Grinhill
10 kW
I've had to consider this question. With wild storms hitting the Hunter Region of NSW earlier this week, I find myself posting this from a laptop which has been charged from my e-bike batteries.
We've had no mains electricity for over 3 days now, and it could be up to a week before its restored.
A few shots from the area to paint the picture:
Luckily the ambient temperatures range between 13 to 20 celsius, so we don't have to worry about being frozen. But it does mean food spoilage is an issue.
Water supplies - some suburbs are without water due to lack of power to pumping stations (you can always put a bucket out in the rain!).
Our house is intact, but plenty of others have trees fallen on them or wind blowing roofing sheets off.
Neighbouring suburbs have power, so we can visit friends or go to local shops. Further inland, there are small towns which are completely isolated by floodwaters.
I've been able to call on a large collection of Lipo batteries to power various household items - although many of them are only half-charged to extend their life. You don't really expect to have to use them in this way. They are calling this a one-in-ten-year storm event. We had a one-in-one-hundred-year storm event back in 2007, and we lost power for three days in that one.
Here's some examples of Lipo hard at work:
Radio powered from 2s
Wifi/Router powered from 3s
LED lighting powered from 3s
Laptop powered from 5s
Phones charged from laptop.
Today I'll go to a friends place to recharge these batteries. Local coffee shops are great for recharging some things, but if you tried to recharge RC packs there I expect the SWAT team would soon be upon you!
It would be much nicer if I had everything in one box, pre-wired with all the outlets and voltages that I would need, but you only think of these things after the fact. Maybe I'll be ready for the next one. 8)
We've had no mains electricity for over 3 days now, and it could be up to a week before its restored.
A few shots from the area to paint the picture:
Luckily the ambient temperatures range between 13 to 20 celsius, so we don't have to worry about being frozen. But it does mean food spoilage is an issue.
Water supplies - some suburbs are without water due to lack of power to pumping stations (you can always put a bucket out in the rain!).
Our house is intact, but plenty of others have trees fallen on them or wind blowing roofing sheets off.
Neighbouring suburbs have power, so we can visit friends or go to local shops. Further inland, there are small towns which are completely isolated by floodwaters.
I've been able to call on a large collection of Lipo batteries to power various household items - although many of them are only half-charged to extend their life. You don't really expect to have to use them in this way. They are calling this a one-in-ten-year storm event. We had a one-in-one-hundred-year storm event back in 2007, and we lost power for three days in that one.
Here's some examples of Lipo hard at work:
Radio powered from 2s
Wifi/Router powered from 3s
LED lighting powered from 3s
Laptop powered from 5s
Phones charged from laptop.
Today I'll go to a friends place to recharge these batteries. Local coffee shops are great for recharging some things, but if you tried to recharge RC packs there I expect the SWAT team would soon be upon you!
It would be much nicer if I had everything in one box, pre-wired with all the outlets and voltages that I would need, but you only think of these things after the fact. Maybe I'll be ready for the next one. 8)