4 hours ago in mid afternoon we had yet another big thunderstorm. That’s when the power went off. Still in the dark… I sure would like a cup of tea!
@Miraz It would be handy to be a Firebender, or a witch from Harry Potter. (Actually, I do have a small portable electric generator, but I don't think it can handle the load required for a tea kettle. It can run a TV or a router, or charge up devices though.)
@odd I just have a little station that you charge up in advance. I have the smallest one of these: www.jackery.com/pages/por...
@jean Oh, that one is much better than the diesel generators, at least for smaller needs. I haven’t heard so much about Musk’s PowerWall lately, although I think there is a huge marked for it, especially for rural houses.
@odd They're around. In my county (Metro Atlanta), they've had a few solar group buys that included one or two Powerwalls. We didn't pursue as it takes 8+ years (at minimum) to break even on those home improvements, and we're not sure how long we will stay in our current home, and we weren't sure if our house would need additional electrical upgrades (old houses were not built for modern electrical needs). Someday...
@dgreene196 Yeah, I’ve heard it’s a big cost up front for these. Prices will probably go down eventually, (though not now, for sure!), so these can be feasible for most houses. Wouldn’t hurt if there came some competition around either.
@odd It's definitely an investment, and something you pay for over time, rather than upfront (at least for most). But, especially for parts of the country that will likely face rolling brownouts/blackouts regularly, and I think battery back-up is a key part of future home infrastructure investment. Solar doesn't work to its potential without batteries to store energy when there's excess. It's not my favorite way to store energy for later use - hello pumped-storage plant - but it's more practical for most places.