A Generator Is a Must for an Emergency
Hurricane Mathew is no longer an ominous storm waiting to attack our coastal states, but rather just another in a never-ending series of weather-related tragedies for which many people should have been better prepared.
During the peak of the storm, Hurricane Matthew left more than 2.5 million customers without power across five states. A week later, lights were back on in most homes, but not all. Imagine not having power for an entire week!
It’s not just dead iPhones we’re talking about here. You wouldn’t have access to heat or air conditioning… something you need the most during a catastrophic storm.
Don’t Feel Powerless When Power Goes Out
Power isn’t something you should leave to chance. If you don’t own a generator as part of your emergency survival supplies, you should. After all, disaster preparedness is more than owning survival food and water.
And let’s face it, the power grid in America is becoming less reliable every day, which means power outages are bound to occur far more often and last much longer.
Generators are in short supply immediately following a hurricane, and it’s safe to say that’s accurate of all weather-related tragedies. Do your homework on which type of emergency generator is best for your situation, and be sure to buy one before they are in high demand and you’re left without power for who knows how long.
There are two main types of emergency generators to consider: stationary and portable. Let’s talk about the pros and cons of each:
Standby Generators
These emergency generators are powered by natural gas or propane. They start automatically during power outages, which is nice because you don’t have to even think about it during a power loss. It’s a great option if you don’t plan on leaving your home during a disaster.
But the price can be high, starting at $5,000, and you’ll need to consider installation costs as well. They can also be very loud and sometimes smelly. And if a disaster causes lawlessness, it won’t be difficult for the bad guys to figure out who has one.
Portable, Electrical Generators
This type of emergency generator needs to be manually started when the power goes out; it runs on gasoline. You’ll need extension cords to plug into your appliances or a subpanel.
A very important consideration regarding this generator type is possible carbon monoxide poisoning. Run the generator far enough from your home that this isn’t a concern, and purchase a carbon monoxide detector for guaranteed safety.
The cost for this emergency generator is much lower than a standby generator, with a starting price point of $400 – but it does come with more hassle and the danger of carbon monoxide.
I want you to keep in mind that using a portable, gas-powered generator requires 12-20 gallons of gasoline per day in order to run 24/7. That’s a lot of gas to have sitting around. And truthfully, leave it to the government to raise gas prices the minute you need gasoline the most!
Portable, Solar-Powered Generators
That brings us to portable, solar-powered generators, which will allow you to prepare for a storm that is even as damaging as Hurricane Matthew. Or any other weather-related tragedy or intentional attack on the grid.
Regardless, you can plow through a power outage without the noise and fumes of a traditional emergency generator when you own a portable, solar-powered generator.
I own one, and I often refer to it as my disaster preparedness secret weapon. Check out my brand at www.PatriotPowerGenerator.com
Frank:
Glad to receive your email and impressed with your website and fast communications to customers like me.
I am one of many ham radio operators and survivalist who are always looking for auxilliary power, not just during home power outages, but also having power to run our communications equipment in various field day communications exercises and portable/transportable mobile operations as part of recreational activities or during civic and/or diaster situations where communications using ham radio can be the best alternative given its mobility and its reliability at times when other modes of communications are not working.
Your 1500 watt power system may very well put other power systems like our gas engine/generator system into obsolescence!
I hope your system is as robust as you claim it to be and I plan to put it througots of use under different loads and operational location, not just sitting in the garage waiting for a power outage.
Your group msy have created a power system that many other ham radio clubs and ham radio operators like me will be convinced is the best balanced choice for auxiliary A.C. power for use in lighting and electronic equipment operation.
I bought your system with the above belief of its potential in mind. Given the hundreds of thousands of ham radio enthusiasts who want to have 24/7 A.C. power for their routine and emergency communications, my project will be shared with others who have a common goal for reliable, auxiliary A. C. Voltage with your system’s power capacity and its recharging through solar panels.
I am curious as to why you also did not include a second recharging option where an available AC source would allow the recharging of your system in lieu of the solar panels, given weather and other time of day conditions where the solar panels would not function?
I am looking forward to receiving and using your system immediately. We have lots of outages here in the southeast from tropical storms and hurricanes.
Also, I have a small survival home in western NC where auxiliary power would be a must if we had to leave our primary home in a crisis or terrorist attack where normal electrical service would be lost and social unrest would require our immediate exit from our metropolitan area for the stability we would have in our very rural and parsley populated area where we have our small survival home.
I look forward to promoting your system to others who think and live as I do, including the many, many ham radio operators from all over the USA with whom I am in contact on a weekly basis.
Best regards!
Charles R. (Rick) Bilbro
Raleigh, NC
What is the answer to Georjina;s question as I also live in SW Washington State ???
We are “full-timers” in a 40′ motorhome [RV] with an Onan gas generator and portable solar panels to recharge the 8 12VDC battery array that’s on-board. My concern has been the affect of a solar EMP burst from a CME [Coronal Mass Emission/Ejection]. Having designed RF/EMP shielding for satellite systems and many military communication vehicles still in use today, I am bothered by the EMP “shielding” articles on this site, that fail to include at LEAST one layer of FERROUS material to disperse the magnetic portion of the EMP. I have enveloped our generator AND battery pack with a STEEL door screen[aka wire-cloth] to disperse the magnetic wave that neutralizes the polarity of the generator stator and battery plates. Your suggestions for using ALUMINUM are valid for the static and electrical pulse portion of an EMP or CME, but fail miserably when it comes to the magnetic elements of those Electro-MAGNETIC waves. Please include installing a layer of FERROUS [iron-based] material in your articles for EMP shielding. In engineering parlance the convolutions where two items come together provide what is called a “tortuous path” seal. It works for high-flow liquids and gases and is proven to work for shielding against nuclear blast EMPs at Tonopah, NV. Good luck!
We’re in Washington state and the sun doesn’t like us much:) Will this thing charge with “over cast today, rain tonight, cloudy the rest of the week” daily weather forecast for the next 6 months?
I have a portable generator to run my whole house. Let’s face it though. It can’t run 24/7. So, I purchased the Patriot Power generator for at night. I hooked up my 40″ TV and satellite box and powered it for 4 hours and didn’t even put a dent in the charge. Worth the cost for a little peace of mind.