Category: Home Power

Letter Re: Geo Metro 3-Cylinder Gas/Propane Engines for Retreat Generators?

James: I am working on two generator set-ups and would like some feedback. I am working on a Mercedes OM636 and a 3 cylinder, 1 liter [displacement] Chevy Sprint/Geo Metro/Suzuki motor. In this letter I’ll describe the 3 cylinder and why I think it will work at a retreat [to power a generator]. The 3 cylinder goes back to 1982 with GM’s Project Saturn in 1982. It achieved better than 100 miles per gallon (mpg). On a trip from Warren, Michigan to New York it averaged 105 mpg on the highway and 75 mpg in the city. It was dropped …


The Coming Hard Times–Wake Up Call!, by Dr. T.

I am writing this essay with a bit of trepidation. I do not want to make you think I am an expert on anything, but I do think a lot and have spent a lot of time studying the economy. Mr. Rawles can verify that my education and training are as follows — I am in the medical profession and also an attorney. I am also in the Air National Guard, after spending many years in the Army Reserve. I was deployed in 2003-04, primarily to Kuwait, but also made trips to Iraq, Qatar, and Djibouti. I also spent most …


Three Letters Re: Advice on Generators?

Dear Mr. Rawles, On the subject of generators, I was wondering what your thoughts were on fuel. Recently, the municipality I live in equipped it’s municipal buildings with large generators powered by propane. My thought was that a wiser choice would have been diesel. My reasoning was: Propane can only be provided by large trucks with specialized equipment or by smaller, but heavy, containers. In a situation where the roads may be blocked or impassable, a propane truck would not be able to get through. It’s hard to convince a propane dealer to come out with his truck for a …


Five Letters Re: Advice on Generators?

Jim, I have backup generators at my home and at my retreat. Both are propane powered. The generator at the retreat is a low speed (1800 RPM), liquid cooled generator. I have run it for up to 10 hours straight, with no problems. The vast majority of us “off the grid” folks have low speed propane generators. They are very reliable and fuel storage is not an issue since propane does not go bad. Most residences that I have seen, run the house and generator off of the same 500 gallon tank. My generator has a dedicated 500 gallon tank, …


What if The Schumer Doesn’t Hit The Fan? – Reasons to Prepare Anyway, by MB

As long as I can remember, I have felt that someday the comforts of a modern American lifestyle would vanish, at least temporarily. So I have made small mental preparations for some time now; keeping my mind and body fit and strong, staying informed, dropping hints to the wife, etc. Recently, and mostly after reading Patriots, I have a renewed interest in preserving my life and protecting those I love. After educating myself on the subject of survival, I felt, as I’m sure many others have, very vulnerable and even overwhelmed. I needed to take action, immediately. Many thoughts spring …


Letter Re: Advice on Generators?

Jim, What is the way to go in generators? I own four now, all gasoline fueled. Last winter the power was out for nine straight days, and it was 28 degrees below [zero, Fahrenheit]. I have used gas generators for near 40 years, but mostly for remote site construction. They are started and shut off as needed. But last winter with the power out, I would run for 4 hours, then off for 6 hours, for nine days straight. What happened is that the 3,600 RPM of long run time vibrated them apart. In the summer one would just tighten …


Letter Re: Some Observations on Self-Sufficiency and Retreat Security

James, I greatly appreciate SurvivalBlog and the solid, thoughtful info it contains, and have printed out numerous posts for future reference. It seems for many the ideal is having a bug-out location, so perhaps readers could glean some useful information from my experience owning and operating a fair-sized ranch, one of the goals of which is to be as independent as possible. Specific observation on particular issues: WATER Top of the list, everything else is secondary. If you don’t have indoor water for cooking, bathing, toilets, etc., the quality of life quickly plummets. Try hauling all of the water you …


Reducing Your Sound “Footprint” by Countrytek

I’ve been lurking about SurvivalBlog for about six months now, and have found a lot of useful information hereabouts. There are lots of good tips about securing your retreat and making it less visible. One thing I have noticed though is that there appears to be a blind spot. Why go to all the trouble to screen your retreat location from view and practice nighttime light discipline if you are going to announce your presence far and wide audibly? One thing I’ve noticed lately is there is a lot of discussion on stocking up on two-cycle and bar oil for …


Letter Re: Solar Power, Wind Power, 4WD Electric Vehicle, Wood Fired Brick Ovens

James, I am new to SurvivalBlog but I thought that I would share my experience and thoughts with everyone. I have a totally off the grid ranch that is powered by wind and solar. We have more electricity than we can use with a 40 kilowatt (KW) battery bank, 2 KW of photovoltaics and 1.4 KW of wind power. First I highly recommend a hybrid system, solar and wind. Usually when the sun isn’t shinning, the wind is blowing, especially when a storm is blowing in. My batteries are usually full by 1100 hours in the summer and 1200 hours …


Two Letters Re: Constructing a High Efficiency (Low Current Draw) Refrigerator

James: Greetings from the rural Northeast, destination of choice for fleeing urban hordes! I enjoyed the article from Australia a while back on converting a small chest freezer into a low-power refrigerator. I had planned to undertake a project like that this summer. I admired the elegance of the circuit design and the use of a latching relay to lower the power consumption as low as possible. When I read the letter about using a brewer’s thermostat instead, though, I had the same epiphany you did. Your BFO award is certainly appropriate, and I commend Kurt for bringing the idea …


SurvivalBlog Reader Poll: What is Your Profession?

I’m amazed at the wide variety of people that read SurvivalBlog. I”m starting a new poll: in seven words or less, tell us you profession, (via e-mail) and I will post an anonymous list. For any of you that are doctors, lawyers, or engineers, and so forth please state your specialty. If you have two (or more) vocations, please state the both with a slash in between. (Such as “neurosurgeon / musician.”) As standard policy, unless specifically given permission I remove people’s names, titles, e-mail addresses, company names, and other identifiers from letters before I post them. Without mentioning any …


Letter Re: Hurricane Preparedness, by MFA

Jim, Well written article especially for a “newbie” to hurricanes in Florida. However, I must take exception to the one item that MFA ignored: a standby generator! Life after a storm in Florida without a generator can best be described in two words: “absolute misery.” Without going into details, a generator will mean the difference between an Absolutely Miserable Time and a manageable Difficult Time. Personally we have a Honda 6500 [6.5 KW] electric start generator to use during the storm to provide power for lights, television Weather News and to keep the refrigerators and freezers running. After the storm, …


Letter Re: Batteries for Long Term Storage

Jim:: A note about future trade items. Large conventional lead-acid batteries. They are necessary for starting most vehicles, tractors, etc. They are necessary for off-grid solar electric systems, et cetera. The problem as I see it is – long term storage. Most batteries come filled – and degrade over time regardless if you use them or not. Some companies are willing to sell batteries dry – for long-term storage – but even that comes with a problem. Most batteries offered for sale as “dry” have actually been filled once, charged, and then drained – thus the common term of “dry …


Letter Re: Constructing a High Efficiency (Low Current Draw) Refrigerator

Hi Jim There was an article on your blog a few weeks ago about converting a chest freezer into a low wattage refrigerator. I decided to make one of these as it is a great idea. I purchased a 7 cu ft freezer at Home Depot for $200 and then bought this device (the Johnson model) and that was all that I needed. I first used it as a freezer and put a Kill A Watt [current monitor] on it. It averaged 1.13 KW per 24 hours. I then used the thermostat and used it as a refrigerator and tested …


Letter Re: Photovoltaic Versus Diesel Power Generation for Retreats

Hi Jim, I was a reader of Patriots before the [Y2K] rollover. Thank you!. Here in the Northern New England, I made the same calculations, and decided to stockpile off road diesel and kerosene. The other major component is used vegetable oil, usually available free from restaurants, who otherwise pay to have it hauled by a recycling outfit. My 20 h.p. Listeroid diesel runs fine on waste vegetable oil (WVO). So does the 13hp Hatz backup generator, along with an ’85 Diesel Suburban and ’82 Diesel Rabbit. Filter the big stuff out using more coarse filters like a pillowcase. Filter …