This is our current screen shot. The batteries are set to go no lower than 30%, but we could set it to something closer to 0. The panels are on the west side, so they’re only providing 1.1 kw, while the house is using 3.5 kw. We’re taking 2.4 kw from the grid. By mid-morning things will have changed, and the panels will be at full power. That’ll last until early evening.
Losing power for half a day, or even a full day is no big deal. I wouldn’t even fire up the gas generator. It’s those times when it’s out for a week or longer that I need an alternative. They’re pretty rare, which is why anything more than what I have now is a stretch. That could change, however.
So maybe it would be cheaper to buy an EV with VTL and, when the sparks comes to install the charger, have him add the generator lock out.
Plus I’d also have, you know, a car.
Home solar is all the rage here in VT. Even Costco has a “booth” with a guy. Get yer mini naan butter chicken sample at one booth, Centrum 50 gummy vitamin at the next and then have a nice chat with a solar system salesman as he tries to lure you in with a friendly “hey there, how much do you spend each month on electricity?”… My go-to is "I have a fully wooded lot (which is true) but he still tried for 6+ months. Now, he starts with, “hey there, how much…” and quickly pivots to “…wooded lot guy!!!” replete with finger guns. It’s like my very own personal SNL skit every two weeks.
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I’m not financially ready to take the plunge on whole-house batteries. The best bang for my buck is going to be a dual-fuel inverter generator, which costs under $1k for 5kW and would allow me to swap back and forth between gasoline and the propane tanks I already have for my grill. I can’t run the whole house, but I could run my fridge, microwave, 1-2 portable A/Cs or space heaters, and all my network shit. Then I’d get 2-3 lunchbox-size battery banks for small electronics like phones, laptops, and TVs.
The longest power outage we’ve faced was about 28 hours when a tornado missed us by two blocks. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, although we did have to toss everything in the fridge. These days replacing that much food is a lot closer to the cost of a generator than it used to be.
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A quick look on CarMax popped up a 2022 Hyundai Ionic 5 that has a 78kWh battery and costs $34k. I imagine that could keep my fridge cold and let me heat up some meals for a good few days.
There’s been a couple of times when I didn’t know how long the power would be out. Like during the big freeze a couple of years ago. And as soon as I got the extension cords spread out and fired up the generator the power came right back on. It’s as if the power provider gods are fuckin’ with me.
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You know the reverse is true though; if you hadn’t had that available, you would’ve been down for two weeks.
That’s actually a viable alternative.
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I lived half my adult life in the got dang third world and I never had anywhere near the power outage issues that you goobersmooches do. Maybe y’all should look into living in a place where they’ve figured out how to keep the lights on.
The crazy thing is that it’s not incompetence, it’s corruption. And we just let it slide.
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You don’t just let it slide, you spend thousands and thousands of dollars to combat the inevitable effects of the corruption. Or, alternatively, you sit around in the dark for a week or two.
Anyway it’s just weather.
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It really is. Although a lot depends on the wattage it can back flow. It may be that I’d need one of the EV pick-up trucks to get the juice required; I’ve only ever seen them do things like boil a kettle with the Hyundais and Kias.
Needing a truck changes the value proposition notably, especially when you factor in insurance.
That’s just the price you have to pay to keep drag queens and naughty books out of your library.
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You need a pickup truck because you’re a Texan. You should have figured that out a long time ago.
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You still operate your light switches manually, like some kind of caveman.
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CarMax has a 2022 F-150 Lightning XLT, with a 98kWh battery, for $40k. That’s the cheapest.
Looking at the Ionic 5 specs, it can provide VtL at up to 3.6kW, which should be fine running a fridge and a few other things but is going to balk at running the AC. A Lightning can push out 9.6kW, which means it really could power a whole house.
Plus you can haul shit like sheets of plywood. Let’s see your e-bike do that
Why the fuck would I want to be hauling sheets of plywood?
That’s what American men do. We haul plywood and piss outdoors.
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