Man, thanks for taking the time to make videos during all this. I hope and pray everyone is paying attention to all the lessons learned from all the folks affected by this storm.
About 8 years ago my mother’s neighborhood experienced a fairly serious snow storm. My mother did not live in a remote, rural area. Her house was in a Maryland suburb, about 25 miles out of Washington DC. It took Baltimore Gas and Electric 3 weeks to get power restored to her neighborhood. She had no heat, no water, no lights, no refrigeration. Having an alternative source of energy is essential! Thanks for sharing your experiences.
You probably meant the 2010 Snowgedden that dumped 20+ inches of snow in DC area. But wait there's more; the area lost power/fuel for a week + in late June, 2012 from Derecho (wind storm). Anything can happen anywhere just be ready.
Really enjoy your videos. Watching and praying for all my internet friends in North Carolina in this trying time. Stay safe out there! Greetings from Nova Scotia.
I have 7 Ecoflows, one Jackery and a Westinghouse. The ecoflow has pass thru charging. Also they charge really fast. Makes a big difference if you plan on topping the batteries off with a gas generator.
Get a chest freezer when you replace the upright as they are more efficient. Keep an eye out for a military surplus diesel generator. Diesel has a longer shelf life than gas.
We have learned a lot this past few weeks. It is a different look what you see in person to what you see on TV- Driving around is hard to watch because people are piling up everything from their homes to the side of the road, it is all ruined and their entire lives are just sitting there. It's tough
Eric, Thank you for making the video. I am close enough to be able to deliver some supplies and help some friends clean up . The damage there is incredible to observe. Not sure exactly what to do to make sure we are cleaning and restoring floors effectively. Mold might try to creep in . So much work to be done! Best wishes for you and the farm. Planning to return in a few days to help some more and deliver more supplies. The sad thing is most of the properties there are not insured....so folks need help from what I see. Lots of compassionate folks delivering food for pets and us workers and it is appreciated. God bless WNC and all the hurricane survivors trying to rebuild their lives.
Thank you- we feel blessed that we did OK compared to so many else. I feel guilty that we were complaining about not having power for 9 days when others lost everything
Great update ! So happy the farm is doing well . Them power stations are great but there's features that can be very handy . Like that solar input charging wile you use power . Every watt of solar counts ! I run my radio stuff directly on battery .If I have solar or mains power then that goes into battery . The next hurricane is now a cat 5 going to Florida. Have many friends their. CB is getting threw from NY to FL . In times of real need CB still coming threw . Ham radio and GMRS/FRS/MURS radios helping as well. Cellphone's / internet go down and power grid. Radio still works ! The most reliable way to get info and send info is RADIO ! The best tool we have ! take care . Great video !
The emergency responders were using radio for communications because cell service was not working at all after the storm. That storm is looking like a monster, I hope everyone stays safe
Wow, great insights into potential quirks with backup power systems. Thank you for sharing and I hope that you can get back to fairly normal soon. Good work on keeping things going around the house. That took a lot of work to get to where you are today. It seems to have paid off.
@@FarpointFarms no one is keeping you from sharing 😆 if i was to look at anyone it is the producers.. they could give away a little part of their profit by handing out a couple of emergency kits in situations like this.. i have a feeling those would give more publicity then a couple of youtubers if starlink can help people, i dont see why companys like ecoflow or signature solar cant.. its kind of greedy only giving youtubers the products, and not the ones that needs them
Thank you- there are some in our county that it will be weeks more due to all the damage. There is one area where the road is gone and 200+ trees down. Total mess
Thanks Erik for all the good info. If your viewers can learn anything from your recent experience it is that they should prepare for some level of disaster preparedness. While we do not live our everyday lives off-grid we could all find ourselves w/o water, power, and the ability to maintain our daily lives during any disastrous weather event. Also, folks need to have the ability to protect themselves and their families during these events. Prayers for you and your family during these hard times.
I’ve started using solar power at my place during the past year or so , it’s a much smaller scale at this point but I’m planning on doing some upgrades. This video was a great help , thank you 🙏🏻 very much and God Bless ✝️🇺🇸
Real life is the greatest teacher. The most I have had to endure is 8 days without power and water for 5 days during the freeze. What I learned from that is that a 48V inverter is not efficient . I built a diy 48V system on a hand truck I had seen on you tube. Kind of disappointing to find out that it ran my residential fridge for 37 hours using 2.4 KW for the Fridge and the inverter used 2.7kw using 1kw on idle per day. Afterwards I only then charged the 48V battery with two small generators connected in parallel at 30 amps and used the battery only without the inverter to extend my 2kw Ecoflow which powered the fridge non stop for 65 hours. I learned that I need to change to a 12V system with an 1800W inverter and a 12V battery with 460ah, this will be more efficient. for such emergencies when the sun is in short supply. Plus the 3KW 48V inverter, the solar charger required a minimum of 120V which most people don't have such a large solar array but a 12V inverter with a 12V solar charger requires lower voltage to start charging. Though my situation was different than yours, yours is harder because if it came down to it my food would not have spoiled during the freeze but yours can. I also learned since I experience frequent outages that owning some 12V fridge/freezers is a must. I have a couple of 500W Jackeries that each unit will run my 45 qt fridges for 45 hours before needing to be charged and this is in 90º to 95ºF ambient temperatures in the Texas summers. I just transfer the food from the big fridge to the 12V and I'm good.
Thanks for the video. Looking forward to see the direction you plan to go for the upgrade. Having the multiple buildings certainly adds to the challenges.
Thanks, glad your back up to back up were there. Stay safe - I know they are working none stop for folks with the power. They are actually getting the young once hiking a country mile just to get to downed utility poles
Sorry to hear about all your problems Eric. I hope you can get things back up and running real soon for you and your wife's peace of mind. Having to live off grid is okay sometimes but then there's times it's not a whole lot of fun I know I've been there I was there last winter. Living completely off grid at a place called Inskip california. Living in some people I n e w s old hotel built in the mid-1800s because at the time I had nowhere else to go.. I'm doing better now though. I had a diesel generator up there at the old hotel but it quit working by midwinter and then I had no power. I did have propane though and was able to heat some water on the stove so I could at least get a shower. And I had a wood heater so I could stay warm in the hotel I was at 5,000 FT elevation and it was a pretty rough winter had a hard time getting out. Had to depend on friends that had four-wheel drive vehicles that could drive me down off the mountain into town to buy groceries and make my doctor's appointments. Turned out to be the worst winter of my life. I'm almost 69 years old and it was rough being up there all alone throughout the entire winter and all that cold and snow. And being that much off grid had no cable and no cell service. Although I did have a landline so I could contact people . Anyway that's enough about me. Hope everything is better for you and yours very soon.
Very interesting to get your 'real world' view! Thank you. I'll keep pass-thru charging and amount of time to charge front and center as I look at portables!
It appears you’re way ahead of the game so to speak during this ordeal. Always good to have a plan. Hopefully the utility company makes its way out of town towards you. 73s
Great lessons learned video. I have a similar setup to you. The flow through issue (charge while discharging) is a big deal. I have an investment in Oupes so I'll have to review their capability. Longest we have went so far is about 18 hours so I haven't had to top off with the generator yet. If you can get that power box working. I'd be interested to learn what you found. Keep charging. Later
The problem with the power pack not charging and outputting is no “pass through charging”. I’m surprised your power bank didn’t have it because most power stations made now do have pass through charging. Before you make your next purchase, just check that it has “pass through charging” Good Luck!
hi Eric, sorry to hear your power is still out. I was thinking about what you said about fast recharge. Power stations that have internal chargers, that is, no power brick, can be charged in an hour or two. That applies pretty much across-the-board. Anything with a power brick is usually limited to 100-250 watts. It’s the first thing I check when looking at new power stations.
Get a chest freezer and put a couple of gallon water jugs in to help stabilize the temperature. I have a 2000 watt inverter that I can connect to the Lithium batteries in my golf cart. Only buy a power unit that can charge and discharge at the same time. I have a boost converter to be able to charge my 36 volt golf cart bank from my solar panels. Thanks for the video .
I hope everything goes well where you are and power and other service are back up soon. I can charge my PowerOak (BLUETTI) EB240 (holds 2400 watt hour) while power is being taken. However it only charges at just over 210 watts while outputting 1000 watt. Thankfully I have two of the EB240's and a petrol generator. The generator produces 1000 watts, so two EB240 charge at a little over 400watt leaving 500 - 600 watts for other periferals.
Today living off grid is a novelty - I live in the rural deep south - REA finally brought power in my area in the late 50s - For those who had power they had a 32 volts farm light plant - It consisted of 16 large two volt cells and a generator to charge the lead acid batterys - During winter most only charged all day Friday - During summer the fridges, freezer's, ceiling and window fan ran a lot - So in summers they charged all day Friday and some on Monday for a 21 kw set up - The battery's that used 1.220 strength acid lasted about 40 yrs - The battery's that used 1.195 strength acid lasted about 60 yrs - Back then there were complete lines of appliances sold that ran on 32 volts DC in towns in rural America - You can read about farm light plants on the net - My grand father started working on them around 1900 or so - I'm a third generation generator man i spent my yrs in the offshore oilfields working in power production - I've been through 20 storms on land - some times my power off the grid has been knocked out for months - I'm hybrid when off the grid and charge my lead acid battery 2 hrs a day in summer - I'm never in the dark -
It was good of you to give out those four generators and gas to neighbors and help those of your neighbors, without the natural springs in the area, fill up from your spring.
Great Video! I've been pushing using power stations precisely for that reason... you only need to run the generator maybe 2 hours a day (depending on the size of the power station) to charge up the station and save boat loads of gasoline. Throw in a few solar panels, and gasoline use drops even further! In emergencies, it is all about having flexibility, and options, and conservation, and you get all of that in spades with a few power stations and solar panels. Not bad considering the ad-hoc nature of all the systems you put together. I'm not a fan of VToMan's, personally... all my power stations can charge and discharge simultaneously and some of them are hitting 5 years old now with basically zero loss of capacity. -Matt
@@FarpointFarms Yah, that's one of the downsides of a power station (at least in situations where a person only has one). Everything is integrated into one unit and if it breaks you are down for the count. The better solution, technically, is to put together a power system with discrete components. Panels, charge controller(s), LiFePO4 batteries, an inverter, fusing and breakers, etc. But I don't usually recommend that unless the person knows their way around electrical systems. The power station still winds up being the best solution for most people.
We dodged the bullet on Helene. We are about 60 miles west of where the storm went through GA and got virtually zero damage. Our power never even blinked. You're learning a couple of things through necessity. These "solar generators" are advancing rapidly, but there's a lot we need to understand about their limitations. Units that were purchased 2-3 years ago are woefully inadequate for power outages. I have 3. The first one i bought was the AC200MAX from Bluetti. It's great for running appliances and power tools, but the AC charge rate requires 4-5 hours, and that's way too much time if you need to recharge with a generator. The 2nd one was a Bluetti EB3a, a small station for running my router. It wrapped out after about 9 months. Bluetti replaced it, but it took a couple of weeks to get through that process. Things we all need to understand about these power stations. 2k watts sounds like a HUGE amount of power. It's not. A fridge or freezer will eat that up in one day. Fast charging is critical. Newer Bluetti or Ecoflow products can be charged at 1800+ watts, and that's critical when using a genny to recharge. Stations need to have UPS so you can use them in virtually all applications. Stations need to allow over-panel use. My AC200MAX charges via solar at 900 watts, but i can easily hook up 1200 watts of panels as long as I stay within the voltage limits. It will only accept 900 or so, but having 1200 available means I get more watts during cloudy conditions. Having a dual-fuel generator is the key to being comfortable during power outages that last several days. We can run portable ACs and all our 110 devices with a 5k generator. Alternative power options like solar and generator require some degree of power management. Unless you have a massive battery bank and large solar array, or a "whole house" backup generator that runs in natural gas, you'll need to control how much power you use. We have 2 refrigerators and 4 freezers full of food because we grow most of our food. We keep 200 pounds of propane and 25 gallons of gas on hand. We are on a farm, so we have the capacity to carry around 200 gallons of gas but have never kept that much. We run the gas through the mowers or just use it in our vehicles in order to keep it fresh. We have 3 generators. We have the 3 power stations, 4,000 watts of solar panels, and about a million feet of extension cords. We are as prepared as we can be. I guess...
Thanks for the update on your solar backups, very informative and helpful in future planning. I noticed your old C Band dish, is there still activity up there on C Band? I used to enjoy listening to audio feeds on C Band sub carriers back in the early 1990's. (Used a Drake SA-24 Stereo Adapter that a radio station no longer needed to tune program feeds). At that time there was a lot of audio in the clear, and still quite a bit of video.
I like to use the thumb rule of "a minimum of 10% of rated power can be had 80% of the year"... this is good to sizing sufficient solar panels for your critical loads like freezers and fridges.
If you purchased the All Power unit, call them before breaking into it. They're really good at helping diagnose problems and will take back some units for repair or replacement. If it was a giveaway for review, I look forward to a video about your attempts to repair it. I hope you can. Good luck and happy you all made it through this. We barely did. WNC is still fighting it out. We're doing our best down here in Spartanburg, SC to help our family and friends in NC, and soon FLA. As we all are learning, we have only each other. Our government is out on an extended lunch.
What's your take on a modular system? Something like a battery bank, inverter, charge controller all separate, so you only replace portions of the entire system when they fail. I have a small array of Off-The-Shelf components like that, and it does charge while on load. Do you prefer the integrated units over something like that?
We’ve been using an RV with 600 watts of solar for almost 3 years, and I can testify that even a little bit of solar like this can enormously improve your quality of life when main power is off line. Just a side note - the DC portable electric coolers that are available use very little wattage (while running) and work great as a backup. Just saying.
FIRST thing to look for with the portable power pacts is the WARRANTIES a) How long are they? b) Does the customer have to pay shipping to send these HEAVY things back" c) Repairs, can they be repaired IN the United States, is there replacement parts in the U.S.? folks buy these to rely on BUT they are dependable as new generators NOT cranking or breaking down under 30 hours of use.
Much better to put together a proper battery bank so you have cpacity. Those portable units are great but not really for day after day usage. That 1200 watt setup should put out plenty of amperage to keep a bank of deep cycle batteries fully charged. Run through a 2kw or 4kw invertor with a charge controller.
Hey hope the power comes back up soon. Glad you're okay. I wanted to ask where I could get an antenna like I had back in the 80s it was called a big stick. I was able to talk all over the place with that stick.
I had an Antron 99 (still have it, just blew down one winter). I got an Antron because the better one (from what I've heard), IMAX 2000, wouldn't ship to my address. I've heard there may be one to top both, a Sirio GainMaster from Copper Electronics. I know nothing more about it. I was able to talk sixty miles on four watts with the Antron. Looks like Walcott Radio may have something you're looking for. Right Channel Radios MAY as well. Good Luck. Hear you out there.
As much of a fan as I am of solar, you just about need a concrere bunker with replacement panels to keep an array viable through storms and general disaster. Back up generators and a stationary bicycle to keep stuff running while you fix the solar system.
@@FarpointFarms Yeah, that's the "just about" part. Being able to afford what you need. I've built a lot of retaining walls in my life. In my area in California, just the 8x16 blocks would cost over $1,000. Considering that I over build everything, after I rebar every other tier, and put verticals in every block (every other hole) then fill the verticals with concrete (for this I'd fill all the voids, it's a bunker!). All that is about $2k. no door, no roof, no floor and no labor (just materials).
Can you better explain your current OFF-Grid power setup equipment? OR provide a link with all the equipment. Very interested with what works in a real disaster. Regards...
Called Pass through . Ability to charge and use the generator at the same time . Not designed properly if the solar generator does not have Pass Through .Ecoflow , Jackery, Bluetti (what I own ) all have pass through . Pecron too . Own 7 solar generators-all pass through .
I wan't too warn you about the solar panel at 600W from allpower, i have seen some people at youtube had getting hot spots within few days. So just be little bit careful about that one. I was about buy it, but then i saw someone talking about it and was buying the 400W instead (that's gives me 210-275 W when it's clear day. One time above 300W and never 400W in-real-world. Just too warn you about it, but it's working and haven't getting any hot spot.
The off brand that we have did great other than slow to charge. I guess I would expect more from any and it failing during a time of need was frustrating
That's not nearly enough solar panels to REPLACE grid energy for an average home daily use. And if you have property _(more than a zero lot-line city or suburban home)_ do NOT mount your solar panels on a roof, mount them on a purpose built shed, gazebo... or with the new BI-FACIAL panels, mount them on a RACK with white or silver painted reflector under them, so they can absorb energy _(light)_ from both directions. _Another advantage of a (6 foot high) rack mounting system for bifacial panels is_ _YOU CAN TAKE THEM DOWN EASILY before a hurricane shows up_
EG4 3kW Off-Grid Inverter | 5000W PV Input @ 500 VOC Input = $674.10 - EVE MB31 LF314 Grade A LiFePO4 3.2V Prismatic Cell x 16 = 51.2 volts @ $87/cell = $1,392 - JK B2A24S20P 200A Bluetooth BMS with 2A active balancer built-in = $155. So, 3,000 watts of inverter, 5,000 watts of solar charging and 16,076.8 watts of battery for $2,221.10 all products are USA Stock
LOL, these SHYNA battery packs are designed to NOT last, bought a Jackery 500 that recently went out, NO warranty after 3 years & it had been used about half a dozen times.
Might want to consider a electric car and using its battery power via a inverter or some have basic V2L capability or more complex extensive V2H to power your entire home. You could use them to recharge your portable batteries at night without all the noise of a combustion generator.
The type that takes in and puts out electricity is called pass through charging. I am shocked you have a non pass through charging solar generator. Good luck in this year. PS all Bluetti and Ecoflow solar generators are pass through charging.
amazon is having a fall sale 8-9th i seen several different brands of solar generators are on super sale. Just wanted to pass that on. altho i feel kinda of dumb to say it being the situation. Sorry bout that.
I totally disagree. This setup has kept me running these past 12 days. Without it, I'd have to rely heavily on my generator and that means burning a lot of fuel and being stuck with power in only one spot. Solar is the eternal power source. Not something you can power everything with, but that wasn't the point of this setup in this configuration. Wind? Not here. We live in a fish bowl and as a result, we thankfully never get wind. I think you should take a look at solar as a prep, and not as a "Green" idea. I could care less about that, but wanted a silent power source here that would run for years if needed. It worked!
In an emergency there is nothing more precious than gasoline, so being able to reduce your consumption to 1/6th of what you would use without solar and storage is life-saving. And I think Helene has made that really really really clear to everyone. There was (and is) a stark, stark difference between households that had power stations and a bit of solar to augment their generators, and households that did not. (And we won't even mention the difference that starlink has made, as well, to many people's lives). You'd be hard pressed to argue against it in any sane way given the incredible amount of evidence showing just how good it is. -Matt
If you hook your generator/solar up with a power cord to an outlet in your house. Don't forget to turn OFF THE MAIN BREAKER TO YOUR HOUSE. If you don't power can go out of your house and to the grid. Endangering linemen working to restore your power!
@@jeremydavis2595 the problem is that an interlock of any sort is useless when using a cheater cord to back feed.... UNLESS... the back feed is at the panel and going through a breaker tied to that interlock. Most people in this situation lean away from a transfer switch due to cost.
Most modern power stations use LiFePO4 batteries. They might not be cheap, but they absolutely last a long time. The cells easily last 15 years. There is no fade, you can use the full capacity. Those batteries are awesome so I can only believe that you've never actually used one. Now, I can't vouch for all the power electronics that also go into those boxes. But the basic battery technology is incredibly good... orders of magnitude better than lead acid. It isn't even a question these days.
Looks like you have enough investment and complexity to go with a diesel 10kw or 15kw generator instead, to simplify your operation and reliability. A lot of piecemeal issues here and there.
I'm no fan of putting all my eggs in one basket. A huge whole house generator is great, as long as it works, and as long as you don't run out of fuel. Ask the Fukushima power plant how well their diesel backup generators worked after the flooding. I'll give you a hint. They didn't. This approach may seem haphazard, but I assure you that there is logic in it. Two is one, and one is none my friend.
