Power Generators

[justmerb]

I used a 5000 watt back when we had the big snowstorm a couple of years ago, that with a wood burner now and I will stay pretty toasty, if, I better not say any more, just if.

[nobody]

OH HECK. FEEL FREE TO SAY WHAT IF!!!

i have alot of what if stuff around here. i can cope with just about anything. you name the what if or just incase and i can pretty much deal with it!!!!

i'm going to build another home in about 10 more years if the lord will allow us to be a nation that long. i'm building a berm home with everything in the ground but the very front porch and chain link fence. i have already talked to a company about a 3 inch steel front door that locks like a vualt. the entire structure will be 12 inches thick on all sides, top and walls. it will have at least 5 feet of dirt on top of the roof and i'm going to have a double roll of brick on the very front. i've been investing in solar panels for 4 years now and have been picking up a few 1850 watt wind turbines. i'll just be short the battery bank when i get ready to build a new home.

i just don't much care for the way things are going. i'm also a member of the one is none and two is one club. i picked up another 800 watt genny and two 2000 watt gennies!!!!! i havea back up for each one incase or what if!!!!

[KingGhidora]

I built a lot of my house underground nobody mainly because it is a lot easier to heat and cool as a result. It's not all it's cracked up to be. You will need ventilation to go with that underground house or you will have a mold problem and that can be bad. The smell alone can ruin your day. It certainly is safe from a lot of things (like tornadoes) and it's way easy to heat and cool but bathrooms especially will be a problem because of taking showers. I put a vent fan in my bathroom and the stupid thing broke down in no time and it is a pain to fix.

I'm not trying to discourage you. If I could I'd live in a cave if it ever does really hit the fan. There are some huge cave systems in Kentucky. I mean look at Mammoth Cave. It's the longest cave system in the world and they still haven't come close to exploring it all. It's probably at least 500 miles long. That gives a person a lot of room for guest bedrooms. 58 degrees year round doesn't hurt either. You don't need heat or AC. Just a good sweater. There are much smaller cave systems too that would still be plenty big enough. There are old mines and railroad tunnels around too. Underground living starts to look pretty good if you look hard enough. It was done not that long ago really.

[nobody]

i've been talking to people who specialize in the type home i want. i have made up my mind i want a dome shape for sure. they have come a long long way in the past few years in underground homes. they are noting like the old block homes many used to make.

i have talked to them about a home for 4 people with two huge hidden rooms. one for food storage( there is a law passed by congress many years ago that made me think of that one) and my firearms!!!! i do alot of small smith work because i don't have a lathe and end mill yet. when i build this home they lathe and end mill will be in a hidden room for sure!!! i figure a gunsmith will be a person much needed if things go really bad. one that has never got a ffl will be even more in demand!!!!! right now i jus work on my own stuff and anything i don't have to keep over night(you need a ffl to keep anything over night). if things go really bad, nobody will care about a ffl and i won't care as long as i know the rifles i work on won't be used against me and my family!!!!!

[justmerb]

Originally Posted by nobody

OH HECK. FEEL FREE TO SAY WHAT IF!!!

i have alot of what if stuff around here. i can cope with just about anything. you name the what if or just incase and i can pretty much deal with it!!!!

i'm going to build another home in about 10 more years if the lord will allow us to be a nation that long. i'm building a berm home with everything in the ground but the very front porch and chain link fence. i have already talked to a company about a 3 inch steel front door that locks like a vualt. the entire structure will be 12 inches thick on all sides, top and walls. it will have at least 5 feet of dirt on top of the roof and i'm going to have a double roll of brick on the very front. i've been investing in solar panels for 4 years now and have been picking up a few 1850 watt wind turbines. i'll just be short the battery bank when i get ready to build a new home.

i just don't much care for the way things are going. i'm also a member of the one is none and two is one club. i picked up another 800 watt genny and two 2000 watt gennies!!!!! i havea back up for each one incase or what if!!!!

I usually feel free to say just about what ever I want, I would rather not have another foot of ice and snow, along with a 2 week power outage, so I would rather not say what if when it comes to that, because so many people suffered way more than they should have to around here.

[nobody]

people soon forget the past. i remember everybody purchased every generator in our town during the last ice storm. that summer i could have picked up alot of them for half price becuase they figure it wouldn't ever happen again. the way i look at it is as long as we check to make sure they are ready for use a few times a year they don't eat anything the rest of the time. they just sit there and draw dust.

i figure cry one time and do what ever you have to see to it you don't cry no more.

[EdWort]

I have a honda 2000 and it works great. I use it to keep the freezer & fridge going during power outages.

Make sure you keep plenty of stabilized fuel on hand. Use STABIL or PRI-G for long term gas storage.

[havasu]

Honda makes great generators, but mucho mula!

[nobody]

Originally Posted by havasu

Honda makes great generators, but mucho mula!

man tell me about it!! they make outstandinding gennies, but you pay out the butt for them.

i have 15 15 watt solar panels, a 60amp/3600 watt charge controler, a 500 watt grid tie inverter, and im going to be picking up 10 deep cycle batteries to start my battery back with(i want 20-30 deep cycle batteries when i'm finished). i'll have 225 watts coming off the panels in the best conditions. the charge controler has a dump cycle that when the batteries get charged up it kicks over to another outlet. that is where you hook up the 500 watt grid tie inverter and you just plug it into a normal gfi wall socket in the house. it then slows the electric meter way down and if nothing much is running it turns it backwards. i plan on putting up 30 of these panels and a 1800 watt wind turbine a little at a time. i'll have to go with a larger grid tie inverter when the turbine goes online into it. i figure by that time i can pretty much stop the electric meter unless the central air kicks on in the summer.


i have been looking at several other peoples set ups. they are mainly just using 9 of the same panels i'm going to be using. they spin thier electric meter backwards when they are just running a few cfl's and a tv. i figure starting with 6 more panels and later adding another 15 panels i can do more than they are. they have thier systems hooked up next to thier braker box. i'm getting a 12ft wide x 14 ft long out building to sit next to my garage. everything will be in the building. i'll run a few cfl's in the building and maybe a stereo. it'll be a hang out place for me and a few friends and a place to park the 4 wheeler and lawn mower so i can again park in the garage.

anybody else playing with solar and wind turbines on here? i'd like to see some more setups to see if it is any different than what i am planning to do with mine. i'd like to use the 30 panels and two 1800 watt turbines. i'd have to step up to a larger charge controler and grid tie inverter for 2 turbines and 30 panels. that would be a total of 4050 watts of power in perfect conditions. the battery bank would never get below 75% charge with that kind of power, and i could run a few odds and ends off of the battery bank and not worry about in at all.

[havasu]

On a side note, the little battery on my generator was dead after only a few months. Me being a big spendor, I went to Harbor Freight and bought one of those battery tendors, without the fancy name or price ($7.99), and now keep it plugged in. The battery is now always ready for any emergency. Since my neighbors are setting up their backyard for a 250+ person party tomorrow, it may need to be used to keep power going to the live band.