Peak Oil - Emergency Electricity for Home - Genverter?
In the case peak oil causes disruptions in the electricity supply, it is a good idea to have a backup plan. In my case, my home needs electricity for both heat and water. In the winter, without electricity, my house is in a bad way.
I've been trying to decide a good solution for electricity for my home. There are many choices, so that makes it difficult to narrow down. Here are some of the possibilities...
1. No electricity
2. Small gasoline powered generator with a couple outlets - problem, no easy hook up to furnace, and probably not enough power to start the well pump
3. Slightly larger gasoline powered generator hooked that can be plugged into house for a few circuits - problem, would need wiring assistance, would provide more power than needed most of the time, have to fill gasoline tank (have gasoline)
4. Standby generator running of NPG (propane) or NG (natural gas) hooked to house to power various circuts - problems: cost, uses lots of fuel even when only powering one light bulb
5. Solar PV and/or wind with battery bank - problems: cost - simply too expensive
6. Battery bank - problems: limited energy storage capability, needs to be properly sized to be able to handle necessary loads, wiring difficulties, cost
7. Genverter - generator-inverter-charger-battery - basically a generator hooked to a battery bank - the batteries power all small loads and short duration loads - the generator powers longer big loads and also keeps the batteries charged - probably the most efficient in the use of fuel - can also have a few solar PV modules attached to charge batteries during daytime - problems: cost, complexity, zoning(?), finding technical expertise
Since learning about the genverter, I am quite intrigued. Generators tend to be most fuel efficient between 50% and 100% of maximum output. In this range, even the 7,000 watt model would burn over 12 gallons of fuel for a 16 hour day (turning it off 8 hours per day). That may seem like a good deal, but if peak oil causes the grid to go down for a long time, like a month, then that is about 400 gallons of fuel.
What if the grid went down for an entire winter? Three months of use at this rate would be 1,200 gallons of fuel. That would require multiple fillups of the propane tank, and if the electric grid is down, so may be the propane delivery (or just too expensive to buy, or the banking system may be down making it near impossible to pay).
Here are some links to genverter articles:
http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=12901
http://www.poormansguides.com/news-May-07.htm
http://www.mastervolt.com/com/32/news/115/genverter_system.html
http://www.sunpowerconstruction.com/schematic_genverter.html
http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-7457.0.html
http://www.stoppingpower.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9481&whichpage=2
After reading all of these, it makes me think that a genverter system is probably a good idea. It sounds like running a generator one or two hours a day will be enough for the big loads and to keep the batteries charged. That would consume about 1 or 2 gallons of fuel per day... Three months would be in the range of 90 to 180 gallons. That is much, much better than a generator can do alone.
All this leads me to rethink, exactly why do I need home electricity? I break it down into a few different catagories, ranked in order of importance.
I. Essential Big Loads
1. Well pump - essential for drinking water, cooking water, washing water (people, clothing, dishes, etc.), and toilets
2. Furnace fan/ignitor - provides heat essential for maintaining comfortable home temperature and keeping pipes from freezing
3. Refridgerator/deep freeze - food storage for quickly perishable items, and long term food storage - outdoors or cool basement may work in winter, but not so well in warmer weather
II. Highly Desireable Big Loads
1. Microwave - for heating almost any food item, plus killing food-bore germs
2. Electric Cooking Stove - for food preparation, and food storage (canning)
3. Washer (clothing) - washing was once an extremely time consuming task but using a bit of energy makes things very nice
III. Desireable Big Loads
1. Dryer (clothing) - it is fine to line dry in the summer, but what about in the winter or during humid weather?
2. Dishwasher - again, this used to be a tedious task, but this one can be done by hand
IV. Entertainment and Sanity
1. Computer (laptop) - I love to write, to think, to listen to music, to watch DVD's, to surf the Internet, and to play computer games.
2. Lights - It gets pretty dark during Fall and Winter. A few lights would be essential, and candles, while nice, aren't all that bright.
V. Nice to Have
1. Computer monitor - I can deal with the laptop, but the desktop monitor is heaven.
2. Entertainment system - Very nice for family viewing... sitting around a laptop seems a bit odd
Now that I've got that sorted, I have to figure out how to provide them. I think the priority is I, II, IV. Group I and II need to come from a pretty good powersource... generator or good battery backup. Group IV can run on rechargeable batteries that are juiced up while the generator is on, or the battery pack is available.
Now, dear reader, what is your electricity backup plan? What would you do if you knew the power would be out for a month? a year? forever?
As a wise person once said, "if you are failing to plan, you are planning to fail".
Additional Links
http://www.electricitybook.com/?hop=rclewis02
http://www.backuppowersystems.com/diesel.html
http://www.hardysolar.com/shop/product.php?productid=17560&cat=61&page=1
I've been trying to decide a good solution for electricity for my home. There are many choices, so that makes it difficult to narrow down. Here are some of the possibilities...
1. No electricity
2. Small gasoline powered generator with a couple outlets - problem, no easy hook up to furnace, and probably not enough power to start the well pump
3. Slightly larger gasoline powered generator hooked that can be plugged into house for a few circuits - problem, would need wiring assistance, would provide more power than needed most of the time, have to fill gasoline tank (have gasoline)
4. Standby generator running of NPG (propane) or NG (natural gas) hooked to house to power various circuts - problems: cost, uses lots of fuel even when only powering one light bulb
5. Solar PV and/or wind with battery bank - problems: cost - simply too expensive
6. Battery bank - problems: limited energy storage capability, needs to be properly sized to be able to handle necessary loads, wiring difficulties, cost
7. Genverter - generator-inverter-charger-battery - basically a generator hooked to a battery bank - the batteries power all small loads and short duration loads - the generator powers longer big loads and also keeps the batteries charged - probably the most efficient in the use of fuel - can also have a few solar PV modules attached to charge batteries during daytime - problems: cost, complexity, zoning(?), finding technical expertise
Since learning about the genverter, I am quite intrigued. Generators tend to be most fuel efficient between 50% and 100% of maximum output. In this range, even the 7,000 watt model would burn over 12 gallons of fuel for a 16 hour day (turning it off 8 hours per day). That may seem like a good deal, but if peak oil causes the grid to go down for a long time, like a month, then that is about 400 gallons of fuel.
What if the grid went down for an entire winter? Three months of use at this rate would be 1,200 gallons of fuel. That would require multiple fillups of the propane tank, and if the electric grid is down, so may be the propane delivery (or just too expensive to buy, or the banking system may be down making it near impossible to pay).
Here are some links to genverter articles:
http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=12901
http://www.poormansguides.com/news-May-07.htm
http://www.mastervolt.com/com/32/news/115/genverter_system.html
http://www.sunpowerconstruction.com/schematic_genverter.html
http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-7457.0.html
http://www.stoppingpower.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9481&whichpage=2
After reading all of these, it makes me think that a genverter system is probably a good idea. It sounds like running a generator one or two hours a day will be enough for the big loads and to keep the batteries charged. That would consume about 1 or 2 gallons of fuel per day... Three months would be in the range of 90 to 180 gallons. That is much, much better than a generator can do alone.
All this leads me to rethink, exactly why do I need home electricity? I break it down into a few different catagories, ranked in order of importance.
I. Essential Big Loads
1. Well pump - essential for drinking water, cooking water, washing water (people, clothing, dishes, etc.), and toilets
2. Furnace fan/ignitor - provides heat essential for maintaining comfortable home temperature and keeping pipes from freezing
3. Refridgerator/deep freeze - food storage for quickly perishable items, and long term food storage - outdoors or cool basement may work in winter, but not so well in warmer weather
II. Highly Desireable Big Loads
1. Microwave - for heating almost any food item, plus killing food-bore germs
2. Electric Cooking Stove - for food preparation, and food storage (canning)
3. Washer (clothing) - washing was once an extremely time consuming task but using a bit of energy makes things very nice
III. Desireable Big Loads
1. Dryer (clothing) - it is fine to line dry in the summer, but what about in the winter or during humid weather?
2. Dishwasher - again, this used to be a tedious task, but this one can be done by hand
IV. Entertainment and Sanity
1. Computer (laptop) - I love to write, to think, to listen to music, to watch DVD's, to surf the Internet, and to play computer games.
2. Lights - It gets pretty dark during Fall and Winter. A few lights would be essential, and candles, while nice, aren't all that bright.
V. Nice to Have
1. Computer monitor - I can deal with the laptop, but the desktop monitor is heaven.
2. Entertainment system - Very nice for family viewing... sitting around a laptop seems a bit odd
Now that I've got that sorted, I have to figure out how to provide them. I think the priority is I, II, IV. Group I and II need to come from a pretty good powersource... generator or good battery backup. Group IV can run on rechargeable batteries that are juiced up while the generator is on, or the battery pack is available.
Now, dear reader, what is your electricity backup plan? What would you do if you knew the power would be out for a month? a year? forever?
As a wise person once said, "if you are failing to plan, you are planning to fail".
Additional Links
http://www.electricitybook.com/?hop=rclewis02
http://www.backuppowersystems.com/diesel.html
http://www.hardysolar.com/shop/product.php?productid=17560&cat=61&page=1