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Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Wed. Jun. 19, 2019 5:19 am
by coalnewbie
Yaah yeah, all very interesting but as you never know how long you will be down for and your fuel inventory at that time all this is academic. Electricity needs to be optional and as I need heat 8 month of he year it has to be coal driven. It's not that hard to understand. Great LED lanterns and AA batteries (dirt cheap) a big pile of nut and hand fed stoves. End of story.

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Wed. Jun. 19, 2019 2:01 pm
by McGiever
I wouldn't bother with solar either if my needs were a couple battery lanterns and a pile of coal...End of story. ;)

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Thu. Jun. 20, 2019 7:48 am
by coalnewbie
Yep, or EVs. I am happy in my little world. All I now need is my little Bayliner back..... this is so cool. https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/whales-s ... ner-waters

The last whale I thought I saw was in Lake Wallenpaupack and all it turned out to be was Flyer5 taking a swim.

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Sat. Feb. 15, 2020 5:22 am
by NoSmoke
A person can go off-grid for sure, but what I have found is, then that kind of thing becomes its own lifestyle. There is nothing wrong with that, but there seems to be this sense of..."well, why is not everyone doing this?"

Because it is its own lifestyle, kind of like why some people live in Tiny Houses...it is not for everyone. It is a lifestyle choice.

Myself, I grew up on a farm where we took grid-power most of the time, and had to be very conservative because "electricity is not cheap you know." but when the power went out, and we were running on PTO generator, we had every lightbulb lit in the barn.

This is how I live my life now, but off-griders ridicule me. Go for it. I am content to have a means to power my home IF I MUST, but I am not going to dedicate my life to that 24/7/365.

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Sat. Feb. 15, 2020 8:41 am
by KLook
You mean when just "existing" is a full time job it can be tedious? Sort of like burning wood in an ancient house with single pane glass and no insulation? Tending the garden and animals? All the people that promote this lifestyle never mention the amount of work to be off grid or anywhere near self sufficient...

Kevin

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Mon. Feb. 17, 2020 5:39 am
by NoSmoke
Oh exactly...

I keep careful track of my money, and our family of six averages $10,200 worth of food every year; almost to the dollar. Now I admit that is a lot of food, and it would SEEM I could save a lot of money by growing my own, and up to a point, that is true. Victory gardens of the 1940's proved that. BUT my family of six eats a lot of DIVERSE foods.

There is no way my farm can do that. I cannot grow oranges here. I cannot grow coconuts. And even on the stuff I can grow, how long before the kids get sick of having potatoes at every meal?

It is the same with home electrical power. I can get by with a LED Headlamp and a pot bellied stove, but I cannot subject my wife and kids to that kind of lifestyle.

I have lived in two Tiny House's, twice in my life, and can tell you the good, and the bad. On TV they go back after 6 weeks and ask the people how they like that lifestyle? That is not the time to ask. See where they are in 5 years!!

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Mon. Feb. 17, 2020 7:27 am
by KLook
I know as well. I grew up around people that lived in poverty because they were....poor, and the ones that moved into the region in the 60's and 70's and beyond that were seeking to live like they were....poor! Or in their minds, no consumption, back to the land, off the grid, low carbon footprint, I have heard and discussed it all. Some were just crazy, some were trust fund kids who had been taught this crap in school, and some were genuine back to the earthers. And every configuration in between. Generally, people will only cause their own suffering for just so long....depends how crazy they are!

Kevin

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Mon. Feb. 17, 2020 8:32 am
by NoSmoke
I knew a woman to whom this day I feel bad for.

She was a vegan and got pregnant, but was not taking in enough nutrition to support her and the baby, so she lost the baby. She felt incredibly guilty for that, and went into an understandable deep funk. That was something her husband could just not cope with, and in the end, they ended up divorced.

It sounds simple, and it really was that simple. But it was all too bad because she lost her baby, her husband, and the life she had started out with, all because of her misguided convictions on eating. I know what it is like to lose a child, and it is horrific.

The silliest thing I have ever seen people do is paint themselves into a corner by insisting they only make their own power, or eating only organic, or being a vegan, or growing their own food. NOT ME...I like having lots of options, not to mention a nice steak every once and awhile!

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Mon. Feb. 17, 2020 3:01 pm
by CapeCoaler
Yep...
just about everything they say is bad...
10 years later is good...
Having the option and knowledge...
Now that is the best option...

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Tue. Feb. 18, 2020 5:37 am
by NoSmoke
My foray as an environmentalist was short lived. I was in 6th grade and thought we should ban all those aerosol cans with PFC's or whatever nasty stuff they had in them. Then I found out just (1) trip with the space shuttle did more damage to the ozone layer then (1) year of spray cans with the nasty stuff. And back when I was a kid, the space shuttle was always going to space, so I realized quickly it is all smoke and mirrors.

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Tue. Feb. 18, 2020 6:39 am
by KLook
Then I found out just (1) trip with the space shuttle did more damage to the ozone layer then (1) year of spray cans with the nasty stuff. And back when I was a kid, the space shuttle was always going to space, so I realized quickly it is all smoke and mirrors
+1 NS! Just like one volcanic eruption puts out more nasty stuff then all the cow farts and auto's and coal fired plants in many years!

Kevin

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Tue. Feb. 18, 2020 10:56 pm
by CapeCoaler
Mother Nature puts us all to shame when she has a fit...
Same thing on The Cape with the off road bans...
The beaches were nearly shut down...
Before the Plovers were even considered...
Went out on Nauset after a decent but not terrible winter storm...
5 feet vertical of sand off the beach face gone in 12 hours...
More rearrangement of sand than any human could do...
Needles to say I don't buy into too much of the Human caused Global warming...
Do what ya gotta do to keep the lights on...
Just don't be wasteful...

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Wed. Feb. 19, 2020 3:55 am
by NoSmoke
CapeCoaler wrote:
Tue. Feb. 18, 2020 10:56 pm
Do what ya gotta do to keep the lights on...
Just don't be wasteful...
And I think that is really the answer too, conservation; but people often do not want to do that because it is not new and exciting.

My Uncle bought a $27,000 wind mill, and yet it only saves him 50% of his power. He told me if his house was all-electric then it would save him more money since $27,000-$65=34 years for a return on investment.

I told him if he had invested $27,000 in ways on reducing his electrical consumption he would have been twenty times ahead. I put in a Green Switch and it saved me 50% on my electrical power, but people come from all over to see his windmill, no one even knows I have a Green Switch.

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Wed. Feb. 19, 2020 4:53 am
by lsayre
I tried visiting the GreenSwitch website but it takes me to a "visit India" site instead. Is the company out of business?

Re: Electrical Backup Systems for the future

Posted: Wed. Feb. 19, 2020 6:24 am
by NoSmoke
lsayre wrote:
Wed. Feb. 19, 2020 4:53 am
I tried visiting the GreenSwitch website but it takes me to a "visit India" site instead. Is the company out of business?
I have no idea. I did not know it was a Product or Brand.

What I call a green switch, what I have ever heard a green switch is, is a method of wiring a home so that phantom loads are eliminated, and conservation of electricity is assured.

I had some people that told me I was stupid for just using a circuit breaker as the green switch, but I have been using it for a year and a half and it has been fine. Even if I had to replace the circuit breaker, it has more than paid for itself twenty times over.