If you had enough electricity for just one device, what would you use it for and why?

[Nickelless]

A couple comments on this thread got me to thinking...

http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthre...494#post234494

I've pondered investing in a solar-powered generator in lieu of gas-powered ones and was thinking that if such a generator only produced enough electricity to power one device (or one device at a time), hooking it up to a dehumidifier or similar-functioning device to pull water vapor out of the air for survival would be a very good use for such a device. So figuring that each of us will probably end up off the grid at some point, maybe not voluntarily, what one electric-powered device would you use such a generator for, or what devices would you alternate usage of if you weren't in a position to totally do without electricity?

[Irons]

Refrigerator/freezer. If you cant keep food not a whole lot else will matter.

I'm looking to add a quality propane generator to my preps. Propane keeps easily and with an adapter (got one) A person can collect propane for years from

abandoned or unattended properties.

[Canadian-guerilla]

how long is this electricity available ?

5 minutes - forever ?


i'd probably go with a hair trimmer/shaver

[GodspeedMetals]

Refrigerator/freezer. If you cant keep food not a whole lot else will matter.

I'm looking to add a quality propane generator to my preps. Propane keeps easily and with an adapter (got one) A person can collect propane for years from

abandoned or unattended properties.

+1

But I'm also looking into making my own solar powered hook-up for better cost than buying an expensive kit. Not for the whole house, but for the freezers.

[Nickelless]

Irons, wouldn't it be a better use of resources to can/jerk/dehydrate food instead of relying on a refrigerator and/or freezer to keep food fresh, which would free up the generator for something else?

[Irons]

Sure, we can/jerk/cure and smoke but cold milk and eggs, frozen deer steaks etc keeps life more comfortable. If the S really hits the fan we will bug out to our cabin

way out in the National Forest where there is already a self sufficient mindset and barter network in the local community.

Thats mainly why I have been thinking propane generator. There are hundreds of abandoned cottages/cabins around there already and scrounging propane would be

super easy. You could scrounge propane for years.

[crash]

I agree with Irons. After being through too many hurricanes, ice is AWESOME!! When I didn't have it, I sure did miss it. The longest that I remember was a few weeks after Hurricane Elena in 85. Katrina sucked pretty good, too, but I believe I only went without refrigerator/freezer for about 5 days. I have a gas generator, now.

[crash]

Anything that lasted longer, I might have a different opinion.

[Fullpower]

Refrigeration is definitely the paramount domestic use for electricity.
A few light bulbs are a big plus.
Pumping well water out of the ground with solar power is also practical.

[WhyKnow]

Refrigeration is nice but I can build an icebox to last throughout the summer if needed. I would use my electricity for some form of music/radio.

[dacrunch]

internet computer....

anything else (except A/C) I can run on the dc-ac inverter I plug into the car idling outside... (even jerry-rigged my oil-hot-air furnace during a 5-day ice-storm to run it off the car(s) once... it was waaay below freezing)

but the net is my gateway to the universe...



.

[<===Foolsgold]

Well Pump.

[gonzo]

A popcorn machine, because if it comes to the point we can only use one thing you might as well enjoy yourself while youre watching it all collapse around you.

[honu5050]

a microwave so I can experament on toads.

[Apocalypto]

Guitar amplifier.

[Thornapple]

I'd probably use it for recharging rechargeable batteries in a SHTF situation.

If refrigeration is a must perhaps a propane refrigerator solution would be a better solution in the long run. And theoretically could be made to work using any burnable including converting it to run on hydrogen gas.

[Not Sure]

Humans survived for millennia without electricity, and we can do so again, indefinitely.

[TnAndy]

Irons, wouldn't it be a better use of resources to can/jerk/dehydrate food instead of relying on a refrigerator and/or freezer to keep food fresh, which would free up the generator for something else?

Yes, for long term, no doubt. But what about the bucket of milk you just brought in from the cow ? You want to gather the family to slurp it down right this minute, because it has a REAL short shelf life at normal, never mind summer, temps. Or would you like to have a small refrigerator that uses a 100-200watt/hrs/day to sit it in, and have cold milk tonight for supper ? To me, things like that beat the heck out of the need for a dehumidifier.

[TnAndy]

Humans survived for millennia without electricity, and we can do so again, indefinitely.

Well, clearly they did, or we wouldn't be here.

The question is: IF you have the choice of living a somewhat comfortable lifestyle, say like the mid 20th century, or one of those previous ones...which one would you pick ? ( bear in mind the average length of life goes WAY down the farther back you go )

A little basic refrigeration and some lights, are probably the greatest technical leaps of thousands of years, and I for one, am not giving them up voluntarily !

[Merlin]

I'm curious if anyone on the forum has had any experience with a spring house. The small one-room house sits over the source of the water and maintains nearly constant year-round temps. Those who have no natural spring on their property sometimes utilize a moving creek.

There are ways to do without modern conveniences; but the appliance that cools my perishable food is nearly at the top of my list. Come winter, can I unplug the refrigerator and plug in my forced hot air furnace? Or is that cheating?

[Not Sure]

Well, clearly they did, or we wouldn't be here.

The question is: IF you have the choice of living a somewhat comfortable lifestyle, say like the mid 20th century, or one of those previous ones...which one would you pick ? ( bear in mind the average length of life goes WAY down the farther back you go )

A little basic refrigeration and some lights, are probably the greatest technical leaps of thousands of years, and I for one, am not giving them up voluntarily !

I guess it would depend on the generation source and current available. Refrigeration comes to my mind first.

[Irons]

The other thing about frige/freezers is you fill every unused nook and cranny in a freezer with plastic jugs of water and freeze them solid and you would only have to run the thing a few

hours a day to keep everything cold and frozen.

[~BS]

battery powered dildo shoved up ben's ass. about the only thing that could make him look even more uncomfortable during those committee hearings.

[CiscoKid]

Guitar amplifier.

I heard that.

[hoarder]

Humans survived for millennia without electricity, and we can do so again, indefinitely.

Humans survived without guns for a millenia. What would happen if we discarded our firearms WTSHTF?....the point being that human power struggle will go on. Economic collapse will not end power struggle. The more ways we have to fight back and survive the better our chances of not only surviving but winning the conflict.

[fasTTcar]

Deep freeze.

[GOLDZILLA]

I would keep all my devices and use just one at a time. mostly the freezer.

[Curtman]

Live on a generator at the moment 24 hours = $20.00 I put things in this order A/C, Fans, PC nothing else seems to matter.

[elroy]

I'm curious if anyone on the forum has had any experience with a spring house. The small one-room house sits over the source of the water and maintains nearly constant year-round temps. Those who have no natural spring on their property sometimes utilize a moving creek.

There are ways to do without modern conveniences; but the appliance that cools my perishable food is nearly at the top of my list. Come winter, can I unplug the refrigerator and plug in my forced hot air furnace? Or is that cheating?

In my travels around the midwest, particularly on secondary roads I notice the things from times gone by.

Old homesteads/farms with spring houses and chicken coops. These were things that every home had at one time.

Start watching for them and you'll be surprised how many are still around.

[still afloat]

In the heat / ac category , I'd go with a portable heat pump. Most vent to the outside with a 4 or 5 inch pipe, low energy use, quite. Depending on humidity 1 + or - gal. of water every 4 to 6 hours with ac running. If you had to you could rig up a cooler with a flex hose going into it on one side and the other end attached to the heat pump blower vent to keep your milk / whatever cold and a vented section on the other side of the cooler to allow the cold air to exit the cooler to cool the room as well. So you have heat in cold months and ac , water supply and mini fridge in warm months.
A 12,000 btu unit is good for about 450 to 500 sq ft rooms
Voltage: 115 volts
Watts: 1054-1166 watts
Amps: 10.1-11.0 amps
Most come with a remote control and a 24 hour timer as well.

Oh and they cost less than a half ounce of gold.

[Avalon]

I would keep all my devices and use just one at a time. mostly the freezer.

hate to say this but a hair dryer would be high on the list. I only need it for about 10 minutes.. We could unplug the fridge for 10 minutes..

[Brio]

what one electric-powered device would you use

The beer fridge. Duh.

[Unclad Lad]

Well Pump.

Given enough pumping capacity, a springhouse/cold room setup could be constructed.

[roadgold]

my laptop to access my GIM1 survival archives.

[Oldmansmith]

Shower. Nothing like a hot shower after a hard day in the cold. I know, it is not practical, but there it is.

[Thornapple]

Not to rain (ha ha) on the shower idea, but that could easily be done with a tank and a hand water pump.

I don't know if folks remember, but somebody a while back posted this video which is free to watch http://www.urbandanger.com/
The guy in the first part has a tank upstairs in his cabin. He uses a hand pump to pump it full each morning then has water for the rest of the day as gravity draws it down from the tank. It also passes through his wood burning stove to heat the water. I thought that was a pretty good setup myself.

[<===Foolsgold]

My cheapy bandaid solution to power loss....

[Garyw]

I would run a battery charger that charges a bank of batteries and runs an inverter that will run a refer and well pump.(in short I would plug it in to my motorhome. )

[GOLDZILLA]

My cheapy bandaid solution to power loss....

Nice setup, but I'm gonna have nightmares about macgregor the attack cat.

[__hoot__]

Icemaker of course!

[spacecase0]

the well pump to water my crops is first on my list,
second I would run my ham radio system to find out what is going on in the rest of the world

[minimus]

I will be conducting an experiment this week, starting tomorrow night.

I'll be on the banks of the Current River in a pop-up camper with no other power except a single 20# bottle of propane, a 12 volt marine battery with a 75 watt solar panel charging it.

My plans are to run the camper fridge on propane and my Waeco DC fridge/freeze on 12 volts, I'll be lighting up the camper with a LED trouble light.

I might need to run a small inverter to run a box fan for the camper when the temp hits the upper 90's.



See ya next weekend ...

[minimus]

Found a WIFI router in town to upload pics. The little Waeco DC fridge is doing a great job in 95F heat beats the hell out of the gas Dometic fridge in the camper.

Running a box fan in the camper at night to make things tolerable for sleep, drains the RV battery pretty bad, the Solar Panel can't keep up, too many trees not enough hours in the sun to recoup the nightly loss. Had to jumper the RV battery and charge with truck. Damnit.

Hit 103F on the ridge yesterday.