Monday, March 18, 2024

March 18 - The Campfire Trail - Back Up Plans

March 18, 2024

Day 899 of the Adventure

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Among the things that occupied my time this morning was a letter I received from the local power company. I think it was their annual attempt to get the citizenry on board with their agenda for the coming year. It seemed they were advocating for more stabile sources of power to distribute to their customers. It read a lot like "We need more money and oh, by the way, if we aren't able to get more for upgrades, you will very likely experience more power disruptions in the years to come". Yes, that's about what I made of it.  They cited a recent winter storm of only about two months ago and how it may have been much worse if it had lasted even one more day longer than it had. In their words, "Another 24 hours-worth of storms and cold weather would have certainly caused power disruption due to high demand". Maybe that's true and maybe it wasn't. I know a number of friends lost power during the storm. I assumed from downed power lines, which are unavoidable in our neck of the woods. It just happens and the only remedy is to get them fixed as soon as possible. Power outages due to demand is something different and I'm not sure of the validity of it as far as when it could likely occur. I know it's a real thing, just not sure how or when the call is made to shut it down, or where and how long. Why is this important? It probably isn't in the sense that there's much of anything we can do about it. The only importance lies in our ability to being prepared for the inevitable grid failure. 

Before going into the whole preparedness thing, it's worth noting that Shelley and I are not "Off-Grid" in the pure sense of being disconnected from the grid. We do have an electrical grid connection. Part of it was to power the tools and equipment we would be using around our place. It's occasionally an amount of power beyond what our solar plant can handle. Part of it was due to the lack of experience and knowledge we possessed about off-grid solutions when we began our "back to the land" adventure. Things like solar power for example. I believed I could potentially do more harm than good if we went completely off-grid and something went wrong with our system simply because I didn't understand it sufficiently. Our solar plant system has grown with our understanding of it. As of now, we are on the grid, but rely most heavily on our solar equipment for energy. We have experienced three separate power outages and have not been affected by any of them. (I'll go into the details of how all of it works at some point) For now, it's simply important to know that electrical storage from solar acts as a primary power source and is ultimately a complete "back-up" to a Grid-Down situation. 

So here's my point. In thinking ahead to the future, whether it's involving complete energy independence, or emergency back-up for those times when it's needed, plans are worth developing. I like to think of it as having as many options as possible. From that perspective, we have basically a four-part back up. Perhaps five if you count going into Amish mode. Whether you view our grid connection or our solar plant as the primary power source, the two make up our primary and secondary systems. After that is a generator connected into our Power Inverter. After that is a second generator standing in reserve. Why two generators? In the words of Burt Gummer of the movie Tremors fame, back up, back-up generator! Actually, we had two generators back in our resort business days for powering multiple buildings in emergencies. As we made the transition to the backwoods life, two generators became a redundant source of back-up power if needed. So far, the generators have not been needed in emergency situations but have come in handy for remote working where power was convenient to have but inconvenient to access. Backwoods power, in other words. 

What does all this mean for someone who is trying to prepare for those future potential grid interruptions?  It's this. Beginning to plan for back-up systems is prudent in your life but does not have to be all that complex. It can be very complex, but not necessarily. Food, fuel, shelter and water are the four most often cited areas of preparation. Medicines are another, but that is not necessarily complex when planning it as a short-term measure. It could be very complex as a long-term need. For the most part though, I tend to view temporary emergencies as one week or less. I think one week would cover most emergency situations. Events that last beyond one week would be fewer but would also be more devastating and require more preparation. For simplicity sake, if you are unprepared for a one week emergency event, I would not start trying to prepare for a larger event until you could handle one week. 

As you consider what measures would be needed in the event of a one-week loss of services, the list is not terribly complicated. Think of it as a camp-out lasting one week. What would you include in your supplies and provisions. Plus, are you preparing for just mild weather or are you thinking extreme weather? A one-week supply of fresh water and food would top the list. A source of heat if you're planning for a cold weather event would need to be considered. Power and fuel for cooking along with a cooking method. Honestly, as I look at this list, and having lived through a five day power outage in the middle of winter, I believe that I could prepare ourselves as a family of five for about $1,000 in about one day. For another $1,000 I would add an appropriate sized generator to the list. Setting aside $2,000 to be prepared for emergencies is not too large of a hurdle. Obviously, looking at a 30-day event or 6 month or year-long emergency will take much more planning and preparation. That's all part of another conversation. For now, if you can get yourself to a one-week emergency preparation, you have probably covered most of the situations and events you will likely encounter. Then it's time to begin thinking of how to extend that ability to a longer time frame. 

Store up one week's worth of extra food and fresh water. Rotate those supplies through your regular life, keeping fresh supplies in the rotation. Plan for a way to cook, plan for fuel for cooking. We used a Coleman camp stove and kept a couple gallons of camp fuel handy. Our simple auxiliary source of heat was a wall mounted, vented LP gas heater. Along with three 20-lb propane bottles. We later added a couple of 100-lb bottles to extend the capacity even longer if needed. Up until about 2011, we lived in houses that had natural gas services. This was very reliable but back in the late months of 1999, the Y2K scare had many believing that even natural gas delivery would potentially be disrupted. This is the reason we opted for LP as a back-up. Even with natural gas supplying our home, without electricity, the furnace would not function, so generators and a Natural Gas wall mounted heater supplemented us with an adequate amount of heat to keep the house from freezing. 

Choosing a one-week plan for emergency preparedness will answer many questions about how to extend that capability for longer periods. 

Carry On

Adventure Quote:  “You cannot be prepared for everything, but you can be prepared for some things, and you will not be attacked by everything throughout your life, it will only come from some things, make sure you identify those things well!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost in the Fog (Guatemala Decaf)


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