Power pack

[Yorkshire Andy]

So no mobile access have you discovered how long your phone system will last with no power? .. we had a power cut a year ago we lost mobile and landline (fibre broadband) I powered router and fiber modem up via power bank and it just sat there saying nope ... Red light on the modem and router no signal from the other end be it the street box or exchange.. and no mobile coverage... (Instant loss) and we are in a decent size town.

I took the plunge and am currently playing with starlink and the 12v and usb c power leads landed todayv

[GeraldTheBonzai]

I took the plunge and am currently playing with starlink and the 12v and usb c power leads landed todayv

Would be very interested to hear how you get on with Starlink.

[Daxsmith9]

Its not the suggestions that annoyed me but the fact they are clearly stated to not be realistic
Telling me to get a mobile when I said there is no signal here. People should read the post before manking comments that lack relevance.

I have nothing here that needs powering that I can think of.
I have no TV. Only battery powered radios (loads).
I bulk ordered batteries with a 10yr shelf life.
In WW3 the net likely won't work.
The fridges & frezers would need a lot of power.
I do have meds that need a fridge but they are rarely used (Not insulin) To power a fridge would need more power than a powerpack would likely provide & a generator is out of the question.

[GeraldTheBonzai]

Based on your description, it sounds like you access the internet from a laptop? You say you watch various prepping channels.

In the event of an outage, you are correct, there would probably be no net access. I'm building up an archive of information, documents, videos that I keep on an external SD drive, so that I have my own local data. If you had something like an Ecoflow or Jackery, you would be able to power whatever IT equipment you have. If you also had your own source of information then you would be able to access it in an outage.

Just a suggestion. Otherwise sounds like you don't need one.

[Daxsmith9]

Thanks for the answer.
I didn't think I needed one but I thought I may have missed something.
I don't think of everything.

[rik_uk3]

If your looking at fridges/freezer/tv/laptop you need a proper backup system which would be solar power and not just a couple of panels your want at least 6 plus the batteries/controller/inverter et al. The likes of Jackories are very good running fridge freezer but you won't get much more than a day out of one...it needs charging.

Another option is prep so you don't need the fridge or freezer or a tv. Canned and packet food last years and will do the job. For your electronics I'd say have phone/tablets/kindle to hand, they all charge off power banks which you can top up on a modest solar setup.

Don't forget entertainment, so many preppers seem to have this low on the list when in fact it should be near the top. I've a home NAS full of films, tv shows and music; I also have about a dozen 500Gb external SSDs full of films, music and TV shows as mobile back up and add to that a couple of thousand ebooks covering facts and fiction.

I'm also a radio ham with a home station, another small setup in the mancave (AKA shed) and in the campervan and thats a hobby but can be handy in some emergencies https://www.raynet-uk.net/info_introduction.asp

[Peter]

................Don't forget entertainment, so many preppers seem to have this low on the list when in fact it should be near the top. I've a home NAS full of films, tv shows and music; I also have about a dozen 500Gb external SSDs full of films, music and TV shows as mobile back up and add to that a couple of thousand ebooks covering facts and fiction.

If/when TSHTF I don’t think I would have much time for watching films, perhaps some music and or ebooks.

With limited solar power in winter, a fifth of what you generate in summer, having to get up at first light any
outside jobs ( maintenance, garden work, water collection filtering and sterilisation, foraging food, scavenging
firewood etc) would have to be done by tea time (dusk), and by then I know I would be nackered.

With perhaps only two or three hours of 12v battery battery power available for lighting while preparing and
cooking our evening meal (I know we have candles and oil lamps but I worry about the fire risk) I would soon be
ready for bed not for watching films, life after TSHTF will be exhausting.