SHTF Electric Power…

[yukonjack]

@Mr.Glock is correct I think. The whole marketing thing is a giant scam, IMO.

My next door neighbor had a bunch of panels put up. Couple of weeks later the contractor was in his house all day, I'm assuming connecting the inverter and turning it on after inspection. Guess not... A few days later that, a crew shows up at about 5:00PM and hops up on the roof and takes EVERTHING off.

This is just me guessing here, but two days after that a semi truck pulled up and unloaded roofing supplies. I'm guessing that it wouldn't pass inspection since they were actually missing shingles and had bare decking showing in spots. They now have a nice new roof, I don't know if the panels are going to go back up or not, The signs are still in their yard, but what freaking kind of contractor would even agree to install on a roof in that condition?

Also, these people are of retired age. There's zero chance they get their investment back before they die. The man there can't even mow his yard, he has a nephew come over a couple times a month and do it. Solar panel systems are a 20-30 year pay back proposition, but they spin it like it's the greatest thing ever. I have no love at all for these companies...

These solar panel salesman were hitting Piedmont hard and it was the elderly they were targeting. What’s sad is a lot of these companies are based in Utah and they employ former Mormon missionaries as their salesman. Utah is the scam & MLM capital of our country. They use former missionaries cause they are not afraid to knock on doors and try to sell you something you didn’t want.

 

[GeneW]

One thing you should do in the meantime is an Energy Audit.

You can go whole hog on a home energy audit, but I went a different way.

I purchased a "Kill-A-Watt" meter (Amazon and many others sell these).

You plug in the Kill-A-Watt meter into the wall outlet and then plug in your appliance into it. It will show you what the Appliance is drawing, both live and cumulative. It will also show you the Hertz as well as the actual voltage out of your outlet.

Keep a list of each Appliance and write down the Kilowatts used over a specific time. This will tell you how much $$$ it costs to run the Appliance.

In my case I was especially interested in how much power my CPAP used. It used far less than I figured by the CPAP label.

I've run my TV's, Radios, etc, but not yet the Refrigerator and Freezer.

I especially, mainly, wanted to know my CPAP power useage. I then purchased, last Black Friday, a solar power generator to power it, and I also purchased a 200 watt folding suitcase type solar panel (portable) and a 100 AH LiFEPO battery for that purpose.

Anyway, grab a legal pad or notebook and write down all the things running in your house. Run an energy audit. Do some figuring. Then you'll have an idea of how much power you need.

 

[Mr.Glock]

I would love to have one of the emergency systems. A small wind and a solar panel that has a battery and is probably able to power my O2 and a few other small things.

Look into a Jackery! There are more economical solutions too, as in a good solar battery and a solar panel or 110v 12v charger to keep it ready. There are 12v to 110 convertors that can be bought for o2 and Cpap machines. I have solar on an RV that has solar batteries and have ran all night with a Cpap machine. We do a lot of dry/boondocking camping.

Recently found out I needed a Cpap. Years of boxing/fighting and sports took its toll on my nose, awaiting surgery to rectify and then a Cpap machine will not be needed. And won’t/don’t run the Gen set overnight.