Good summary. If you are in a state that is mostly winter, you are going to be uncomfortable with the grid down, the wall outlet isn't an option nor car battery seeing the pumping stations will be down, all you got is solar, if you live in an area with sun. Not all places have the sun that is required to power the panels. I'll just go back to the days before the whistles and gadgets. got a woodstove, a rocket stove, lanterns, and 8 cords of wood coming this year, and few acres of wood with the house, and a well I also have strings of LED solar lights for the rooms instead of nightlights. Look for RV products that use less energy I learned from solar cabin
Good video. With the right clothing a person can handle below freezing easily, but our houses in much of the South are not made for extreme cold, that was a big problem during the extreme winter storm in Texas, lots of burst pipes.
Yeah. A lot of the time it’s the freak event that catches people off guard. We’ve had small amounts of ice and snow very couple of years but this one blew it out of the water.
The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa blocked out the sun in our hemisphere for an entire year. This event also caused crop failure and is known as "the year without summer" When Mount Tambora erupted in 1816, much of Europe was effected and is also known as 'the year without summer". My point? Have a plan A, B, and C....Solar is awesome IF the sun is not blocked out by an eruption, my plan B is steam powered generators IF one has enough firewood, Plan C is good old gas bleching generators..
for clarification, plan c is a gasoline generator? And again, for clarification, you have a steam powered generator? You seem to have pretty creative ideas. I like it.
I think these solar fan-boys are going to be disappointed when it's time to finally test their solar "generators". Yeah some power is better than none, but like Krakatoa, remember not too long ago Texas probably wasn't generating much solar power with that big power outage. Heck, they couldn't keep the pipes from bursting.
Thank you. Definitely need to spread this one out ;-) I used a KillAWatt to determine how much power EVERY device used so I could plan how long the battery backup would last. Some things are easy - if your internet/TV is Uverse or FIOS then a large power outage will also affect their equipment and your "subscriber terminal" would have no place to connect if you provided backup power for it. Fridge and freezer are harder because they run intermittently and need different amounts of power at different times - that's something to leave on the KillAWatt for a couple of weeks. If I pl;ug various devices into the spreadsheet I made, I can determine - within 30 minutes or so - how long the backup power will last and how long the gas gen or the solar panels will need to recharge that amount of use. If the load is small enough, the inverter gen can run the fridge and freezer and charge the battery bank for 4 hours on maybe a half gallon of gas and then we have another 20 hours of limited power if there is no sun - that time is limited by fuel on hand and in the vehicles but probably close to a month - helps to consistently "fill at half".. You need to think through your backup power plans for 12 hours (maybe nothing more than a flashlight and "Don't open the fridge!"), 24 hours (maybe need some dry ice for the fridge and freezer), and then multiple days - the grocery store has no more fuel for its generator so no power for keeping ice or dry ice frozen and no way to take your credit card. If our refrigeration needs can be met by a 4.4 cu ft counter height fridge, we can power it "forever" if we have sun every third day. In winter, putting the little fridge outside in the shade might be all that's needed to keep things cold but not frozen. Remember to take any assistance Mother Nature might offer ;-) We have LED lights from squeeze to handcrank to solar charged plus some that run on AA, C and D alkaline cells. Then there are the kerosene lamps and lanterns and the candles. Cooking is the gas stove (as long as natural gas lasts) then the Coleman stove (Coleman fuel, unleaded gas, LP 1lb cylinders or 20lb tank) then a Sterno stove then a rocket stove and then a folding backpack stove. Yes, I do want to have warm food if possible ;-) Heating is natural gas (as long as it lasts - the gas logs are totally battery operated) then a kerosene heater then two masonry fireplaces (might convert a 20lb LP tank to a small wood stove and use it in a fireplace for more heat from less wood than the fireplace needs). A long term grid outage will lead to loss of municipal (city/county) water and sewer service. The rain collection we've done for years for watering flowers would be diverted to making us bloom ;-) I do have good water filters and plans for an outhouse.
I always add and keep fuel stabilizer around. It will make your gas storage last a lot longer. I recycle my gas every 6 months for my generator. It’s also good to empty the gas out of your carburetor so it will start when u need it.
I was thinking of a dual fuel generator and keeping propane on hand for emergencies. Longer life but would also invest in some good propane monitor alarms.
On my Champion dual fuel it is easy to disconnect the fuel line from the feed TO the carburetor. Then start the generator and let it run dry. You will have to lift the generator slightly so that all the fuel runs down into the carburetor. Reattach the fuel line and store. If you have an electric start even with a trickle charger your battery will need to be replaced every few years, even if you keep it charged. Propane won’t give you the power wattage that gasoline will, but the generator may die when you plug in the skillet or griddle. For me, switching to gasoline gave me all the watts I needed. I was just lucky one gas station was open while the rest of the city was power less.
I live in California PG&E for a years should-down the grid for months to replace the wood poles to steel. A woman caused a week long outage said "her car had a malfunction" then drove across a field hitting the only thing in the field the power pole, she was actually on the phone.
Thanks JR, I've watched this video before, but came back to give it another view. If the grid goes down long term, powering my 25 cu. ft. freezer is my main concern. I have two EcoFlow Delta 2 generators with their extra batteries and a Delta 2 Max with an extra battery. In total that's over 10,000 watt hours, but it means nothing without being able to recharge them. I put two different 400 watt solar panel set ups on my roof and have their cables run to where the generators and freezer are. I've experimented with this set up and it works well now, but I'm afraid that winter and the associated lack of sun may prove challenging. I do have a small ,very quiet, Honda inverter generator that I could run for an hour at a time to recharge these EcoFlow generators. The Honda uses about a gallon of gas per 8 hours and I've stored enough gas to run it for 400 hours if or when it's needed..
If it is too expensive to install a wood stove in your house. place one outside. you can always put a coil in the woodstove and pump the heat into your house. With a radiator and a fan, and pump. And we used to have radiators for duce and a half in the army here in Canada so we could run the Duce, and tie the rad into the cooling system on the Duce, thus placing the heater rad in our tents .Keeping us warm. Just top up the antifreeze in the engine. And if the power goes out I am still able to cook outside using the woodstove. And I can heat water to put in bottles to warm my bed at night. If you get massive amounts of snow ,build snow walls around the woodstove to keep the chilly wind off yah while you cook. And use a tarp as a roof. I went this route because the insurance laws here are stupid .And there is no chance of a fire in the house. And in the spring, the walls melt and there is no building permit required for snow. STICKING IT TO THE MAN!!!!! A used woodstove is better than nothing. And in the summer its cooler to cook outside anyway. Green agenda = more green leaving our pockets and going into theirs. If you do get lots of snow, Build a snow shed and tarp the roof and place woodstove inside. Just dont melt the damn thing. Just keep your fire constant and regulate it. No permit needed,
I often think of puerto rico after hurricane maria. Over 1 year without power for most places in the area. Not many have the Gucci gear that we show off. Did they survive yes. Did it put them in a 3rd world country for that time also yes. 10 days in texas was bad enough but could have been much worse. 1 year+ would be the goal to last. Good video
Not everyone lives on a rural property or in the suburbs and has the option of using a gas grill or a generator when the local power grid is down. A renewable way to cook indoors would be very useful for someone living in a small apartment who has a south-facing balcony or access to a sunny roof top. I recommend a small, 200 watt rice cooker powered by the smallest size Jackery power bank with the power bank being recharged by a Jackery solar panel. There may be other small, solar power set ups that last as long as the Jackery one, but I am not aware of them. This Jackery set-up is just the right size to recharge smart phones, iPads and Kindles and is lightweight enough that a child or elderly person could move it. But it is also a good way to power the 200 watt rice cooker so you can turn a cupful of raw white rice into two cupsful of cooked rice without using that limited supply of butane or propane fuel indoors. And there are cookbooks designed just for these little rice cookers, so you could make a variety of small meals indoors without a working electrical grid. I bought my rice cooker from an Amazon vendor and it cooked the rice in the usual 20 minutes when powered by the smallest size Jackery power bank. I also bought the "Mini Rice Cooker Cookbook" by Lynda Balslev on Amazon and it gives recipes for a variety of small batch soups, stews, main dishes and desserts. Consider being able to have a Red Pepper, Onion and Parmesan Frittata for breakfast or a warm bowl of Turkey and Black Bean Chili for lunch or a plate of Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner or Upside-down Apple Cake for dessert if the electric power to your one bedroom, fifth floor apartment has gone out and you and the neighbors are trying to use up the fresh or frozen food in those apartment refrigerators.
I have a forty five watt with three solar panels. I just purchased a single harbor freight one, one hundred watt panel. I have three deep cycle batteries. I have one of harbor freight thirty five amp hour battery. I have the echo flow river. with two batteries. I just need to get it all together. make a frame for panels I have several square wave inverters. even a three thousand watt one.
Im new at preppn but when i watch videos...like on gardening im always thinking....ok so they bought this and that for just the right soil but with no plan in case they cant buy it again.....thats still grid dependency lol.
Pretty good video, but what about an EMP? Your ECOFLOW will be worthless after an event like that, which would likely be used to take down our power grid. A fossil fueled generator will not be affected by an EMP most likely. Unless you know how to make a faraday cage for your ECOFLOW, you will be in trouble. Just my 2 cents.
you are leaving out a radio. every one needs entertainment and a way to find out what is going one. Now I have the cats meow on this when all my batteries are gone I have a wind up radio and it even has short wave on it. it is a free play radio and does not require and batteries ever.
Awesome content! If you're looking to explore these topics even further, we actually produced an award-winning documentary called Grid Down Power Up - Documentary, narrated by Dennis Quaid, that dives deep into these issues. It’s available for free on our channel, and you might find it really insightful. We also have some resources on our website for taking action, like contacting legislators and public utilities. Please help us spread the word
You’re so good to help others by teaching them how to survive in a grid out crisis. Thank you.
Thank you Deb!
Good summary. If you are in a state that is mostly winter, you are going to be uncomfortable with the grid down, the wall outlet isn't an option nor car battery seeing the pumping stations will be down, all you got is solar, if you live in an area with sun. Not all places have the sun that is required to power the panels.
I'll just go back to the days before the whistles and gadgets. got a woodstove, a rocket stove, lanterns, and 8 cords of wood coming this year, and few acres of wood with the house, and a well I also have strings of LED solar lights for the rooms instead of nightlights. Look for RV products that use less energy I learned from solar cabin
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Thanks I was looking for a more winter based prepping worried the solar may not work well on the east coast
Good video. With the right clothing a person can handle below freezing easily, but our houses in much of the South are not made for extreme cold, that was a big problem during the extreme winter storm in Texas, lots of burst pipes.
Yeah. A lot of the time it’s the freak event that catches people off guard. We’ve had small amounts of ice and snow very couple of years but this one blew it out of the water.
BURSTED PIPES WAS MY ONLY REAL PROBLEM...FORTUNATELY I HAD SPARE PARTS...✌️❤️💥😇🖖🇧🇯
JR, you continue to turn out great content...I love the ambience too. Thanks for taking the time to do these important videos....God bless you brother
Thank you CM The 300! God bless you as well!
Iv been waiting for a video like this for years!!!! Perfect!
Glad to help Jimmy! Thanks for watching and commenting!
The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa blocked out the sun in our hemisphere for an entire year. This event also caused crop failure and is known as "the year without summer" When Mount Tambora erupted in 1816, much of Europe was effected and is also known as 'the year without summer". My point? Have a plan A, B, and C....Solar is awesome IF the sun is not blocked out by an eruption, my plan B is steam powered generators IF one has enough firewood, Plan C is good old gas bleching generators..
for clarification, plan c is a gasoline generator? And again, for clarification, you have a steam powered generator? You seem to have pretty creative ideas. I like it.
I think these solar fan-boys are going to be disappointed when it's time to finally test their solar "generators". Yeah some power is better than none, but like Krakatoa, remember not too long ago Texas probably wasn't generating much solar power with that big power outage. Heck, they couldn't keep the pipes from bursting.
Thank you. Definitely need to spread this one out ;-)
I used a KillAWatt to determine how much power EVERY device used so I could plan how long the battery backup would last. Some things are easy - if your internet/TV is Uverse or FIOS then a large power outage will also affect their equipment and your "subscriber terminal" would have no place to connect if you provided backup power for it. Fridge and freezer are harder because they run intermittently and need different amounts of power at different times - that's something to leave on the KillAWatt for a couple of weeks.
If I pl;ug various devices into the spreadsheet I made, I can determine - within 30 minutes or so - how long the backup power will last and how long the gas gen or the solar panels will need to recharge that amount of use. If the load is small enough, the inverter gen can run the fridge and freezer and charge the battery bank for 4 hours on maybe a half gallon of gas and then we have another 20 hours of limited power if there is no sun - that time is limited by fuel on hand and in the vehicles but probably close to a month - helps to consistently "fill at half"..
You need to think through your backup power plans for 12 hours (maybe nothing more than a flashlight and "Don't open the fridge!"), 24 hours (maybe need some dry ice for the fridge and freezer), and then multiple days - the grocery store has no more fuel for its generator so no power for keeping ice or dry ice frozen and no way to take your credit card.
If our refrigeration needs can be met by a 4.4 cu ft counter height fridge, we can power it "forever" if we have sun every third day. In winter, putting the little fridge outside in the shade might be all that's needed to keep things cold but not frozen. Remember to take any assistance Mother Nature might offer ;-)
We have LED lights from squeeze to handcrank to solar charged plus some that run on AA, C and D alkaline cells. Then there are the kerosene lamps and lanterns and the candles.
Cooking is the gas stove (as long as natural gas lasts) then the Coleman stove (Coleman fuel, unleaded gas, LP 1lb cylinders or 20lb tank) then a Sterno stove then a rocket stove and then a folding backpack stove. Yes, I do want to have warm food if possible ;-)
Heating is natural gas (as long as it lasts - the gas logs are totally battery operated) then a kerosene heater then two masonry fireplaces (might convert a 20lb LP tank to a small wood stove and use it in a fireplace for more heat from less wood than the fireplace needs).
A long term grid outage will lead to loss of municipal (city/county) water and sewer service. The rain collection we've done for years for watering flowers would be diverted to making us bloom ;-) I do have good water filters and plans for an outhouse.
Notyoung, you are probably more prepared than 99 percent of the population!
I always add and keep fuel stabilizer around. It will make your gas storage last a lot longer. I recycle my gas every 6 months for my generator.
It’s also good to empty the gas out of your carburetor so it will start when u need it.
I was thinking of a dual fuel generator and keeping propane on hand for emergencies. Longer life but would also invest in some good propane monitor alarms.
Good ideas on the stabilizer and emptying the carb. I’m going to stick with propane primarily though. Thanks for watching and commenting Butch!
On my Champion dual fuel it is easy to disconnect the fuel line from the feed TO the carburetor. Then start the generator and let it run dry. You will have to lift the generator slightly so that all the fuel runs down into the carburetor. Reattach the fuel line and store. If you have an electric start even with a trickle charger your battery will need to be replaced every few years, even if you keep it charged. Propane won’t give you the power wattage that gasoline will, but the generator may die when you plug in the skillet or griddle. For me, switching to gasoline gave me all the watts I needed. I was just lucky one gas station was open while the rest of the city was power less.
I live in California PG&E for a years should-down the grid for months to replace the wood poles to steel. A woman caused a week long outage said "her car had a malfunction" then drove across a field hitting the only thing in the field the power pole, she was actually on the phone.
Thanks JR, I've watched this video before, but came back to give it another view. If the grid goes down long term, powering my 25 cu. ft. freezer is my main concern. I have two EcoFlow Delta 2 generators with their extra batteries and a Delta 2 Max with an extra battery. In total that's over 10,000 watt hours, but it means nothing without being able to recharge them. I put two different 400 watt solar panel set ups on my roof and have their cables run to where the generators and freezer are. I've experimented with this set up and it works well now, but I'm afraid that winter and the associated lack of sun may prove challenging. I do have a small ,very quiet, Honda inverter generator that I could run for an hour at a time to recharge these EcoFlow generators. The Honda uses about a gallon of gas per 8 hours and I've stored enough gas to run it for 400 hours if or when it's needed..
Sounds like a good plan!
If it is too expensive to install a wood stove in your house. place one outside.
you can always put a coil in the woodstove and pump the heat into your house. With a radiator and a fan, and pump. And we used to have radiators for duce and a half in the army here in Canada so we could run the Duce, and tie the rad into the cooling system on the Duce, thus placing the heater rad in our tents .Keeping us warm. Just top up the antifreeze in the engine. And if the power goes out I am still able to cook outside using the woodstove. And I can heat water to put in bottles to warm my bed at night. If you get massive amounts of snow ,build snow walls around the woodstove to keep the chilly wind off yah while you cook. And use a tarp as a roof. I went this route because the insurance laws here are stupid .And there is no chance of a fire in the house. And in the spring, the walls melt and there is no building permit required for snow. STICKING IT TO THE MAN!!!!! A used woodstove is better than nothing. And in the summer its cooler to cook outside anyway.
Green agenda = more green leaving our pockets and going into theirs.
If you do get lots of snow, Build a snow shed and tarp the roof and place woodstove inside. Just dont melt the damn thing. Just keep your fire constant and regulate it. No permit needed,
Good point on the benefit of solar panel charging compared to traditional gas generators. Glad I have an Ecoflow Delta.
Just remember your roots Patriots live off the land !
Great video JR! I am getting some of those solar generator & panels. 👍🏽🤩
That’s awesome! Be sure to use my link in the description! Thanks for watching!
I will!! Thanks JR! I can’t wait for part 2 of your video. 👍🏽🤩
Thank you! The next one will be over water storage and purification. There will probably be at least 3-4 parts to this series.
Terrific!! Can’t wait. Have a great evening. 👍🏽🤩
You too!
I often think of puerto rico after hurricane maria. Over 1 year without power for most places in the area. Not many have the Gucci gear that we show off. Did they survive yes. Did it put them in a 3rd world country for that time also yes. 10 days in texas was bad enough but could have been much worse. 1 year+ would be the goal to last. Good video
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Excellent video! 👍
Thank you R M!
Thanks for sharing. Great information.
Thanks Janet!
You need to read the congressional reports by the EMP commission!
I have a remidy for the water in gas . it is kemtrol -twelve . it is a marine additive and made for water.
great video.. thank you
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Not everyone lives on a rural property or in the suburbs and has the option of using a gas grill or a generator when the local power grid is down. A renewable way to cook indoors would be very useful for someone living in a small apartment who has a south-facing balcony or access to a sunny roof top. I recommend a small, 200 watt rice cooker powered by the smallest size Jackery power bank with the power bank being recharged by a Jackery solar panel. There may be other small, solar power set ups that last as long as the Jackery one, but I am not aware of them. This Jackery set-up is just the right size to recharge smart phones, iPads and Kindles and is lightweight enough that a child or elderly person could move it. But it is also a good way to power the 200 watt rice cooker so you can turn a cupful of raw white rice into two cupsful of cooked rice without using that limited supply of butane or propane fuel indoors. And there are cookbooks designed just for these little rice cookers, so you could make a variety of small meals indoors without a working electrical grid.
I bought my rice cooker from an Amazon vendor and it cooked the rice in the usual 20 minutes when powered by the smallest size Jackery power bank. I also bought the "Mini Rice Cooker Cookbook" by Lynda Balslev on Amazon and it gives recipes for a variety of small batch soups, stews, main dishes and desserts. Consider being able to have a Red Pepper, Onion and Parmesan Frittata for breakfast or a warm bowl of Turkey and Black Bean Chili for lunch or a plate of Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner or Upside-down Apple Cake for dessert if the electric power to your one bedroom, fifth floor apartment has gone out and you and the neighbors are trying to use up the fresh or frozen food in those apartment refrigerators.
This is great advice. Thank you. I'm also an apartment dwellers so and looking for ideas.
There are adapters for gas camp stoves that make it possible to fuel them from large canisters.
Thanks! I wrote a longer comment, below.
Thank you Laurie! I really appreciate it!
That's pretty quick for a power station. 80% in less than an hour. The Delta definitely charges fast.
Great content!!!!
Thx
Thanks Matt!
I picked the Ecoflow Delta over the Jackery Explorer 1500 because the Delta charges faster than the Explorer 1500.
New subscriber. Hope for more great content soon.
Thank you for subscribing!
@DIY, a wood stove can be used for heat, lighting, cooking, hot water and generator.
Cool video thanks.
i lkie your videos
Make part2... love frome pakistan💝💗💖
Was there a part two to this video? If so, I can’t find it.
Surviving a Grid Collapse: Water Storage and Purification
th-cam.com/video/caMqKwr7hR8/w-d-xo.html
what i prep for EMP Grid down
Good thing to prepare for. I just read One Second After. Makes one think how unprepared most of us are for this type of situation
for meat going bad I have an american pressure cooker. I have two of those little stoves and a case of fuel.
What is the life expectancy of the eco flow?
The warranty is 24 months with a life expectancy of 800 cycles at 80+% capacity.
@@diypreppertv should last for a while using for emergencies. Now to save up for one lol
THKS
You’re welcome David! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Excellent
Thank you Andy!
One of the reasons I got the Delta is because of it's fast charging technology.
I have a forty five watt with three solar panels. I just purchased a single harbor freight one, one hundred watt panel. I have three deep cycle batteries. I have one of harbor freight thirty five amp hour battery. I have the echo flow river. with two batteries. I just need to get it all together. make a frame for panels I have several square wave inverters. even a three thousand watt one.
@DIY, as far as generators is concerned, you have feed back loop generators and HHO generators.....
Lighters and some batteries are trapped on those ships at the ports in California
Im new at preppn but when i watch videos...like on gardening im always thinking....ok so they bought this and that for just the right soil but with no plan in case they cant buy it again.....thats still grid dependency lol.
Yep. A lot of people buy things but don’t give any consideration to the logistics needed to keep them running or sustained for the long term.
Where is part 2?
Pretty good video, but what about an EMP? Your ECOFLOW will be worthless after an event like that, which would likely be used to take down our power grid. A fossil fueled generator will not be affected by an EMP most likely. Unless you know how to make a faraday cage for your ECOFLOW, you will be in trouble. Just my 2 cents.
you are leaving out a radio. every one needs entertainment and a way to find out what is going one. Now I have the cats meow on this when all my batteries are gone I have a wind up radio and it even has short wave on it. it is a free play radio and does not require and batteries ever.
HEY THE MORE YOU USE IT THE FAST THE BATT GO DOWN NOT 100 %
Gas stabilizer, last 2 years.
.i have. echo river , .i'm poor
i.have the. .s.mall .one.and a case of fuel
Awesome content! If you're looking to explore these topics even further, we actually produced an award-winning documentary called Grid Down Power Up - Documentary, narrated by Dennis Quaid, that dives deep into these issues. It’s available for free on our channel, and you might find it really insightful. We also have some resources on our website for taking action, like contacting legislators and public utilities. Please help us spread the word
Bums will drink stereo