How is everyone doing right now?

[itsybitsy]

'Holy f*ck, what fresh hell is THIS?'

I love that phrase, I just love it

Added more power banks/batteries/gas for the camping stove, and battery operated/solar lighting and tea lights. I've also just bought another hot water bottle and some head torches.

The thing about several power banks is that you can recharge your stuff over and over again even if the power stays off, is that right? Stuff being my phone and my kindle, mainly.

I've got more than enough bits and bobs to keep me sustained during these potential power outages now, unless there's some godawful apocalyptic total black out for a month and then I reckon there'll be bigger things to worry about than whether I can make a cuppa on a CampingGaz. Still got the Jackery in my Amazon basket - they're offering me a Pay in 3 option, which is very tempting, so it's still sitting there while I continue to mull it over. Probably should work on being a bit more decisive.

itsy, can I ask, which one have you put in your basket? The bigger ones seem to provide what I want, but the price seems *so* high. And yet the more reasonably priced ones feel like I'd be skimping if I bought them.

I've also just bought some new (to me) books to keep me going if/when the telly goes off as I've read every book in the house!

I don't have many novels I haven't read in book form ... lots of manuals and whatnot ... might have to have a think about that.

This is the one I have in the basket Arzosah.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jackery-Portab ... spons&th=1

This is the solar panel that goes with it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jackery-SolarS ... LLCS&psc=1

[itsybitsy]

Still got the Jackery in my Amazon basket - they're offering me a Pay in 3 option, which is very tempting, so it's still sitting there while I continue to mull it over.

Look at some other brands remember persud mentioned ecoflow look for ones with lithium iron phosphate battery LiFePO4. More cycles = longer life

The Ecoflow ones are out of my budget at the moment. I like the aesthetic of them though!

[Arzosah]

itsy, can I ask, which one have you put in your basket? The bigger ones seem to provide what I want, but the price seems *so* high. And yet the more reasonably priced ones feel like I'd be skimping if I bought them.

This is the one I have in the basket Arzosah.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jackery-Portab ... spons&th=1

This is the solar panel that goes with it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jackery-SolarS ... LLCS&psc=1

Much appreciated, thank you! That particular level of solar panel seems to be the standard these days - I noticed that the mahoosive jackery generators string together that panel (I'm sure they don't say "string together" ).

Over the next few days, I'm going to check the wattage on the things I want to potentially use, see what it all adds up to - obviously, they wouldn't all be used or charged at once.

Other research: can I use the solar panel if I set it up inside the house, behind a window? I checked that out on google and all I found was on the jackery website itself, somebody was asking if the foldable solar panels were waterproof, and jackery answered "A: Yes, the product meet IP67 water proof, which maximize the lifespan of the module, it should not get wet." which is very slightly Alice in Wonderlandish.

The other thing - you're looking at the E240, itsy, which is 200 watts (Amazon also says it has a 4 stroke engine! WTF????).
The jackery 500 is 500 watts, costs much more, and I'm not sure what the advantage would be, unless its about being able to charge the laptop. I don't know if the E240 could, but if it could, I'd definitely plump for that. Apart from the laptop, which contains huge amounts of preparedness information, the other gadgets mentioned are just that, gadgets - ice shaver, film projector, car vacuum.

I'd be buying from savings, not income, so cash flow not a problem per se, but its still pots of money, no matter how you fund it. Also need to look at Anker for comparison.

[itsybitsy]

The description on the E240 states that it can power a laptop - obviously that depends on the wattage of the laptop though.

[steptoe]

Well to chip in on these power banks i have chatted with andy a fair bit and then my niece who gets good deals for things re : work got me 2 of these not this one but 2 identical from someone else and at £50 ish each i could not say no .

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Stati ... r_hp_atf_m

[GillyBee]

My laptops all seem to use 65 watt chargers or thereabouts so a 250watt unit should be fine.

[Arzosah]

The description on the E240 states that it can power a laptop - obviously that depends on the wattage of the laptop though.

Ooh! Me likee.

Right, the wattage. Mine isn't produced by Lenovo any more (Ideapad 340). Gizmochina says "The battery is fueled with 52.5Wh that works for 8 hours."
BHphotovideo website says "This laptop can be used up 8 hours for a full school day, thanks to the IdeaPad S340's internal 3-cell battery. When it needs to be recharged, simply plug in the included 65W power adapter. "
Lenovo forum mentions the printing on the charger - mine says the ouput is 20V = 3.25A (the equals sign is one of those where the lower line is a squiggly one).

The above 3 websites illustrate my issue perfectly. I don't know what it means in relation to what the Jackery E240 can do....

[Arzosah]

My laptops all seem to use 65 watt chargers or thereabouts so a 250watt unit should be fine.

Ah! Yes, mine is 65 watt too. So that should mean its good enough?

[jennyjj01]

itsy, can I ask, which one have you put in your basket? The bigger ones seem to provide what I want, but the price seems *so* high. And yet the more reasonably priced ones feel like I'd be skimping if I bought them.

These Jackerys, PowerOaks etc are really impressive off the shelf products, but you need to manage your expectations with them. Check out the storage capacity in Watt Hours and you'll soon realise that they will soon run flat if you try to run anything with a motor or heating element. They win hands down on features and on being lightweight, but capacity gets expensive compared to typical domestic electricity use. To get greater capacity for your money, you need to either pay a lot more, or go for bigger, heavier batteries. Then you surrender portability.... For the home do we NEED portability, or can you pop something big and heavy in a cupboard or shed?

This is the one I have in the basket Arzosah.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jackery-Portab ... spons&th=1

This is the solar panel that goes with it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jackery-SolarS ... LLCS&psc=1

Much appreciated, thank you! That particular level of solar panel seems to be the standard these days - I noticed that the mahoosive jackery generators string together that panel (I'm sure they don't say "string together" ).

Over the next few days, I'm going to check the wattage on the things I want to potentially use, see what it all adds up to - obviously, they wouldn't all be used or charged at once.

Other research: can I use the solar panel if I set it up inside the house, behind a window? I checked that out on google and all I found was on the jackery website itself, somebody was asking if the foldable solar panels were waterproof, and jackery answered "A: Yes, the product meet IP67 water proof, which maximize the lifespan of the module, it should not get wet." which is very slightly Alice in Wonderlandish.

The other thing - you're looking at the E240, itsy, which is 200 watts (Amazon also says it has a 4 stroke engine! WTF????).
The jackery 500 is 500 watts, costs much more, and I'm not sure what the advantage would be, unless its about being able to charge the laptop. I don't know if the E240 could, but if it could, I'd definitely plump for that. Apart from the laptop, which contains huge amounts of preparedness information, the other gadgets mentioned are just that, gadgets - ice shaver, film projector, car vacuum.

I'd be buying from savings, not income, so cash flow not a problem per se, but its still pots of money, no matter how you fund it. Also need to look at Anker for comparison.

100W is ok for charging up a bunch of batteries, your phone and laptop etc, but you'll have problems with duty cycle if trying to power too much. E,g. if it takes more than a day to charge from solar, but only runs your load for 4 hours, and that load is important, like a fridge, you could be frustrated. But as you see, higher capacity massively increases the price. What stops me buying a Jackery is the disinterest in portability. If I had a caravan or RV, I'd buy one. If I lived on a barge, I'd go for a bigger, heavier, fixed setup not unlike my garage kit.
Watching reviews on those Jackeries, they are staggeringly light.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=jackery+power ... o58Vl4zz4c

They will work inside a window, but expect far reduced yield, especially because you won't easily get them perpendicular to the sun and partly because of shadows... and partly because the glass filters some light out.
Anything short of having them perpendicular to the sun will dramatically reduce yield. It's all about geometry. E.g. if the sun is at 45% and the panel is either vertical or horizontal, your yield is reduced to cos(45) = 70%
The panels will be broadly weather resistant, but prolonged soaking will surely reduce their life.

[jansman]

Oh dear, I am listening to all this computer business,and it makes Mrs J and me look rather old fashioned.If we have a power cut ,we will put on the emergency lights in front of the woodstove ,read a book or two,radio on. Or go to bed!