Your home will generally be the safest and most comfortable place to stay in most emergency situations but an extended power outage can quickly change your home into little more than a big, dark box. Without the necessary power for cooling, heating, to run appliances or to furnish lighting, you might need to seek other options. This could include an extended visit to relatives or a stay at a hotel or motel that could be even more costly. The loss of power for a few hours is often quite manageable for the majority of people but an extended power outage could become a life threatening situation that could eventually force you to leave the safety and security of your home until the power is restored to the grid.
Having a home power generator can help you in numerous ways if an extended power outage occurs. There are several options when doing some advanced prepping to help cover your needs when a loss of grid power strikes.
The first option is a portable home generator and is probably the most affordable for the average person. While most portable home generators are not large enough to power everything in your house, but they can be used to keep a few items (like your freezer) functioning until power is restored. There are many types available that run on a variety of different types of fuel and most can be easily hooked up during an emergency.
The second option is a stationary home generator that can be hooked up directly to your home power system through a power transfer switch that can be set to start automatically during a power outage. These systems are quite a bit more expensive and usually require a direct connection to a long term fuel supply.
A third option is to include solar power as a back-up. Solar systems that can satisfy your total power needs can also be quite expensive but a small solar back-up system can offer you another option for maintaining your power needs during an emergency.
One of the things that will take you beyond the basics when being prepared is to have some means to re-establish power to what will be your best form of long term shelter… your home.
You can download a free guide for the safe use of a home power generator here:
Using a Generator During Power Outages
Staying above the water line!
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6 comments:
Rw,good info.Short of off grid folks no power is pretty traumatic for most of us.A crisis is not the time to make a plan!
China
III
Ditto to what China sez.....and also, if you can see your way clear to do it, get off the grid, NOW!!
Bob
III
Good post.
I few weeks ago we lost power for 14 hours - the longest I have seen since Hurrican Hugo. My wife and kids, as well as many neighbors - were absolutely lost and distraught.
They had no internet, no TV, no DVD, no video games, no air conditions.
Something so minor was looked at by many as a major events.
Rourke
ModernSurvivalOnline.com
To: chinasyndrome
I've seen people absolutely lose it when the power has gone off for even a few minutes...having some sort of back-up for extended power outages other than candles and flashlights can help maintain a sense of normalcy.
Thanks c/s.
RW
To: idahobob
Unfortunately, full blown off-grid power systems are beyond the ability of most people to afford...but temporary back-up systems can be somewhat easier to fit into your budget.
Thanks bob.
RW
To: ModernSurvival
It's a sad state of affairs when many items are considered necessary items in our daily lives but actually have very little to do with actually surviving.
Thanks.
RW
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