I live in a racially mixed suburban neighborhood on Long Island NY. I am well prepped with food, water and defense. However no generator. I'm skeptical about getting a whole house gas powered one ($$$) or smaller gas or diesel to power fridge and freezer only because the noise would make us a target. Any ideas?
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Move to the midwest
Solar generators are more than enough to power your refrigerator/freezer and devices. May not be enough to heat the house tho. $2K for a good one at Lowes.
I picked up one of those low noise generators that provides 2,300-Watts. This is enough to power the surge of a refrigerator (approx. 1000 watts) when the compressor kicks on. The thing is extremely quite and lightweight. It ran me around $700.
Be sure to get heavy duty extensions cords if you do not have them. Also, you will want to figure out a way to run the cord(s) into the house without having the generator fumes enter the home. A pool noddle works well as a sealant.
This is the one we have as well as the whole house generator (proane & gas). You can plug it now, have it charged up before you have to use the solar part. https://inergytek.com/
Thank you so much!
And go where? Getting off Long Island means driving through NYC
Take the bridge out.
Take up sailing as a hobby, could be your best escape plan.
Going now would be advisable
Is a ferry ride to Conn a feasible alternative?
And then what?
go west
Bring a tent and take a nap in the Catskill Mountains for 20 years?
The Southern Tier is full of mostly normal people living on their rural farms.
Been there. Done that. For many reasons. I am where I am.
I'm not far from you here in the communist stronghold of New England. So please don't feel alone. It's fairly well wooded here, but the crazy demoncrats run everything in my state capitol also.
I honestly don't think you'll have to flee your home, but glad that you are prepared if the 💩 hits the fan.
My late husband and I were survivalists. We lived by the sea until it came through our front door. Many lessons learned about what does and doesn't work when it all goes south.
Save the generator for last.
First use candles, Coleman lanterns & stoves, time of day (go to bed when it gets dark, get up when it gets light,) 12v batteries and solar to charge devices, bbq, stovetop coffee percolator, books instead of TV and so on.
Best of all, RV fridges run on propane and work very well.
Forethought wins every time.
If you have decent sunlight, consider solar. You can set yourself up with a battery bank and some panels pretty easy.
Im with you, been trying to figure this out. Something affordable, no way we can run house only would want fridge and some cooling (fans, portable swamp cooler). We have a gas one but its useless bc obviously gas.
Need solar. Anyone know the specs on wattage for running these things? Need solar gen which is $$$$$$$$ so really need to get wattage right. How much needed for fridge, unfortunately a huge older built in one. 22 years old and massive prob takes a ton of energy, how to know how many watts would take?
300-400 watts to run a refrigerator but when the compressor kicks on, that surge can be 800 - 1000 watts.
Instead of a generator or solar panel, you could look into a AC invertor for your car or truck. Just run the refrigerator in cycles just to keep the food from spoiling.
Harbor freight. 9500w dual fuel generator costs about $800. Enough to power refrigerators and appliances for about $10 a day in fuel.
Agreed that it mostly makes you a target. I'd rough it and only run the generator when needed.
Keep in mind anything can go out. Even the gas. We experienced it a couple winters back and were hankering for a wood stove. 😂
Not if, when. Try Solar. Jackery Portable Power Station Explorer with a couple panels.
Prepare to bug out to a remote location somewhere in Upstate NY the first inkling of trouble. You could seek out a place where you can camp out before it happens. Bury some of your supplies there for when you need to bug out so you will be traveling lighter. And keep your car packed with your bug out bags at all times. If you have two cars put them in both.
Did you know there are lots of ISIS and MS13 type trading camps throughout the Catskills and Appalachia? And more meth labs than you can shake a snake at.
solar if you can afford it.
Roof solar or small panels for the generator?
Look up Selco, archived posts who lived through total shtf in the Serbo-Croatian war. His city got surrounded suddenly despite government assurances that all would be well, noting that the elites suffered nothing and even purified during the horror. After horrendous experiences he had advice. Generators attract attention and draw attacks. Going it alone is suicide. Stock up on all the basics and do not neglect antibiotics and antidiarrheals, because death from food poisoning and infection were common. I believe his plans now are to bug out early to relatives outside the city
Honda has "suitcase" generators. All you hear is a little puff puff out of it. They come in small to big sizes depending on what you want to power. Alot of your food trucks and food stands use them nowadays.
Get a silent generator fren, just make sure it's vented if running it inside.
Leave now while you can
And where would I go? I am a 70 year old recent widow. My son and DIL live on the second floor. I would gladly sell my house, but then what? Not so easy when you don't have a support system elsewhere
Leaving for an unknown destination would probably not be your best bet. It sounds good - going to the forest, but if stuff really went south it wouldn't be the dream scenario most think of. Feeding and hydrating yourself would be very unlikely and surviving the elements would further decrease the likelihood of survival.
If you're there and have roots as well as nearby family, it's probably your best bet. I'm sure you realize that the location is way, way less than optimal, so maybe if you could convince your support system to also head elsewhere, that might be your best bet. If not, at least it sounds like you're on the right track to maximizing your situation.
Just don't fall for the concept of fleeing to the unknown unless you can realistically forecast that it's a better and more realistic option than staying in the known (which it could be, at some point, but don't do it impulsively because it would likely carry huge risks.)
have to say I can't imagine living in such a populated area, used to seeing open land and animals. would be easy to live without the grid here, forget how limited cities will be.
and it depends on what you want to power.
I have a 3000 W inverter that would power several appliances. it can be charged with solar panels, can buy them at Harbor Freight.
could also buy solar lights, could probably charge them in a window. there's also some good coolers that keep food cold for a week, in that case I'd want an icemaker.
I think a propane camping stove would be good to have, can get them at Walmart.
and there's lots of good and fun ideas on van life channels, about boondocking
I only want to keep my deep freezer going. At this point in my life, I'm not going anywhere.
that's understandable didn't mean to preach/just amazed by differences in our lives. how we end up where we do.
a lot of people in the midwest wouldn't need freezers because they can hunt and barter.
you can run a freezer on an inverter. there's also companies like Jackery that make complete systems, very popular and lots of good reviews.
I don't know your setup or space, but you might start learning about dehydrating and canning. You do need to follow steps to be safe, but you can preserve and dry veg, fruits and meats. Long term storage that doesn't need electricity. Just a thought.
Harbor freight sells gas generators starting around $500, including the quieter ones
Bury it, and build a cheap purifier tube to make the smoke less visible.
YT has a number of videos/self help instructions for building muffler and baffle sound suppressors. Not silencers but most will send remaining noise straight up to preclude ease of diretion finding
BLUETTI AC50S 500Wh Portable Power Station with Solar Panel Included, 300W/Dual AC Outlet Solar Generator Camping Battery Backup for Travel Trip RV Home Bundle w/120W Solar Charger ($700)
--- that probably wouldn't power a full size fridge/freezer, might need an energy efficient mini-fridge.
The solar powered station gives you the ability to charge devices and tools - very handy if the SHTF.
Get a generator you can charge with solar panels. There are many types and they work well.
Recommendations welcome
Solar bank. Portable and quiet.
The compressors needed to pump gas might not be running either, if you do a big generator set a tank also.
Long Island.... well good luck.
Exactly..