Off Grid Power

Generators, Wind & Solar

Make a plan to buy three generators. A whole house generator that runs on propane and natural gas. A little generator on wheels to run power tools and charge up batteries. This unit can be rolled over to someone's house to pump out there basement and do repairs. A medium portable generator which will give steady power to electronics, furnace and the deep freeze.

All items powered by the medium generator need to have a good surge protector at the device. Only expensive whole house generators run the output through an inverter to produce a pure alternating current sine wave.

Buy a deep freeze that has a light on it that tells you the compressor is running. Do not turn off the generator until the compressor has cycled off. Keep half of your long term food storage in the freezer section of your refrigerator. This will protect you from losing all of your food if the deep freeze should stop working.

In advances prepping have a spare circuit board and other parts for your deep freeze and furnace.

If you have a whole house generator I still recommend that you install LED light bulbs in all of your fixtures. This will lessen the load on the generator.

For middle income families I recommend installing 12 volt lights in the ceiling in all of the rooms. Theses lights can be powered by a bank of batteries in your garage where they can be vented outside.

Start collecting 12 volt batteries from your neighbors when they replace them. Theses batteries do not have enough amperage to start a car but if they can take a charge they could be placed in a bank of batteries to run the 12 volt lights in the house and power an inverted which will transform 12 volts into 110 volts to run electronics, charge cell phone and other gadgets. Later on purchases deep cycle golf cart batteries for your battery bank and install small solar panels and windmills on your roof to charge them.

Hire or trade with an electrician to install a safety switch on your main breaker to save the life of the utility line man who could be electrocuted by the electricity you are sending back through the wire that is doubled in strength by the transformer on the pole.

Ask your electrician to run a wire from your battery bank to your furnace and the blower on your wood stove.

A electricians may suggest separating some circuits and putting them into a sub panel with a safety double switch that can run this circuit from the battery bank or normal power. I am concerned that the more opportunity to use electrical power you have the more resources you will use.

One popular and temping idea is to make up a double male plug and send electricity through your house from your generator. I believe this is a bad idea. This will only power 1/2 of your electrical panel / house. If somebody turns on something they are not supposed to it will put a stain on the generator and trip or destroy the circuit breaker plug on the generator making it useless.

Run your generator one hour a day to chill down the deep-freeze, charge batteries and run the washing machine or to run the furnace for one hour to warm up the house. Use your batteries at night to power your 12 volt lights and small electronics.

The purpose of your generator, solar panels, wind turbine and battery bank is survival, not making life normal or comfortable.

Use you home made power grid at night to provide light for the medical person and the chief.