by St. Funogas, Survival Blog:
(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.)
I’ll refer the reader to My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 4 for the details of how my system works and what I am able to do with it. In a nutshell, during sunlight hours I can take the available 1,500 watts and feed them into my home/shop wiring system and run nearly everything including the freezer.
On Day One if the SHTF, the actual switchover process from grid-tie to off-grid takes just a few minutes. In a simplified explanation, I activate the SPS switch at the inverter and plug a suicide cord (male plug on both ends) into the 120-v outlet next to that switch. I plug the other end of the cord into the nearby 120-v outlet where my air compressor is plugged in. At the breaker box just above that outlet, I install a short jumper wire to connect the two bus bars. With that, the SPS back feeds electricity into the breaker panel and the system is up and ready to power my house and shop.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
[JWR Adds This Safety Warning: See the many warnings that have been published in SurvivalBlog over the years about the risk of backfeeding the grid. Readers should consult a qualified electrician to install a safe and approved transfer switch. The lives of utility company linemen depend on this precaution!]
Since it only works when the sun is shining there are some inconveniences. These inconveniences become negligible compared to having no electricity at all. While the sun is shining water tanks can be filled, washing machines operated, laptops and batteries recharged, shop tools can drill, cut, and sand, electric chainsaws can make firewood, sewing machines and kitchen appliances can work, and the electric mower can be used to maintain that firebreak around the house and trim the garden paths. As a huge service to neighbors, you can also recharge everything from their car batteries to their laptops.
I can also conserve cooking propane by cooking using my George Foreman grill, hot plates, waffle iron, rice cooker, slow cooker, and an Instant Pot among others.
During my summertime preps test the SPS couldn’t quite keep up with the freezer requirements due to its inability to provide nighttime electricity. During the winter months it should have no problem keeping up since the freezer is in my unheated shop.
My DOM To-Do List
1. Buy or make a transfer switch for generator/solar panels.
2. Make and post a diagram to hard wire SPS to breaker panel.
3. Check auctions for 1,200-watt hot plates.
4. Finish simplified off-grid electricity preps.
5. Buy lithium batteries for a small battery bank.
6. Trial some 12-v blowers for the woodstove.
11. Inventory
Very few if any of us will be as prepared for Day One as we’d hoped. This first inventory will be important to get a handle on what we have to work with over the next year.
1. Take inventory on Day One – Assign a person to take this responsibility and make weekly updates. This is especially important with food reserves. They’ll probably get used up more quickly than we’re anticipating. We’ll also need to get a realistic grasp on how much we can share with others without jeopardizing our own survival.
2. Inventory sheets – Keep the initial ones in the DOM box and a computer file to print more.
3. Items on list – These lists should be as complete as possible with room at the end for miscellaneous forgotten items which can be added before printing a new batch of lists. The lists should include every imaginable commodity such as food, ammo, fuels, batteries, etc.
12. Water
My DOM Action List
1. Check water level in 500-gallon water tank.
2. Top tank off with generator.
3. Activate 12-volt backup plumbing system using the instructions on the wall.
4. If winter, check backup well-house and plumbing heating systems.
This DOM plan will easily get me through Day One and Week One. After my preps test I now top off the water tank when it reaches 80% instead of letting it get almost empty first. With my generator out of commission during that test it could have been a serious situation had my water tank been clear down to 10% at the start.
On average a person can only last three days without water so this is the single most important thing to prep for. Do we have a long-term water source figured into our preps?
My DOM To-Do List
1. Buy a 120-v well pump
2. Buy a 12-48-volt well pump with option to run off battery or directly off solar panel.
3. Investigate pumping capacity of current 240-v pump if converted to 120-v
4. Install both pumps in the well one above the other, spring/summer 2024.
5. To conserve propane, research alternate ways to heat well house: sand battery, small outdoor rocket stove furnace, trombe wall, etc.
6. Add a second float switch to water tank to turn a light on once the 80% level is breached.
GENERATOR USAGE FOR PLUMBING SYSTEMS
Many with their own water wells feel snug as a bug when it comes to supplying their post-SHTF water. Some of them should probably be worried instead. Understanding how home well systems work can help to resolve issues ahead of time to ensure our water supply will continue without a hiccup to supply all the water we want. In order to do so requires a water-storage tank, preferably a minimum of 500 gallons, which must be installed in a frost-free location such as a well house.
Aside from pipes and faucets, a home well-water system has two components: a well pump and a pressure tank. A 30-gallon tank containing an air bladder maintains water pressure in the plumbing system. Every time 7 gallons of water is used in the home, the well pump turns back on to re-pressurize the system. This irregular on/off cycle all day long is why it’s impractical to use a generator to power our water system. The generator can’t be started up every time 7 gallons of water is needed. At best, the pump could be turned on long enough to fill the bathtub or barrel and then water used from there. Not a very pragmatic solution to supply water.
The only practical way I know of to resolve this problem is to add a water-storage tank to the system. With it, a home-plumbing system can function as it always has without a noticeable difference after the SHTF.
My system uses a 500-gallon water tank. When the water level gets low, I manually turn on the well pump to refill the tank though I could automate this step. From the tank, each time 7 gallons of water is used in the home, a small pressure pump turns on instead of the well pump. The pressure pump can be as small as an RV 12-volt water pump and can be run off a 12-volt battery. The well-pump only needs to be turned every few days or so to fill the 500-gallon water tank, or once or twice a month during the winter. The end result is, with a 500-gallon water tank I won’t notice the slightest difference in my plumbing system after the SHTF. No hauling water from the creek, no filling the bathtub, no rationing water.
