on grid 12v 3 of 3

ON GRID 12v part 3

Not every place has natural gas and some places such as apartments have electric cooking appliances just because it was cheaper for the landlord ( he could care less if it is far less efficient because he isn’t paying the power bill ).  Now, remember, we are concerned with future brown-outs but mainly insane rate hikes you can’t afford.  You are already trying to install solar panels so as to provide lighting ( which, while not very expensive to run, is also not very expensive to provide for with alternate energy and hence is a good place to start ).  It won’t hurt to have multiple panels and batteries, if the budget allows, to run whole house lighting.  With LED 60 watt equivalent bulbs running $4 each in bulk at Home Depot it is easy to switch the whole house over now, plus have back-ups, and be able to switch over to battery power easily.  You could also buy that $55 unit that turns your chest freezer into a refrigerator if you get enough panels, to ensure a cheap fridge ( diabetic insulin, anyone? ) that functions off grid.  You are already using the freezer, so the cost in negligible.

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Propane is great for cooking ( unless you want to go with panels and a microwave-but that doesn’t provide wintertime heat as a supplement ) and if you simply can’t do wood, better than nothing for heating.  If you can’t sell the wife on buying a propane unit for future rate hikes and blackouts, try selling her on turning the back porch into a covered screened in summer kitchen ( it can be moved inside as needed ).  That way you save on air conditioning which pays for a separate oven with propane tank.  Then the oven/stovetop pays for itself ( you should be able to buy a used RV unit cheaply, if a new one is too expensive ) and isn’t a “crazy prepping expense”.  If you do buy a new propane oven, check out the gas companies ( like AmericiGas ) and RV dealers.  Do NOT buy a camping unit.  They are garbage.  If you can only afford a stovetop rather than the oven, and can’t find a used RV range top, I’d recommend Sportsman’s Guide cast iron unit.  It is the same price as a sheet metal camping stove but much better ( it uses a propane line with the gas regulator attached, rather than the crap Wal-Mart stoves that include the regulator on the stove, which is what breaks-although everything bends and rusts quickly enough ).  That would be the only camping stove I’d say would be worth the money.  Just beware the prongs over the flame easily snap off, if the wife is a stickler for pretty, Yuppie, good looking appliances. 

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For a heater, do NOT buy any of the Mr. Heater’s.  They are now pure trash, at the same old high price.  Look for an ice fishing or cabin unit, one that doesn’t need an outside vent, but make sure it isn’t Mr. Heater.  Of course, getting a long enough propane line ( see the RV dealer ) and getting it to the outside tank will be problematic.  Perhaps through the Doggie Door in the kitchen into the living room, and only used to heat that one room.  A wool blanket over the window ( or, a Space Blanket taped over ) and wool sweaters will complete your cheap heat preps, along with the wool and feather comforters for each bed to keep the house at 50 rather than much higher.  This combines cheapening the heat along with its use as an emergency blackout heat source.  If you can sell the propane heater as needed for the detached garage, or to keep the chicken coop going through a cold snap, it once again loses its prepper label.

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Some things won’t be an easy sell.  A solar panel is dirt cheap compared to what it used to be, but when an LED bulb can stay lit all night every night for a month for a half dollar’s worth of grid juice, spending $100 for a panel and another $100 for a battery isn’t going to convince anyone you aren’t crazy.  I’d try to convince the wife that it is the start of going alternate energy.  It might not make sense now, but will with days long brown-outs and extreme rate hikes ( if a kilowatt of electric sold for a buck, suddenly it all makes sense.  And inflation doesn’t include wages anymore, so it isn’t an impossible scenario even without any kind of collapse ).  If nothing else, try convincing her that come retirement, you will have almost zero utility bills with your plan.  Seeing what medical costs, it only makes sense to eliminate the mortgage ( if the excuse “I don‘t want to be at the mercy of evil bankers or being laid off“ won‘t work ), a car payment ( also an excuse for bicycles, rather than the “bug-out or Peak Oil“ one ), a utility bill and most of your fresh vegetable costs ( excuse for an extensive garden, besides the organic health reasoning ). 

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Granted, you’ll want to continue to upgrade.  Such as wood or pellet stove rather than propane.  More insulation, an attached southern greenhouse for solar heating, hard wiring for the battery run lamp rather than carrying in the batt., etc.  But the whole idea is to start cheap and keep it affordable.  And to sneak in your preps under other arguments ( I have on occasion told you to trade in the old wife for a new one if she won’t embrace prepping, but I know that is hard advice to follow ).  Plus, to multi-task.  Reducing dependency, covering emergencies, cushioning rate hikes and of course for post-apocalypse use.

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