posted 2 years ago
It really depends on the personality of the person or people at the homestead though that dictates how robust the system should be. My personality is such that I just adapt and overcome. Sure, it is not what I want; when the power goes out, I just want to keep doing what I was doing, but the reality is, sometimes it is nice just to stop what I am doing, light a hurricane lamp and curl up with a good book. On most power outages I actually get a lot of sleep which is really nice.
But when I had four daughters and a wife here, electricity had a different importance. They were less willing to adapt, and so I had a means to provide for their way of life. I had a back-up generator, with a back-up to the back-up generator that can kick out 20 KW, which is plenty for my house.
As a person that is involved with grid-based renewable energy, I also know people have an expectation that when they flip a switch, power is there. For many in society, death can result if they do not have that. I get that, and I fully understand that for some people like the elderly or sickly, they cannot just adapt and overcome. For those people, I am glad there are low cost systems that can provide the electricity they need when the main grid goes down.
This is where people really must evaluate what their system needs are, and for the rest of us not to be judgmental. Without question I am in awe of people who coble microhydro systems together and have a stream make electricity for their homestead. But I fully understand if that same couple ends up taking in their elderly parent and need to install a 15 KW back up generator coupled to a 500 gallon propane tank because their father is on an assisted breathing machine.
What the original poster calls "robust", I simply call "insurance", and with insurance you always invest heavily in something you cannot live without. The challenge, however, is figuring out what exactly are "needs" and what are actually just lifestyle continuation wants. I propose, we can get by with far less than what we often think we need.
Hurricane lamp and a book, anyone?