What’s your emergency power supply at home?

​Power outages can happen anytime, anywhere. And the sudden power outages are really annoying. Securing an emergency power supply in advance will help make a difficult situation better. So how do you prepare for sudden power outages?

There are some common alternative emergency energy solutions:

1. An emergency generator. Like the solar generator, which uses renewable energy sources and gains popularity. A single panel or multiple panels' solar generator mounts directly to the roof or ground-mount framing. Actually, no matter it's a solar powered system fuel-powered generator, or wind generator, it can be easily stored and utilized at various locations. It can give your household the needed power for some essential electronic devices when utility power is cut.

2. The household portable battery storage power station. It gets increasingly popular, no matter as emergency power supply or power station for camping outdoor adventures. It's portable and reliable, can provide environment friendly power solutions at home or outdoors.

3. Some portable options. For short outages, a reliable EDC flashlight can be easy to use, and find your way in darkness. Besides, a portable USB backup power bank is necessary for charging your cell phones and other small electronics.

Have you prepared the gears mentioned above?

Schumacher Storm 700. Sealed lead-acid driven with a 700W inverter. Accepts solar charging with a charge controller. Can connects to an Optima YellowTop D31T or similar for extended runtimes.

Generac 22kw standby generator w 500 gal propane tank. We lose power for several days at a time, up to a week. '


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fixed 100W solar charging station backed with a 100A 12v batt, a UPS in the studio that will power Everything long enough to finish a recording, and loads of 18650 to 5v USB power banks around the place.

Emergency electrical power supplies are expensive for the amount of actual usage most people experience. One option that some people commit to, is having a solar system with batteries that power their needs all the time. Granted this is a major upfront expense, with batteries currently the weakest link regarding longevity and maintenance (if using flooded lead acid). Some locales get more sun than others, but countries like Germany utilize solar extensively even with their cloud cover. Given that serious money is being directed toward advances in battery technology, this option will become even more attractive. Electric vehicles sweeten the mix.

We have a propane tank and a backup gasoline generator that needs to be used periodically to 'equalize' (charge hard to extend flooded lead acid battery lifespan) and when we have a series of cloudy days, but if propane and/or gasoline supply was disrupted, we would be able to cut firewood with our Stihl battery chainsaw for heat and cooking. We also have a small electric refrigerator to supplement our propane refrigerator that is used when we resupply a larger quantity of perishables. Our system has enough grunt to pump our water from a 300 some foot well. The propane water heater would be useless but I use a small electric water heating water bottle for personal hygiene, and have used an infrared thermometer to heat water to a desired temperature. Our old-school 2 slice toaster gets used regularly and would be available during disruptions. With healthy batteries using lithium or absorbed glass mat, we could live without a backup internal combustion electrical generator, simply by not watching as much big screen TV and pumping water only when the sun is in force.

Consider getting your own system. You won't need an emergency power supply. Essentially the only time you will encounter electrical power outages is when a friend, neighbor, or coworker describes their inconvenience.

We have a backup 20k generator that is connected to the natural gas line that comes into our house and a second electrical panel that turns off the power from the street and takes over the electricity for the house if the electrical power goes out for more than 30 seconds. The generator can, and has, run every appliance in our house, including heat and air conditioning. We also installed a back-up 220 line so that i can connect a gas generator to provide power if the natural gas is interrupted, but that would require a lot of adjustments and I hope that I don't have to use this. We did not lose power for more than a couple of hours for the first 20 years we lived in our house. Then we started losing power more and more often, so we bit the bullet and put in the generator. We got the final inspection on our generator on a Monday and Hurricane Katrina hit on Saturday night and the power went out for 10 days. Except that the generator went on and we were the only ones in our neighborhood with power. Since it was installed the generator has been needed an average of about two to three weeks total per year, usually two or three days at a time, but there have been a couple of 7 - 10 day stretches. When we installed our generator, we were the only one in the neighborhood. Since then, and especially in the last few years, many more have been installed in our neighborhood.

Around here we have four seasons, Spring and Fall, we don't typically need heating, nor cooling, but Summers at times can be over 85F and 85% humidity, without air conditioning, that can be uncomfortable. Winters can be in the teens F day and night, and heating is a must.

Fortunately my home is on a grid that does not get affected often, and overall, around here, power outages after a significant storm don't last for more than a day or so (for the most part). More often than not a local outage is because a transformer went bad and it is replaced within a few hours.

I have a 3500 watt inverter generator with a 2.6 gallon tank that will run for 11 hours @ 25% load.
In a REAL outage where power is expected to be out for an extended period of time, I may have to run it intermittently, to conserve fuel. I imagine that I will need a gallon of fuel, to run it 4 hours in each 24 hour period, to keep the house warm in the winter, and freezer, and refrigerator cold, at any time of year.

We have natural gas supplied by the utility company. For heat, we have a gas fired hot water furnace, and a gas fired fireplace with heatilators, and it burns external air. The furnace requires electricity for the circulator pump.

I have a bunch of 6600 mah battery packs for recharging cell phones etc.
I have a bunch of 18650 batteries and flashlights for light.
I have a number of "18V" LiIon battery packs for my Ryobi One+ tools.
I have a couple of 12V jump starter LiIon battery packs.

My car can recharge any and all of my LiIon batteries and battery packs.

I don't have any solar power, other than a few garden lights.
SLA batteries typically aren't good for more than 6 years, and are expensive to replace for a solar system.

If you asked the question as a manufacturer, doing a little market research, I'll share my thoughts (for what they are worth).

I really like the concept of multiple tools using the same interchangeable batteries.
As some batteries age, newer ones can be added to the collection.
Tools, such as the Ryobi radio/speaker, and the Ryobi lantern, have 5V USB outputs to charge cell phones, etc.

Perhaps 40V lawnmower batteries with an inverter can run 120V items like digital TV, and a modem for a while.