We have the canned goods, the dry goods, the water filter, the ammo, an emergency trunk filled with everything you can think of—drugs, first aid, lanterns, etc.
But I’m sitting here in the dark for hours after a transformer blew in our small village. Totally failed our dry run. I can’t get the lanterns working. Our batteries seem corrupted and I don’t have the right kind of batteries in some instances. And I need a lantern that uses another kind of energy too.
Big fail! I’m off to Home Depot when the lights come on to truly get prepared. Glad this happened today. I thought we were in good shape. Didn’t make it an hour.
I have rechargeable batteries for everything. Then I have a solar generator built on the cheap so I can keep the freezer and fridge on and charge all devices. Works good in a pinch.
What’d you use for the cheap solar generator, and about how much?
I found used 400 watt panels at: https://beenebrothers.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqFwovVvQa735JRasGN3kS3-vfy7K9SoM6OqMYPoTds9IFrT6JD
I used a renogy mppt controller: https://beenebrothers.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqFwovVvQa735JRasGN3kS3-vfy7K9SoM6OqMYPoTds9IFrT6JD
Lithium battery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09F2LLMY3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Inverter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0131L8NLM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I put it all in a plastic tote and can move it as needed. You could us your car battery in a pinch but I prefer the cycle life of the lifepo4 battery
I think I am all in for under $600 but 300 of that is the battery. Still way cheaper than the pre built option: https://www.jackery.com/products/solar-generator-3000-pro
Awesome build--great job. Insert many upthumbs here. We were doing that some years back and ended up spending way too much on it all...then again we have a LOT of outages where we live (big trees, big winter winds, kamikaze squirrels).
The Jackery 3000 that our young friends saved for/bought was offset by the big sale they bought during, plus the tax credit, plus being given a couple of the solar panels instead of having to buy them (anniversary gift). But I agree that buying Jackery, etc., off the shelf retail can be VERY expensive if approached in the Amazon Shopper method (click and buy).