Power supply list and other options to consider

Found out there was a local prep group, forming up in town, last year. After being put on the steering committee, we discuss different topics for what we believe would be beneficial to those attending. .
What started out as a group of 1/2 doz folks, has morphed in to a bi-monthly group of 25+ attending. Last weeks meeting had 32.
I mention this since there were just a few of us with ideas for prep topics, when we started.
After the 7 month mark, those attending finally opened up, showing , as we tried to encourage at every meeting. Everyone has something to contribute, even if it's what they feel is not important.

Our group's average age is mid 60's, with a few younger than 50 participants. Oddly enough those younger folks are from....................CO.

Anyway, one of the woman gave us a talk on her preps, mostly for power supply, options.
. She explained, as a single woman who lives in a semi rural area, she realized years ago. No one was going to help her, if she couldn't help her self. A message which a lot of those in attendance really paid attention to.

Here's some of the items she presented to the group. With the snow you're having, or not. I figured if one item for down the road helps, be it at home or camping, why not pass it along.

https://www.walmart.com/search/?cat_id=0&facet=brand%3APoweradd||customer_rating% 3A4+-+5+Stars&query=power+pack+chargers
https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/search?q=Selk+Suit
https://www.amazon.com/LETOUR-LED-Tu...301154&sr=8-10
https://www.olightstore.com/
https://m.suaoki.com/promotion/Power-Station.html
https://ecoflow.com/
https://nexfan.net/collections/best-seller
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Boost-Oxy...ctedSellerId=0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/PORTABLE-AI...-/393037922332
https://www.toptenreviews.com/best-emergency-radios

Cousin brought a portable battery on our hunting trip to try out. It was about half the size of the one linked and kept or phones charged all week without having to recharge the cube at all. I think it still showed 60-80% battery by the end of the week; can't remember. Anyway, something that size could easily be at least 50aH and mammy of those can be charged with 120AC, 12V DC, or solar.


If your handset, you can build one line I had on my van with a 50w panel and 20A solar charger, all the wiring and ports, and I had an 18aH battery for only about $100.

We bought a 4500w inverter generator last year. Runs off gas or propane. I highly overestimated how much power our fridge and freezer use, but overkill is better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Irving

Cousin brought a portable battery on our hunting trip to try out. It was about half the size of the one linked and kept or phones charged all week without having to recharge the cube at all. I think it still showed 60-80% battery by the end of the week; can't remember. Anyway, something that size could easily be at least 50aH and mammy of those can be charged with 120AC, 12V DC, or solar.


If your handset, you can build one line I had on my van with a 50w panel and 20A solar charger, all the wiring and ports, and I had an 18aH battery for only about $100.

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I got one of these a while ago and its awesome to have around (Anker 20k, I believe). Travelling, power outages, camping, hunting, whatever. Just nice to have a power source around.

One simple thing lots of people miss is just have your phone charging when you're not using it. Like driving or eating dinner. Having a fully charged phone when things go south unexpectedly is huge.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GilpinGuy

One simple thing lots of people miss is just have your phone charging when you're not using it. Like driving or eating dinner. Having a fully charged phone when things go south unexpectedly is huge.

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Unlike the people I see huddled near an outlet in some godforsaken corner of the airport?

O2

It's a good thing I bought that genset. IREA is being IREA again.

Oddly, after I dragged the generator out of the shed for the snowpocalypse earlier this month, we haven't had so much as flicker in the power at the house. We do keep pretty much everything charged, the computers and network gear are on an oversized UPS, and we have a number of those little power bricks ready to go. I even have one of those hand crank flashlights that can function as a USB charger, but that's a lot of damn work to be able to post on social media.

Some newer generators have fuel injection. If you live or shelter at higher elevations or want to minimize your fuel use, Fuel Injection might be on your list.
If you value your electronic toys and some modern HVAC systems, check out the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) less then 6% if I remember is the max you want. Inverters are good at providing good clean power. Few have enough Watts to power a home.
Generac has a printable form to figure out your base and starting load requirements. I'm not a fan of there heavily advertised equipment.