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Discussion: Blackouts in zombie world?

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CodemaneP.H.I.L.	Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 11:54 AM EDT Can someone explain how blackouts could happen? I'm sure that the power plants would be well protected from zombies. And if they manage to break in, no one would try to shut it off, so it would keep going, or i fact any other working factories. Post reply Do you find this valuable? Keyword tags: defense games living dead plan readiness survival Undead zombie zombies
kinelta	1. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 12:04 PM EDT "Can someone explain how blackouts could happen? I'm sure that the power plants would be well protected from zombies. And if they manage to break in, no one would try to shut it off, so it would keep going, or i fact any other working factories." Don't they also have to be maintained? And if someone isn't running the coal (or whatever the local energy resource happens to be) to the plants, won't they eventually stop working? There might also be a lot of fires that shut down factories, looting, general mayhem. There might be power for a few days, or maybe a few weeks, but if someone isn't behind the scenes taking care of things they will quit working. And of course, I imagine that come Z-day most people won't be reporting to work. They'll be too busy saving their behinds. How automated are power plants and factories anyway? That's my best guess at what might cause blackouts. Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
Eritsukukun	2. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 12:13 PM EDT "Can someone explain how blackouts could happen? I'm sure that the power plants would be well protected from zombies. And if they manage to break in, no one would try to shut it off, so it would keep going, or i fact any other working factories." all power sources needs to be manned. it needs to be carefully regulated and maintained. take a while to calculate how many times you get a blackout per year. that is the longest time the grid will hold because nobody will fix the outage and the grid in your area is dead. there are hundreds and thousands of people working 24 hour a day to provide your home with power. if they stop things will go dark sooner rather than later. It might not shut down the first month. maybe not for several months but it will shut down and you need to be prepared on the fact that it could shut down at any time. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
MajorDamage	3. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 12:14 PM EDT This is a variable that will heavily depend upon the power company/district you are in, the method of power generation (coal, gas, wind/water, nuclear) and how far you are from the source. The plant itself can be running fine but it the transmission 'system' or transformers and power lines is disrupted along the way to you, well, sucks to be you. A fair estimate is that you can expect 'normal' power for about 3 to 7 days after SHTF day. After that, imagine everything that can go wrong and no one to fix it. Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
Eritsukukun	4. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 12:15 PM EDT "all power sources needs to be manned. it needs to be carefully regulated and maintained. take a while to calculate how many times you get a blackout per year. that is the longest time the grid will hold because nobody will fix the outage and the grid in your area is dead. there are hundreds and thousands of people working 24 hour a day to provide your home with power. if they stop things will go dark sooner rather than later. It might not shut down the first month. maybe not for several months but it will shut down and you need to be prepared on the fact that it could shut down at any time. " all power sources needs to be manned. it needs to be carefully regulated and maintained. take a while to calculate how many times you get a blackout per year. that is the longest time the grid will hold because nobody will fix the outage and the grid in your area is dead. there are hundreds and thousands of people working 24 hour a day to provide your home with power. if they stop things will go dark sooner rather than later. It might not shut down the first month. maybe not for several months but it will shut down and you need to be prepared on the fact that it could shut down at any time. Edit: lets not forget that the military will also move in at some point and even if zombies don't break **** the military certainly will in order to get rid of the threat. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Iamz0rs	5. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 12:26 PM EDT My biggest bet would be fire, zombies breaking into the powerplant, or whatever cable leading to your house. Personaly I have around 20 squaremeters of solarcells on the roof wich I expect to be able to power the most important things. (Mostly heat and stove for cooking food (rather not die from bacteria infection, or freeze to death in the winter). I also posses 6 portable cells, around one squaremeter put together wich can fuel my laptop if needed, even during Swedish winter. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
CodemaneP.H.I.L.	6. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 12:30 PM EDT i've actually learned from a show called Life After People on the History Channel that at the west will be the last power plant to shut down because a dam keeps running the electricity. Maybe when there is no electricity and a group of survivors find a power plant, will they be able to turn it on? Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Bipp	7. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 12:38 PM EDT The biggest problem at first will be downed power lines, from accidents. There will be no one to fix the power lines. You should keep a generator to hook up to gas stations to power the pumps, and try and hook up some sort of secondary power supply. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Eritsukukun	8. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 12:47 PM EDT "i've actually learned from a show called Life After People on the History Channel that at the west will be the last power plant to shut down because a dam keeps running the electricity. Maybe when there is no electricity and a group of survivors find a power plant, will they be able to turn it on?" If they are electrical engineers they might. Sure the dam will produce power because the water wont stop flowing but there are power stations all the way to your house. there is also a transformer in the dam itself that regulated the power production if any of these parts fail the power produced will be useless. Do some research on how many people works daily at west. that will give you an idea on how many is needed to keep it running. @lamz0rs: getting off the grid is a good bet. If you plan on making your home your dwelling I suggest investing in some non electrical heating. I dont know what its called but there is one where you drill a deep hole in the ground and get heat trough it. Heating is important in colder countries because your house will start to deteriorate if its unheated too long. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Whybother08	9. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 1:28 PM EDT "I dont know what its called but there is one where you drill a deep hole in the ground and get heat trough it. Heating is important in colder countries because your house will start to deteriorate if its unheated too long." Geothermal? That's harvesting heat, and even energy, by running cold water down very deep into the crust of the earth, which heats the water, and then pumping it back up as hot water/steam. Not exactly a backyard build. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
ViolentKisses	10. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 1:47 PM EDT "i've actually learned from a show called Life After People on the History Channel that at the west will be the last power plant to shut down because a dam keeps running the electricity. Maybe when there is no electricity and a group of survivors find a power plant, will they be able to turn it on?" Yup Coal and wood plants would go down in just a few days nuclear plants have safety features that would shut them down when the draw on their power becomes to great from the coal and wood plants going down. And that leaves dams as the final remaining sorce and they would be able to go on aslong as they are colled the problem presented with the hoover dam in that movie was the cooling pipes being cloged with zebra muscles which are normally cleaned out by dive teams. In locations without these little pests dams should last much longer Windturbines are a bit rarer and could still be active for sometime but would require maintenance. Lubrication, Repairing damaged rotor blades ect... There is however one company and prolly more working on automated robots to accomplish this work and maintaining the robots is much easier ^_^ Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Iamz0rs	11. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 1:50 PM EDT "@lamz0rs: getting off the grid is a good bet. If you plan on making your home your dwelling I suggest investing in some non electrical heating. I dont know what its called but there is one where you drill a deep hole in the ground and get heat trough it. Heating is important in colder countries because your house will start to deteriorate if its unheated too long." Problem is I live in a rather tall building (12 storys)and I plan to hold the topfloor/roof. So electical energy from solarcells will hopefully keep me from freezing to death. While the house does have Geotermical energy already, I rather not risk my life going down to the basement to use it. It will be on for aslong as it can mantain itself. However It doesn't work without electrical power. Since I'm a very eco friendly person (loads of self renewable things, wich would help alot during invasion aswell) I do have basic knowledge in mantaining these(solarcells), aswell as a rather big collection of replacement parts. Since I'll still have my indoor isolated home, I think that outdoor winter camping gear should be enough to keep me warm during winters incase something breaks. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
PedroAsani	12. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 2:06 PM EDT Without fuel, power plants will stop. Without maintenance, they might break. But the advanced course comes in when you understand the need to balance the output with the demand for power. Produce too much with nowhere to go, and you can overload the Grid. Most of the engineers time is actually spent predicting the times when demand is high or low. Just because the power plants are physically intact on Z day doesn't mean they will supply power. One surge has the potential to wipe out the entire Grid (there was a paper on this recently, I'm looking for the link). Bottom line, just as with food, water and defence, don't rely on any power you aren't supplying yourself. Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
milkbot	13. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 17 2009, 8:23 PM EDT Not only what has already been mentioned, but once a few of the short term plants have gone down they'll start putting increased strain on the rest of the grid resulting in brownouts at first and eventually widespread blackouts after the plants' automatic failsafe click in, or they simply short out. In places like the US, where most of your power is derived from coal, if there is no-one to look after those plants then don't rely on the power staying on for more than a couple of days at most. New Zealand, where I live, derives a great deal of it's power from wind and hydro, so I'm not exactly sure how we'd fare, but I believe they could be kept running for a longer period of time. All that is assuming that government doesn't try to keep the power running as long as possible. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Eritsukukun	14. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 18 2009, 4:57 AM EDT "Problem is I live in a rather tall building (12 storys)and I plan to hold the topfloor/roof. So electical energy from solarcells will hopefully keep me from freezing to death. While the house does have Geotermical energy already, I rather not risk my life going down to the basement to use it. It will be on for aslong as it can mantain itself. However It doesn't work without electrical power. Since I'm a very eco friendly person (loads of self renewable things, wich would help alot during invasion aswell) I do have basic knowledge in mantaining these(solarcells), aswell as a rather big collection of replacement parts. Since I'll still have my indoor isolated home, I think that outdoor winter camping gear should be enough to keep me warm during winters incase something breaks." Problem is that houses are made to be heated. They will start to deteriorate unheated. You need electricity to run geothermal heating? well I would suggest that you and you neighbors make sure that all the entrances are secured because you can assume that rerouting the solar power to the geothermal system is more efficient than electrical heating or geothermal heating is useless. @whybother08 Installing environmentally friendly alternatives to coal is never wrong and you will save the world from something much more probable than zombies. by installing things that get you off the grid before the zombie attack you are not only more prepared you are also preventing a possible apocalypse and the best kind of apocalypse is the ones that you avoid. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Iamz0rs	15. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 18 2009, 5:18 AM EDT "Problem is that houses are made to be heated. They will start to deteriorate unheated. You need electricity to run geothermal heating? well I would suggest that you and you neighbors make sure that all the entrances are secured because you can assume that rerouting the solar power to the geothermal system is more efficient than electrical heating or geothermal heating is useless. " Define deteriorate? Like att what speeds, and what parts ruin first, and how long before zombies start smashing concrete with their hands, and when will the structure break and I fall to my death? Aren't we talking years now? In my old home, we had a basement. The structure was somewhat simular to this building I live in now. And the basement was freezing, Cold all year round and especially cold during winters. Perhaps it was designed differntly from the house to be able to withstand it however... Post reply Do you find this valuable?
paulred2	16. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 18 2009, 5:45 AM EDT I'd say once the people who work in the power plant stop going to work you'd have a couple days at most. For fossil fuel power plants, they're running fuel into them pretty constantly, i doubt they'd have a backlog of fuel to last more than a day. For nuclear plants, the cadmium rods would drop pretty quickly if left to their own devices. They only produce power in bursts and work off capacitors, so they'd shut down almost immediately when workers stopped showing up for work. there's also a nitrogen or nitric acid fail safe which kills the reaction, if it gets out of control. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Oakspar77777	17. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 18 2009, 10:31 AM EDT 1) The grid is a balanced entity, with load balanced to consumption every few minutes. While that balance is autonomously kept by computers, once a plant shuts down, it ripples across the grid - just like it did in the NE US and Canada a few years back. Expect power to go down as soon as the plants are compromised (1-3 days max). 2) Generators are great, but very noisy. EVERYTHING inside of a mile is going to hear it (think of a motorcycle revving up, that is how all put the largest units sound). You can buy quieter ones (sound like an idling car), but expect to shell out some big money). They are suck up fuel. 3) If you are going to be fuel dependent, you will need a steady source, and LOTS of stabilizer. Gas looses its "sweet" edge in less than 6 months. Without stabilizer, it is practically worthless in two years. Dump all the stabilizer you can get (from auto and hardware stores - especially in the lawn mower section) into any container that you want to get fuel from later, keep fuel in now, or want to run later. I would suggest trying to find a tanker to take. Storage and fuel in one (if loaded). If you need to fill it, or anything else, from a dead station, don't try to restore power. That will not unlock the pumps. Instead, get your fuel from the tanks directly from the fill accesses (that cluster of manhole covers nearby). Either use a hand-pump and some garden hose, or, better yet, if you can get it in there, an electric well pump. Geothermal heating still uses electricity (a heat pump). Only it uses the stable temperature of the ground to reduce electrical use. You really want an autonomous source of house heat (though the smoke will alert raiders to your presence). A fireplace, wood furnace, or even a wood stove with exhaust pipe will keep at least one room warm year round (as well as give you a place to cook indoors). Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Oakspar77777	18. RE: Blackouts in zombie world? Oct 18 2009, 10:43 AM EDT Solar/wind - while these will likely die within ten years of the day, they can keep at least minimal systems going for some time. Make sure you are "off gird" or can turn to "off grid," or else the tie-in system will suck you dry. You will need a batter bank, or else your power will be very spotty. Luckily, you can likely link up a garage full of salvaged car batteries and have enough to go through even a dark month. Also, cut off that UNPLUG (phantom load) everything that you are not using at all times. Turn off the hot water heater (you can always heat up cleaning water with fire or the stove). Consider only running the well pump long enough to flush all the toilets twice (flush old filth, use them, flush again), tubs, sinks, and water containers. This is also a great way to stretch fuel and limit noise time with a generator. Note, that a well can be drawn with a line an cup, but takes forever. Get a hand pump (they are not expensive. You can either get a system where you pump (usually in your basement) and put pressure on your lines (so the faucets work) OR you can pump strain into containers and carry water everywhere. I have a modified system, where I can pump into containers (unfortunately outside) or run a hose up and fill a 250 gallon tank in the attic that will gravity-feed the lines if I open up the connector (if the electric pump is on, I can fill the tank by opening that same connection to the house lines, but the water gets hot and stale quickly up there, so I usually keep it empty - it is a pain to fill by pumping, however, (takes almost an hour). Post reply Do you find this valuable?

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