The only thing I would disagree with was that you said some places only fill the propane tanks partially. I worked as a propane installer for 14 years. Propane tanks are only filled to 80% or possibly 85% if the tanks are going to be used right away and it's not too hot out. They have to have room in the tanks to vaporize. The liquid never leaves the tank, only the vapor is used in these cases, so if the tanks are filled to what they call water capacity, they not only can't vaporize, but the propane can expand, which it does especially on a warm day, and blow the relief valve. That's something you definitely don't want to happen. So 80% on any size propane tank is full. I really like your channel. Keep up the good work.
i think what he is referring to is the tank exchange system. the tanks have far less than the 80% that you get when having your tank refilled. my experience has been that an exchange 20lb tank weighs about half of the same size tank that has been refilled.
Tanks that are swapped, like Blue Rhino, are only filled to 16lbs, vs the 20lbs that most refill services provide. My local propane shop alerted me to this and I've never used the tank swap service since.
I have a Bluetti with extra expansion batteries and I made the mistake of telling my neighbor. First thing he said without skipping a beat is how he could plug into my system if there is a power failure. Lesson learned. Never tell anybody you're prepper.
I agrée completely. However, he may not understand the limits of what you can actually power. You have to remember that most people are clueless. And a good many of them are plain out stupid.
Yeah, mums the word on being a “prepper”..Only one person that knows about my “situation” lives down the street from me, and he’s one too! If I find something, or watch videos like this, I’ll tell him about it. (or vice versa)., but as far as anyone else around me….nope 🙂↔️
We live in Franklin, NC (western NC). During Helene, our power was out 5 days & cell towers down longer. Our Generac and Starlink got us through. Plus stores & gas stations were cash only, I also had a little cash stored. These situations are wake up calls. 👍🏻🇺🇸
A note on freezers: After an incident where the freezer broke down and I found the mess three days later, I bought some remote "Govee" type wireless fridge/freezer monitors. A smartphone app monitors the temperature every minute, and alarms if it goes too high. Well, it also showed me that the self-defrost came on about hourly AND MADE THE TEMPERATURE 20° HIGHER every time. So I filled all the empty space with large containers of water to freeze. Now, the temperature only swings about five degrees. Proof that a FULL FREEZER holds the cold much better than a half-full one. So if you're expecting an outage, FILL THAT FREEZER ahead of time. Set it for max cold, too.
GREAT advice !!! I do appliance repair in people's homes, and talked to a customer just today about exactly what you discuss. I will add this though; be sure to leave room at the back and front for cold air to move by convection and/or interior fan(s). To overfill will cause some areas to be too warm and efficiency to suffer.
I have a small chest freezer and I've added about three gallon jugs of water to the bottom. When the power goes out it becomes an ice box during that time and after several years and several power outages (none longer than 10 hours) I've not had any meat thaw out. It certainly has bought me time. For my freezer in the refrigerator I also keep frozen water bottles in it for the same reason. Not as big as gallon jugs, but a couple of half gallon size ones work well to keep things nice and cold during those down times.
Agree 100% on proper filling and air gaps. For optimal performance, as you remove food, add water bottles to take up space and provide the most mass for temperature retention.
I'm glad you had your preps in place. We live in south central Texas. Several years ago, we installed a rainwater retention system. We have a 29,000-gallon tank. Water is pumped from the tank through filtration and UV light. Safe to drink. Can run with our generator if needed and if we were completely without any power, we can manually take water, filter it and boil for potable needs. We sized at 29,000 gallons to support all the people and animals here for 1 year.
I went through a catastrophic ice storm in 2000. There was no power for 38 days. Trees exploded for days. We couldn't afford a generator. We didn't have cell phones. We did have a wood stove, oil lamps,a well and a 250 gallon propane tank. We watered the animals from the creek.I have a camp percolator and cast iron cookware. I washed the clothes with creek water. I heated water in my canning pot and put it in a camp shower so we had a hot shower. We used the cold. It was below freezing for 30 days. So we put our food in a plastic tote and put it in a shed outside. When it was dark we went to bed. When it was daylight we got up. We had tons of books and board games. Our days were mostly about taking care of the animals and entertainment. I was surprised when the phone rang. I even jumped. It was a month of camping in a cabin. We didn't have internet at our house before the storm so it wasn't that big of a deal.
We shared some of these in Ohio after an ice storm in the early 2000s. We were down for only 8 days. We were already prepped with a normal rural life but did find areas to shore up.
@swatson1190 I've had many winters like that when I lived in Nebraska, you learn what to do and not do. I'm in Texas now so the experience works here too.
Here are some important features to look for in a solar generator that really make a difference from personal experience. 1) make sure that your solar generator can charge AND provide power at the same time. This is not as big of a problem today as many already have this feature, but its important to check. 2) look for a fast charge feature in your solar generator. This feature can reduce the time to charge your solar generator by multiple hours. It is super helpful when charging with a gas/diesel generator because it reduces the fuel needed to recharge your solar generator by shortening the run time needed of the generator. 3) Look for a solar generator that supports the most wattage/voltage solar input while simultaneously allowing AC charging. Again, not all brands of solar generator will allow simultaneous charging. This again reduces the time needed to get your solar generator charged.
I saw a couple of my ideas in thre comments. 1) Know how to cook with camp dutch ovens. 2) Have a french press for making coffee. 3) Look at having a butane portable stove, around $40, and have a dozen butane cans. 4) A NOCO jumper pack can be used to keep cell phones charged up. From Florida and been through a fair number of hurricanes. Thank you SensiblePrepper for your ideas.
Great video! Same situation here (also SC), where we were prepared more than most but used the storm to identify any shortcomings and opportunities to improve our preparations. You spoke my words, had I made a video! While we recharge our battery system (home-built) from a generator, I did not like the large battery draw making coffee, so instead used a camping percolator over gas/propane stove (or outdoor grill side burner). Excellent coffee and a fun daily activity while things were shut down. Should mention the EcoFlow-type systems are also a great PORTABLE way to bring power back home, if you can drive to and charge at a powered location. I am buying a second unit for this reason.
This real world experience is great - there is no substitute for testing your preps. A gasoline powered generator, and the fuel to go with it, is a must if you can only have one single power-related prep. I went without power for a week during Hurricane Irene and and 11 days in Hurricane Sandy in the Catskill mountains of upstate NY - it affected us a lot like Helene down there. But the gas generator and other ready preps saved the day and all was well.
I've went a week without power here in Alabama during the big EF4 tornado that came through April 27th 2011.... I wasn't prepared for it and it was no fun at all. . I'm more prepared these days for something like that happening. I would've been dead if I didn't have a storm shelter to get in. Had about 12 of us in there. It saved our lives.
I had an ecoflow solar generator that I was using as an uniteruptible power for my chest freezer. There was a unknoticable power drop that shut the solar generator down and we lost all the contense in the freezer. I contacted ecoflow and supplied them with all the purchase information. They provided an RMA and replaced it with a referbished unit. I was sure to test this one and it worked. That was a painful lesson about checking the functions on my equipment instead of just expecting it to work.
The humble fuel that is mostly forgotten nowadays is *kerosene*. It's less violent then gasoline. Store lot more energy. And with properly design stove, lamp, heater. Fuel burns cleanly and completely without any smell or residue. Personally I replaced almost all my propane equipment with kerosene powered one. The most reliable in cold wet environment.
This type of scenario is going worlwide! Actually when I thought of weather related catastrophes, I thought it was quite only a North American or East Asian problem but it have changed! I'm living in France just near the Spanich border, we had a lot of rain last weeks but Spain had so much that more than 200 peoples have perished. It's now time for prepping also in Europe... (sorry for my English)
No worries, your English is very good.😀 Our beautiful planet goes through some wild weather cycles, which we humans have recently accelerated with fossil fuel use & pollution. Good for you to see the need to make general preparations for those unexpected disasters. I'm in FLORIDA, USA, & we are always ready in case of hurricanes, but lately the threat of tornadoes is increasingly challenging. Good Luck to you!
Having many ways to cook food and to heat water is a GOOD idea. The solar you have is good as it can be packed away safe and not damaged by the hurricane and brought out to use once the hurricane has passed by. Thank you.
Our house took fairly extensive damage from trees here in Georgia. We did invest years ago in the whole house Generator...and joked that once we did that, the power never went out; but for Helene it ran for 9 days (on natural gas). We gave out ice and helped charge cell phones for neighbors.
@@lawrencemitchell5983 thank you for the response. Beryl (north houston)left us without for 5days. Wen11000/8300 ran 4200w, that 3.5ton 2refridgerators deep freezer drink cooler all led lights 3 ceiling fans all eletronics. It was approx $32 gas a day. 2gallons every 4hours. I didn't want to run any where near max because fuel consumption increase significantly and didnt want risk overheating stator/rotor. Everybody was comfy and chipped in the daily cost of operation.
Florida resident for 80 years. When the power goes out we pretend that we are camping but inside at home. being backpackers and campers is just another day but with things done differently. I keep a lot of camping foods at the beginning of hurricane season. If they are not needed and hurricanes skip us then those supplies are used when camping during the other 6 months of the year. Florida has two seasons , 6 months of each , hurricane season and Non hurricane season.
Fellow Floridian here. You are 100% Correct! We were 3 weeks without power after Andrew, 2 weeks during the aftermath of Katrina, Rita, & Wilma. All in one season, & people forget that Katrina came through Miami as a Cat 3 on it's way to the Gulf. Then Wet Rita, then Wilma as a bad Cat 3. Camping equipment is a lifesaver! Had no solar or generator back then.
You got it figured out. Small generator to top-off a beefy power station, then run critical items like fridges and well pumps and charging devices with the power station. Also lets you leave the generator turned off and put away most of the time (especially overnight). That combination alone saves a lot of gasoline. And then solar panels to reduce gasoline consumption even further. An unbeatable combination I think.
I live in North Georgia. My daughter and I came to Pickens South Carolina for the Clemson game Saturday. We are staying at my Aunt's house and they lost power for 11 days from the storms. It was crazy on all the small back roads here seeing all the trees down everywhere. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by the storms.
One tip, Scootch, if you don‘t have unlimited power make sure that your refrigerator or freezer is not full of ice. Defrost it at least once a year if you don’t have a unit that does this automatically. It saves energy and money during normal operations and can save your food during a crisis because your available energy is used more efficiently. I can recommend Liebherr, not sure if they are available in the US though.
Really good list from 1st hand experience. One BIG thing I think most folks and even preppers seam to be slow to adopt is Whole House Battery Backed Solar. A reasonable priced ($14k) system solves 80% of all these problems. Lights, refrigerator, freezer, well pump, water heater, AC, heat, phone charging, powering Star Link, Etc. In addition, you rightfully talk about how much added work it is to run all the work around systems, the whole house solar eliminates all that as well. Almost takes all the fun out of prepping.
@@patriciatinkey2677 Fair point. I lived on $550/month for 5 years (1985-1991) and anything over $100 was not on the radar. That said, I did get there and so can anyone else. Its something folks can put on their long term planning and work toward it.
Your point about running the gen 3-4 hours in the morning & another 3-4 hours in the evening to keep up your refrigerator was spot on. I've been through several storms in Miami without power for a week or so & I shared my generator with 2 neighbors running extension chords between our 3 houses & we never lost any refrigerated foods. At night I would use Dewalt lights that use my tool batteries & we run them on the low setting. This was a great video full of great info
The Harbor Freight Predator series of generators are great and some are duel fuel inverters which run very quiet (for a generator). You can get a Predator 5000 for around $850 when they are on sale, which happens pretty regularly. If you've got freezers full of meat, its well worth the investment. Personally, I'm getting a transfer switch installed so I can easily switch on what circuits I need, when I need them buy plugging the generator into the house. I won't have to worry about running a bunch of extension cords, etc. This will also make it easier for anyone in my house to hook it up if I'm not available. I can also connect my Jackery 3000 to it at night for silent running, reducing the chances of my Predator generator growing legs.
Sootch! It's was great to watch your video post hurricaines. I'm in Southwest Florida and was so at ease to know I had all my family needed which allowed me to focus on my neighbors and what I could do to help them. Many of my neighbors are elderly and had no plan, so I bought 2 extra generators and had a plan for them before they even knew it. Together in a group we are strong and that got us all through the two back to back hurricaines of Helene and Milton.
Thanks for helping out the most vulnerable my friend. That's the beautiful side about these events. We've been sending supplies to Western NC and planning a trip up there next week. It's all about doing for others. God Bless you and yours.
Bonus sources of energy for hot water/cooking: - Methane from a biodigester. Easily made container that is fueled by water and bio matter, like manure or even human waste. - Solar thermal (not voltaic). Use reflectors to create a solar oven, dehydrator or cooktop. Use tubing to run water thru a solar box where it picks up heat and flows into an insilated container to be used later. - Wood burning in a mud rocket stove can heat water the same way as the last point.
Camping supplies are very helpful in just about any SHTF situation. There are solar ovens that will allow you to cook with just sunlight. For your dryer, a lower setting for a longer amount of time may be more energy efficient. A hand-crank radio and flashlight are especially handy for periods when no other power options may be available.
I’m down in Florida and went a week without power, for Milton. Like you, I used my gas generator to power my solar generator. I have a 2000 W inverter dual fuel generator, champion, but only use gas for it, It worked great. I still had to go to work so I would charge the solar generator an hour before I left. I have 2 all power 2000 W solar generators, they worked well enough, I am very glad I had them, but I will probably upgrade I used a propane camping stove for cooking and a Coleman Oasis for a hot shower. A French Press for coffee. Also, I had the 1 pound refillable flame king propane cylinders. The only thing I was unprepared for, was the trees falling in my yard. I only had a battery powered chainsaw and had to order a gas powered one. For the most part, it was relatively cool down here, but there was a few days I had to hook the generator right into the window unit.
The battery-powered chainsaws are handy when times are good, situations like this, gas everytime to date so far. Saw another channel make mention of the flame king cylinders. He was using a few 30 gallon ones to run his off grid cabin. He said they don't give you near the hassle of wanting to freeze up like larger 100 lbs ones. I've put some of the small refillable in the need to acquire list. A couple 30 gallon wouldn't hurt, either. Already have a standard BBQ 20 gallon. Keeping 1 gallon refillable topped off from a 30 gallon tank to use with camp stove would be less hassle for me than hooking up the 30 gallon to it.
On the propane tank I recommend buying your tank. You can find relatively cheap used ones through Market Place, Craig's List, Flea Markets, etc. or you can get one from a propane company but they are a bit pricey. I was renting one for a few years and ended up buying one. The cost of buying one was covered within a few months on not having to pay the rent on a tank. Also, it doesn't lock you into one propane company either. You can also get anyone to fill it. I also suggest getting a 250 gallon or larger tank. I have the 150 gallon and would prefer a larger tank.
Meh... I pay about $145 a year "rent" on twin 125's... to buy them would take at least 10 years or more to break even vs "rent", plus I'm not responsible for them if a problem arises... YMMV
I’m getting ready to switch propane suppliers because the one I’ve been using for 1s years has ripped me off on price for the second time. I have to provide proof that I own my tank before a different company will deliver.
I'm in Piedmont, was without power for 10 days. I have a Champion dual fuel and the generator ran about 11 hours continuous on a half tank of propane. i was amazed so I'm getting a 200lb back up.
We went through the aftermath of Katrina. Learned a lot. I have just converted my generator to propane and had a 150 gallon tank delivered. Much better than depending on gasoline.
Also an on demand propane water heater only kicks on when you turn the hot water tap and a vented propane wall heater with a thermostat control will keep your house cozy. Wood stove is a must have also. Can also tap into your hot water line with a solar water heater by running black pipe through a big box with a glass lid.
I did some work for a guy in New Mexico who had a well drilling company. He installed well pumps that were solar driven. As long as you have a place for a large tank, you can have water.
We lost power for 3 days. Honda generator for like 3 hours a day. 1.5 in the morning and 1.5 in the evening to top off 4 big battery systems. Then solar during the day with 900w of foldable panels. Worked great. We kept a full size fridge / freezer, and 2 vehicle 12v fridges going. If you are smart with your power management you can do it.
A technique we use in the US Army to muffle the sound of the generator is to dig a decent size hole and put the generator in it when we run it. As well as cover the hole overhead either a foot above the hole w/ a tarp to 6 feet above the hole with camouflage netting. Does it eliminate all the sound? No, but it decreases the decibels by a lot & conceals the generators. 👍🏾🇺🇸
I'm in the Fairplay, SC area and when the Tornadoes came through...ummm, what 3 or 4 years ago we lost power for 4+ days. I found that running my generator an hour on and 4 or 5 hours off that my freezers/fridges stayed within temps. Plus I could let them sit all night with no issues. Just don't open them. I have a 12K dual fuel Gene. Now with Helene we ran into an issue. So we lost power early Friday morning and I had the Gene ready to go so no issue. Saturday I go out to start it up and it's not producing electricity!!!! Runs just fine but no power. Almost panicked. Luckily I have a backup 3500 Watt inverter Gene. So powered up the freezer/fridges and try to figure out the issue with the big one. Troubleshot all the main things (I thought) and still no power. Went Sunday and bought another Gene. 7500 Watt dual fuel. Got everything back up and running (except for the Well which is 220V). Come to find out my cord had a break in it!!! New Gene was producing power but not getting to the house. It's a long story but something so simple cost me about $1000. A stupid cord!!! So now I have 3 Generators! Backup to the backup to the backup!!! I guess I should downsize my 5 freezers and 2 Fridges!!!!
Thank you for your video on what happen and how you used your stuff to deal with it. Xcel energy company is already telling us they will be turning off the power before our 60 mph windy days that can happen several times a year and the wind storms lasting for days. Then hand inspect the lines for damage before returning power. Xcel did this to us for 5 days in April this year with a wind storm that lasted only 10 hours. I have prepared with generators, food and batteries, but I am the only one that has in my area of 10 houses that is within 200 yards from me. I waiting to have a whole house generator install later this winter so it will not walk off at night. I know there will be cold and hungry mouths at the front door on the second day after lost of power in -10 degrees.
I was shlacked by idalia last year and Helene this year they came directly over me in North Florida. Got the eye wall both times. This year was worse. Ran on generator for a week both times. Big battery packs like yours came in handy would run the fridge while i was at work. Also battery powered fan at night. Definitely get a higher watt generator, I have a 8500 it will run everything except the central air. It won't run everything else at one time some things it will only run one at the time like the dryer or hot water heater. Thanks sootch been watching you for a decade now. 🇺🇸
Last year in Eugene Oregon region, a major Ice Storm which took out water and electricity. 9 days without electricity. I concentrated my generators on the Freezer and refrigerator exclusively on one of two Generators. I had turned down the freezer to max freeze on the dial. I shoved everything into the freezer that was in the refrigerator freezer part. I would run the Generator for several hours every 8 hours to maintain the freezer. On the refrigerator, I turned it down to max cold. Keeping the door shut, I did the same 2 hour run for every 8 hours. This allowed me to consume all the items in the refrigerator before it went bad over the 9 days. once the refrigerator was empty, it was cleaned out completely and allowed to air out after sanitation. (New refrigerators like the LG I have, default to mid coolness and must be set back manually to Max cold each time the power is reconnected. This Max cold brings the temperature inside the refrigerator to almost 33 degrees.). I lost nothing in either of the units. I chose the refrigerators as priority and anything else, as luxury. Non electrical preps were put into use. (I learned this freezer trick from an Old Timer who would transport freezers full of frozen fish from Alaska to the Lower 49 each year as he drove the ALCAN home. A five or 6 day trip. Never did he loose a shipment using the alternating method in his travels.)
You know if you are drawing power from a battery system, like the eco flow. Try to stick to DC power only. It takes power to run the inverter for AC plus there is an energy loss through the DC to AC convergence process. You might want to have appliances that have the car socket plug along the normal AC plug.
Scootch, it scares me since I am about ready to give you advice. You are the one I turned to when I started prepping. If you are going to get a big propane tank and you are going to get a new generator. Get a 10KW generator that will run your well and water heater at the same time. Happy wife, happy life! Nothing makes my wife happier than a hot shower! She can wear dirty clothes and eat cold food but a hot shower is what it takes to make her happy in a emergency.
The bigger the generator, the noisier and more fuel it uses. My advice is to get an inverter generator just big enough to charge your portable power station (PPS) at its maximum rate. My PPS will charge (0-100%) in just over two hours at an 1100 Watt rate (2048 WH battery). My generator provides 1400 Watts while on propane (or 78% of maximum load). The PPS then runs all of our electrical needs for the next 24 hours.
@@andyirons7162 Everyone's needs are different. I power 2 40' 5th wheel travel trailers plus a small mobile home. I power all 3 units with a 7500 Watt for daytime, a 3200 Watt for after dark, plus a 1800Watt inverter type generator if only electronics need power during quiet time. To each their own.
greetings from a few miles west of you in North East GA we lucked out this time for sure only 2 days no power and a week no internet. but being a common sense person and raised in the cold war days we had everything we needed. well ok my left eye started twitching after oh 3 days of no internet!!
Get you a grunfoss solar well pump and a couple of 3000 gallon water storage tanks. You won't regret it for a water system. Put your tanks as high as you possibly can so you have gravity feed to your house. And an overflow pond is nice too. Sun shines water pumps pump and well rest at night. Great system.
FYI, you can get an adapter for a gas generator so that it will also run off of propane. That’s what we did with our old one until we could upgrade to a dual. Now we have a back up for our parents or friends.
I purchased a 25kw Multiquip wisperwatt towable diesel generator it has a 45 gallon belly tank aswell as a 18 gallon internal tank aswell and it only uses 7 to 8 gallon every 24hrs and will run the whole house for 8 to 9 days straight and your neighbors can't hear it running and when it needs refueling just tow it to the gas station, I also have a little 3500 watt Kippor inverter gasoline generator and it also sips fuel and helps prolongs you're diesel run time, also I drive big truck and carry 300 gallons in my truck fuel tanks in a pinch.....❤your educational content as always and keep it up as I always look to your content to help me aswell God bless
@scrapironprepper my buddy has a 15kw whisper watt generator for probably 1500bucks in the Raleigh NC area if that interests you, now it's an older model and isn't towable and no belly tank but he's got fuel tanks around his place and you can an old trailer and make your own....I used it for a hurricane we had and it did fine but I got tthe 25kw that needed a motor and I replaced it and it's been good to go, let me know
Went about 2 weeks without power in Texas a few years back. I've since added solar generators because I ran low on fuel towards the end. We were prepared with food, water, generators, etc. - just bored. We've added board and card games to help pass time. It was a good test run. The problem with a regular generator is/was neighbors wanting to plug in.
I got very ill and depressed some years back and I stopped eating and drinking. For the record....three days of no food or even a drop of water and I did not die. I decided to start drinking water again because I did not want to cause brain damage to myself if I ended up not following thru with stopping eating and drinking until death. Not sure if this would work by being active but if you're very still and quiet, you can live longer than people say without food or water.
Yes of course you won't actually die without water for 3 days, but your brain will shrink, literally shrink. You won't be able to make good decisions, you will feel terrible, you won't be able to do the hard work that you will need to do in an emergency. So water is the number one prep!
Starlink is a smart move! The mini is awesome... Having internet as a backup can be a game-changer in emergencies. Looking forward to seeing how it works out for you.
@@Twinlights1I switched to T mobile. Got tired of cable price increases. I'm now certainly sick of their restraining order levels of junkmail they (cable) keep sending. Haven't tried Starlink but it's never out of the realm of possibility.
I lost power for 10 days in 2004 due to a hurricane in Richmond, VA. For some reason I filled a bathtub with water before the City water system shut down. Camping equipment, including a propane stove and percolator, turned out to be so useful.
A few extra thoughts: add a kerosene stove (Amazon); the 200 gallons of fuel I have last forever in storage. Cut the electricity needed for stove and refrigerator by draping them with a blanket to increase the cold retention. Start soup/stew/etc on a stove; when boiling, transfer the cooking vessel to a box/cooler/etc, wrap with blankets on all sides and let it cook in its own head (see youtube Provident Prepper for good explanation).
We had hurricane Sandy and the year before was hurricane Irene. With Irene it was 19 days without power and Sandy it was 26 days. No generator at the time. I sent my wife and dog to live at the mother in laws as they had power, I stayed at the house, and showered twice a day at work at the hospital and gym where they had power. It was a pain, but it was OK.
There's a big difference between having supplies and having systems. What you're talking about is how having a system for tasks made life easier. Plus, with a system you can have procedures and checklists that make it easier to remember tips for the next time. Good for you, having an After Action review and considering improvements. A lot of people don't. Thank you for sharing.
Okay so hate to comment on the fly (while watching the video) but a Well is great but most Well pumps are 220...or 230...or 240...just depends on the electrician your talking to (kinda like Mag versus Clip!) (I'm retired Military and I really don't care what you call it!!) So anyway you will need a bigger Gene to power up a Well. Luckily I have 4 Water Totes that give me about 1100 gallons of rainwater so that wasn't an issue for us. I have it piped/plumbed to go through spin down filters, then through a 3 cartridge whole house filtering system and then through a UV sanitation system before it gets to the house. With that I have clean, drinkable water. Just a thought. Also I have a number of high output, solar rechargeable yard lights that put out pretty good lumens plus you can actually use them to recharge batteries as necessary.
Thank you for sharing your real life experience. Seems that no matter how long we've prepped, there is always something new to learn from actual experience. 👍🏻
What a great video. Nothing like hearing first hand what people experienced/wish they had. After action reviews are key to capturing what went right, and more importantly, what went wrong. Your video convinced me to pick up another Bluetti, and a Honda 2000i. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for an interesting video. Always helps to go over things again. Hope the election goes peacefully. In England we've just had ours, and have a absolutely useless lot in charge. Best wishes from a wet Britain.
A simple prep for some might be buying a small trailer would have stove fridge , heat all propane battery runs lights , plug generator in long enuff to top battery or the solar
Marietta, SC here. I didn't realize you were in Upstate SC! We were without power for 12 days and without internet for 14. It sounds like we had a fairly similar experience with gas and solar generators. I did a video talking about what we learned as well. One of our best ideas was that my wife figured out that we could keep our crockpot full of hot water all day for very little power (we were running our small generator during the day). It made it easy to wash up (both dishes and bodies) and we could even heat food in sealed Mason jars in the hot water. Surprisingly useful. One note about the well... if you run it off a generator you'll need a fairly serious generator because those pumps have a pretty high power draw.
A heat pump ventless clothes dryer uses far less energy than a regular dryer and if you are heating your house any efficiency losses will stay inside your house added to the house heat energy balance. They are far better for areas that heat thier house for long periods of time like in Canada, but if you want the comfort of laundry like normal life during an outage it's probably the way to go. They do run longer because it doesn't get as hot so the dry time is longer but overall it will be about 1/4 the energy use.
I saw you have the Shargeek power bank... Not a "run of the mill" device, but rather an elite piece of equipment. Because of the very precise and highly detailed display, I use it to find out the capabilities and requirement of all other portable electronics. Very well done prepping. Greetings, Anthony
I kind of came at this from the opposite way. We got Starlink because it's the best internet we can get. Then after Helene it decided to finally listen the the bit of my brain that said "If you are going to have satellite based communications it would only make sense to have it run when we have power outages". Ended up getting a couple power stations something like your ecoflow so we could keep the fridge and internet running while we assessed the situation. Then a duel fuel generator seemed like the best bet for keeping things going after a day or so. One tricky thing is that I doubt that out here in the midwest we'd get any real advanced notice of a really big event like is at least somewhat available for hurricanes.
Next time you're in Harbor Freight or one of the big box home improvements take a look at a poly service cart. I use one as a host for my small/mid Anker & Bluetti power stations, phone banks, rechargeable batteries assorted power/charging cables, lights, a lantern, an AM/FM radio, etc. Just roll it out into action and hook it up. Some also have a DIY solar system build on theirs. Works a treat. Keep in mind HF sell two different sizes to check out if you need some extra space.
Great video, I’m up in Canada and get power outages every winter. I use a dual fuel 10,000w portable generator. The propane will not work well for our freezing temps so then I use the gas. I also added a generlink (not generac) to my house power meter. It allows me to plug the 30amp cord from my generator directly into my service meter and I can power my whole house with not extension cords. Furnace, well pump, fridge etc. Other than paying an arm and a leg for a stand by generator this is the best set up I have found and love it. Nothing like having a hot shower at then end of the day during an outage.
A Kindle paper-white is something that I can recommend as well. Needs no light and can keep you entertained for a week or more between charges. I love to read, just make sure to download a few books you want to read beforehand.
It's a personal choice, but I simply cannot understand how some people would rather keep a box of a few books on hand, even RV/van living, than to basically keep a small version of the Library of Congress on something that can disappear in a car door pocket and still leave room to spare for some other items. "But I like to feel the pages." Oh yeah, that's a worthy trade-off....
Already have a couple thousand 'best books' on bookshelves. They are great insulation along that north wall, so are useful even when I'm not reading them. 📚 Yes, I am addicted to reading!
this is correct, but you can't blame him for not knowing that. Didn't sound like he was real familiar with resource. What he "learned" is stuff many people who really prep or who live a little farther away from goods and services already know about. Overall a good video though to recommend to a newbie.
Current propane tanks have overfill protections devices, (OPD). There is air space for the fuel to expand. But a 20 lb tank can have 20 lbs in it, the extra space is not counted. Exchange tanks generally only have 15 lbs of fuel. When the price of propane went up years ago the major exchange companies simply lowered the fill amount. The tank has an empty weight stamped on it. Around 12-13 lbs. Weigh the tank to see how much propane is in it.
100 percent agree have both gas and solar generators. I used both down in Tampa after and during Milton. You are not running your gas generator during 100 mph plus winds but you can run your solar. My fridge and freezers never went off. Lights were out for a week by me. Both are wonderful and compliment each other rather nicely. If the sun is not cooperating fire up the generator and recharge your power stations. If you need extra juice for cooking portable ac's or whatever fire up the generator. They work fantastic together!!! Another option for internet is straight talk. If Tampa electric is out my spectrum is as well iregardless if I power the router. The box is 100 bucks 30 days unlimited is 45 and you only buy a refill if you want it. So unlike other services you are not trapped into a monthly service or having to buy a phone service with the provider like verizon or tmobile etc.. It works well and you can connect via Ethernet as well.
Scotch, if I may, yes a 500 gallon propane tank is a must. Also please consider this: When large propane tanks blow (which can happen) they blow out the ends, so set tank position considering this. I'm also will be installing a vertical wind turbine do to it'll generate at 2mph. {{{Hugs}}}
I use a hybrid system. Over 7kw of lithium iron phosphate batteries powering 2 inverters. Enough to run the basics for about 2 days. 7500 watt inverter generator to charge the batteries and run the well pump about 5 hours a day. Lock the generator up at night.
If you have space, I would definitely look into whole solar with batteries. I live in the suburbs and really don’t have much yard. But it’s full of solar panels. I built my own DIY system for my home over 3 years ago and it works great. The only thing I will do it add more batteries.
I live in the Home my mom and dad Built in 1975 they had a well dug in 1992 they went with County water after the well pump went out. I just Recently built a 24 volt solar system. I bought a 24 volt well pump from Amazon I'm getting ready to install it soon. Maybe pump the water into a 500 Gallon tote/tank or something else But the 24 volt pump was $80 maybe. They have 12/24/48 Volt Everything now
Really liked your video. Living in western Washington, we haven't had to deal with nearly as much as those suffering from the hurricanes but your suggestions and experiences are very valuable considerations. Thanks.
The best thing for a generator is to exercise it every month. That way if something goes wrong you fix it right then and there and it's ready for the next time. Learn the hard way from blizzards in South Dakota.
For a long term situation, the hand pump would be absolutely essential! An electric pump is ok, but, you have to HAVE electricity for it to work. For long term, there IS going to come a point where you are not going to be able to get fuel.
The only thing I would disagree with was that you said some places only fill the propane tanks partially. I worked as a propane installer for 14 years. Propane tanks are only filled to 80% or possibly 85% if the tanks are going to be used right away and it's not too hot out. They have to have room in the tanks to vaporize. The liquid never leaves the tank, only the vapor is used in these cases, so if the tanks are filled to what they call water capacity, they not only can't vaporize, but the propane can expand, which it does especially on a warm day, and blow the relief valve. That's something you definitely don't want to happen. So 80% on any size propane tank is full. I really like your channel. Keep up the good work.
That makes sense! Thanks!
i think what he is referring to is the tank exchange system. the tanks have far less than the 80% that you get when having your tank refilled. my experience has been that an exchange 20lb tank weighs about half of the same size tank that has been refilled.
@@arnoldreiter435 interesting, I usually just do the refill but id be interested in doing a test on that - half the weight wowzers!
Tanks that are swapped, like Blue Rhino, are only filled to 16lbs, vs the 20lbs that most refill services provide. My local propane shop alerted me to this and I've never used the tank swap service since.
@BeyondBigFood exactly!
I have a Bluetti with extra expansion batteries and I made the mistake of telling my neighbor. First thing he said without skipping a beat is how he could plug into my system if there is a power failure. Lesson learned. Never tell anybody you're prepper.
Everyone needs to prepare and have their own supplies and not depend on others.
I agrée completely. However, he may not understand the limits of what you can actually power. You have to remember that most people are clueless. And a good many of them are plain out stupid.
Your answer should have been it will power my home only, no one else is. But I'll tell you what you need to buy.
you have to learn how to say NO!
Yeah, mums the word on being a “prepper”..Only one person that knows about my “situation” lives down the street from me, and he’s one too! If I find something, or watch videos like this, I’ll tell him about it. (or vice versa)., but as far as anyone else around me….nope 🙂↔️
We live in Franklin, NC (western NC). During Helene, our power was out 5 days & cell towers down longer. Our Generac and Starlink got us through. Plus stores & gas stations were cash only, I also had a little cash stored. These situations are wake up calls. 👍🏻🇺🇸
A note on freezers: After an incident where the freezer broke down and I found the mess three days later, I bought some remote "Govee" type wireless fridge/freezer monitors. A smartphone app monitors the temperature every minute, and alarms if it goes too high.
Well, it also showed me that the self-defrost came on about hourly AND MADE THE TEMPERATURE 20° HIGHER every time. So I filled all the empty space with large containers of water to freeze.
Now, the temperature only swings about five degrees. Proof that a FULL FREEZER holds the cold much better than a half-full one.
So if you're expecting an outage, FILL THAT FREEZER ahead of time. Set it for max cold, too.
GREAT advice !!! I do appliance repair in people's homes, and talked to a customer just today about exactly what you discuss. I will add this though; be sure to leave room at the back and front for cold air to move by convection and/or interior fan(s). To overfill will cause some areas to be too warm and efficiency to suffer.
Thanks for the info!
I have a small chest freezer and I've added about three gallon jugs of water to the bottom. When the power goes out it becomes an ice box during that time and after several years and several power outages (none longer than 10 hours) I've not had any meat thaw out. It certainly has bought me time. For my freezer in the refrigerator I also keep frozen water bottles in it for the same reason. Not as big as gallon jugs, but a couple of half gallon size ones work well to keep things nice and cold during those down times.
Agree 100% on proper filling and air gaps.
For optimal performance, as you remove food, add water bottles to take up space and provide the most mass for temperature retention.
Excellent advice. I found the same with my freezers
I'm glad you had your preps in place. We live in south central Texas. Several years ago, we installed a rainwater retention system. We have a 29,000-gallon tank. Water is pumped from the tank through filtration and UV light. Safe to drink. Can run with our generator if needed and if we were completely without any power, we can manually take water, filter it and boil for potable needs. We sized at 29,000 gallons to support all the people and animals here for 1 year.
I went through a catastrophic ice storm in 2000. There was no power for 38 days. Trees exploded for days. We couldn't afford a generator. We didn't have cell phones. We did have a wood stove, oil lamps,a well and a 250 gallon propane tank. We watered the animals from the creek.I have a camp percolator and cast iron cookware. I washed the clothes with creek water. I heated water in my canning pot and put it in a camp shower so we had a hot shower. We used the cold. It was below freezing for 30 days. So we put our food in a plastic tote and put it in a shed outside. When it was dark we went to bed. When it was daylight we got up. We had tons of books and board games. Our days were mostly about taking care of the animals and entertainment. I was surprised when the phone rang. I even jumped. It was a month of camping in a cabin. We didn't have internet at our house before the storm so it wasn't that big of a deal.
We shared some of these in Ohio after an ice storm in the early 2000s. We were down for only 8 days. We were already prepped with a normal rural life but did find areas to shore up.
@swatson1190 I've had many winters like that when I lived in Nebraska, you learn what to do and not do. I'm in Texas now so the experience works here too.
I used a camp shower x3 months as I saved to replace my water heater. Heated water on the stove. It worked fine.
Yes, don't forget about those people affected it's not over for them! Please keep up all the help!
Definitely! Thanks for the comment.
Here are some important features to look for in a solar generator that really make a difference from personal experience. 1) make sure that your solar generator can charge AND provide power at the same time. This is not as big of a problem today as many already have this feature, but its important to check. 2) look for a fast charge feature in your solar generator. This feature can reduce the time to charge your solar generator by multiple hours. It is super helpful when charging with a gas/diesel generator because it reduces the fuel needed to recharge your solar generator by shortening the run time needed of the generator. 3) Look for a solar generator that supports the most wattage/voltage solar input while simultaneously allowing AC charging. Again, not all brands of solar generator will allow simultaneous charging. This again reduces the time needed to get your solar generator charged.
I'm in Georgia and had my camping burner with butane tanks and made coffee with my French press. And cooked on my fire pit.
I saw a couple of my ideas in thre comments. 1) Know how to cook with camp dutch ovens. 2) Have a french press for making coffee. 3) Look at having a butane portable stove, around $40, and have a dozen butane cans. 4) A NOCO jumper pack can be used to keep cell phones charged up.
From Florida and been through a fair number of hurricanes. Thank you SensiblePrepper for your ideas.
Great video! Same situation here (also SC), where we were prepared more than most but used the storm to identify any shortcomings and opportunities to improve our preparations. You spoke my words, had I made a video! While we recharge our battery system (home-built) from a generator, I did not like the large battery draw making coffee, so instead used a camping percolator over gas/propane stove (or outdoor grill side burner). Excellent coffee and a fun daily activity while things were shut down. Should mention the EcoFlow-type systems are also a great PORTABLE way to bring power back home, if you can drive to and charge at a powered location. I am buying a second unit for this reason.
This real world experience is great - there is no substitute for testing your preps. A gasoline powered generator, and the fuel to go with it, is a must if you can only have one single power-related prep. I went without power for a week during Hurricane Irene and and 11 days in Hurricane Sandy in the Catskill mountains of upstate NY - it affected us a lot like Helene down there. But the gas generator and other ready preps saved the day and all was well.
I've went a week without power here in Alabama during the big EF4 tornado that came through April 27th 2011.... I wasn't prepared for it and it was no fun at all. . I'm more prepared these days for something like that happening. I would've been dead if I didn't have a storm shelter to get in. Had about 12 of us in there. It saved our lives.
Very well done. Straight forward. He's not just talking about stuff he has not experienced. He lived through Helene. The reason I subscribed. Thanks
I had an ecoflow solar generator that I was using as an uniteruptible power for my chest freezer. There was a unknoticable power drop that shut the solar generator down and we lost all the contense in the freezer. I contacted ecoflow and supplied them with all the purchase information. They provided an RMA and replaced it with a referbished unit. I was sure to test this one and it worked. That was a painful lesson about checking the functions on my equipment instead of just expecting it to work.
The humble fuel that is mostly forgotten nowadays is *kerosene*.
It's less violent then gasoline. Store lot more energy. And with properly design stove, lamp, heater. Fuel burns cleanly and completely without any smell or residue.
Personally I replaced almost all my propane equipment with kerosene powered one. The most reliable in cold wet environment.
This type of scenario is going worlwide! Actually when I thought of weather related catastrophes, I thought it was quite only a North American or East Asian problem but it have changed! I'm living in France just near the Spanich border, we had a lot of rain last weeks but Spain had so much that more than 200 peoples have perished. It's now time for prepping also in Europe...
(sorry for my English)
No worries, your English is very good.😀 Our beautiful planet goes through some wild weather cycles, which we humans have recently accelerated with fossil fuel use & pollution. Good for you to see the need to make general preparations for those unexpected disasters. I'm in FLORIDA, USA, & we are always ready in case of hurricanes, but lately the threat of tornadoes is increasingly challenging. Good Luck to you!
@@patriciatinkey2677 I totally agree, good luck to you too, many thanks!
Your English is better than my Texan.
Stay safe.
@@shawnr771 Oooh, it's so kind of you!
Take care.
Thank you for your input. It seems no one in this world is exempt from bad weather or other problems happening. Stay safe.
Having many ways to cook food and to heat water is a GOOD idea. The solar you have is good as it can be packed away safe and not damaged by the hurricane and brought out to use once the hurricane has passed by.
Thank you.
Our house took fairly extensive damage from trees here in Georgia. We did invest years ago in the whole house Generator...and joked that once we did that, the power never went out; but for Helene it ran for 9 days (on natural gas). We gave out ice and helped charge cell phones for neighbors.
What was the natural gas cost increase vs normal home use?
In the Texas Deep Freeze of 2021 and during a previous freeze in DFW only.
Natural gas systems did not pump.
They were out of fuel and heat as well.
@herewegoagain4041 So, the gas usage was split between billing cycles.....but it was a total increase of $160.
@@lawrencemitchell5983 thank you for the response. Beryl (north houston)left us without for 5days. Wen11000/8300 ran 4200w, that 3.5ton 2refridgerators deep freezer drink cooler all led lights 3 ceiling fans all eletronics. It was approx $32 gas a day. 2gallons every 4hours.
I didn't want to run any where near max because fuel consumption increase significantly and didnt want risk overheating stator/rotor. Everybody was comfy and chipped in the daily cost of operation.
Florida resident for 80 years. When the power goes out we pretend that we are camping but inside at home. being backpackers and campers is just another day but with things done differently. I keep a lot of camping foods at the beginning of hurricane season. If they are not needed and hurricanes skip us then those supplies are used when camping during the other 6 months of the year. Florida has two seasons , 6 months of each , hurricane season and Non hurricane season.
Fellow Floridian here. You are 100% Correct! We were 3 weeks without power after Andrew, 2 weeks during the aftermath of Katrina, Rita, & Wilma. All in one season, & people forget that Katrina came through Miami as a Cat 3 on it's way to the Gulf. Then Wet Rita, then Wilma as a bad Cat 3. Camping equipment is a lifesaver! Had no solar or generator back then.
You got it figured out. Small generator to top-off a beefy power station, then run critical items like fridges and well pumps and charging devices with the power station. Also lets you leave the generator turned off and put away most of the time (especially overnight). That combination alone saves a lot of gasoline. And then solar panels to reduce gasoline consumption even further. An unbeatable combination I think.
I live in North Georgia. My daughter and I came to Pickens South Carolina for the Clemson game Saturday. We are staying at my Aunt's house and they lost power for 11 days from the storms. It was crazy on all the small back roads here seeing all the trees down everywhere. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by the storms.
One tip, Scootch, if you don‘t have unlimited power make sure that your refrigerator or freezer is not full of ice. Defrost it at least once a year if you don’t have a unit that does this automatically.
It saves energy and money during normal operations and can save your food during a crisis because your available energy is used more efficiently. I can recommend Liebherr, not sure if they are available in the US though.
Really good list from 1st hand experience. One BIG thing I think most folks and even preppers seam to be slow to adopt is Whole House Battery Backed Solar. A reasonable priced ($14k) system solves 80% of all these problems. Lights, refrigerator, freezer, well pump, water heater, AC, heat, phone charging, powering Star Link, Etc. In addition, you rightfully talk about how much added work it is to run all the work around systems, the whole house solar eliminates all that as well. Almost takes all the fun out of prepping.
yes, makes the most sense than buying dozens of little lights, etc
You have a good point, but...
A- Many of us can't spring for 14, or even 10k.
B- I don't like to "put all my eggs in 1 basket!"
@@patriciatinkey2677 Fair point. I lived on $550/month for 5 years (1985-1991) and anything over $100 was not on the radar. That said, I did get there and so can anyone else. Its something folks can put on their long term planning and work toward it.
Your point about running the gen 3-4 hours in the morning & another 3-4 hours in the evening to keep up your refrigerator was spot on. I've been through several storms in Miami without power for a week or so & I shared my generator with 2 neighbors running extension chords between our 3 houses & we never lost any refrigerated foods. At night I would use Dewalt lights that use my tool batteries & we run them on the low setting. This was a great video full of great info
I read in a post that you can keep your unopened refrigerators cold enough by running them 30 minutes twice a day. Have you tested that?
The Harbor Freight Predator series of generators are great and some are duel fuel inverters which run very quiet (for a generator). You can get a Predator 5000 for around $850 when they are on sale, which happens pretty regularly. If you've got freezers full of meat, its well worth the investment. Personally, I'm getting a transfer switch installed so I can easily switch on what circuits I need, when I need them buy plugging the generator into the house. I won't have to worry about running a bunch of extension cords, etc. This will also make it easier for anyone in my house to hook it up if I'm not available. I can also connect my Jackery 3000 to it at night for silent running, reducing the chances of my Predator generator growing legs.
Sootch! It's was great to watch your video post hurricaines. I'm in Southwest Florida and was so at ease to know I had all my family needed which allowed me to focus on my neighbors and what I could do to help them. Many of my neighbors are elderly and had no plan, so I bought 2 extra generators and had a plan for them before they even knew it. Together in a group we are strong and that got us all through the two back to back hurricaines of Helene and Milton.
Thanks for helping out the most vulnerable my friend. That's the beautiful side about these events. We've been sending supplies to Western NC and planning a trip up there next week. It's all about doing for others. God Bless you and yours.
God bless you!
You're a Good Man Vince. I also keep spare generators, both for myself as backups to my 2 main generators, but also for neighbors who may be without.
Bonus sources of energy for hot water/cooking:
- Methane from a biodigester. Easily made container that is fueled by water and bio matter, like manure or even human waste.
- Solar thermal (not voltaic). Use reflectors to create a solar oven, dehydrator or cooktop. Use tubing to run water thru a solar box where it picks up heat and flows into an insilated container to be used later.
- Wood burning in a mud rocket stove can heat water the same way as the last point.
Camping supplies are very helpful in just about any SHTF situation. There are solar ovens that will allow you to cook with just sunlight.
For your dryer, a lower setting for a longer amount of time may be more energy efficient.
A hand-crank radio and flashlight are especially handy for periods when no other power options may be available.
Thanks a lot for sharing your first hand experience. Nothing can replace what you learn during a real crisis situation. Very valuable insights!
I’m down in Florida and went a week without power, for Milton. Like you, I used my gas generator to power my solar generator. I have a 2000 W inverter dual fuel generator, champion, but only use gas for it, It worked great. I still had to go to work so I would charge the solar generator an hour before I left. I have 2 all power 2000 W solar generators, they worked well enough, I am very glad I had them, but I will probably upgrade I used a propane camping stove for cooking and a Coleman Oasis for a hot shower. A French Press for coffee. Also, I had the 1 pound refillable flame king propane cylinders.
The only thing I was unprepared for, was the trees falling in my yard. I only had a battery powered chainsaw and had to order a gas powered one.
For the most part, it was relatively cool down here, but there was a few days I had to hook the generator right into the window unit.
Thanks for the run down! It's good to learn from you pros from Florida! lol! Glad you were prepared Brother!
The battery-powered chainsaws are handy when times are good, situations like this, gas everytime to date so far.
Saw another channel make mention of the flame king cylinders. He was using a few 30 gallon ones to run his off grid cabin. He said they don't give you near the hassle of wanting to freeze up like larger 100 lbs ones.
I've put some of the small refillable in the need to acquire list. A couple 30 gallon wouldn't hurt, either. Already have a standard BBQ 20 gallon.
Keeping 1 gallon refillable topped off from a 30 gallon tank to use with camp stove would be less hassle for me than hooking up the 30 gallon to it.
On the propane tank I recommend buying your tank. You can find relatively cheap used ones through Market Place, Craig's List, Flea Markets, etc. or you can get one from a propane company but they are a bit pricey. I was renting one for a few years and ended up buying one. The cost of buying one was covered within a few months on not having to pay the rent on a tank. Also, it doesn't lock you into one propane company either. You can also get anyone to fill it. I also suggest getting a 250 gallon or larger tank. I have the 150 gallon and would prefer a larger tank.
I know the industry a little, and you are giving sage advice. Always figure out a way to purchase the tank.
Meh... I pay about $145 a year "rent" on twin 125's... to buy them would take at least 10 years or more to break even vs "rent", plus I'm not responsible for them if a problem arises... YMMV
@@marcs9775 My tank comes from North State Gas and only $100 yearly rental. 250 gallon
I’m getting ready to switch propane suppliers because the one I’ve been using for 1s years has ripped me off on price for the second time. I have to provide proof that I own my tank before a different company will deliver.
I'm in Piedmont, was without power for 10 days. I have a Champion dual fuel and the generator ran about 11 hours continuous on a half tank of propane. i was amazed so I'm getting a 200lb back up.
This is a very important video. A “dry run” for SHTF. Please keep us posted about further tweaks and adaptations to your systems.
We went through the aftermath of Katrina. Learned a lot. I have just converted my generator to propane and had a 150 gallon tank delivered. Much better than depending on gasoline.
Also an on demand propane water heater only kicks on when you turn the hot water tap and a vented propane wall heater with a thermostat control will keep your house cozy. Wood stove is a must have also. Can also tap into your hot water line with a solar water heater by running black pipe through a big box with a glass lid.
I did some work for a guy in New Mexico who had a well drilling company. He installed well pumps that were solar driven. As long as you have a place for a large tank, you can have water.
We lost power for 3 days. Honda generator for like 3 hours a day. 1.5 in the morning and 1.5 in the evening to top off 4 big battery systems. Then solar during the day with 900w of foldable panels. Worked great. We kept a full size fridge / freezer, and 2 vehicle 12v fridges going. If you are smart with your power management you can do it.
A technique we use in the US Army to muffle the sound of the generator is to dig a decent size hole and put the generator in it when we run it. As well as cover the hole overhead either a foot above the hole w/ a tarp to 6 feet above the hole with camouflage netting. Does it eliminate all the sound? No, but it decreases the decibels by a lot & conceals the generators. 👍🏾🇺🇸
I'm in the Fairplay, SC area and when the Tornadoes came through...ummm, what 3 or 4 years ago we lost power for 4+ days. I found that running my generator an hour on and 4 or 5 hours off that my freezers/fridges stayed within temps. Plus I could let them sit all night with no issues. Just don't open them. I have a 12K dual fuel Gene. Now with Helene we ran into an issue. So we lost power early Friday morning and I had the Gene ready to go so no issue. Saturday I go out to start it up and it's not producing electricity!!!! Runs just fine but no power. Almost panicked. Luckily I have a backup 3500 Watt inverter Gene. So powered up the freezer/fridges and try to figure out the issue with the big one. Troubleshot all the main things (I thought) and still no power. Went Sunday and bought another Gene. 7500 Watt dual fuel. Got everything back up and running (except for the Well which is 220V). Come to find out my cord had a break in it!!! New Gene was producing power but not getting to the house. It's a long story but something so simple cost me about $1000. A stupid cord!!! So now I have 3 Generators! Backup to the backup to the backup!!! I guess I should downsize my 5 freezers and 2 Fridges!!!!
There's a great lesson to all. Check those cords and have quality, high-amp cords ready.
Mr51caveman, you can never have too much back up / redundancy, remember, 3 is 2, 2 is 1, 1 is none, it’s never over kill.
Thank you for your video on what happen and how you used your stuff to deal with it. Xcel energy company is already telling us they will be turning off the power before our 60 mph windy days that can happen several times a year and the wind storms lasting for days. Then hand inspect the lines for damage before returning power. Xcel did this to us for 5 days in April this year with a wind storm that lasted only 10 hours. I have prepared with generators, food and batteries, but I am the only one that has in my area of 10 houses that is within 200 yards from me. I waiting to have a whole house generator install later this winter so it will not walk off at night. I know there will be cold and hungry mouths at the front door on the second day after lost of power in -10 degrees.
I was shlacked by idalia last year and Helene this year they came directly over me in North Florida. Got the eye wall both times. This year was worse. Ran on generator for a week both times. Big battery packs like yours came in handy would run the fridge while i was at work. Also battery powered fan at night. Definitely get a higher watt generator, I have a 8500 it will run everything except the central air. It won't run everything else at one time some things it will only run one at the time like the dryer or hot water heater. Thanks sootch been watching you for a decade now. 🇺🇸
Last year in Eugene Oregon region, a major Ice Storm which took out water and electricity. 9 days without electricity. I concentrated my generators on the Freezer and refrigerator exclusively on one of two Generators. I had turned down the freezer to max freeze on the dial. I shoved everything into the freezer that was in the refrigerator freezer part. I would run the Generator for several hours every 8 hours to maintain the freezer. On the refrigerator, I turned it down to max cold. Keeping the door shut, I did the same 2 hour run for every 8 hours. This allowed me to consume all the items in the refrigerator before it went bad over the 9 days. once the refrigerator was empty, it was cleaned out completely and allowed to air out after sanitation. (New refrigerators like the LG I have, default to mid coolness and must be set back manually to Max cold each time the power is reconnected. This Max cold brings the temperature inside the refrigerator to almost 33 degrees.). I lost nothing in either of the units. I chose the refrigerators as priority and anything else, as luxury. Non electrical preps were put into use. (I learned this freezer trick from an Old Timer who would transport freezers full of frozen fish from Alaska to the Lower 49 each year as he drove the ALCAN home. A five or 6 day trip. Never did he loose a shipment using the alternating method in his travels.)
You know if you are drawing power from a battery system, like the eco flow. Try to stick to DC power only. It takes power to run the inverter for AC plus there is an energy loss through the DC to AC convergence process. You might want to have appliances that have the car socket plug along the normal AC plug.
Katrina, 11 months clearing trees, 21 days no power, 150 miles to fill skid tank
Same here in S.e.Louisiana, Katrina was the ultimate test for me
Scootch, it scares me since I am about ready to give you advice. You are the one I turned to when I started prepping. If you are going to get a big propane tank and you are going to get a new generator. Get a 10KW generator that will run your well and water heater at the same time. Happy wife, happy life! Nothing makes my wife happier than a hot shower! She can wear dirty clothes and eat cold food but a hot shower is what it takes to make her happy in a emergency.
The bigger the generator, the noisier and more fuel it uses. My advice is to get an inverter generator just big enough to charge your portable power station (PPS) at its maximum rate. My PPS will charge (0-100%) in just over two hours at an 1100 Watt rate (2048 WH battery). My generator provides 1400 Watts while on propane (or 78% of maximum load). The PPS then runs all of our electrical needs for the next 24 hours.
10kw generator?????? Nah, that tells me you powering things WAY beyond what's necessary to get by and survive
@@andyirons7162 Everyone's needs are different. I power 2 40' 5th wheel travel trailers plus a small mobile home. I power all 3 units with a 7500 Watt for daytime, a 3200 Watt for after dark, plus a 1800Watt inverter type generator if only electronics need power during quiet time. To each their own.
I hate that that saying, happy wife happy life. Makes you sound like a big wuss.
And the 5 kw gen is quiet?
greetings from a few miles west of you in North East GA we lucked out this time for sure only 2 days no power and a week no internet. but being a common sense person and raised in the cold war days we had everything we needed. well ok my left eye started twitching after oh 3 days of no internet!!
Get you a grunfoss solar well pump and a couple of 3000 gallon water storage tanks. You won't regret it for a water system. Put your tanks as high as you possibly can so you have gravity feed to your house. And an overflow pond is nice too. Sun shines water pumps pump and well rest at night. Great system.
FYI, you can get an adapter for a gas generator so that it will also run off of propane. That’s what we did with our old one until we could upgrade to a dual. Now we have a back up for our parents or friends.
Exactly right luv
I purchased a 25kw Multiquip wisperwatt towable diesel generator it has a 45 gallon belly tank aswell as a 18 gallon internal tank aswell and it only uses 7 to 8 gallon every 24hrs and will run the whole house for 8 to 9 days straight and your neighbors can't hear it running and when it needs refueling just tow it to the gas station, I also have a little 3500 watt Kippor inverter gasoline generator and it also sips fuel and helps prolongs you're diesel run time, also I drive big truck and carry 300 gallons in my truck fuel tanks in a pinch.....❤your educational content as always and keep it up as I always look to your content to help me aswell God bless
I have researched pto generators for my tractor a lot today. I will surely check on the wisperwatt. Thanks
@scrapironprepper my buddy has a 15kw whisper watt generator for probably 1500bucks in the Raleigh NC area if that interests you, now it's an older model and isn't towable and no belly tank but he's got fuel tanks around his place and you can an old trailer and make your own....I used it for a hurricane we had and it did fine but I got tthe 25kw that needed a motor and I replaced it and it's been good to go, let me know
Get a transfer switch it's a game changer your generator will run your house i get mine done and man it's a blessing! Great video and God Bless 🙌
Went about 2 weeks without power in Texas a few years back. I've since added solar generators because I ran low on fuel towards the end. We were prepared with food, water, generators, etc. - just bored. We've added board and card games to help pass time. It was a good test run. The problem with a regular generator is/was neighbors wanting to plug in.
I got very ill and depressed some years back and I stopped eating and drinking. For the record....three days of no food or even a drop of water and I did not die. I decided to start drinking water again because I did not want to cause brain damage to myself if I ended up not following thru with stopping eating and drinking until death. Not sure if this would work by being active but if you're very still and quiet, you can live longer than people say without food or water.
Yes of course you won't actually die without water for 3 days, but your brain will shrink, literally shrink. You won't be able to make good decisions, you will feel terrible, you won't be able to do the hard work that you will need to do in an emergency. So water is the number one prep!
Glad you're still alive & here to tell the tale. Endurance is important. The dogged will to go on can boost your odds of survival tremendously.
😶
I am glad you are still here. Thanks for sharing your story.
Starlink is a smart move! The mini is awesome... Having internet as a backup can be a game-changer in emergencies. Looking forward to seeing how it works out for you.
Thanks Brother! Our Starlink arrived yesterday so I'll be doing an intro video about it coming up.
@SensiblePrepper That's awesome. Can't wait to see the video. It's definitely on my short list. Take care my man!
@@SensiblePrepperand please tell us how much it costs per month because I heard it was close to $1,000 a month which is outlandish
Had T Mobile internet, it failed us after the storm in Tn, went to star link very happy. Learned from our weakness.
@@Twinlights1I switched to T mobile. Got tired of cable price increases. I'm now certainly sick of their restraining order levels of junkmail they (cable) keep sending. Haven't tried Starlink but it's never out of the realm of possibility.
Our 750 foot deep well at our ranch in Colorado is solar. Works great 10 years so far.
I lost power for 10 days in 2004 due to a hurricane in Richmond, VA. For some reason I filled a bathtub with water before the City water system shut down. Camping equipment, including a propane stove and percolator, turned out to be so useful.
A few extra thoughts: add a kerosene stove (Amazon); the 200 gallons of fuel I have last forever in storage. Cut the electricity needed for stove and refrigerator by draping them with a blanket to increase the cold retention. Start soup/stew/etc on a stove; when boiling, transfer the cooking vessel to a box/cooler/etc, wrap with blankets on all sides and let it cook in its own head (see youtube Provident Prepper for good explanation).
We had hurricane Sandy and the year before was hurricane Irene. With Irene it was 19 days without power and Sandy it was 26 days. No generator at the time. I sent my wife and dog to live at the mother in laws as they had power, I stayed at the house, and showered twice a day at work at the hospital and gym where they had power. It was a pain, but it was OK.
There's a big difference between having supplies and having systems. What you're talking about is how having a system for tasks made life easier. Plus, with a system you can have procedures and checklists that make it easier to remember tips for the next time. Good for you, having an After Action review and considering improvements. A lot of people don't. Thank you for sharing.
You can also get a portable shower system that you can use with a 5 gallon bucket of water. Great some on the stove, a lot cheaper!
Okay so hate to comment on the fly (while watching the video) but a Well is great but most Well pumps are 220...or 230...or 240...just depends on the electrician your talking to (kinda like Mag versus Clip!) (I'm retired Military and I really don't care what you call it!!) So anyway you will need a bigger Gene to power up a Well. Luckily I have 4 Water Totes that give me about 1100 gallons of rainwater so that wasn't an issue for us. I have it piped/plumbed to go through spin down filters, then through a 3 cartridge whole house filtering system and then through a UV sanitation system before it gets to the house. With that I have clean, drinkable water. Just a thought. Also I have a number of high output, solar rechargeable yard lights that put out pretty good lumens plus you can actually use them to recharge batteries as necessary.
Great info Sootch, it’s always good to learn from difficult situations and passing your experience to others.
Thank you for sharing your real life experience. Seems that no matter how long we've prepped, there is always something new to learn from actual experience. 👍🏻
What a great video. Nothing like hearing first hand what people experienced/wish they had. After action reviews are key to capturing what went right, and more importantly, what went wrong. Your video convinced me to pick up another Bluetti, and a Honda 2000i. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for an interesting video. Always helps to go over things again. Hope the election goes peacefully. In England we've just had ours, and have a absolutely useless lot in charge. Best wishes from a wet Britain.
Great info, thank you and glad everything went well for you and your family.
Add a blanket over the freezer and the fridge,it will help.
Thanks Sensible Prepper for a great video! Glad the Lord blessed, protected, and delivered you through the storm! God bless you! (John 3:16)
A simple prep for some might be buying a small trailer would have stove fridge , heat all propane battery runs lights , plug generator in long enuff to top battery or the solar
Agreed. You end up with a backup for almost everything in your home. I have gone to my trailer on a few occasions during an extended power outage.
Thanks for sharing, this information is vital. Glad everything worked out for you and your family.
Marietta, SC here. I didn't realize you were in Upstate SC! We were without power for 12 days and without internet for 14. It sounds like we had a fairly similar experience with gas and solar generators. I did a video talking about what we learned as well. One of our best ideas was that my wife figured out that we could keep our crockpot full of hot water all day for very little power (we were running our small generator during the day). It made it easy to wash up (both dishes and bodies) and we could even heat food in sealed Mason jars in the hot water. Surprisingly useful. One note about the well... if you run it off a generator you'll need a fairly serious generator because those pumps have a pretty high power draw.
Great idea on crockpot, can also use fondue pt and heat with candle. Of course you have to have water
A heat pump ventless clothes dryer uses far less energy than a regular dryer and if you are heating your house any efficiency losses will stay inside your house added to the house heat energy balance.
They are far better for areas that heat thier house for long periods of time like in Canada, but if you want the comfort of laundry like normal life during an outage it's probably the way to go.
They do run longer because it doesn't get as hot so the dry time is longer but overall it will be about 1/4 the energy use.
I saw you have the Shargeek power bank... Not a "run of the mill" device, but rather an elite piece of equipment.
Because of the very precise and highly detailed display, I use it to find out the capabilities and requirement of all other portable electronics.
Very well done prepping.
Greetings,
Anthony
A French Press is the way to make coffee, power out or on.
I kind of came at this from the opposite way. We got Starlink because it's the best internet we can get. Then after Helene it decided to finally listen the the bit of my brain that said "If you are going to have satellite based communications it would only make sense to have it run when we have power outages". Ended up getting a couple power stations something like your ecoflow so we could keep the fridge and internet running while we assessed the situation. Then a duel fuel generator seemed like the best bet for keeping things going after a day or so.
One tricky thing is that I doubt that out here in the midwest we'd get any real advanced notice of a really big event like is at least somewhat available for hurricanes.
Ice storms…we usually get good advanced warnings here in the Midwest.
Next time you're in Harbor Freight or one of the big box home improvements take a look at a poly service cart. I use one as a host for my small/mid Anker & Bluetti power stations, phone banks, rechargeable batteries assorted power/charging cables, lights, a lantern, an AM/FM radio, etc. Just roll it out into action and hook it up. Some also have a DIY solar system build on theirs. Works a treat.
Keep in mind HF sell two different sizes to check out if you need some extra space.
Great video, I’m up in Canada and get power outages every winter. I use a dual fuel 10,000w portable generator. The propane will not work well for our freezing temps so then I use the gas. I also added a generlink (not generac) to my house power meter. It allows me to plug the 30amp cord from my generator directly into my service meter and I can power my whole house with not extension cords. Furnace, well pump, fridge etc. Other than paying an arm and a leg for a stand by generator this is the best set up I have found and love it. Nothing like having a hot shower at then end of the day during an outage.
A Kindle paper-white is something that I can recommend as well. Needs no light and can keep you entertained for a week or more between charges. I love to read, just make sure to download a few books you want to read beforehand.
It's a personal choice, but I simply cannot understand how some people would rather keep a box of a few books on hand, even RV/van living, than to basically keep a small version of the Library of Congress on something that can disappear in a car door pocket and still leave room to spare for some other items. "But I like to feel the pages." Oh yeah, that's a worthy trade-off....
@@byerenny duh...books dont need power
Already have a couple thousand 'best books' on bookshelves. They are great insulation along that north wall, so are useful even when I'm not reading them. 📚
Yes, I am addicted to reading!
…you obviously🤷♀️ are not a book person…
I already have a fair sized library of old books. Quite a few are out of print. Also a cabinet of notes from college for my wife and I both.
Thank you. WNC strong.
Most machines in filling LP are designed to only fill to 80 percent. It's for safety reasons to acount for expansion if/when temperature changes.
this is correct, but you can't blame him for not knowing that. Didn't sound like he was real familiar with resource. What he "learned" is stuff many people who really prep or who live a little farther away from goods and services already know about. Overall a good video though to recommend to a newbie.
Current propane tanks have overfill protections devices, (OPD). There is air space for the fuel to expand. But a 20 lb tank can have 20 lbs in it, the extra space is not counted. Exchange tanks generally only have 15 lbs of fuel. When the price of propane went up years ago the major exchange companies simply lowered the fill amount. The tank has an empty weight stamped on it. Around 12-13 lbs. Weigh the tank to see how much propane is in it.
100 percent agree have both gas and solar generators. I used both down in Tampa after and during Milton. You are not running your gas generator during 100 mph plus winds but you can run your solar. My fridge and freezers never went off. Lights were out for a week by me. Both are wonderful and compliment each other rather nicely. If the sun is not cooperating fire up the generator and recharge your power stations. If you need extra juice for cooking portable ac's or whatever fire up the generator. They work fantastic together!!! Another option for internet is straight talk. If Tampa electric is out my spectrum is as well iregardless if I power the router. The box is 100 bucks 30 days unlimited is 45 and you only buy a refill if you want it. So unlike other services you are not trapped into a monthly service or having to buy a phone service with the provider like verizon or tmobile etc.. It works well and you can connect via Ethernet as well.
Scotch, if I may, yes a 500 gallon propane tank is a must. Also please consider this: When large propane tanks blow (which can happen) they blow out the ends, so set tank position considering this. I'm also will be installing a vertical wind turbine do to it'll generate at 2mph. {{{Hugs}}}
Australia here. I have Bio Lights too. Amazing system, even i managed to set it up. I love it!!!!
Also 2 ecoflow deltas.
Thanks Sootch
I use a hybrid system. Over 7kw of lithium iron phosphate batteries powering 2 inverters. Enough to run the basics for about 2 days. 7500 watt inverter generator to charge the batteries and run the well pump about 5 hours a day. Lock the generator up at night.
If you have space, I would definitely look into whole solar with batteries. I live in the suburbs and really don’t have much yard. But it’s full of solar panels. I built my own DIY system for my home over 3 years ago and it works great. The only thing I will do it add more batteries.
5 days without sun and your f*cked
I live in the Home my mom and dad Built in 1975 they had a well dug in 1992 they went with County water after the well pump went out. I just Recently built a 24 volt solar system. I bought a 24 volt well pump from Amazon I'm getting ready to install it soon. Maybe pump the water into a 500 Gallon tote/tank or something else But the 24 volt pump was $80 maybe. They have 12/24/48 Volt Everything now
Thank you for the thorough discussion of power options in case the grid goes down.
Really liked your video. Living in western Washington, we haven't had to deal with nearly as much as those suffering from the hurricanes but your suggestions and experiences are very valuable considerations. Thanks.
I LOVE this breakdown of what you did and how you got through it S00tch. Great stuff!
Thank you sir for sharing this valuable information with us ❤❤❤
Good Stuff. Thanks for Sharing
Thanks for the review, it's good to know what works & what limits it has
Thank you for the video.
Excellent AAR (after action review)! Concise, relevant and constructive.
Always enjoy your videos, Sootch! Im glad that you were ready for that terrible situation
If you have electricity, get a stand alone electric stove burner. Making up a pot of stew sure helps!
I'd make that and many other dishes in an Instant Pot instead. Fast cook time, too.
@ Pot of Coffee?
The best thing for a generator is to exercise it every month. That way if something goes wrong you fix it right then and there and it's ready for the next time. Learn the hard way from blizzards in South Dakota.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience and insights.
For a long term situation, the hand pump would be absolutely essential! An electric pump is ok, but, you have to HAVE electricity for it to work. For long term, there IS going to come a point where you are not going to be able to get fuel.