If you use the generator to charge your batteries, you’ll be more than halfway toward a solar setup, too. Additional items you’ll need at that point to go solar will be: solar panels, a charge controller (a small box with electronics that regulate the power flow into the batteries) which goes between your input and the batteries, and a method to extract power from the batteries (an AC inverter/outlet).
Variations on Solar: Gasoline Engines
Before there was solar, there was gasoline. Have you ever seen a gasoline engine power a washing machine? Chain saw? Lawn mower? Power washer? Chipper-shredder? Wood splitter? A boat outboard motor? You get the drift – there are multiple ways to utilize non-electric and off-grid tools to make your life easier.
Farmers store gasoline in 200-300 gallon tanks set up on stands so that they can gravity feed through standard gas hose arrangements into their vehicles – so, it’s certainly possible to acquire and store gasoline in a rural setting. Be sure to check local and regional regulations before launching on this plan. If you can’t get it delivered, you can bring it back to your place in 5-gallon plastic gas cans, several at a time, until your tank is filled. Only store non-ethanol, and be sure to add Stabil or Pri-G to keep your gas in good condition.
If you use gasoline-powered equipment consistently, plan to store motor oil (including 2-stroke), belts, hoses, filters, gaskets, spark plugs, chains, and anything else you might need to make repairs on your things. Don’t assume there will always be access to critical parts – so get them in advance.
Practical Alternative Power
The big difference between utilizing the grid to run your equipment and using battery or diesel/gas power for the same operation is one you’ll need to keep in the back of your mind: the grid is “limitless” but batteries and fuels are not. You can’t just plug something into a battery or gasoline generator and expect it to keep running indefinitely, as you can with grid power. Eventually, the battery or fuel runs down and won’t run your equipment. And, if you run your batteries down that far, it takes longer to recharge and you’ll shorten your battery’s life span.
Battery powered lights in your home will give better stable light if you use LEDs or low-draw CFL bulbs, rather than the higher-electricity drawing incandescent bulbs. You can light a family room with a string of mini LEDs, too – nice, indirect lighting that gives a pleasant glow. Use individual task-lights when doing close work, such as knitting or reading to minimize power draw. Small fans run nicely on battery power, too.
Wind-powered water pumping and energy generation are an effective non-solar option – these systems work well at generating power as long as the wind is blowing at a minimum speed (7 mph to 15 mph, for some systems). Old farms used wind power to pump water up from shallow wells for livestock at remote locations, and today’s Amish families often draw their water the same way.
Like solar, wind is pricey to set up. It’s dependent on consistent steady winds that don’t reach too high a speed (high winds can destroy the towers and blades). Ice and snow can impede or stop blade rotation, so power isn’t generated. You’ll also need a battery bank and charge controller, as with solar. Personally, I am leery of wind power, simply because we seem to see wind patterns changing and storms intensifying – the risk of losing a primary power source to a tornado or hurricane is real. Australia’s national wind power plants lost generating capacity as wind flows changed in 2017, too, causing customers to lose power during brown and black outs. However, for pumping water from a shallow source, it might be an ideal application.
Hydro power – that is, turning a power generating turbine (motor) using the flow of water – is the basis of many modern power plants, especially those at the foot of dams. It can be scaled down to mini or micro levels for a small farm, home, or community use as long as you have a continuous steady water flow. This appears to be one of the favored systems offered to Third World countries that have rich water supplies. The continuous water flow could be from a year-round stream, from water “impoundment” (a dam or holding tank) that allows you to release water at a steady rate, or even a system of pipes and holding tanks off of a stream that gives you the same type of control.
Clearly, you’d also need a battery backup system to store energy you don’t immediately use, plus extensive power-carrying lines to bring the electricity from the river or generation point to your home. You’d need about 5-10 kilowatts from your system to run your house the way it is right now – less if you cut back on electricity-powered devices. A micro hydro system typically runs about 1/3 the cost of a similar solar system, and generates power 24/7 as long as the water is running.
A mini or micro hydroelectric system is a little harder to source than solar approaches, although Amazon does have a mini-hydro that can generate enough power to run a cell phone or tablet, priced less than $35. An entire system, ready to set up, might run from $3000 to $8000, surprisingly little compared to other alt-power approaches. If you avoid digital monitoring and stick with something analog, your risk from EMP/CME is also reduced.
Risks to this system include flooding, and components do wear out with use. If your water flow freezes or is buried in snow, it will stop generating power, which is why battery backup is important. You can also get electric shocks from the power lines, just like with grid power.
Off Grid Living: How To Build Wind Turbine, Solar Panels And Micro Hydroelectric Generator To Power Up Your House, by Anderson, Swarz, and Thompson (available on Amazon) – gives a good general overview of each approach.
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https://www.brownellmicrohydro.com/
Brownell Micro Hydro carries systems and has lots of info on set ups, as well as a blog with helpful discussions.
Lighting Without Electricity
For all the millennia of human history, except for the blink of an eye which was the last 120 years, there was no electric grid, no widespread electrical power, no batteries, no street lights, and no flashlights. There were no cars, no buses, no power saws, no motor boats, no motor cycles. No radio, television, internet, copy machines, cell phones, GPS, landlines, or security cameras. No computers, no ATMs, no hand-held calculators, no digital cameras, no electric typewriters.
Yet, each of those powered “things” took the place of something else that was powered by human beings: calculators replaced pencil and paper addition and subtraction; motorized transportation replaced horse and buggy; internet, radio, and television replaced newspapers and handwritten letters; cell phones replaced having a conversation in person.
All that fancy technology merely replaced a simpler, less-expensive, original way of doing things. Although it would be quite a change for most people, it’s still possible to return to those original ways, and become more familiar with our actual human behaviors and roots, unfettered by expensive toy intermediaries.
Light
One of the most important things for long term comfort is light. Clear, bright, unwavering light is actually pretty hard to come by in a non-electric setting. The modern method of determining “light output” of bulbs and LEDs, is based on the lumen, basically, the equivalent of one candle a foot away with the light falling on a 12”x12” square. So, a lightbulb that gives 20 lumens would be the same has having 20 candles burning a foot away from you, illuminating an open book.
Incandescent Bulbs
WATTS
Typical Light Output
LUMENS
40
450
60
800
75
1,100
100
1,600
Notice in this chart that a low-wattage 40-watt light bulb, the type used in many refrigerators, gives about the equivalent of 450 candles. That’s a lot of light, packed into a small bulb – or, said another way, it takes a huge number of candles to give even a modicum of good light.
Candles are familiar, easy to operate if you have matches or lighters, but give pretty poor light. Candle flames flicker in the slightest b
reeze. It takes 3 to 5 large candles to give half-way decent light to read by, and a few more to do needlepoint or tie fishing flies.
Solar yard lights are pretty good indoor home lights and work in grid-down or brown out situations, as well. Typically, these are small LED lamps on a short pole, something that could be set up to light a walkway or indicate a door. Each yard light has a small solar panel, a couple inches square, which provides enough power to charge onboard AA or AAA batteries. Prices typically start low at just a few dollars each for small lights. For better indoor lighting, get the multi-lamp ones, about $45 each. Place in a sunny spot during the day. At night, bring them indoors near where you need light. They can also be carried from room to room as needed. They don’t get hot when lit, and a couple of them provides decent light to read or do small work. The higher priced ones can be turned off when you’re done with them; lower priced ones stay on until the batteries have discharged for the night.
LEDs are becoming more common, and give a good clear electric-powered light that can replace the standard incandescent or florescent bulb. The benefit of LEDs over standard lights is that they use less energy. A 13 watt LED can give as much light as a 75 watt standard bulb. If you have even a small solar system, you may be able to charge a battery enough to run LEDs in individual lamps, or even a couple of LED string lights. For up-close small work, such as reading, an LED clip-on battery-powered light may be all you need – you can find these at bookstores.
Oil or kerosene lamps and lanterns are those familiar old-style homestead lights. They are easy to use but do require access to lamp oil (not the same as cooking or motor oil) or kerosene in order to function. Most oil lamps have a wick, a flat woven cotton cord that draws the fuel up to the chimney area. These are simple to use, will burn a cup or two of fuel in 8 hours. However, the light they give is low power and flickers. It takes, easily, 4 lamps in a room to provide comfortable enough light to carry on family life, and at least two lamps to read by. Each lamp is roughly equivalent to a single large candle. These generally cost less than $10 each. The burning lamp oil or kerosene is incompletely combusted, so there is an odor with these lamps.
An improved oil lamp is made by the Aladdin company. The design incorporates a wick that draws the fuel up to a lacy “mantle” that surrounds the small flame. The mantle heats up and glows, throwing off lots of heat and a clear, strong, unwavering light, equivalent to about a 40 watt incandescent bulb. The light is very bright and hard to look at directly, so you’ll need a shade with this one, as well.
Aladdins are the Cadillac of oil lamps, and they are priced like it too. Prices start at about $100 and go up from there. There are some very beautiful Aladdins, with intricate glass bases and decorated shades. For the long run, you’d find the all-metal lamp and a cloth shade perfectly suitable. Less chance of breakage, too. Aladdins burn hot and clean, so there is very little fuel odor with these. Just don’t put them where something flammable is within 3 feet above the chimney. One Aladdin will burn 1-1/2 to 2 cups of fuel in 8 hours.
For all oil type lamps, you’ll need multiple extra glass chimneys, and extra wicks; Aladdins will also need lots of extra mantles. They are lacy and fragile, and after a few uses they fall apart easily if touched even very lightly. Remember, kerosene and lamp oil (liquid paraffin) are products of the oil and gas industry. If that shuts down, so does your source for light.
Store a LOT of extra lamp fuel. If you burn a single lamp and use, say, 12 oz (1 -1/2 cups) of fuel a night, then in a week you will have burned about 2-1/2 quarts of fuel. That’s over half a gallon in one week. In two weeks, you’ve burned over a gallon, which is about 3 gallons a month. At that rate, you’d need 36 gallons of fuel a year to keep ONE LAMP burning each night. Two lamps would require 72 gallons; four lamps would use 144 gallons. There was a reason our rural ancestors went to bed and got up with the sun. Running lamps for hours gets expensive after a while.
Propane Lamps operate in a similar manner to the Aladdin. They have one or two mantles that generate the light. Coleman and other camping suppliers make one- or two-burner lamps that can run off of a 1-pound propane canister, or even a BBQ-size tank if you have extra attachments. These are efficient and give good light, cost around $70 or so. Obviously, they’ll use up your propane stores and when you run out of gas, they will be useless.
Fat Lamps have been used for thousands of years. It’s just some oil or animal fat with a wick stuck in it. Each lamp gives the equivalent of a single candle, and it will be smoky and smell like burning fat. This is a “if you have no other options” type of light.
Light Discipline
The concept of light discipline arises from the simple knowledge that if the grid is down, most people won’t have light. If you do, you’re going to stand out for miles, attracting unexpected and probably unwanted visitors. Light discipline means controlling the visible light in your area. Use thick “blackout curtains” to prevent light showing through your windows, and turn out lights before opening doors. Don’t shine flashlights any more often than you need to, or use red or green-tinted ones.
Test blackout curtains before you need them: turn all the lights on in your place, pull the curtains closed, and go outside. Look your house over from all angles, and make notes on where you see light coming through. Repair those spots. Every now and then, do it again, until your place is completely dark from every possible direction.
Alternative Power Sources
This is a very brief overview, enough info that you can pursue any area that might interest you. You’ve probably heard or seen a bicycle-powered battery charger – it’s a small car alternator, turned by pulleys attached to a stationary bicycle wheel. When someone pedals the bike, it turns the alternator and generates enough current to charge a battery or power a small light. Simple and elegant in design, and relatively inexpensive to make.
Suppose you had that alternator and battery, but didn’t want to pedal a stationary bike all day – how else could you turn a wheel to the pulley? In the 19th century, people operated mechanical devices like lathes and small grain mills by putting a horse or dog on a sloped treadmill. As the animal walked “uphill”, the treadmill turned, turning a wheel attached to a pulley, that turned a gear, that turned the device. Might as well be turning an alternator, and charging a battery, all while giving the pet some good exercise.
If you’ve been out around horse stables, you may have seen “horse walkers” – an upright circular clothes-line like contraption, that is used to exercise horses. The animal’s halter is attached to a pole, and as the horse walks in a circle around the device, it turns the pole. Using a series of gears, that action could be translated into another source of power to turn an alternator.
This is the same basis as hydropower generated by turning water wheels, by the way. During the 19th century, criminals and the poor in England were sentenced to the treadmill, a giant human-powered wheel that was turned as they “climbed stairs” for a daily 8-hour shift. The treadmill turned a mill stone, and was utilized to grind grains.
Today’s treadmill can still be applied to generate power – and improve one’s health at the same time. It just takes a little ingenuity and, perhaps, necessity.
10 health and hygiene
When the Cold arrives, it won’t be announced on the legacy news. There won’t be any headlines screaming, “THE ICE AGE IS HERE”. Even so, it will be undeniable and people’s mindsets will change but not without some harrowing times first.
Today, a person might hop in their car and drive 300 miles without even a glance at their tires. They know that if they get a flat, or have a breakdown, they’ll just make a cell phone call and get a tow truck or other service to come fix the problem.
After the Cold Times are well underway, it will only be the terminally dim who travel outside their area without a survival kit that includes wool blankets, several days of food and water, extra clothing and boots, and a shovel to dig out of snow. That’s a profound change in the way th
e average person thinks and plans.
Planning, especially advanced planning, will make the difference between life and death.
There are few places that “thinking ahead” will be more important than in how you and yours tend to hygiene and health, both mental and physical. Advanced planning can save your people from disease, broken bones, and worse. Making these kinds of connections (linear projections, actually) is a learned art. Registered nurses are exceptionally good at this kind of thinking, so if you have a nurse in your group, count yourself lucky and enlist that nurse to help pave the way.
Watch a ball, tossed through the air. Because of your life experience in a world with gravity, you can immediately project just about where that ball will come to ground. You see the arc and do a near-instantaneous calculation: given that the ball is going that way, at that speed, then it will end up there, assuming nothing changes that trajectory such as wind or something that gets in the way. That’s a linear projection.
Cold Times — How to Prepare for the Mini Ice Age Page 26