They really are a pipe-saver.

Our floor furnace is almost 100 years old. It has an electric solenoid that was installed somewhere during it's life, but still has the manual control. I can lock the gas open if needed, just need to make sure it's lit or notorious's house will go boom.

My daughter considers this a life saver when the power goes out:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1500_.jpg

Juneau is nice. I have a friend that lives there although he’s about to move. It has the mildest weather in Alaska. If you don’t mind the high cost of living, the druggies, and the fact that the only way to leave is by plane or boat (no roads lead out of there to any place) then Juneau is for you.

Kill the weakest ones in your home first. They're easy prey, and you don't want them taking up valuable resources.

I heard the weather is wet, yet amazing in Juneau.

The youngest ones are very tender

They can be drawn in with promises of candy and soda.

Just sneek in their room while they're sleeping. They'll never know what hit them.

did that all the time on the farm, when we were the last on the electrical line.

The floor furnace is one of the greatest things ever invented. We had the electricity go out. Never got cold with it and propane.

Tell me you live in Florida, without telling me you live in Florida....LOL

And puppies. In a van. Down by the river. Or so I've heard.

masturbating in the dark

so pretty much like any other day

If you have a nearby fast-moving river, a 20 ft wooden wheel, and some copper wire, you can solve any electric outage problem you have.

Mine is a Generac. We have switches on all major circuits and the computer monitors load. I pay for a checkup every 6 months and thats a bargain. Its on a 500 gal LP tank and they estimate its good for 8 days

6900 gallons of water in three storage tanks.
My own well.
Transfer/isolation switch at house that allows me to plug in 1 of 3 generators to power some lights and well pump.
Fuel storage
Propane tanks for bbq's, stoves.
Natural gas. Gas will keep flowing unless zombie apocalypse/ world war.
Portable solar panels.
Propane/ battery operated lanterns.
Food storage for 7 months.
Plenty of guns and ammo in case it is not just a power outage and it is the zombie apocalypse....

Oh, and 5 horses, chickens,cats and dogs. If power is out for more than 72 hours, my wife's horse dies first for meat.

My list as well, living on the TX Gulf Coast.

I also make sure to fill my extra car's gas tank and ten 5 -gallon gas tanks to have enough gas to run the generator for 2 weeks if need be. I can't stand dealing with gas lines, because when the power's out you've got to drive pretty damn far to find working pumps, and they always have long lines. No thanks.

Every time there's a hurricane, it's the same shit. People freaking out, and hoarding everything from food to fuel. If more people took the time to get prepared at the beginning of the season, it wouldn't be nearly as bad.

In the meantime, I'm at home patting myself on the back for being prepared and not having to deal with the chaos.

You nailed it - be prepared! I have my gas tanks filled with STA-BIL fuel storage additive, a couple crates of bottled water, and a couple of propane tanks. Was ready for Beryl this year when it hit. Was without power for 6 days. No problem. Since Beryl, I restocked, and was ready for Helane in case it came this way.

I learned valuable lessons from Hurricane Ike, like BE PREPARED! Because the chaos, and all the stupidity with it, can swallow you up. Fast.

This - mine is hardwired in and automatically kicks on - maybe a 5 or 10 second delay. There is something heartwarming about having lights and power while my asshole neighbor huddles around a ****ing candle with his bitchy wife and their stupid yappy dog.

I do invite the good neighbors over of course; I'm not a savage.

You should not be pulling your electric meter. That is against the terms of service with any electric company. They can accuse you of stealing electricity.

wood burning stove w/catalyst at the lake house. Doesn't help in the summer however it's great in the winter. On a well house so we can lose water. Have multiple 5 gallon jugs for drinking and can tote lake water for toilets if necessary.

my city home if there's issues, I just stay with family/friends.

Our generator ran and provided power to the house for the first time In The 4 years since installation. We had a wicked storm blow through in August that took out trees and roofs.
My next door neighbor and I were the only ones with whole house generators. The power was out in our neighborhood for 12 hours. It was pretty nice to have our power and AC.

I am the last on my line, so power goes out ANYWHERE, I go out. I have well water. Propane heat. Old farm house.



When I did a major renovation, I had the electrician put in one of these so I could power the whole house with one pigtail:

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/s...l-eTM&usqp=CAc

An aside: Mine is a 3 way lever switch, big box 3'x 1.5". Up is connected to the grid, middle is neutral, down connected to the generator. When the electrician put it in, he connected a light bulb next to it which is linked to the grid. I use the generator in the down position. When the light turns on, the grid is back up:) genous!

Then bought this. Duel fuel. Remote start which I can use in the bedroom.

https://westinghouseoutdoorpower.com...g?v=1709135539

I had been running gas only. Trying to buy gas during the '05 ice storm, proved difficult (3 weeks w/o power). I had 6 5 gal cans and went through them in a week. Also, how long will the gas be good, even with Sta Bil? So with Helene in my mind, why not use the propane (bottled gas stays good for a long time) from my 500 gal propane that runs my house. I was thinking about trenching a hard line into my garage (+200 ft). But a bunch of trees around, not a cheap idea. The propane guy from my area suggested tapping off of the tank to re-fill my small 20 gal BBQ tanks.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...gHh0UokY7Ehg&s

I decided to use those and a bought a wheeled 40 gal tank. Not cheap, ~$200.


https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/s...e6QTg&usqp=CAc

I decided to place the generator in one location, instead of moving the cars outside (electric garage door) to maneuver the generator outside, close to the garage door next to the short pig tail and vent. I understand that propane burns cleaner (doesn't need as much venting) and quieter. Also, it will burn twice as long. Downside is that it provides 80% of gasoline power.

So I needed 50' (heavy duty 8/4 wire) of this to run across the garage ceiling to drop down the pig tail next to the generator from the breaker box. Not cheap ~$200.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...wL._SX522_.jpg

Now, just un- cover the unit, turn on propane, start it, plug in pig tail, once there is electricity, crack the garage door:)

I have heard about the headaches with Generac's. Also, out $6-8k. Mine comes out <$2k and my time. I don't own a farm/business to warrant the cost difference. I suppose the Generac provide better peace of mind.

edit: I put on a battery maintainer after my trial run this summer and found the battery was dead. It turns out the generator came with a plug in trickle charger!!

Pot belly wood stove
Cord of wood
Remington Tactical loaded with #4 buck
Pantry
Got plenty of water running in the back yard that would just need to boil
Batteries
Couple books & DVDs
Patience & stay busy


Haven't gone down the generator road just yet for some reason.

I buy 1/4 cow and 1/2 a pig every year and store them in the big freezer. Propane stove, water heater and furnace. Lots of canned items in the pantry.

Everyone else have mentioned good ideas.

As to guns, yes, many. But I don't know how to skin a deer:(

And the above mentioned generator.

Reason NOT to have meaning:

-How often are you without power for a possible extended time? Hurricane/ tornado/ blizzard zones? Heck, even earthquake zones...

-How easy is it to set up electrical to run the whole house? I don't do extension cords all over the floor.

-Cost analysis. Generac's are nice "auto" start but expensive. There is the maintenance cost and time. A decent sized portable generator is much cheaper and easier to maintain, but the hassle to get it going.

-will it run my whole house? Mine is a 12k peak/9k running watts. Not huge and not small. A microwave is 500 watts. I have 2 refrigerators/1 deep freezer/240 amp well pump/not sure cloths dryer. It runs the whole house nicely. If a high load source kicks in, you can hear the generator moan a bit under the start up load then levels out. If all frig/frez/pump/miro/dryer/dishwasher all run...I am toast. So don't:)

It installed 15 solar panels that runs my house during the day. I am not sure if the power goes out if it will power the house. Thinking it won't because it goes through the meter. Gotta figure that one out...

This is an excellent thread and so many situations are different depending on where you live and what time of year it is.

I keep 15 gallons of the in house softened water in gallon jugs all the time, since if the power goes out our well will not run.

Bought a Honda generator last year to keep the freezer and fridge cold enough not to have things spoil, just in case.

Fortunately, our power company has not let us be without power very often. Only 16 hours after the July 3 tornado this year. Other than that, never more than half an hour.

We don’t lose power much but if we did:
4-6 cord of dry hardwood is usually on hand since I heat with wood.
10-20 gallons of gas.
Generator to run my well pump
Candles/Flashlights
Propane and Propane accessories
Plenty of guns and ammo…although I hardly shoot them on a regular basis.
If shit got bad I’d kill a deer or small game as I live in the woods. The first hunts would be easy.
Zombie apocalypse vehicles on hand like motorcycles/quads
Fishing gear galore.

It seems we all prepare to some degree. It depends on your situation.

I have a generator and 5 gallons of gas that I keep in the garage. I run that through the generator about every 4 months.
The power goes out when we have an ice storm or when some dumbass runs into a pole and such. That can be just a few hours or sometimes when our best linemen are elsewhere repairing damage from a storm the less experienced lineman tries to fix it and blows the transformer and then they have to make a trip across the state to get a transformer. It might be 12 hours or so.

Solar power that generates about 5kw/hr with a backup battery that lasts about 15 hours with "normal" use. Could probably squeeze 18-20 hours with limited use.

Working on putting in a tri-fuel generator and adding some battery capacity for the solar panels as well as a few more panels to squeeze more juice out of the sun. Thinking about buying a Ford F-150 lightning for the reverse powering of the home. Bonus is that the vehicle could be charged by the solar in the event gas/diesel become scarce will still have viable transportation outside of our gas powered vehicles.

Stocked up on 20lb propane tanks as well as tons of 16oz propane camping bottles. Firepit that can double as a cooking surface with lots of quick start/enviro-friendly fire logs.

Lots of MRE's and survival food buckets, survival straws to filter dirty water, cases of bottled water, a plethora of firearms and firearm accessories all located in a hardened 12x12 underground room.

Redundancy is the name of the game.

Make a suggestion? Try using chem lights/glow sticks first and use your "precious" resources (candles/flashlights) last.

Get a backup battery - I catch enough sun to power my house, charge my battery and send back to the grid during the day. I run on battery all night until the sun comes up in the morning during the summer.

What does that cost? I looked into it a bit. Battery + install = $6-8k. Then 8 yrs later, battery is dead. Like I said, no clue. I am listening though...

Regrettably, my electric company doesn't buy back my excess during the day (NE KS REA). So we manage our usage for large power draws only during the day. Thus our electric monthly payment is ~ $50. BUT, the large panel array cost $30k which we financed at 3% that costs ~$270/month. So it looks like we pay Peter to pay Paul. 3% money is less than ~10% over time in a decent mutual fund.

Thus I am not sold on solar. I think it will increase my property value. Not sure.

I'm shooting from the hip on the numbers...we bought the largest battery they offered and cost around $10K. Comes with a retention warranty of 10 years. If it falls below certain power retention levels it is replaced. Expected lifespan of the battery is between 15-20 years. I see there are some newer batteries with 15 year warranties.

Typical summer day production/use

https://i.ibb.co/0JyKyCx/IMG-6062.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/26Sgrzk/IMG-6061.jpg

Green = Battery Charged/Consumed
Blue = Solar generated
Orange = solar/battery power consumed
Grey = Power consumed on/sent back to grid.

Understand. Because my energy consumption is so low during the night and my bill is so low during the day in NE KS, I can't see dropping $10k on something I don't need a whole lot. If I lose power, I have a pretty nice generator back up.

It might be different if the power company would buy back, but they don't.

I will have to look into that again though.