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| Paducah, Kentucky which is just across the Ohio River from Illinois. Predictions of Peak heat indexes between 103 and 106 Fahrenheit EVERY DAY for the next ten days. |
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The grid is going to be heavily loaded. Have a plan to beat the heat; curtains pulled, ceiling fans, damp tee-shirts, hydration, hanging out in the basement, floating in a pool or running through the sprinkler. A strategy we use at Casa ERJ is to have a hot-plate/crock-pot/rice cooker outside for cooking. I also have an LP hot-plate as a back-up in case the grid falters.
It might also be worth your while to double-check your power-outage plans. If you are going to run a generator, make sure you will not be breathing carbon-monoxide.
We will be fine in southern Michigan. It isn't going to get nearly as hot here as it is predicted to get in the corn-belt and through the south.
Hydration and Siestas my friend. If you're not pissing clear a several times a day you're NOT hydrated enough.
ReplyDeleteHeat exhaustion might not kill you, but the tendency of ongoing blood clotting might.
Might be too late this time to secure a solar generator AND solar panels and thus have an emergency fan and lights if the grid Crapps out for a while.
But this isn't going to be the last grid challenging heat dome friend. Just a thought.
Also useful to have that dab or power for when a winter storm knocks down the grid a bit like my neighbor. He has an oil furnace but requires a little bit of electricity to run it and the blower. I loaned him one of my solar generators last Nor'easter and it kept a few lights on and his heat on.
At least I didn't have to worry that carbon monoxide was going to kill him as snow drifts were nasty that week.
"Solar Generators" are just (expensive) batteries with inverters.
Delete"Solar Generator" is a marketing term not a thing.
DeleteA battery pack like that AND some solar panels to keep it up is not a bad idea at all.
"Solar Generator" is just Double Plus Ungood Marketing Speak akin to lying to the gullible. I detest the term.
DeleteAnd oddly enough all three of you failed basic reading comprehension. Public school needs to be improved.
DeleteDoes B HAVE a few batteries and an inverter already set up? If so, please describe it and drop some prices involved adjusted for current prices. I might like to build your system.
After all THAT Sharing of experience is what this blog is about.
Does Rob have HIS set up yet? Same idea as above, post your setup and experiences with it.
And dear Robert has doublespeak right out of Orville's 1984, so I am pretty sure when the grid fails, he's offline and in the dark.
Speaking from experience instead of my keyboard getting something that works TODAY beats all the keyboarding in the world about how "useless, expensive, adnausum" a "Solar Generator" is.
You all failed basic reading skills because if you had read my comment, I mentioned getting solar panels FOR IT and actually pointed out how its limited power helped an elderly neighbor get through a Nor'easter snowstorm with heat by powering his oil furnace.
I didn't say it was cheaper, nor did I say it was best BUT for the ability to hand carry it through a nor'easter to my neighbor so he and his wife could have lights and heat was valuable.
HOW MUCH does it cost to fix frozen plumbing?
That and keeping a useful friendly neighbor healthy...well.
No editing button but to ADD to the Nor'easter story.
DeleteWhen the solar generator was depleted my neighbor called me (NICE to be able to Charge Cellphones with it) I was able to take it home to my generator and recharge it in less than an hour to bring back to that neighbor.
A bit like the old school diesel-electric submarines in that manner.
I AM open to suggestions from the vast experiences of B, Rob and Robert on how I could have better supported my neighbor during that nor'easter. Please advise.
Michael:
DeleteI made no comments regarding how "useless, expensive, ad nauseum" a "Solar Generator" is.
I commented solely on the marketing term "Solar Generator".
I will indeed be in the dark if my primary, secondary, and tertiary systems all fail.
Your snide tone is not necessary.
Good for you helping a neighbor.
My goodness, insults on this fine Sunday morning! No matter really in the overall scheme of things..
DeleteFrom an on-line dictionary..
generator [jen-uh-rey-ter]
noun
a machine that converts one form of energy into another
And dear Rob aside from the perceived insults asking if YOU have a system and asking you to describe it for us.
DeleteAgain, you didn't NOTE the comment about adding a solar panel to the "solar generator" to CONVERT SOLAR ENERGY into electricity?
Dose THAT Fit the
From an on-line dictionary..
generator [jen-uh-rey-ter]
noun
a machine that converts one form of energy into another
BTW my backpackable solar generator is easily recharged FROM its two solar panels in a bright sunshine three hours or as mentioned before an hour when my gasoline generator is running without apparently affecting its ability to do all else I ask of it.
I cannot carry my gasoline generator down to my neighbor during a snowy nor'easter.
And Robert if you have:
I will indeed be in the dark if my primary, secondary, and tertiary systems all fail.
Could you describe them so the rest of us might profit from your experiences with them?
Mine when I first bought that smaller unit was so I could power my wife's CPAP unit. I found it amazingly useful to other uses like recharging my Dewalt batteries while working out in the homestead. So, I bought a second unit.
Primary: the grid.
DeleteSecondary: solar panels and batteries and an inverter.
Tertiary: A) big generator
B) medium genny
C) POS little genny with horrid regulation
Quaternary: different batch of panels and batteries feeding DC fridge/freezer.
Quinary: Kerosene lamp illuminating rotting food.
Senary: Surrender and copious tequila without ice.
LOL I like this answer! :-)
DeleteSo you have options. Good.
I was aiming at those folks that had maybe found reasons not to get a solar power system because reasons.
I'm VERY Impressed you actually have a DC fridge/freezer! Is it a Sunfrost or a RV style one? I gave up on my RV style as it ate power like nobody's business and the RV guy said it was running properly. Seems they use an electric heating element where a propane burner would be to "cool" the system.
So, in effect a propane fridge without the relative cheapness of current propane prices.
That 3rd genny is a problem. How do you use something that is likely to damage equipment you hook up to it. Or do I misunderstand "horrid regulation"?
We were driving in the local countryside on your Independence Day. Many fields of wheat had already been harvested. That's early for England, even the dry East.
ReplyDeleteSo, summer conditions are here in summer... Who woudda guessed!
ReplyDeleteIf your generator is old enough that it doesn't have a CO monitor, (Many don't) you can get a CO monitor for less than $30. Most have 10 year batteries.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, these sorts of things draw more attention to the state of the grid. These sorts of warnings are becoming standard fare every year now.
ReplyDeletePeople have gotten soft. America needs to harden up.
ReplyDeleteFred as an old combat medic who's served in the sandbox, PLEASE explain how heat exhaustion and lack of sleep due to heat is something to "HARDEN UP" about.
DeleteAlso please tell me that YOU haven't turned on your AC or fans since you advise folks to toughen up.
Or do you lead by example?
IIRC Fred grew up on the Texas Panhandle and now lives in the California Central Valley. So he probably knows a little bit about heat but he was younger and fitter.
DeleteAnd maybe he was writing that somewhat tongue-in-cheek
Back to the battery thing... get a Kill-A-Watt meter and see how much electricity your refrigerator and freezer need to run for 48 hrs.
ReplyDeleteGet enough "solar generator [wink]" to power those two devices (keeping your phone charged will be minor compared to those appliances). Get enough solar panels so you can refill the batteries in a day, get an extension cord long enough to reach a sunny place (you might need to move the panels to keep them propped up in the direct sun, front of the house & back of the house kinds thing).
At one point I was using a 100w panel that I had to move in the afternoon (I kept it tilted by leaning it on a camp chair) & I used a 50' long 12g extension cord to connect twix the panel and the solar controller, it had one 10th (0.1) of a DC volt voltage drop at the end of the 50' cord.
When you don't need it put it in a closet or the shed or somewhere out of the way. Be sure and do what's needed to keep the batteries alive...
Excellent post Rob. Kill-a watts are very useful.
DeleteBeing aware of the voltage drop and need for large cables with DC is critical. I use 10 gauge for my shorter that yours solar runs myself.
I do wonder about the 100 watt solar panel being able to recharge 48 hours of battery power for even a modest refrigerator and a modest freezer needs. If you keep them closed most of the time, they run infrequently depending on ambient temperatures at the time but I've not found that less than 200 watts enough in my perhaps lesser sunshine of NH enough to keep even a pair of deep cycle batteries powering through an inverter LARGE enough to handle the start up loads of compressors to power your 48 hour load.
A Nominal 100 watt solar panel in bright sunlight I find give most of its rating less loss from extension cord less about 10% to battery losses, less about 10% to inverter losses giving each hour in bright sunshine to around (rough math) 70 watt hours. I find I'm blessed to do better than effectively 4.5 hours out of a very sunny day worth of full nominal charging.
That said my wife found it worthwhile to set up a 1.6KW array on our sunny deck to keep a rather large "solar generator" powered. It was amusing to run two of my electric stoves burners to cook dinner during a power outage. Sun was out and I had excess power available.
The nicest thing about a "solar generator" is its mostly plug and play.
ReplyDeleteA homebuilt solar power system uses the following items (please correct me if I'm wrong or forgot one):
Solar panels proper gauge wiring for amperage and distance a Controller unit (as to protect batteries from overcharging) to batteries to an inverter for non-DC loads. IF you want ability to recharge cell phones and such then a DC output device (often 110 volt to your DC cellphone units as DC reducers to cellphone voltages isn't cheap).
A well designed "solar Generator" has all that packaged in a fairly movable package.
A good one isn't cheap but the ability to provide critical loads like minor power NEEDS for LED Lighting and Propane-Oil Furnaces is pretty sweet when the grid is down for an unknown amount of time.
Like the subject of this article HEAT. Ability to run a fan or two so your wife or child isn't too overheated is worth how much?
I will be grateful if you supply a couple of links for units that you think might be worth purchasing. Maybe a CPAP sized unit and maybe a 1200 W-hr capable unit. It would also be nice if the unit could accept additional solar panels since the number of hours that the sun shines in the winter (for many of us) is limited by clouds and latitude.
Delete