how do you guys solar charger in a condo? there is not enough room to set up the solar panels.

how do the NY residents cope with power outage over 2 weeks? They don't have power generators or solar panels.

Using a small panel you can power small things.



The news is chock full of stories on how New Yorkers are coping.

Knowing how batteries connected in series/parallel work is very important as incorrect selection and or wiring can causes catastrophic damage to both batteries and whatever equipment you connect to them.

2 - 12 volt batteries connected in series will give you 24 volts which will not work with any 12 volt equipment. Yes there are 24 to 12 volt reducers but decent one's are not cheap and really defeats the intended purpose for household backup battery preparedness.

2 - 6 volt batteries connected in series will give you 12 volts but the amp hour stays the same.

2 - 12 volt batteries connected in parallel will give you 12 volts but doubles the amp hour capacity. This is the best solution for most household battery backup preparedness.

2 - 6 volt batteries connected in parallel still only gives you 6 volts but doubles the amp hour capacity.
i
Yes there are ways to connect batteries in both parallel and series but is probably beyond the scope of this thread's intended focus.

Teslinhiker,
Batteries in series/parallel connections was one of the first lessons in Batterystuff which you were kind enough to guide me to in another thread.
Thanks

My mom coped for 15 *years* without electricity when she was growing up.

My dad did have electricity growing up, which the family used to power the light bulb (singular) and radio (singular). Dad also grew up with running water (though the tap was in the front yard, not the house).

After one hurricane my family didn't get power restored for a month. It wasn't that big a deal - break out the camping gear and you're fine if you can handle the thought of living without iThings. Some forethought, such as buying food *before* you get hungry, is necessary.

My main concern is the that many in the NE may be learning the wrong lessons. This wasn't a "superstorm" - it was a weak storm that came in at high tide with a medium storm surge. A strong storm, or one with a high storm storm surge [1] (high or low tide) would be much worse. And two weeks to restore power is not slothful.

[1] The seabed off the NE coast may not allow a hurricane to generate storm surges that are possible in the Gulf Coast. 30' of surge may not be a realistic planning target.

My parents in WV finally got power back on a couple days ago, no phone yet, we only know because it word of mouth reached someone who can post on Facebook
They do have a small generator to keep the fridge and freezer going.
Nearly any electronic device we have can be charged from 12v, no line power or inverters needed. We have enough other ways to cook.

Calling Sandy a "weak storm" is very misleading. It is true that Sandy was only a Category 2 storm at its peak and Category 1 storm at landfall. However, those levels are based only on peak wind speed.

In terms of total storm energy there is a classification known as "Integreated Kinetic Intensity" (IKE) which is a better measure of the total power of the storm. IKE takes into account both the wind speed and the area that the storm covers. Measured that way Sandy was more powerful than Katrina.

See weather researcher Brian McNoldy's comments at Superstorm Sandy packed more total energy than Hurricane Katrina at landfall .
Some other comments on Sandy by McNoldy are at Hurricane Researcher Brian McNoldy on the Science Behind Sandy.

Finally note that how destructive a storm surge is depends a lot on the land elevations near the coast line. Much of the Gulf Coast tends to be relatively low elevation for a considerable distance inland. This means a storm surge can penetrate much further inland and do much more damage.

More on Storm Surge

For more information on how wind, storm area, topography etc influences storm surges, see the following from NOAA:

Introduction To Storm Surge PDF
Storm Surge Overview webpage
Storm Surge Frequently Asked Questions webpage FAQ

That's all I use. I have one deep cycle marine battery and a smaller (motorcycle-sized) 55 Ah SLA battery. We use the small battery all the time for camping trips and stuff. It will run phones, radios, and a 12v fan or two for at least a couple of days. The big one will run even longer. I have a tiny 2 amp charger and a small solar panel, but if I had to, I could charge either from a car with jumper cables. I can't run the fridge or A/C but it does enough to get by and sleep in the heat. If things get really bad, we'll likely be too busy doing relief work to need much power at home.

Conway--

Thanks for posting this. My name is John Galvin and I'm a contributing editor at Popular Mechanics where I cover disasters. I've worked with others on this forum for past stories, and I'm now writing something post Sandy.

I would be interested in hearing more about your generator issues. I have posted previously about my 2000w Honda and how I came to settle on that. I had a transfer switch installed so it plugs directly in my heating system--my main concern with 3 kids. Then I run extension cords as needed to power different things during the day (fridge/freezer, lights, etc).

It came in handy during Snowtober last year--we were w/o power for 4 days.

If you'd be willing to talk to me, let me know. You can send me a note at JohnGalvinMail at Gmail dot com.

JG.