After the ice armageddon we had here about 4 years ago, I bought a generator for the house, and I bought one for my CPAP machine as well. The smaller one is an Ecoflow and I think it's about 600w. It's quiet, and it will run my CPAP machine for a little more than two days. It's chargable with solar panels or plugging it into a power socket, or car charger.

I didn't mess around with the house generator, I bought a Westinghouse 9500w/12500w bi-fuel generator. It will run everything in the house during the summer. During the winter, I would have to manage the load, the heat strips in the attic for the heat pump take a huge amount of wattage to run, so I would pretty much have central heat, or everything else on, one or the other. I bought some floor space heaters for use in winter, should I ever need the generator again during that time. They would be easily run on the load being provided by the generator.

I also had an electrician come out and configure my power box in the garage for the generator. They basically install a separate breaker for the generator, provide a 50 amp power plug coming out of it, and put a gadget on the face of the power box that will not let you flip the breaker on to the generator until you have killed the power coming in from the power company. This is to save the life of some poor guy who is working on what he thinks is a dead power line, somewhere down your alley.

 

Been interested in the EcoFlows IIRC, as they have stackable units now, you caa add on to as you go? SO far, so good with your purchase though?

 

We are on Generac power as I type with the A/C and dryer going. After the ice storm 5 years or so ago I swore never again as I was doing a carburetor repair on my Ridgid 9500. Storm came through at 0605 Tuesday (yesterday). Trees and lines down everywhere in Garland with a 5 day or so forecast for restoration. We have had the Generac for 18 months with only weekly test runs. Finally needed it and it was worth every penny. No wires to run, no hook up, no get up in the dark, in the rain. Just count to 5 and say Sparky (anything that has a WiFi address needs a name) go to work! We are too old to be without power.

 

After having a 7kw portable generator for years, I finally had a 24kw Generac installed. My wife wasn't able to connect the portable generator if it had been needed. When away from home during State Guard drills or traveling, it's good to not be concerned about a power loss at home.

 

Most people don't have the money for a whole house generator or full solar a small wind turbine. So what works in emergency is what most need a couple of lights a refrigerator and communication,charge a phone ,a TV or radio (crystal sets need no power ) basics. We are remodeling my girl friends house we are adding DC wiring as well as plugs for gas and solar generators. Did I mention that I am cheap.

 

Ditto on the frugal-mizer-penny pinching scoundrels.....that's why I liked the Eco-Flow aspects of stacking; as budget allows you add-on another battery bank, as the solar array grows......

 

If you can build an AR or an AK maybe a1911 ,rewire a lamp you can diy a solar generator and small wind turbine.

 

I live in a 33 ft travel trailer. Solar is easier,the gas gen easy plug in but noisy,solar lanterns and cheap lawn lights to read by,grid 30 a month.keeping things in stealth moad comes natural,low profile,gray man. Huge solar and big generator never recoup your money. Few people know or care how much power they use ,my trailer and girlfriends home together use about 1600 watts a day.Water heater installed on off switch in her all electric home,cut her electric bill in half ,turn it on when needed.Refrigerator on timer runs about 20 minutes every 3 hours iffy on weather that actually saves anything. Yes I am cheap and getting better at it.

 

You my friend are way ahead of the game. 280,000 people in Texas without commercial power. We have had 5 travel trailers from 13-26 foot, a 5th wheel (best of the bunch but heavy, 12K pounds) and a 28 foot Class C now.

We found that we could easily supply any of them with all the power needed, one cheap Cabelas gen set, 3800 watts. We have one 20 years old, still going strong. I could lift it into the bed of my truck without the 5 gallons of gas in it.

These new gen sets are quiet, 68 db, with the ac running you cannot hear them when they are 15 foot away from the trailer. AND, there is no longer a need for a sine wave worry for computers etc, so we do not need a $2,000 rig, a $400 does just fine now. The gen set has an overload protection and the RV has a breaker box/fuse, and of course lap tops have their own fuse, and we have a surge protector on our land line cord, so no longer the fear harming the computer while using the gen set.

Some may recall, if you went to Camping World or one of those, they would claim that only an "Inverter" generator was safe and try and sell you two Honda gen sets that you had to connect with cables, for about $2,000. Now, that $400 gen set works just fine without risk.

Sounds like the solar is working great for your needs.

 

There's always gov interference if gov money is involved. Parameters are set and must be adhered to ,to get and keep it.

 

I've literally been through the process of securing REAP grants for various rural businesses for energy projects. And I can say without a doubt that there is zero govt interference in the process - you apply for the grant, if it meets the grant requirements, you get the funding. When the project is completed, you let them know and someone from the USDA comes out and takes a look at the project. In every case, they've basically just walked around, asked some questions, and then signed off on it and said, "Ok, cool."

I'm not by any means denying that there aren't MANY examples of government interference in a variety of other types of projects. But as far as these types of REAP (rural energy) projects go, I'm speaking from firsthand experience. There are clearly a lot of misconceptions and uneducated assumptions with this process. That's all I'm speaking to.

Of course, there is a larger debate to continue about whether these sorts of large wind/solar projects are really the best use of land & funding. And I have mixed thoughts on that. There are certainly upsides and downsides, and just as many misconceptions by a lot of the "pro" people as there are by a lot of the "anti" people. In my experience, it's rare to talk to anyone on either side of the argument that actually knows what they are talking about, and not just full of knee-jerk reactions.

 

A friend of mine did something similar to his cabin up in the mountains in Colorado. He runs an extremely well outfitted cabin for his wife and him and 2 guests. Very cool.

 

Frankly, I never looked into subsidies. After the storm 4 years ago, I was going to have a solution one way or another.

 

Without subsidies wind farms and large solar arraies would not be possible. Government,fed state and foreign contribute an average of 72 percent. With connection cost ,repair and replacement they will never be cost effective,a huge drain in taxes and grid cost.

 

Small ,cheap and sneaky can be cost effective for the individual.

 

Reposting from another forum, from this past December:

On Friday, I was driving across central Texas, and just East of Waco, I passed miles of huge wind turbines. I'd never seen a wind farm this big. I guesstimated that I saw around 200 of the windmills.

I guessed low! I got curious when I got home, so I looked up the USGS "U.S. Wind Turbine Database" and discovered there were actually just shy of 300 turbines in that wind farm, designed for a total of about 900 Megawatts. This is equal to the output of a small commercial nuclear power plant. At the going rate of about $1.4 Million per Megawatt of generating capacity, those turbines cost about $4 Million each, for a total of a little over $1.2 Billion.

A few thoughts that came to mind, in no particular order:

• The cost of the turbines was 100% borne by taxpayers and rate-payers.
• Given the typical efficiency of Government run projects, you can bet that if the wind farm cost $1.2 Billion, the taxpayers shelled out $2-3 Billion for it.
• The difference between the actual cost and the taxpayers' burden was graft, corruption, kickbacks, and theft, with a little good ol' inefficiency thrown in.
• Wind power only works when the wind is blowing, so the capacity being equal to a small nuclear plant is misleading - Nuclear plants run all the time - windmills don't. Better figure that the wind farm was worth half of a small nuke.
• The wind farm and associated infrastructure took up a huge amount of space - hundreds upon hundreds of acres.
• Wind farms also kill thousands upon thousands of birds, and they don't make any concessions to endangered species. There's also mounting evidence that they negatively impact bee populations and other animals.

Now, here's the real kicker - As I drove mile after mile past this technological marvel, I couldn't help but notice that not a single one of these 300 windmills was turning!!!

 

While what that re-post says is generally accurate, there is one part that likely isn't:

• Given the typical efficiency of Government run projects, you can bet that if the wind farm cost $1.2 Billion, the taxpayers shelled out $2-3 Billion for it.
• The difference between the actual cost and the taxpayers' burden was graft, corruption, kickbacks, and theft, with a little good ol' inefficiency thrown in.

It's highly unlikely that the project was "government run." The federal government is almost never the entity building or "running" any of these projects. It's possible that a portion of the project was paid for with a government grant or loan (such as the USDA's "REAP" grant), but the federal government would have no hand in the actual building of the project, the selection of contractors, etc. In 99% of cases, these projects are privately built by a developer or built by a utility. The federal government simply provides some of the funding, and then checks up on the project once it it built, to make sure it complies with what was proposed in the grant application.

With that in mind, the supposition that the cost of the project was greatly increased as a result of "graft, corruption, kickbacks, and theft" because "the government was running it" is almost certainly not accurate.

As for the cost being partially borne by rate-payers of the utility that the project is connected to, that is the standard for any means of generation, be it a hydropower dam, nuclear generating facility or solar farm. Rate-payers are usually the ones footing part of the bill.

 

Always follow the money Another aspect that I just discovered is the recycling process for the turbines and there parts , apparently they are stockpiled like our old aircraft and not considered recyclable. More money wasted.I never knee jerk I research where the fed ,state or even city and county's are involved check everything and FOLLOW the money.

 

For sure. I'm not defending the wind industry by any means - there are a lot of things about large-scale wind that, once you know, make it far less of a persuasive large-scale solution than some might think. I'm only speaking to the government funding process for rural energy projects, from my own experience on multiple such projects. It's easy to assume the fed must have all sorts of involvement in the actual process, but they really don't. And I'm well aware that is far from the norm with many others things the government touches.

There can be other types of incentives involved as well, such as federal and state credits/deductions. But for large renewable energy projects in rural areas, the REAP grant is one of the most frequently used financial incentives.

As far as "following the money" goes - it comes from USDA funding (which of course comes from the same place that all such federal funding comes from - taxpayers), and is awarded to the owner of the system. Not really much else to it.

 

Ok back to my original point small out of pocket,not trying to not trying to run the whole house on soar,wind,and generators but initially as back up enlarge as needed or wanted.Diy saves money.Todays packaging costs a lot my solar project went into a 39 gallon tote with a rubber seal I saved roughly 2000 bucks and the tax man can't see it.

 

Life styles are going to have to change weather we like or want to

 

Probably best to assume that has always been, and will continue to be, the case.

 

If you live in a trailer, you really don't need the kind of setup I described for my house. You could get by with a 5,000 watt Harbor Freight generator, and just plug certain appliances into it via an extension cord and a multiple plug outlet. You could keep your refrigerator and freezer going, your wifi if it's still available, your TV, most of what you need and still be under capacity of the generator.

I paid for an Over-the-air (OTA) antenna for the house. I point it to South of Dallas, where all of the towers are, and I can pick up OTA channels from the TV's now. At the very least, I can see what's going on in an emergency. Gives me about 95 channels or so, more than I would ever possibly need.

 

If you live in a trailer, you really don't need the kind of setup I described for my house. You could get by with a 5,000 watt Harbor Freight generator, and just plug certain appliances into it via an extension cord and a multiple plug outlet. You could keep your refrigerator and freezer going, your wifi if it's still available, your TV, most of what you need and still be under capacity of the generator.

I paid for an Over-the-air (OTA) antenna for the house. I point it to South of Dallas, where all of the towers are, and I can pick up OTA channels from the TV's now. At the very least, I can see what's going on in an emergency. Gives me about 95 channels or so, more than I would ever possibly need.

My OTA here get roughly 56 channels,do some streaming through my phone . My gas generator is 4000watts it can handle both trailer and house. Without government subsidies large wind turbines and large solar would not be feasible or evan considered.

 

Government subsidies always go for full house or business when smaller to take care of emergency or to take some of the load off of the grid would imo be much better off.

 

I found over 400 diy energy projects on YouTube today more than half look doable.About 35 appeared cost effective.

 

Small scale can be cost effective,large scale will never be paid for. Installation, repairs, replacement, maintenance,taxes and always planned obseless ness. Without subsidies large scale is impossible.

 

Well the owner has to deal with people, contractors,unions ,local beauracrats, licenseing,permits,and hands out everywhere above and below the table it is after all about the MONEY!

 

Well duh. No different than any other building project. It's not like these projects are somehow unique in that regard.

 

I guess the new ecoflow gen3 is REALLY plug-n-run friendly, has the plugs we need now to jack into the house right off, all the right stuff.....but $$$$

 

Ok large gov backed wind and solar will never be viable... Small homeowner wind,solar backups and or whole house wind and solar combinations will be cost effective eventually. Energy efficient is and will be up to the individual it's the only way it can work in the long term . Start small a work up to it . I have beat this into the dirt let's hear others ideas for personal energy independence .

 

Because it's "govt backed" or because its large? There are actually a lot of economies of scale, and more efficiency, that kick in with large commercial/utility scale projects. The cost per watt for little residential projects is quite a bit higher. And not all large projects are "government backed," though certainly most developers aren't going to leave money on the table - if there are incentives, they are probably going to take advantage of them. Then again, tax breaks and other incentives are how virtually ALL power generation projects happen - hydro, nuclear, whatever.

I guess it depends on what your goals are, however - if you want "personal energy independence" (being totally off-grid) then that's a path on its own. But something like 98% of all PV systems being installed these days are grid-tied (some with a small amount of back-up storage) because it's a lot more economical. Being truly "off-grid" is more than just buying a system, it's a lifestyle change, and most people aren't that committed.

 

Actually appreciate what you have shared, slye.

 

Looks like I am the only one diy ing this stuff, y'all go ahead and burn money.

 

I have been using a portable generators for 30 years. Set up in a shop outside the house, use two 100 foot cords and rotate among heat/ac, fridge, TV and freezer.

We are in Oklahoma and lose power every winter, some summers. Ice on the grounds today. More coming tonight. Started it last night, just to be sure. Down to 10 and more ice tonight but not expecting much. But we are ready with our $400 gen set. It has worked for 30 years, not much and used once or twice per year. Simple devices but you must maintain them.

I am 76 so I need heat and air and creature comforts.