest son lives with me and my youngest daughter lives across the street. My oldest daughter lives 20 minutes away and has the same phone as me so will be in the same "boat" so to speak. But for news updates, I have the possibility of using the phone or the radio in my truck. I did have cell service the entire week we were out 3 years ago.
 
what worries me is my freezer,if something happens during winter,no problems with that,just put food out on my balcony..heating could be a problem, but I have that sorted out soon..
but to be honest,it's amazing how unprepared we are here,can imagine what it would look loke when panic sets in..
 
I'm not worried about being able to call or text anyone. My youngest son lives with me and my youngest daughter lives across the street. My oldest daughter lives 20 minutes away and has the same phone as me so will be in the same "boat" so to speak. But for news updates, I have the possibility of using the phone or the radio in my truck. I did have cell service the entire week we were out 3 years ago.

might try looking into eton radios..they have a solar panel and hand crank for recharging..plus you'd be able to use it for recharging the cell phone,that is if you have a cell phone charger that'll plug into a usb port.plus you can get a power cord for it.not to only keep those batteries charged.but use it to recharge other 3A batteries as well
 
might try looking into eton radios..they have a solar panel and hand crank for recharging..plus you'd be able to use it for recharging the cell phone,that is if you have a cell phone charger that'll plug into a usb port.plus you can get a power cord for it.not to only keep those batteries charged.but use it to recharge other 3A batteries as well
I picked up an Eton radio today, Jim. I wasn't sure about it because I didn't recognize the brand name.
 
One of the reasons I'm looking for a diesel generator that is reasonable. A generator or two is great, but eventually, you run out of gas. Stockpiling gasoline is kind of dangerous, yet diesel is much more stable, so doing the same for it is a lot less risky (and easier to get the wife's buy-in).
 
We are so spoiled. Three years ago, we had a hurricane come through here that had our power out for a week. I was able to borrow a generator and moved the small ac unit from my shed to my living room window.
If we had an outage now, well, no generator and one of my danes chewed the cord off the ac unit anyway. I have enough clothes that I wouldn't have to do laundry for at least 2 weeks.
I can't stand in a cold shower, but I wouldn't have problems with a "washcloth bath" in cold water and now that I've cut my hair short, that's not an issue either.
Yes, I'd be uncomfortable in this heat for a couple of weeks, but I'd live.
I keep very little food in the fridge or freezer so that would be eaten first with very little if any loss, so we could still eat. I do have a propane grill that I can also put charcoal in, if necessary and I have a spare bag of that.
I think my next purchase definitely needs to be a battery or wind up radio, although I can always listen to the radio in my truck or on my cell phone. I can also charge the phone in the truck. Yes, I definitely should get that third backup radio.
I have to say, there isn't much I would miss if we lost electricity for awhile.
I know I could survive, but he-- yes I would miss all the comforts from electricity. I think of when I'm canning. even with the stove and running water it's alot of work. It would be twice as hard having to wash in a creek and heat cans over a wood fire. Dooable, yes, fun no. And a washcloth is definately all I could stand in the cold!
 
I disagree, it would be fun, its up to us to make it work, I don't see a problem, have done it in the past and can do it again, no problem, in fact I'm looking forward to it, better than this celebrity worshipping/gadget mad/welfare dependant morass we are living in now, at least people would have to get off their backsides and work to survive, not expect "something for nothing" as happens now.
 
One of the reasons I'm looking for a diesel generator that is reasonable. A generator or two is great, but eventually, you run out of gas. Stockpiling gasoline is kind of dangerous, yet diesel is much more stable, so doing the same for it is a lot less risky (and easier to get the wife's buy-in).

you can use a two tank system one tank with diesel fuel and the other tank with vegetable oil, use the diesel to start and warm the engine before switching to the other tank with vegetable oil, given that vegetable oil is high viscosity you need to switch to the diesel and run for ten minutes before shutting down (cleans the lines of vege oil) though you need to heat (build a fire under vege tank to heat the oil since it goes solid when cold) I watched a farmer demo that here, he use used vege oil that ran through 3 cleaning filters and use fresh vege oil with no filters, it worked really good, his son collects used vege oil from restaurants here and stores them. An option to think about?
 
I had thought about it, even for my diesel truck, which has 3 different tanks. Just that I don't think I'd find a steady supply of oil enough to justify it.
 
One of the reasons I'm looking for a diesel generator that is reasonable. A generator or two is great, but eventually, you run out of gas. Stockpiling gasoline is kind of dangerous, yet diesel is much more stable, so doing the same for it is a lot less risky (and easier to get the wife's buy-in).
I'm still working on converting my gen. to LP, as i can run an aux heater and an outside kitchen with it too. I am having trouble finding the right carb. conversion kit, but will before long. I did learn a slightly disturbing fact during my digging around on the topic. LP dosent have as good of potency as gas or diesel, and you loose some of the output of your generating capacity. I'm not sure exactly but the concensus so far is ten to fifteen percent. My large gen. is 10k, which really was smaller than I would like to have, so even loosing ten percent is a bit more than I want. Even so, the long term storage of propane and the 500 gal tank capacity has me sold on the idea. I found a place that gives the first year free on the tank rental and 40.00 per year thereafter. I'll post the carb conversion pictures when I get started soon.
 
I found a place that gives the first year free on the tank rental and 40.00 per year thereafter

That is pretty nice. Damn, I may have to consider that instead!
 
Just have two plungers, one for the toilet and one for the laundry!:)

As a side note here, why would you need a separate plunger for laundry? Its no different than putting underwear with "skid marks" in to the water :)

Seriously though, I read long ago about how you can put your clothes with soap and a few rocks into a bucket with sealable lid. Then let the kids go "kick it around the yard" for an hour or so. If you really want to get "high tech", you could jack up one drive wheel of the car or lawn mower and strap the bucket to that. then put the vehicle in gear at an idle and come back in 15-20 minutes :) "Lather, rinse, repeat" :-D
 
If you cannot afford a generator, go to harbor freight and buy a 1000 watt inverter. Keep it and extension cords handy. If the power is out for longer than a few hours, connect it to your car battery and run your fridge / freezer every 3-4 hours. Just make sure you run the car to keep the battery up. Could also do the same with a garden tractor. With that though, make sure you have an amp meter on it. Do not shut the tractor down until the meter shows approximately zero amps.
 
If you cannot afford a generator, go to harbor freight and buy a 1000 watt inverter. Keep it and extension cords handy. If the power is out for longer than a few hours, connect it to your car battery and run your fridge / freezer every 3-4 hours. Just make sure you run the car to keep the battery up. Could also do the same with a garden tractor. With that though, make sure you have an amp meter on it. Do not shut the tractor down until the meter shows approximately zero amps.
I love this site! I never would have thought of doing something like that. Thanks Neo!
 
As a side note here, why would you need a separate plunger for laundry? Its no different than putting underwear with "skid marks" in to the water :)

Seriously though, I read long ago about how you can put your clothes with soap and a few rocks into a bucket with sealable lid. Then let the kids go "kick it around the yard" for an hour or so. If you really want to get "high tech", you could jack up one drive wheel of the car or lawn mower and strap the bucket to that. then put the vehicle in gear at an idle and come back in 15-20 minutes :) "Lather, rinse, repeat" :-D
I new a woman who traveled on vac to Shri Lanka, off the coast of India. She was going for two weeks and stayed for five years. She lived in a hut with a dirt floor, cooked over a ring of stones in the middle of it and washed her clothes on a flat rock in the river. She stayed because the place was so peaceful and simple, and told wonderful stories about it. You can live without electricity, but I would start preparing now for ways to make it a little easier when we have to.
 

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