Lots of good thoughts in this thread. Let me add my two cents.
What I'm hearing so far in this thread is that there's lots of people who would like to be prepared in an emergency situation of no grid power. Those people have different skill sets, but at least on this forum, a fair number of members are pretty handy, and pretty comfortable around working on electricity.
Having electricity is a pretty big deal, because it does effect heating/cooling/water supply/food preservation and preparation/sanitation/communications, just about everything in your home.
It also seems to me that there's sort of three tiers of preparedness for a blackout.
1) We will survive, but minimal comforts. Candles for light, dump water from the aquarium into the toilet to flush it, eat canned-goods cold, emergency communication, etc.
2) Livable, and much more comfortable. Some level of modern lighting, some cooking, better washing/sanitation. Entertainment and decent communication.
3) Pretty much the way you normally live, even with the grid down.
I think most people at least meet tier one. Flashlights, candles, at least a few day's store of food. This is all pretty minimal stuff. However, you might be in an apartment building, for example, in a cold winter with no heat, and no alternative (such as firing up a wood stove.) In a case like that, it makes sense to leave, and go to friends/relatives, etc. who may have power, or at least are in a better situation even without it.
As for tier 3 - Living pretty much as you do when you do have grid power, even without it, that's generally not practical/not affordable for most people. It generally requires expensive, permanently installed equipment, which may or may not be used often at all. But there's an exception to that, more on it later.
For now, lets' look at Tier Two, where I think most of us are talking about in this thread. You are in an emergency situation, you want at least SOME electricity, because it is SO useful for almost everything, it's likely to be a temporary setup, and you want to be prepared, but not spend a fortune doing it.
For some folks, that might mean a generator, for others, some solar panels. Either way, minimizing how much power you use is an advantage, and figuring out how much power you do use (by checking with a Kill-a-watt, etc.) so you get get the right size solar panel or generator is the way to go.
Also, use what you got! If you are an electrician, great - wire something up. If you are a small engine mechanic, you will be far better at servicing a gasoline generator than I ever will. If you aren't particularly handy, maybe just looking around for some sort of a backup power appliance is the right way to go for you. (That computer UPS is looking better and better, isn't it?)
In my case, I'm not afraid to learn new things, I like solar, and I've been working on electric vehicles, so I designed a
personal "Smart-Grid", combining a solar panel, a 48V UPS, and an electric motorcycle. In a power outage, I can run over 2000 watts from my motorcycle to my house. With careful use, this could be several days of power for my well pump, refrigerator, a radio, and LED lighting.
I wouldn't be watching television and running central air conditioning, but I'd have everything I need, plus some comforts.
The other thing to think about is WHY are you preparing. Do you really get blackouts commonly in your area? Are you getting ready for "When the $H1T hits the fan"?
And here's another question. What if you put a lot of time and work and money into preparedness and NOTHING happens? Yep, the world keeps on spinning. There's no mega-disasters, we don't run out of coal, the economy is fine. What then?
Here's the way I look at it. I'd like to be prepared for when things go wrong, but I choose to live in a world where the society is improving AND I'M PART OF THAT. For example, I think solar power is a pretty good way of making electricity. It's better than burning coal (at the grid power plant) or gasoline (in a portable generator.) So, I'll start putting up solar panels as I can. I can get at least SOME of my electricity from it, and that means less/fewer coal and nuclear power plants AND in case of emergency I DO have some electricity - enough to more than just barely get by.
Right now, I'm designing a 3KW solar system that will mount on my garage roof. Surprisingly, it should only cost me roughly $2000 out of pocket, and it should be enough to power my house full time. (
Sounds crazy? Here's the details...) Economic return on investment could be as little as four years PLUS in emergency, I could have about as much electricity as I want. (I'll be using a grid-tie system, but even these can be functional without the grid, such as Sunny Boy's
Secure Power Supply feature, or combining it with an off-grid inverter)
For other folks, you might not have good solar access, or even be interested in it. In that case I actually think that just a plain computer UPS (with a decent-sized battery) is actually a really good simple backup system for a lot of people. It's incredibly easy to use and can simply be purchased, instead of made by scratch by somebody with advanced electric knowledge. That said, it's not going to give you very good run time.
I like the idea of using that picoUPS card, combined with a small solar panel, a large lead-acid battery, a voltmeter and ammeter, all combined into a box on wheels. Somebody who likes to tinker could build a "Bug-IN-BOX" - emergency power in a box. It could meet all of a persons basic electrical needs in an emergency. It would also be great to take camping!
Now back to that Tier Three - Living pretty much the same as with the grid, even when it's not there. Some people already do that. And NO, I'm not thinking of some rich guy with a very large and powerful permanently installed generator who leaves his lights on all the time. The Amish and other traditional groups get by pretty well without using the electrical grid at all! However, they don't have the internet, digital cameras, and a whole lot of other things that I happen to think are pretty cool about the modern world.
There's also the "Off-the-Gridders", who do a GREAT job of minimizing electric use (efficiency!) so they can have affordable full-time solar power. I don't think that's for everyone either, including me. However, they are a great example of greatly reducing electrical use. If all of us on-gridders used substantially less energy, that means fewer polluting power plants AND it's easier for us to provide our own power in an emergency AND it's a step in the right direction towards sustainability. That's a Win-Win-Win for everybody.
Just my two cents…
