Life Without Electricity
Possible Scenario
A strong electromagnetic pulse emanating from a solar discharge, hits your part of the United States, effectively wiping out your local power grid.
This could leave you without electricity for a long time. If the electricity is disrupted for a period, for any reason, your day-to-day life will change drastically.
Do you have a plan?
No Electricity
If you want to be prepared for a long-term power outage that could result from a massive power grid disruption, and you have the time and resources to plan, then living off-grid may be for you. This information, however, is for the rest of us who just want to have items on hand to help us get through a sustained power outage with alternative sources of power.
Don't be caught off guard
We use electricity for everything: to light a darkened room, to stay warm, to stay cool, to cook, to run our refrigerators, our freezers, our stoves, our computers, and the list goes on. Truthfully, we don’t think much about it until, poof, it all stops working.
We have become so accustomed to living with electricity and all its conveniences, that just the thought of losing it for even a little bit of time, is very concerning.
Our goal is to answer each electricity need with an alternative power source and its required fuel. Doing this assures our family won't have to sit in the dark or miss a home-cooked meal the next time the lights go out. There are items we can have on hand that will make losing electricity a whole lot easier to deal with.
How much alternative fuel do we need to store?
Imagine living without power for a few weeks, or a few months. What would you do? You need to decide how long of a time you can really be prepared for. A few hours are annoying, but a few days can bring about extensive hardships. The longer the outage the more stored fuel we need but of course not all stored fuel requires the same storage space. Alternative power sources mean nothing without the fuel that drives them.
Alternatives to electricity
There are many different types of alternative cooking, heating, and lighting options to choose from when building our storage. When deciding which is right for you, consider the fuel source required for each. How do you feel about storing this type of fuel in your home or on your property? Make sure you understand the fuel requirements and its storage ramifications before choosing your alternative power methods. For example, it doesn't do any good to purchase a gas generator, if you are uncomfortable storing gas.