Preparing for troubled times ahead - Advice on what is needed.....

[swyn]

I'm useless at understanding enough to be able to decide about solar, but I do have a small plug and play portable panel, I just find it realy slow to charge my phone, sometimes many hours and I still have less than 50%charge in it. Power banks I have 3. But again I find charging and recharging slow.
I'm looking at getting a jackery, or bluetti type , with a solar panel. Does anyone have any recommendations?
It will need to run a dab radio, and a bedside light, charge a phone, or power bank and a rechargeable torch, so it doesn't need to be something mega enough to power a fridge, or run a cooker or washing machine. I have other low tech solutions for all that.
What would anyone recommend?
I don't have wads of cash, so price is important too., but I'd be willing to pay a little bit more for better performance. I need at least one proper plug, but would prefer two. Though two are luxurious!
Gotta have a bit of luxury when roughing it somewhere!
I get so turned about watching countless yt,s on this subject, and end up remembering nothing useful to be able to compare and make up my mind.
Recommendations anyone please?
£500 top wack for panel and battery, cheaper is better! Then I can afford a e bike too!
That's a point,.. what about charging an e bike if the power is out? Can one of these things do that too? If so, which?
Questions, questions, questions.
I'm dizzy!

 

[swyn]

Ok y’all who expressed an interest.
Six years ago I had a reputable company visit to discuss powering solar set up for two peoples hot water requirements.
The resulting price was around £3.5k which I accepted.
The crew came and fitted a panel of the calculated size @TeeDee and all the required parts ie, hot water cylinder, pump & controls into my then newly re-rebuilt Victorian dairy barn.
Since this was fitted I haven’t had to worry about hot water as it appears, as if by magic out of the tap/shower!
Apart from Legionella control using an immersion heater boost of electricity on less sunny days my hot water needs are met.
S

 

[gibson 175]

I can't talk about kit etc as there are lots of people on here who know more about me than that. I would say make friends with people in your community,try to build links in your community, so that during hard times you can help each other. A bit like building up a residents association but more serious. How about making links as far and wide as possible- the more the more people you know the better. Build up grassroots links/organisations in your local area-might be surprised at other people's skills and their connections. easier to survive in a local informal grassroots group than going it alone..in my mind that gives the biggest chance.

 

[TeeDee]

Solar thermal is a good easy win for hot water supply for at least half the year.

I really don't understand why its not enforced and utilised on more new build houses as part of the build criteria.

 

[Decacraft]

@Woody girl £500 or about will get you into the entry level jackery and a panel.

It's about 240wh, and will allow 200w draw. Will charge all usb devices, and small tvs but not for very long on just the battery. The panel charges it in about a day, its a 100w panel, but the unit will only charge around max 60w.

The next step is the ecoflow in my opinion, as they allow additional batteries to be connected.

If you look at the bluetti 240 it should have enough power to run a small house with solar panels, but again it's top of the line and higher cost.

The smallest jackery and solar panel should keep your electronics, a heated blanket and maybe a small dc fridge going during an outage

 

[C_Claycomb]

I have to admit that I was made sceptical about solar hot water years ago when, while visiting my folk, I was asked to sit in and help a single elderly lady up the road who was being pressured to install a system. Some company had picked her as a soft target and were pushing hard. The sales guy sat in her living room didn’t know much about what he was selling and covered his ignorance with jargon and BS. The payback period was the killer, poor lady wouldn’t have lived long enough to break even! Guess that was about eight or nine years ago.

 

[Stew]

Solar thermal is a good easy win for hot water supply for at least half the year.

I really don't understand why its not enforced and utilised on more new build houses as part of the build criteria.

Where it should be being pushed is places like schools that have a large demand for hot water.

 

[TeeDee]

I have to admit that I was made sceptical about solar hot water years ago when, while visiting my folk, I was asked to sit in and help a single elderly lady up the road who was being pressured to install a system. Some company had picked her as a soft target and were pushing hard. The sales guy sat in her living room didn’t know much about what he was selling and covered his ignorance with jargon and BS. The payback period was the killer, poor lady wouldn’t have lived long enough to break even! Guess that was about eight or nine years ago.

Agreed the retrospective installation cost can be prohibitive and beyond sensible financial feasibility.


Far easier and better if the government assisted and insisted new builds have Solar thermal built into the initial build cost and primary mortgage

I now work for a company that designs and sells UFH, ASHP, GSHP and Solar Thermal and although the Solar Thermal is probably the cheapest of the options we don't sell many units at all.

( We also used to sell Grey water recycling units but again , maybe we didn't sell many because they are not considered 'sexy' tech , but as a quick win money saver its hard to beat grey water recycling )

Alot of the people paying for high end GSHP and integrated systems seem to be more doing it for green/emotive reasons rather than calculating the actual savings vs R.O.I and install costs.

There also is quite a few people trying to fit new green technology to draughty old Grade II listed buildings in some weird effort to do their 'bit'

 

[Woody girl]

@Woody girl £500 or about will get you into the entry level jackery and a panel.

It's about 240wh, and will allow 200w draw. Will charge all usb devices, and small tvs but not for very long on just the battery. The panel charges it in about a day, its a 100w panel, but the unit will only charge around max 60w.

The next step is the ecoflow in my opinion, as they allow additional batteries to be connected.

If you look at the bluetti 240 it should have enough power to run a small house with solar panels, but again it's top of the line and higher cost.

The smallest jackery and solar panel should keep your electronics, a heated blanket and maybe a small dc fridge going during an outage

Thank you, nice and simply put for a technophobe!
The jackery was what I was thinking of getting. I just wasn't sure if it was right for my simple needs. I kept getting tempted into thinking I needed bigger and better.
Must admit my other choice is the eccoflow. You have confirmed my choices, so I will get the jackery, untill I'm more confident in using this sort of thing. (Or I find a sugar daddy to buy me something more expensive!.)

Cheers!

 

[GSW]

Read one of your posts on this topic and intended replying but, in between logging on and going back, I lost your post that I had intended replying to. Anyway, in your, 'lost post' you say: "woodburner is sadly inset, so can't easily cook on it." If this was not your comment, I apologise. Anyway, I have (had) the same problem. I can heat a saucepan of water on top my log burner but cannot cook. I pondered........ If you clean out the fire, put in the burner compartment a short squat (squatter the better) twig stove and use that with the door open. Fumes, smoke goes up the flue. Cooking? - No problem, just heavy on old knees though!

 

[GSW]

Thank you, nice and simply put for a technophobe!
The jackery was what I was thinking of getting. I just wasn't sure if it was right for my simple needs. I kept getting tempted into thinking I needed bigger and better.
Must admit my other choice is the eccoflow. You have confirmed my choices, so I will get the jackery, untill I'm more confident in using this sort of thing. (Or I find a sugar daddy to buy me something more expensive!.)

Cheers!

I've got the 1000 W/hour Jackery. Three days off power earlier this year? I moved my Jackery around the two fridges and, more importantly, two freezers just to keep all, 'Topped Up'. Did the job so didn't have to resort to insurance claims. The Jackery? - A brilliant bit of kit.
Go for a range of fuel sources. Kerosene, Power Bank, Wood, Coleman gas (6 x 500 currently about £28), Solar panels. I've acquired a wind gennie for winter use and am currently pondering on what's needed for the tower.

 

[Decacraft]

Thank you, nice and simply put for a technophobe!
The jackery was what I was thinking of getting. I just wasn't sure if it was right for my simple needs. I kept getting tempted into thinking I needed bigger and better.
Must admit my other choice is the eccoflow. You have confirmed my choices, so I will get the jackery, untill I'm more confident in using this sort of thing. (Or I find a sugar daddy to buy me something more expensive!.)

Cheers!

Oh and with the solar panel itself do you have somewhere to install it or was it something you were going to set up just to charge?

Just to bear in mind the actual portable solar panels that are made are not weather proof, but there are alternatives available that will do the same thing at a lower cost but are not folding or designed to be portable.

I've got the 1000 W/hour Jackery. Three days off power earlier this year? I moved my Jackery around the two fridges and, more importantly, two freezers just to keep all, 'Topped Up'. Did the job so didn't have to resort to insurance claims. The Jackery? - A brilliant bit of kit.
Go for a range of fuel sources. Kerosene, Power Bank, Wood, Coleman gas (6 x 500 currently about £28), Solar panels. I've acquired a wind gennie for winter use and am currently pondering on what's needed for the tower.

That's exactly what I meant- if you manage it correctly you can keep everything going during a power cut.

Kerosene (parrafin) has doubled in price over the last few months here and the coleman gas cartridges are becoming non existent in the physical shops (plenty on amazon) so it all helps and will store for years.

 

[GSW]

Oh and with the solar panel itself do you have somewhere to install it or was it something you were going to set up just to charge?

Just to bear in mind the actual portable solar panels that are made are not weather proof, but there are alternatives available that will do the same thing at a lower cost but are not folding or designed to be portable.


That's exactly what I meant- if you manage it correctly you can keep everything going during a power cut.

Kerosene (parrafin) has doubled in price over the last few months here and the coleman gas cartridges are becoming non existent in the physical shops (plenty on amazon) so it all helps and will store for years.

Yes, I bought a four panel foldable 125W panel just to charge. So easy to set up. About £90 on ebay. Most difficult is getting the cable connection from the panels to the Jackery. It's an odd size. Got it eventually direct from China. I erect the stepladder out the back and trail the cable just inside to connect to the Jackery. Takes moments to demolish if it rains and just (normally) charging at the right angle when draped down/over the steps. I can't see why anybody would want to leave mobile solar panels out in the rain when no charging takes place.
I've been accumulating my paraffin stores over the years. I keep two pressure lamps in good working order and using Class A fuel (?), the smell is minimal if I need to use the greenhouse heater indoors just to keep the temp up.
Forgot to mention charcoal sticks for two handwarmers and, if all else fails, Calcium Carbide for my very first caving lamp for light.

 

[Decacraft]

Yes, I bought a four panel foldable 125W panel just to charge. So easy to set up. About £90 on ebay. Most difficult is getting the cable connection from the panels to the Jackery. It's an odd size. Got it eventually direct from China. I erect the stepladder out the back and trail the cable just inside to connect to the Jackery. Takes moments to demolish if it rains and just (normally) charging at the right angle when draped down/over the steps. I can't see why anybody would want to leave mobile solar panels out in the rain when no charging takes place.
I've been accumulating my paraffin stores over the years. I keep two pressure lamps in good working order and using Class A fuel (?), the smell is minimal if I need to use the greenhouse heater indoors just to keep the temp up.
Forgot to mention charcoal sticks for two handwarmers and, if all else fails, Calcium Carbide for my very first caving lamp for light.

I didnt bother with the portable panels, I just have a solid mono panel mounted on a frame and trail the cable indoors. An MC4 - 8mm dc cable is needed to plug in for future references, and this allows any panel to charge the jackery.

I still get around 9-25w of charge on a brighter rainy day so it does still get something to trickle over.

I use mine as a pass through (panel is always plugged in when its being used) so to be permanently connected does benefit my use.

 

[Woody girl]

Read one of your posts on this topic and intended replying but, in between logging on and going back, I lost your post that I had intended replying to. Anyway, in your, 'lost post' you say: "woodburner is sadly inset, so can't easily cook on it." If this was not your comment, I apologise. Anyway, I have (had) the same problem. I can heat a saucepan of water on top my log burner but cannot cook. I pondered........ If you clean out the fire, put in the burner compartment a short squat (squatter the better) twig stove and use that with the door open. Fumes, smoke goes up the flue. Cooking? - No problem, just heavy on old knees though!

Possibly a good idea for some, but I have dodgy knees, and struggle a lot with just lighting my woodburner.
Cooking on my knees is not a great option!
I have solved that by havindifferent camping camping gas stoves, and picking up gas whenever I can.
I have a trangia, six bottles of meths, and a small Coleman stove and some Coleman fuel.
I've also got an outbacker woodstove that I can use outside if I ever run out of gas. + a small bbq, and a couple of disposable ones..
I think I'll cope, but I wish I had an aga or rayburn!
I've made an off grid shower using a pump spray that is normaly used for spraying weedkiller, (use a new one!)
Just heat water in large kettle on the outbacker, top up with cold for a comfortable temp, and there is enough for hair washing, and a quick hosedown. Though I have been taught how to wash in a pint of water by an old ww2 desert soldier.. all except my long hair!

 

[grizzlyj]

I looked at a lithium battery bank just before autumn sales last year and all were, almost without exception, £1 per watt hour capacity. That kind of pricing had been steady, outside of sales, for a year plus as far as I noticed.
During the autumn sales a 20% reduction from that steady price was typical.
But a month or two ago quite a few came down in price. So if I was to think spending a lot on one was a good idea I'd be getting maybe the Poweroak EB240, 1000 watt inverter with 2400 Wh capacity The price of this matched all the rest and was £2400 but is now £1199, a massive reduction. Because it's summer? Did they buy in too many?

​

 

[Decacraft]

I looked at a lithium battery bank just before autumn sales last year and all were, almost without exception, £1 per watt hour capacity. That kind of pricing had been steady, outside of sales, for a year plus as far as I noticed.
During the autumn sales a 20% reduction from that steady price was typical.
But a month or two ago quite a few came down in price. So if I was to think spending a lot on one was a good idea I'd be getting maybe the Poweroak EB240, 1000 watt inverter with 2400 Wh capacity The price of this matched all the rest and was £2400 but is now £1199, a massive reduction. Because it's summer? Did they buy in too many?

​

That poweroak looks spectacular for the price! 2500 charging cycles as well

I was only looking at the ecoflow because for around the same cost you can get a unit that allows expansion with an additional 2 batteries, but if I am to use it as a main power supply I wanted to have as long a life span as possible

 

[nigelp]

Record petrol prices so I’ve had the push bike serviced. Already did a few miles round the village today so saved a few pence on fuel!

 

[Woody girl]

Good call! My whisper e bike is old and knackered, (battery refurb alone is £500, let alone a new one... if you can actualy find one,so I'm looking at getting a cheap bike and an add on e bike kit. Some research needed.
Such a shame as it was a great bike in its time, and very comfy for me to ride.
I have a dodgy right leg and stuffed knee so a standard pedal bike is not a good solution unless I lived in Norfolk, I need assistance from some sort of motor!
Wish I still had my puch maxi moped. Half a gallon kept me on the road all week!

 

[swyn]

Solar thermal is a good easy win for hot water supply for at least half the year.

I really don't understand why its not enforced and utilised on more new build houses as part of the build criteria.

There were a couple of five-new-home developments near to me in and around 2010 where solar thermal was installed. I think there was a reg to make developers fit at this time but looks like it was dropped pdq. Shame.
Similar to me as a ‘Brickie’ from 1980 onwards with the opportunity to properly insulate new-build homes with good insulation. Which simply never happened. I do feel guilty for not actually making a fuss. But I’d have lost my job at the time.
Re-building my own house, particularly with the situation right now. £60 for a 120mm sheet of insulation seems cheap when most homeowners are looking at a £2.5k annual heating bill!!!!!!!
S