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

[Decacraft]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

I have used Hampshire Generators myself, and can only give them my praise!

I did hear that the government were doing green payments? To help with renewable energy sources, window upgrades and insulation? Not sure if an installed system would be paid for or partially paid for? I'm also aware that loans for such are being issued with reasonable rates, but unfortunately I don't fall into a category that would qualify for help, as there's some requirements the property I'm on doesn't meet.

The adaptor you need is a dc 8mm to mc4 cable, with a length that will reach your panel to battery.

 

[gra_farmer]

@Woody girl I bought the Anker 757 and really impressed so far, I did like the Jackery, but Anker customer service/support is brilliant and a 5 year warranty sold me on it.

As for panels the ecoworthy are okay, and there is a starter bundle at 240 watts, with all the other bits needed at £250. You will have to buy the power station adapter in addition, but mc4 connectors to (whatever the Jackery connection) is likely to be about £15

 

[Woody girl]

I must admit, after trying to set up that first suitcase system I had, the plug and play stuff is so easy to set up and use. It's a revelation, and luddite that I am in most aspects, I am thankful for this technology, which in my humble view should have been the way to go years ago.
I think every house built in the last 20+years should have had solar as an integral part of the design.

Gra farmer,
What are you able to power with the anker?

It's so confusing as to which one to get.
Money is my main stumbling block.
Everything is going up at stupid rates, and I'm concerned that I may not be able to save fast enough to be able to afford what I need.... if indeed anyone can afford to keep the factories open, making such stuff much longer.!
But for now, the sun is out, and so is the solar stuff. I have a chicken korma in the Dutch oven , and I shall cook that in my firepit later. Good practice for the next few years.
Off to collect more kindling this afternoon, and hopefully a few more blackberries if there are any left.

Came across a little slate hanger with a saying on it, which says,

The future you had planned has been cancelled. Please remain calm and await further instructions.

Well, I'm not waiting for further instructions, I'm getting my butt into gear, and making my own decisions.
I'm watching so many people walking round like zombies, head in phone, earplugs in, and they are doing nothing to help themselves. I call it boiling frog syndrome.

 

[gra_farmer]

I must admit, after trying to set up that first suitcase system I had, the plug and play stuff is so easy to set up and use. It's a revelation, and luddite that I am in most aspects, I am thankful for this technology, which in my humble view should have been the way to go years ago.
I think every house built in the last 20+years should have had solar as an integral part of the design.

Gra farmer,
What are you able to power with the anker?

It's so confusing as to which one to get.
Money is my main stumbling block.
Everything is going up at stupid rates, and I'm concerned that I may not be able to save fast enough to be able to afford what I need.... if indeed anyone can afford to keep the factories open, making such stuff much longer.!
But for now, the sun is out, and so is the solar stuff. I have a chicken korma in the Dutch oven , and I shall cook that in my firepit later. Good practice for the next few years.
Off to collect more kindling this afternoon, and hopefully a few more blackberries if there are any left.

Came across a little slate hanger with a saying on it, which says,

The future you had planned has been cancelled. Please remain calm and await further instructions.

Well, I'm not waiting for further instructions, I'm getting my butt into gear, and making my own decisions.
I'm watching so many people walking round like zombies, head in phone, earplugs in, and they are doing nothing to help themselves. I call it boiling frog syndrome.

The Anker 757 has an 1500w inverter, and 12000wh lithium phosphate batteries. I have been able to power a tall upright for 11 hours quite happily, a heavy duty microwave oven for just over an hour as examples.

My main use is back up and every day low power usage, such as lights, 3 laptops, three mobile phones, printer and other things powered by USB, I have a cheapish solar panel that puts about 50w in continuously during the day, with my lower power items mentioned above and the small amount of solar power going in, I have not gone below 30% power yet, and normally around the 50% mark over the last 2 weeks of continued use.

The brilliant part is that it really does charge from zero to 100% in under 1.5 hours on the mains, and with the ecoworthy panels in a day ~6 hours.

I would just like to note, I am still testing the power station, due to the current housing situation, everything is not quite fixed into position, as I have to build rooms and replace a whole roof.

 

[adriatikfan]

Thanks for the really helpful replies, particularly re solar/nbattery set-ups.

Just a quick question - how much does the solar charging efficiency deteriorate during the winter months?

Best Wishes,
David

 

[Decacraft]

Thanks for the really helpful replies, particularly re solar/nbattery set-ups.

Just a quick question - how much does the solar charging efficiency deteriorate during the winter months?

Best Wishes,
David

Personally I get 10-15% efficiency during the winter horrendous days in South wales. As long as there's some uv light they charge at a low rate.
You can get optimisers for each solar panel, but I havent as of yet, which are said to improve each panel during the least productive days.

 

[Decacraft]

The Anker 757 has an 1500w inverter, and 12000wh lithium phosphate batteries. I have been able to power a tall upright for 11 hours quite happily, a heavy duty microwave oven for just over an hour as examples.

My main use is back up and every day low power usage, such as lights, 3 laptops, three mobile phones, printer and other things powered by USB, I have a cheapish solar panel that puts about 50w in continuously during the day, with my lower power items mentioned above and the small amount of solar power going in, I have not gone below 30% power yet, and normally around the 50% mark over the last 2 weeks of continued use.

The brilliant part is that it really does charge from zero to 100% in under 1.5 hours on the mains, and with the ecoworthy panels in a day ~6 hours.

I would just like to note, I am still testing the power station, due to the current housing situation, everything is not quite fixed into position, as I have to build rooms and replace a whole roof.

The only reason I didnt go for the anker was its higher cost and non expandable battery over the ecoflow delta 2.

The charge rate is incredible on ac- have you measured the charge with a meter to see what the cost is per battery charge on the mains?
That would be interesting to find out.

 

[bearbait]

I have two 400W panels connected in series. Depending on the time of day, occasionally one or other is partly shaded. due to a) my neighbours having built their house in the wrong place, and b) due to the trees in my garden.

After some observations and subsequent research, it seems that when one of a set of series-linked panels is partly shaded it constrains the current output of the other panel which is in full light. As my power bank doesn't seem to cope with the output of the panels linked in parallel, I'm starting to think about some switching system to be able to switch one or other out of the system at various times of the day (morning and evening) to max out the generation potential.

 

[Decacraft]

I have two 400W panels connected in series. Depending on the time of day, occasionally one or other is partly shaded. due to a) my neighbours having built their house in the wrong place, and b) due to the trees in my garden.

After some observations and subsequent research, it seems that when one of a set of series-linked panels is partly shaded it constrains the current output of the other panel which is in full light. As my power bank doesn't seem to cope with the output of the panels linked in parallel, I'm starting to think about some switching system to be able to switch one or other out of the system at various times of the day (morning and evening) to max out the generation potential.

Are you charging a powerstation or a battery with a charge controller?

You can get smaller wattage panels, and connect them in different formations.

It all depends on the system being charged, its operational V(voltage) and I(current). You can over panel with wattage, but need to stay within the voltage and current, some will allow over and take what they need, others may go bang. It depends on the MPPT being used

 

[TeeDee]

 

[gra_farmer]

The only reason I didnt go for the anker was its higher cost and non expandable battery over the ecoflow delta 2.

The charge rate is incredible on ac- have you measured the charge with a meter to see what the cost is per battery charge on the mains?
That would be interesting to find out.

It charges at 1000w, I worked it out at my current electricity rate to be 67p for a full charge

 

[Woody girl]

The Anker 757 has an 1500w inverter, and 12000wh lithium phosphate batteries. I have been able to power a tall upright for 11 hours quite happily, a heavy duty microwave oven for just over an hour as examples.

My main use is back up and every day low power usage, such as lights, 3 laptops, three mobile phones, printer and other things powered by USB, I have a cheapish solar panel that puts about 50w in continuously during the day, with my lower power items mentioned above and the small amount of solar power going in, I have not gone below 30% power yet, and normally around the 50% mark over the last 2 weeks of continued use.

The brilliant part is that it really does charge from zero to 100% in under 1.5 hours on the mains, and with the ecoworthy panels in a day ~6 hours.

I would just like to note, I am still testing the power station, due to the current housing situation, everything is not quite fixed into position, as I have to build rooms and replace a whole roof.

That's a dream for me, still when I win the lottery.

I'm looking for something a tad smaller, but which will power a small travel electric kettle and run my dab radio for long periods. Plus all I mentioned before.
The jackery is fine for me at the moment. But I think I will need bigger at some point. Eccoflow seems to be a good compromise, as I could save and get an extra battery add on at some point.
The ecco worthy seems good, and cheaper, but it requires a screwdriver! Me and screwdrivers don't get on too well with my hands being how they are.
If I still lived in a a caravan , that would have been a great set up for me, but not sure how to go about it with my present home, too much wiring to get it sorted properly and I'd loose a lot of performance as I'd have to have the pannels at the top of the garden, and trail them across the veg beds!
Still, it's all academic at the moment as the pennies are not there for a few months more.
I've sacrificed riding the motor bike all summer and sorned it, just to get where I am.

 

[gra_farmer]

My wife had her pension statement through last week, she had lost half of what she paid in, in the last year, taken in fees and losses....the destabilizing of the UK is deliberate, I knew before Brexit that it would be a downward spiral....

I knew I should have jumped ship to Canada back in 2014, when I had the job offer

 

[gra_farmer]

That's a dream for me, still when I win the lottery.

I'm looking for something a tad smaller, but which will power a small travel electric kettle and run my dab radio for long periods. Plus all I mentioned before.
The jackery is fine for me at the moment. But I think I will need bigger at some point. Eccoflow seems to be a good compromise, as I could save and get an extra battery add on at some point.
The ecco worthy seems good, and cheaper, but it requires a screwdriver! Me and screwdrivers don't get on too well with my hands being how they are.
If I still lived in a a caravan , that would have been a great set up for me, but not sure how to go about it with my present home, too much wiring to get it sorted properly and I'd loose a lot of performance as I'd have to have the pannels at the top of the garden, and trail them across the veg beds!
Still, it's all academic at the moment as the pennies are not there for a few months more.
I've sacrificed riding the motor bike all summer and sorned it, just to get where I am.

As for the ecoworthy panels, the Jackery has a solar charge regulater so would be plug and play once you have a suitable adapter. But yes correct it would need to be strapped somewhere.

I am looking at a wind turbine, a small 400w one, with a single 120w panel and 480ah lipo4 battery. Wind I have, and lots of it year round.....the other bits need to be considered....and quickly.

 

[Woody girl]

My wife had her pension statement through last week, she had lost half of what she paid in, in the last year, taken in fees and losses....the destabilizing of the UK is deliberate, I knew before Brexit that it would be a downward spiral....

I knew I should have jumped ship to Canada back in 2014, when I had the job offer

I'm due to start my pension next summer...... I'm not holding my breath!
My plans had been to retire at 60, like most people, and move to Portugal, and buy a cheap smallholding in a less touristy area.( £3000.500 at the time) They put the pension age up... 5 more years to wait...oh well, more saving, better place,.....then we left the eu....oh no! Not so easy now, ....now I bet I've got no pension, and certainly no savings.
So all I've ever aimed for, dreamed and worked for, all gone. Cest la vie.
Excuse my French.

 

[draybo]

Weak neighbours I will then just take what I need every one for themselves in that end of the world scenario the American FEMA have some really good advice and have done some really good studies into this.

 

[Qwerty]

Anyone got a recommendation for an alarm for a garage back door? Something uncomplicated but effective.

 

[TLM]

A magnet on the door, a reed switch on the frame (both on the inside). The switch can then work a buzzer or any other signal.

 

[billycoen]

Anyone got a recommendation for an alarm for a garage back door? Something uncomplicated but effective.

Landshark in back garden...

 

[Woody girl]

I've just fitted a latch bolt (I'm not sure what they are realy called, but I'm sure you will know what I mean,) and alarmed padlock on the inside on my friends back garage door. It's about £12 for the padlock from halfords. Simple, easy and effective. If I can do it, anyone can.
They might get into the empty garage, but not into the house, without waking everyone up.