what's the point of prepping if I can't use generator on the balcony? I would be vulnerable to long power outage.

That's a conversation between you and your condo board.

There was a prepper on youtube a little while ago (one of the NG Doomsday Perppers) who said he's giving prepping completely because he's no longer legally able to own a gun. I thought to myself, "Wow! That's extreme." There is so much more to preoping than guns and ammo. I'd argue the same about a generator. There are lots of work arounds to consider. I'd hate to throw in the towel becuase you can't have one (agreeably important) piece of equipment.

That said, we don't have one and our condo rules forbid it too, so I'm in a similar boat. We've decided thwt it's a hole in our preps but we're not letting it be an all or nothing hole and are trying to work around it.

True; but in my experience having lived in apartments with balcony and in houses, I found the need for power in an apartment much less than in a house. First, apartments (at least the ones I lived in) seem to retain heat better---the thermal mass of the building around the apartment I think. Second, in an apartment I didn't need to worry about pumping out a basement, but I do in my house--the sump pump (a 3/4 HP electrical device by itself, which draws 7 amps).

That pretty much leaves lighting and cooking (assume electrical stove, not gas). Lighting, in this day of efficient battery powered lights should not be a problem. As for cooking, you probably could use a small propane powered stove on the balcony without anyone complaining, or even noticing. (Don't use it inside).

That leaves a need to recharge things like your cell phone, etc., which does not draw much power. Possibly battery powered rechargers could be a solution.

If there is a critical (e.g. medical) device that you need powered, then I think a bug out plan is needed.

People lived, and still live, without electrical power. Think of the apartment as a "cave."

For me, the critical problem of the apartment is the elevator (if it has one). That can trap you, and least make access really difficult to impossible. But a generator on the balcony is not going to fix that.

There are numerous solar options for repowering small things like cell phones. Totally silent and they will work very well if you have a southern exposure. The whole point about survival preparedness is learning to do without such amenities as electricity and firearms.

Trust me, you can get along just fine without significant electricity for months at a time - no problem at all.

That was our theory when we lived in an apartment, and it's still a guiding principle for us now that we have a house. We can do without power by stocking up on work-arounds like batteries, solar chargers, alt. fuel for cooking, candles, lanterns, etc. Warmth is our biggest concern, but that can be tackled without power too, it's just more redumentary, like sweaters and blankets.

When we lived on the 24th floor during the 2003 East coast black out, we didn't have to worry about warmth but a lack of running water was an issue we were il-prepared for. Not to mention that 24 flights of stairs is a long walk, especially with a little kiddo.

A few deep cycle batteries hooked in series/parallel as needed to deliver your voltage/ampere needs would go a long way to meet your preparedness for loss of light and cooking. A 12 volt charger and solar cell might be all you need to keep the batteries charged. Further details could be had from a local electrician, which I am not.

Firstly the generator, even the small one like a 1 or 2KA suitcase generator, is most likely going to run on liquid petroleum. It is very dangerous to store this fuel inside any property or on a balcony apartment.

I would go for bottled LPG or even industrial Propane bottles. These are reasonably safe if you follow the safety guidelines You can purchase lanterns which can be powered from butane or propane. You can purchase gas stoves, which will work indoors, but once again they will need Flame Failure Devices (FFDs) fitted for the safety aspect. Get a CO detector/alarm, they are cheap to purchase as well.

To improve cooking efficiency get some of the cooking pots/kettles etc with heat exchanger bases.

Your small electronics powering requirements could be resolved using a small Solar PV Panel i.e. 60W, a charge regulator and a battery. i.e. preferably a non spillable type such as sealed AGM SLA type.

If you desktop computer draws 200-300W then get a notebook that draws 12W. Reducing the load on lighting is now easy to do. i.e. a 100W incandescent light bulb can be replaced with an emergency 3-7W LED type. i.e. you would go from 1500 lumen to 250 for the 3W or 450 lumen for the 7W.

You could even get a biolite Stove for the balcony if folks really can't stand being withdrawn from the 'Matrix'. You will need a good quality survival knife to chop up the apartment furniture to fuel to the biolite stove to keep the iPhone charged, whilst you make a nice cup of tea to sooth the panic of not being able to keep up with the latest twitter or facebook feed.

Before that new fangled electricity was available, most of the Dundee skyline was no higher than 4 floors, this was due to a local building statute making anything higher than 4 floors high illegal to construct.

Interestingly many of the 100-150 year old 4 floor stone constructed buildings in the city known as tenements have survived, whilst the 15-25 floor abominations constructed in the 1970s are being blown up or pulled down.

Everyone cheered and clapped

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_XKP-07R0I

Interesting. Another consideration re: high-rises is egress in the event of a fire...if you are on a high floor and can't get down a stairwell you have a real problem since the fire dept's ladders won't reach high enough. I wonder if that might have been part of the reason for the statute you cite.