pro / con generator v Jackery ( or similar)

[jansman]

Oops

Tell me you’ve never done it.

I've avoided a actual belt but I've lost the tips of several sets of wire cutters

The 1000v vde insulated pliers / wire cutters / drivers are a good investment

Usual double check is to disconnect the earth first and touch it to the live terminal if it's not dead it will be after that...

I've also got a fluke volt stick and probes 99% of the time I always check if I dont the wire cutters get it

Oh , I know. This was not concentrating!

[Yorkshire Andy]

Tell me you’ve never done it.

I've avoided a actual belt but I've lost the tips of several sets of wire cutters

The 1000v vde insulated pliers / wire cutters / drivers are a good investment

Usual double check is to disconnect the earth first and touch it to the live terminal if it's not dead it will be after that...

I've also got a fluke volt stick and probes 99% of the time I always check if I dont the wire cutters get it

Oh , I know. This was not concentrating!

Tell you what is scary is the caravan owners forums where those who would struggle to put up a shelf are dabbling with lpg systems

That said I bought mine "fully serviced" and found a gas leak in the kitchen area I always leak check before use after a long drive as well vibration and gas fittings don't do well together

[jansman]

I've avoided a actual belt but I've lost the tips of several sets of wire cutters

The 1000v vde insulated pliers / wire cutters / drivers are a good investment

Usual double check is to disconnect the earth first and touch it to the live terminal if it's not dead it will be after that...

I've also got a fluke volt stick and probes 99% of the time I always check if I dont the wire cutters get it

Oh , I know. This was not concentrating!

Tell you what is scary is the caravan owners forums where those who would struggle to put up a shelf are dabbling with lpg systems

That said I bought mine "fully serviced" and found a gas leak in the kitchen area I always leak check before use after a long drive as well vibration and gas fittings don't do well together

My brother saw that happen last year four vans down from him. Bloke hadn’t a clue and his van went like a fireball. Fortunately ha was next to the open door and got out with minor burns.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Well I've added another 50w panel to my little shed system...

The suns out and it's not making a dent in the battery running the air cooler ... Ignore the mess the room needs a hoover but Lego covers about 75% of the floor

[Zedsdead]

Hi British Red, I'm in jansmans camp. I've banged on about this before but we were relatively badly affected by storm arwen (no power for 100 hours) and again by the next storm, about another 70 hours no power. To be honest it wasn't too much of a bother. We're a family of five ( 3 teenagers) and we ate the freezer contents, house was heated by a woodstove, cooked on two trangias placed on the hob, plenty of alternative lighting and water was gravity fed from private supply.
As it went on we had to recharge laptops in the car and use mobile phones as WiFi hotspots for work but that was the only hassle really.
Actually a pretty enjoyable family time with board games, wine & chocolate.

It's okay to have varying views. The thing is we have four, very large, freezers. A generator means that we don't lose the contents in an extended power outage. Not every power cut is a world changing event as you've experienced and, even if it was very prolonged, because we have a propane bulk tank, we can run the generator for months. That would give me time to dry, can and salt down all four freezers.

I'm not too worried about security for noise. Our super quiet Honda will be drowned out by the shipping container sized 3 phase monsters that most of the farms have. To run a fridge bigger than a barn, you can imagine the size .

We do have solar, power banks etc. as well of course, but options are nice

Which model of Honda genny do you have

[ukpreppergrrl]

My RCD works just fine. I was altering wiring to my workshop and forgot to isolate the power. I got a good kick,and the house went dead . That was a good enough test!

It's quite a kick isn't it. I felt like I'd been hit by a bus. Gotta love that RCD, undoubtedly saved my life when I was stupidly trying to repair a CD player whilst it was plugged in...

I have an LPG powered "silent" genny, a birthday present from my father several years ago for when SHTF. I've never actually used it. I have tended to concentrate more on being semi off grid all the time. So, for example, all my power tools are battery operated (with one mains drill for when you really need that grunt) and I have a 12v charging unit so the power tool batteries themselves can be charged from 12v batteries. I have a couple of small, discrete solar panel/battery setups for charging phones and tablets and the aforementioned tool batteries. I have built a couple of solar generators (about half the cost of buying a Jackery), one with a 50ah lead acid battery, one with a 90ah LiFePO4 battery (both at 12v) and each can be recharged via a couple of flexible 100w panels (they were built, ostensibly, for use when camping). They quite happily power 12v or usb LED lighting for the house, usb fans, the 12v TV, laptops, etc.. Recharging in deepest winter may be a problem if the electricity usage is profligate and for an extended period of time though. I'd have to be prioritising the lighting over the TV for example. I have discovered that these little solar generators will also power the 1000w inverter which is, for example, sufficient to run the ice maker. I am a devotee of Yorkshire Andy's signature: "If you're roughing it, you're doing it wrong" - when the shit hits the fan I aim to sit back with ice in my gin and watch the show! The 1000w inverter and LiFePO4 battery is also sufficient to run the Vango Sizzle camping induction hob as it is genuinely up to 800 watts, not 1,000 watts pulsing as most induction hobs are. But the battery will last for about 20 minutes and so would need to be recharged after every meal. It's far better to use gas/alcohol stoves for cooking, and if they run out...fire!

I have recently splurged on a 24v 280ah LiFePO4 setup with a dedicated 600 watts of solar panels. I am still building and playing..erm..experimenting with this. These batteries will power the 2000w inverter which will power the 1,000 watt microwave and the higher powered domestic induction hob (these are the two most efficient ways of cooking with electricity, and have the advantage it can be done indoors with the windows shut so smells don't get out). They will also keep the 12/24v fridge running for a very long time. The 600 watts of solar panels will not be sufficient to keep the batteries charged if I use these batteries for cooking on a daily basis, but they will keep the fridge going indefinitely even in winter. All that said, I'm still not intending to cook using the batteries, but nice to know I could if I really, really needed to.

My philosophy has been "what is it I actually want/need to run if the SHTF?" I have a LOT of shelf stable food, so like others here, if the power cut is going to last longer than 48 hours then I accept what's in the freezer will be lost. It's not really a biggie for me. However, my best friend is type 1 diabetic, so keeping a fridge running for her insulin is vital (a proper temperature controlled compressor fridge, not one of those "cools to 20 below ambient" jobs). Whilst not something I or my family need I do know people who need CPAP machines to breathe at night - therefore powering one of those would come under "vital" Lighting is also vital. Heating is vital in winter (if push comes to shove I could run a halogen heater for a short while, but I'm not intending to use electricity to heat things), fans in summer also pretty vital (I overheat easily!) Mobile phones, vital to keep charged for communications. TV/laptops come under entertainment. Great if I have enough power, but not essential - if I have light I can read a book. Ham/CB radios and walkie talkies - if the power cuts are sustained and we're in a really big SHTF situation then powering these is vital for communications. My philosophy is also that I'd rather be able to do these things indefinitely with the equipment I have, hence I've concentrated on solar/batteries (and several so I have resilience) rather than a generator which requires to be fed petrol/diesel/LPG which I may, or may not, have at the key moment I need it most.