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People need to make decisions about how much resiliency they want. A medium-sized battery greatly enhances your options in an outage. A "solar generator" expand

by jerf 2mo ago

People need to make decisions about how much resiliency they want. A medium-sized battery greatly enhances your options in an outage. A "solar generator" expands them yet farther. A whole-house generator somewhat farther. It's a lot easier and cheaper if you don't insist that your "resiliency" be "I live my life with no compromises whatsoever". But I would advocate that "zero resiliency" needs to be seen as being socially irresponsible. It is socially irresponsible that as soon as a service goes out that you are immediately in an emergency. You should not offload basic resiliency on to emergency services. Yes, if you take a direct hit from a tornado you're going to be leaning on emergency services, but the house a quarter mile from touchdown that may be out for three or four days needs to be able to deal with that. If nothing else, emergency supplies are a lot cheaper when it's not an emergency. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and especially so when perfect is so much more expensive and so much less relevant than the good.

munificent 2mo ago
> It is socially irresponsible that as soon as a service goes out that you are immediately in an emergency. You should not offload basic resiliency on to emergency services. Sure, but that's not a remotely accurate description of a house without a backup battery or generator. I grew up in hurricane country and weathered many bad storms. Losing power does not put you immediately in an emergency. If you don't open the fridge much, your perishables will last a couple of days. Non-perishables will last much longer. Having a battery is the difference between "we can hang out and grill dinner for 5 days before we need to hit the road" and "we can hang out and grill dinner for 6 days before we need to hit the road". That distinction does not significantly change your strategy. Losing water is a much bigger emergency but is thankfully rarer and a backup battery won't help. Climate change will change this story somewhat in the South. If you are in a very hot climate, elderly, or have other health issues, then losing electricity and air conditioning in the summer can be an immediate emergency. Again, though, A/Cs consume so much electricity that a backup battery won't help you much. I think you're significantly overestimating the emergency value of a battery backup. Loss of electricity is rarely a rapid emergency. In cases where it is, a generator will at least give you as much power as you care to store fuel.
- tonymet 2mo ago
  Generators don’t work that well. They need regular use and maintenance. Fuel storage is complicated (you will need 30+ gallons a day, or about 2 sedan tank’s worth. Connecting to your panel is expensive at least $2k+. They are smelly and noisy. And if it’s a real emergency, everyone will know you have one , and eventually come knocking. For $2k you can buy 3 Ankers and distribute around the house. With a propane camp stove you can cook. So the only utility failing during a power outage is your air conn. If it’s winter you can run a gas fireplace to keep warm. In my area we have power outages in the fall and winter wind storms due to trees falling. We need electricity for the fridge, fireplace, lighting , internet & devices. Lithium batteries work great. We get a few outages every season, usually for 2-6 hours . My neighbors have a generator for “emergencies” and don’t end up using it because it’s such a PITA. He has it for SHTF, but then he will have to consume the gas from his cars (and siphon it), which means making the decision between home comfort and evac. My point is that every solution covers a range of scenarios based on convenience, cost, resilience, versatility and more. There is no one size fits all . And now these lithium battery backups provide a broad amount of coverage that is safe and convenient for novices to run.
  - munificent 2mo ago
    > Generators don’t work that well. They need regular use and maintenance. So do lawnmowers and chainsaws. >Fuel storage is complicated (you will need 30+ gallons a day, or about 2 sedan tank’s worth. You put it in containers and put them in your garage. >Connecting to your panel is expensive at least $2k+. You don't have to do that. Just run some extension cords through your house. > They are smelly and noisy. So is everyone after a couple of days in the South without air conditioning! > And if it’s a real emergency, everyone will know you have one , and eventually come knocking. This is a feature, not a bug. It's how communities take care of each other.
  - runako 2mo ago
    People here buy natural gas generators[1] and just connect them into the existing gas lines. (I realize natural gas is not part of the utility mix everywhere.) Gas still flows when power is out, and common generators are big enough to power even A/C. 1 - https://www.homedepot.com/p/Generac-14kW-Air-Cooled-Auto-Start-on-Natural-Gas-or-Propane-Whole-House-Generator-with-Smart-Mobile-Monitoring-7258/337955897 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Generac-14kW-Air-Cooled-Auto-Sta...

by jerf 2mo ago

munificent 2mo ago

> It is socially irresponsible that as soon as a service goes out that you are immediately in an emergency. You should not offload basic resiliency on to emergency services. Sure, but that's not a remotely accurate description of a house without a backup battery or generator. I grew up in hurricane country and weathered many bad storms. Losing power does not put you immediately in an emergency. If you don't open the fridge much, your perishables will last a couple of days. Non-perishables will last much longer. Having a battery is the difference between "we can hang out and grill dinner for 5 days before we need to hit the road" and "we can hang out and grill dinner for 6 days before we need to hit the road". That distinction does not significantly change your strategy. Losing water is a much bigger emergency but is thankfully rarer and a backup battery won't help. Climate change will change this story somewhat in the South. If you are in a very hot climate, elderly, or have other health issues, then losing electricity and air conditioning in the summer can be an immediate emergency. Again, though, A/Cs consume so much electricity that a backup battery won't help you much. I think you're significantly overestimating the emergency value of a battery backup. Loss of electricity is rarely a rapid emergency. In cases where it is, a generator will at least give you as much power as you care to store fuel.

tonymet 2mo ago
Generators don’t work that well. They need regular use and maintenance. Fuel storage is complicated (you will need 30+ gallons a day, or about 2 sedan tank’s worth. Connecting to your panel is expensive at least $2k+. They are smelly and noisy. And if it’s a real emergency, everyone will know you have one , and eventually come knocking. For $2k you can buy 3 Ankers and distribute around the house. With a propane camp stove you can cook. So the only utility failing during a power outage is your air conn. If it’s winter you can run a gas fireplace to keep warm. In my area we have power outages in the fall and winter wind storms due to trees falling. We need electricity for the fridge, fireplace, lighting , internet & devices. Lithium batteries work great. We get a few outages every season, usually for 2-6 hours . My neighbors have a generator for “emergencies” and don’t end up using it because it’s such a PITA. He has it for SHTF, but then he will have to consume the gas from his cars (and siphon it), which means making the decision between home comfort and evac. My point is that every solution covers a range of scenarios based on convenience, cost, resilience, versatility and more. There is no one size fits all . And now these lithium battery backups provide a broad amount of coverage that is safe and convenient for novices to run.
- munificent 2mo ago
  > Generators don’t work that well. They need regular use and maintenance. So do lawnmowers and chainsaws. >Fuel storage is complicated (you will need 30+ gallons a day, or about 2 sedan tank’s worth. You put it in containers and put them in your garage. >Connecting to your panel is expensive at least $2k+. You don't have to do that. Just run some extension cords through your house. > They are smelly and noisy. So is everyone after a couple of days in the South without air conditioning! > And if it’s a real emergency, everyone will know you have one , and eventually come knocking. This is a feature, not a bug. It's how communities take care of each other.
- runako 2mo ago
  People here buy natural gas generators[1] and just connect them into the existing gas lines. (I realize natural gas is not part of the utility mix everywhere.) Gas still flows when power is out, and common generators are big enough to power even A/C. 1 - https://www.homedepot.com/p/Generac-14kW-Air-Cooled-Auto-Start-on-Natural-Gas-or-Propane-Whole-House-Generator-with-Smart-Mobile-Monitoring-7258/337955897 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Generac-14kW-Air-Cooled-Auto-Sta...