Sign in or 
Share this|
SilvesterBurchardt |
Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 12:26 AM EST
I live in Westchester county in NY and we were just hit with a "freak" snow storm in October that left HUNDREDS of thousands of homes without power over the course of an evening!! That was a Thursday, by Sunday I had to drive across the county and literally every other town was still without power and the gas stations that DID have power all had lines in double digit quantities and some had lines more than 20 cars long... Many had already run out and were closed because of the overflow of patrons from the surrounding towns coming to purchase fuel for generators to power their homes. The day of the storm many grocery stores had closed their produce, meat and frozen food departments becuase there was no power and were only accepting cash.
Do you find this valuable?
Keyword tags:
gun store
mall
Survival plan
the panic
what not to do
|
JunkCollector |
1. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 12:52 AM EST
And the idea is what? Elaborate your thoughts please.As for the problem I have 70 gallon of gas in the shed with 4-5 gallon gas cans and 1-50 gallon gas tank with a hand crank. I also keep both of my cars at least 1/2 full all of the time, in case I need to go somewhere in a hurry. To be more independent from electric companies I have decided to buy 6 solar panels, and 2 small wind turbines. They will power my refrigerator, freezer, computer, Internet connection, T.V., and satellite dish. This will cut my electricity expenses and give me power to major items when the power goes out on everyone else. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
renet76 |
2. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 4:43 AM EST
| Post edited: Nov 26 2011, 4:47 AM EST
It goes to show just how quickly things can shut down without any real warning or advance notice givenFuel shortage is not really a big issue for me as i have a 2000L diesel tank that supplies my back up generator both our cars and our tractor. It gets turned over pretty regularly so no worries about it going stale but if I start to think it might be getting old i drain it into 205l drums and get it refilled while i use up the fuel i stored into drums but i make sure i never go below having 1000L on hand at all times Even if the power goes down for a few weeks i will still be ok for fuel and power with sensible use of the generator under full load it will use up 10L an hour or 240 liters of fuel a day but if you don't load it up and run it for say only 14 hours a day it will come down to 100 liters for 14 hours of power. Thankfully it has a control box in the house to start it up and shut it down so you don't have to go outside if its cold lol Do you find this valuable? |
|
renet76 |
3. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 4:52 AM EST
"And the idea is what? Elaborate your thoughts please. nice set up there junkcollector I just installed a slow combustion wood stove with a boiler on it so in winter it will cut down the cost of heating ,cooking and hot water I can see in winter the kitchen will be the gathering place all nice and warm lol Do you find this valuable? |
ZeMatch |
4. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 8:42 AM EST
Always prepare for the worst. Freak storm? Weather forecasting anyone? I've been through enough hurricanes, blizzards, and nor'easters to know better than to wait until it's too late.
Do you find this valuable?
|
|
SilvesterBurchardt |
5. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 9:41 AM EST
Mostly I was just pointing out that there doesn't have to be a cataclysmic event to cause wide-spread over consumption to the point of localized shortages.I've seen many hurricanes and nor'easters and a handful of blizzards and for the most part I have found that buttoning up and riding out the "storm" at home will get you through most of the initial "panic" period and give the authorities time to handle the immediate threats of a "natural" disaster. Something like a Zombie Apocalyps is obviously not going to get handled in a few days/weeks like a bad storm, but the initial "panic" period is most likely going to run the same course with the same outcome. I don't feel like I'm a "wait until the last moment" sort of person, but I'm definately NOT as prepared as most of you appear to be. Do you find this valuable? |
|
renet76 |
6. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 10:00 AM EST
Yeah its kinda why i am more set up for natural disasters then zombies Mother nature has hissy fits quite often in my part of the world summer time can bring High winds high temps and fire storms Dust storms or floods and snow Winter can bring Snow ice storms high winds floods Infact you never know what the weather is going to do any time of the year Do you find this valuable? |
Oakspar77777 |
7. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 12:53 PM EST
Keeping your cars over half full at all time is longstanding survivalist doctrine. Keepings some gas around to use in the lawnmowers, chainsaw, etc is common. If you rotate it by filling your cars from it, you can increase the amount you keep on hand. Fuel does go bad, so while maintaining a rotating stockpile is great for short term emergencies, it cannot be a part of your long term strategies. Within a year, most fuel will be near useless. Within three years, only the most dedicated and knowledgeable will still have fuel using machines. Do you find this valuable? |
Ulysees73 |
8. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 2:03 PM EST
"It goes to show just how quickly things can shut down without any real warning or advance notice givenOr if there are zombies everywhere... I must say though, it sounds like you have a good system. I had a couple questions though if you don't mind answering them -How expensive was it? I often see things that i think i would like to have when i get older and get a house of my own, but the price is often too big. -Did you need a permit or something of the like? I wouldn't want to buy it and set it up, just to have someone knock on my door and tell me i need to take it down or get a permit Do you find this valuable? |
|
renet76 |
9. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 6:39 PM EST
| Post edited: Nov 26 2011, 6:43 PM EST
" Ok a couple of things to keep in mind when installing a set up like this 1. How big is the generator 2. How do you want to wire it in to the house 3. Are you building a new house or retrofitting it to an existing house 4. location are you urban, semi rural or rural 5. how much fuel would you keep on hand All of these things will factor in for price and permits required Now to answer you questions the total cost of my set up was $35k I had it built over a period of 3 years in stages. the cost included the following The switchboard and control box for the house The trip switch that cuts the power from the main power grid and your house fuse box this is a legal requirement so you don't send power down the main power lines The 3 phase wiring and outlets for the workshop and all other wiring to the house and outside buildings The purchase of a 45 kva 415 volt generator a power distribution board in the generator building ( mini substation) and the fuel tank plus the bund for containing any fuel spills in terms of permits I had to get every thing inspected by the electricity suppler to make sure it meet their legal requirements so i didn't send power down the lines and kill any one working on them the fuel storage side of thing was just a matter of talking to the local council and telling them what i was doing they gave me a list of local environmental laws and fire standards to follow then came out once to makes sure everything was OK before i put fuel in it cont.. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
|
renet76 |
10. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 6:57 PM EST
cont from post # 9You don't have to spend that much money to have back up power though it can be done cheaper and with a lot less hassles by doing the following buy a smaller genny like only 10 Kva get a simple main switch circuit breaker and then an outlet fitted to the house to plug in you genny make sure you load shed things that are not needed in other words turn off every thing that you wont need you will find your local power supply company can fit everything for you and make sure its legal its just a matter of getting a new fuse box installed with a few more switches in it really. a 10 KVA genny is small enough to be mobile so you can put it away in storage when not in use it wont use much fuel so you wont need to have alot of fuel stored on your property you will be able to keep your lights, fridge and a few other things running that you need including a heater The only thing that may be a problem is if your in an urban environment the might be noise laws you have to watch out for or some stupid local bylaw that prevent the use of gennys after a certain time of the day Thankfully i live in a rural setting so i got around a lot of problems like that as most farms around me have 5000L of fuel on them and you only need special permits if you have over 5000L of fuel stored on your property any way i hope this info helped you in some way Ulysees73 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
nate121 |
11. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 8:17 PM EST
winter power outages have never been too much a problem for my family. we have a maintained wood burning stove that we heat with to keep nat gas costs down and plenty of fire wood for it. and it's not like there isn't enough ice to keep the food in the fridge cold, nore is there a shortage of water even if it is a boil alert or even if the tap is off for what ever reason.that being said not every one has a wood burning stove or a fireplace, and i'm glad my parents installed one while they were renovating the house. Do you find this valuable? |
|
JunkCollector |
12. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 8:29 PM EST
| Post edited: Nov 26 2011, 8:32 PM EST
"The problem I have in setting up a self efficient home is that I live in a small town, and only own 5 lots with 2 being used for my pole barn, 2 for my 2 trailers, and 1 between the trailers. I want a wood stove but as stated, I live in town, and in a trailer. I also have neuropathy, arthritis, and tendinitis in my feet so it can be hard and painful for me to walk some times. I wish I could put in a septic tank and well, but the township wont allow it. As for gas rotation, every other month I run the Jeep and Van tank empty then fill my vehicles with my back up. Then load up the 50 gallon tank with my fork lift and go fill it up. The gas cans get filled when used for lawn mowing, snow blowing, or when I go playing in the mud with my Gator (also hunting). At the house I sold before I moved here to take care on my now deceased parents, I had my propane distributor install a propane generator, set up to switch on when the power went out. I liked it a lot, because it seemed that every time there was a thunderstorm the power would go out. I miss living in the country! Do you find this valuable? |
|
renet76 |
13. RE: Fuel shortages
Nov 26 2011, 9:10 PM EST
"Ah dang mate thats no good that would make it hard to maintain a wood pile i like the idea of the genny auto starting when the power goes down i did look at that but given the need to have a positive disconnection from the mains power it would of added another $5k to the build price and the power could only go down for 10 minutes so by the time the genny was up to operating temp the power would come back on so it was not worth the extra cost I will say this mate if i lived near you i would always have a place for any one at my home that moved to help care for their folks full respect you for that JunkCollector Do you find this valuable? |
