Residential Standby Generators for EMP and Severe Solar Storms
Blackouts are nothing new, but major storms over the past two years have hammered home the importance of electrical power. Last fall Hurricane Sandy pummeled the Northeast, disrupting power for more than 8 million customers and leaving families homeless as temperatures dropped. Sandy blew in just 12 months after a historically destructive snowstorm hit the same region.When the electrical power goes out during a major storm or utility company outage, many of us realize just how reliant we are on electricity. Electricity, after all, provides light and powers just about every appliance and technology device in our homes. As a result, without electrical power, our homes become little more than shelter. We sit in the dark, imagining our frozen foods thawing and praying for longer cell phone and laptop battery life .
I am going to be discussing this subject with broad generalizations. The home generator market has changed rapidly during the past few years, but a number of possible pitfalls and important considerations for buying a standby generator have remained the same. Recommending one particular brand or fuel source would be futile because models change so often, and the importance choice of a fuel supply (as discussed below) is very specific to your particular situation and location.
It is important here to once again stress the differences between nuclear EMP and the disturbances caused by solar storms.
It is difficult to fully protect a typical whole-house generator from nuclear EMP, although much can be done. A solar storm is another matter entirely. Solar storms affect mostly the electric power grids, with the most severe solar storms damaging the larger transformers in the power grid.
The main danger to residential electric power during a severe solar storm is very-long-term loss of electricity from the power grid. This means that having any kind of a standby generator at all provides a large amount of protection from severe solar storms as long as you have a long-term fuel supply.
Any conventional standby generator will be limited by the duration of the availability of fuel supply in a disaster situation. Shielded solar panels along with shielded and transient protected auxiliary solar equipment is the only alternative that does not require ongoing fuel and frequent maintenance.
The one possible source of damage to electrical powered items during a severe solar storm comes from the possibility of AC from the power grid having an extremely distorted waveform before the electric grid finally collapses. There have been severe solar storms affecting power grids in high-latitude regions. The most notable of these recent storms are the ones that severely affected the province of Quebec in Canada in 1989, and South Africa in 2003. In both cases, sections of the power grid collapsed fairly quickly, and I have found no reports of damage to any individually-owned items.
Although some rare solar disturbances travel from the Sun to the Earth fairly quickly (or have an unpredicted severity) and catch everyone off guard (such as the March 1989 geomagnetic storm in Quebec), most severe solar storms are likely to offer you a day or two of advance warning. You can get warnings of solar storms from web sites such as:
Small solar storms often happen with great frequency (especially in the years near the peak of the sunspot cycle), and only affect small electric grids near the polar regions where the power grid operators are prepared for all but the most severe of such events. So don’t start up your generator with every report of an X-class solar flare. If a once-in-a-century electromagnetic storm is on its way to the Earth, however, it would be prudent to start and transfer your generator before the grid collapses in order to supply only undistorted power to your house.
It is important to remember the 3 most important causes of generator failure:
- (1) Fuel that is so old that it has gone bad. (Or just running out of fuel)
- (2) A bad or discharged starting battery. This usually occurs only because the owner is not paying attention to simple and important maintenance.
- (3) Failure of electronics modules due to voltage spikes on the power line. These voltage spikes are happening all the time. It is not only the huge voltage spike from an EMP that can destroy an electronics module. Smaller voltage spikes on the main power line commonly damage the electronics modules, especially in areas of frequent lightning. The electronics modules in generator sets are especially vulnerable to damage because some of these circuits have to be connected directly to the power line in order to sense whether commercial power is available.
In case some of the electronics have failed, the generator may still run, but may just not automatically start and transfer. Read your manual to learn how to manually start your generator and manually transfer the power. You don’t want to learn this by flashlight while you are fumbling around in the dark. The electronics that are most likely to be damaged in your generator are those concerned with the automatic start and transfer circuits. (Of course, this doesn’t apply to a portable generator.)
I’ll discuss nuclear EMP protection (and protection against more common voltage spikes) near the end of this article, but first lets get started on discussing considerations for the purchase of a new generator.
Other than your budget, the first consideration will be the fuel for the generator. The fuel that you choose will be heavily dependent upon your location and the fuels that are commonly available at your location.
One important consideration for stored fuels is that they all go bad after a period of time. Modern gasoline is the worst in this regard since it can significantly deteriorate within a few months. Fuel that is continuously piped in (such as natural gas in many areas) can provide a constant fresh source of fuel, but even that source can vanish if it is pumped by electric fuel pumps.
Historically, the primary fuel used for standby generators has been diesel fuel. This is not the best choice for residential use for most people. On the other hand, if you live in a rural area (and especially if you live on a farm with diesel-powered tractors, etc.), diesel may be the perfect fuel for your situation.
Portable electric generators:
Portable electric generators are usually powered by either diesel fuel, gasoline or propane. They are not adequate for powering an entire house, but they may be very useful for powering things like critical items such as electric heaters or fans, small pumps, refrigerators and (in conjunction with a high-quality uninterruptable power supply) individual medical equipment.
Although gasoline may be a convenient fuel for many people (since many people keep a can of gasoline around for things like lawn mowers), it is not the best fuel to use for a generator. The reasons are simply its short lifetime in storage, and the fact that it is more easily flammable than the other “household” fuels.
Diesel fuel is less dangerous to have in storage from the viewpoint of flammability. It will also last in storage for two or three years if you add the proper diesel fuel preservative. The most common diesel fuel is called diesel #2. Unless you live a climate that is fairly warm all year, it is best to buy a blend of diesel #1 and diesel #2. (Diesel #1 is somewhat similar to kerosene.) Blends of diesel #1 and diesel #2 are commonly available in cold climates.
Portable generators that run on propane are also commonly available. They are usually designed to run on the same portable tanks that are used for things like recreational vehicles. Propane tends to last much longer than other fuels used in portable generators, but even stored propane doesn’t last forever.
The important thing to remember about any kind of portable generator is that it will only supply standby power for periods of time measured in hours. A exception may be if you live in a rural area with a large capacity fuel tank. Even then, portable generators are not designed for continuous use during long-term power outages. You generally have to shut them down at least once a day (usually more often) for a while to check things like lubricating oil level.
Whole house generators:
Whole house generators have been available for decades, but it has only been in very recent years that they have become more widely available, and at a more reasonable price that has put them within reach of large numbers of homeowners.
The most popular whole-house generators in recent years have been those that run on natural gas or propane. Natural gas generators have the advantage that many people have fresh natural gas piped into their house already, so they don’t have to worry about a fuel supply for ordinary power outages. Large-scale disasters, which include any scenario where a large part of the power grid is down for days or weeks, may mean that there is inadequate pressure in the natural gas lines, as well.
Fortunately, all whole-house natural gas generators that I have seen will run on propane as well. Although the change-over from natural gas to propane is usually quite straightforward, you do have to follow the proper procedure. It can be dangerous to feed a mix of natural gas and propane to your generator. At a minimum, the changeover usually involves shutting down the generator, moving a fuel lever on your generator to the alternative fuel position, and opening the fuel valve on your emergency supply tank (propane tank).
Natural gas generators usually come set up for natural gas only, and require an inexpensive adapter kit to accommodate the use of propane. (Your chances of finding the proper adapter kit and propane tanks during a very long-term power outage of any kind are virtually zero, so purchase and install the propane kit in advance.)
For those who live in rural areas, these natural gas/propane generators can be set up to run from the propane in a large propane tank of any size.
During any sort of a long-term power outage, most of the home generators (unlike industrial standby generators) must be shut down once a day or so for brief maintenance for things like checking the oil level. Other than these brief maintenance periods, the run time is generally limited only by the fuel supply.
The most popular whole-house generators currently being sold are all set to automatically start and run once every week or two, usually for a 20-minute period. This is a form of automatic self-test and self-maintenance. Alarm lights will come on if the generator fails to start and run at the preset time. The alarm lights won’t do any good if you don’t check them occasionally. You cannot just buy a standby generator, and then forget about it. Usually, very little maintenance is required; but you should look for alarm lights and check things like the oil level every week or two. This only takes a minute or so. Unless you have a small pull-to-start portable generator, the starting batteries will have to be replaced every few years. If an EMP event happens (or any other kind of very long-term power outage), you will be extremely glad to have a fresh battery.
Unless the battery comes with the generator package, get a battery with a larger capacity (in both amp-hours and cold-cranking-amperes) than what is recommended. Having a large enough battery will greatly increase the chances of the generator starting when you need it to start.
About EMP and other transient protection for your generator:
Most manual-start portable generators are in pretty good shape, even for nuclear EMP, as long as no external wires are connected to them. This means don’t plug in extension cords or other items into a portable generator until you actually need them. Leaving an unused portable generator with an extension cord plugged into it is just like connecting an EMP antenna to the interior. If you have a portable generator with obvious electronic “features,” be sure that you keep spare parts for the electronics, and keep the spare electronic parts in shielded containers.
For whole-house generators: At a minimum, you should have a voltage transient suppressor at the input (electric power grid side) of your transfer switch. If you don’t have the time or money to search for and purchase a suppressor that is fast enough for EMP, at least have the electrician install a lightning protector on the input to your transfer switch. Especially if your only transient protection is a standard lightning protector, then be sure to implement my PLAN B mentioned below.
Voltage transient protectors that are fast enough for nuclear EMP are made by Transtector and SOLA. These will only block the EMP coming in on the power line, but this is the most important part of the pulse. Voltage spikes coming in from the main power lines from a nuclear EMP would range from many thousands to a million volts or more. In addition, if you live in a lightning-prone area, then lightning-induced power line spikes are likely to destroy unprotected generator electronics sometime within the normal lifetime of your generator. There is always good transient protection built into the generator electronics, but that “good” transient protection is nearly always inadequate, even under normal conditions.
The excellent EMP power line transient suppressors by Transtector have gotten very expensive in recent years. Most Transtector transient suppressors are now more than a thousand dollars each. SOLA makes good transient protectors for half the price of the Transtector units. The SOLA model STV 100K-10S is an excellent unit made for the 120/240-volt systems that are the most common for U.S. residential use. It costs around $570. This model will also work on residential systems in many other countries. It will have to be wired in by an electrician.
There is also another lightning and transient suppressor which, according to its specifications, is fast enough for shunting the incoming power line voltage spike from nuclear EMP. It is the Ditek HD2. I have never used this device, but it appears to be a good one for less than 300 U.S. dollars, and it is available through many electrical distributors used by electrical contractors in the United States.
Contrary to what you might think, an EMP will induce much larger voltages on the power lines on the distant eastern and western horizons with respect to the detonation point. The eastern and western horizons may have voltages in excess of one million volts induced on long lines. The areas closer to the detonation point will be limited to induced voltages of something like 100,000 volts, even on the longest lines. Also, the transformer that feeds your home or building will slow down the rise time of the pulse on the power line so that even conventional transient suppressors will likely catch this part of the pulse. The greater danger comes from the fast-rise-time 50,000 to 100,000 volt pulse that is induced in the wiring close to and inside of your home or other building.
Ideally, in addition to the power line input side of the transfer switch, there should also be one on the load side (the output going to your house). This one is less important that the power line side transient suppressor, but it is necessary unless you intend to implement PLAN B. I’ve been looking for a good place for readers of this page to buy the SOLA or Transtector units; but for now, you will either have to look around on the web, or ask your electrician if he is able to purchase it. (The distributor that I have purchased these items through in the past was uncooperative about listing their items on this web site.) Also, be sure to consider the Ditek HD2, mentioned above.
In addition to voltage transient protection for your generator, especially if you have a whole-house stationary generator, it is important to have transient protection for the critical and more sensitive electrical and electronic items in your house. Every time that your transfer switch switches the power either to the generator or back to the main power, it will create a voltage spike in your entire house. Put at least an inexpensive consumer-type “surge suppressor” on every piece of important electrical device in your home. Inexpensive surge suppressors have gotten much better in the past few years, and every one of them that you use will eventually pay for its cost. (You won’t realize that the surge suppressors are paying for themselves because you won’t know about the electronics that you would have been replacing due to premature failure.) Try to get an outlet surge protector that is rated at at least 3000 joules, but any surge suppressor is better than nothing. Even the electrical outlets that you use for charging things like laptop computers and cell phones should have a surge suppressor at the outlet.
Complete shielding of the electronics in a home generator system is rather difficult, but it is doable if you are persistent. Rather than worrying too much about complete shielding and total surge protection, it is usually a very good idea to just keep spare circuit boards and electronics modules on hand. This is what I referred to earlier as PLAN B. If your modules and circuit boards are plug-in or use any kind of quick-disconnect connectors, then you are in good shape regarding installation of replacement circuits. If you need to solder any part of the electronics circuit board in place, be sure to have a power source for the necessary soldering iron. This can be done with an inverter (for DC to AC conversion) and an adequately sized battery. Even the most experienced generator technician or electrician cannot change a soldered-in circuit board without an adequately powered soldering iron.
PLAN B is a good idea no matter what your other surge suppression and shielding plans are. PLAN B can usually be accomplished for 300 to 400 U.S. dollars for most generator sets. This is nearly always much less expensive than complete transient protection and shielding of the generator set. Be sure to search diligently for all of the electronics circuitry in your generator set. The critical electronics that are most likely to be damaged are usually pretty easy to find. Keep the spare electronics for your generator unit under faraday shielding as described on my other pages.
If you rely on PLAN B, and if some or all of the electronics circuits are of the solder-in type, then be sure that you or someone that you know nearby has both the competency and the safety awareness to safely and competently unsolder and remove the burned out units and wire and solder in the spare units. (If you have ever worked on electrical circuits and have done very much soldering, you will not find this difficult.)
Some have seen this problem coming for a long time and changed their entire way of life by going off-grid. They have found alternative sources such as solar, wind and diesel to power their homes and machinery. A majority of us, who have not gone off-grid, are making a concerted effort to avoid dependence on this ailing infrastructure and preparing for life without it.
Just remember that completing the repair phase of PLAN B in a post EMP situation (or even in a post lightning-strike power outage situation) requires an electric soldering iron with an adequately-sized inverter powered by an adequately-sized battery. Also, the inverter should be stored under faraday shielding. Count on doing all of the repairs without electricity. So plan for battery operated lighting and think about other things for which you usually depend upon the power grid.
I’ve repaired the electrical circuits in generator sets while a blizzard was coming in, and in a case where the electricity went out about two minutes before the repairs were complete, so I know this is easily doable if you are properly prepared.
Make sure that you have the proper tools on hand for changing the electronics. Many whole-house generator sets use connectors which require you to loosen the clamp securing the wires by using a screwdriver with a rather small tip. Make sure that you have the proper screwdriver on hand and that you always know where it is. When changing the circuit boards, it is sometimes easy to lose track of which wire goes where. It is very useful to obtain a book of numbered wire markers, such as the ScotchCode Pre-Printed Wire Marker Books or the Panduit PAN-CODE Wire Marker Books. These are available from any major electronics distributor, and they can be used to label the wires before removing them.
Don’t do any wiring on AC power equipment if you aren’t knowledgeable about electricity and somewhat experienced with, and quite comfortable with, doing such wiring. Even in what you believe is a long-term power outage, always be prepared for the main power to come back on unexpectedly; so make sure that all possible sources of AC power are disconnected before working on the circuits. If you aren’t comfortable with working on such circuits, find someone locally who is familiar with electrical circuits. Remember though, that even the most brilliant expert can’t fix anything without the proper tools. In a disaster situation, you may very well be able to find an expert who doesn’t have access to his tools. So it is your responsibility to have some basic tools for these, otherwise straightforward, electronic repairs.
The Best Whole House Generators
Home generators are one of the most useful pieces of equipment any home owner can own. When the power goes out, there’s still an ability to have power generated! This keeps food cool, people connected, and can provide warmth on a cold night. How do you find which generator is the right one for you? Through the best home generator reviews that you can find right here!
Choose a generator made specifically for household use rather than a worksite or camping generator. Consider how much power and what sorts of plugs you will need. Also consider the quality of the machine and how easy it will be to start and maintain.
A standby generator can energize a house for days after a blackout, but these are costly, complicated machines. Here’s how to know if a standby generator is a good investment.
Our grandfathers had more knowledge than any of us today and thrived even when modern conveniences were not available. They were able to produce and store their food for long periods of time. The Lost Ways is the most comprehensive book available. All the knowledge our grandfathers had, in one place.Here’s just a glimpse of what you’ll find in the book:
Table Of Contents:
Making Your Own Beverages: Beer to Stronger Stuff
Ginger Beer: Making Soda the Old Fashioned Way
How North American Indians and Early Pioneers Made Pemmican
Wild West Guns for SHTF and a Guide to Rolling Your Own Ammo
How Our Forefathers Built Their Sawmills, Grain Mills,and Stamping Mills
How Our Ancestors Made Herbal Poultice to Heal Their Wounds
What Our Ancestors Were Foraging For? or How to Wildcraft Your Table
How North California Native Americans Built Their Semi-subterranean Roundhouses
Our Ancestors’Guide to Root Cellars
Good Old Fashioned Cooking on an Open Flame
Learning from Our Ancestors How to Preserve Water
Learning from Our Ancestors How to Take Care of Our Hygiene When There Isn’t Anything to Buy
How and Why I Prefer to Make Soap with Modern Ingredients
Temporarily Installing a Wood-Burning Stove during Emergencies
Making Traditional and Survival Bark Bread…….
Trapping in Winter for Beaver and Muskrat Just like Our Forefathers Did
How to Make a Smokehouse and Smoke Fish
Survival Lessons From The Donner Party
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Here’s just a glimpse of what you’ll find in The Lost Ways:
From Ruff Simons, an old west history expert and former deputy, you’ll learn the techniques and methods used by the wise sheriffs from the frontiers to defend an entire village despite being outnumbered and outgunned by gangs of robbers and bandits, and how you can use their wisdom to defend your home against looters when you’ll be surrounded.
Native American ERIK BAINBRIDGE – who took part in the reconstruction of the native village of Kule Loklo in California, will show you how Native Americans build the subterranean roundhouse, an underground house that today will serve you as a storm shelter, a perfectly camouflaged hideout, or a bunker. It can easily shelter three to four families, so how will you feel if, when all hell breaks loose, you’ll be able to call all your loved ones and offer them guidance and shelter? Besides that, the subterranean roundhouse makes an awesome root cellar where you can keep all your food and water reserves year-round.
From Shannon Azares you’ll learn how sailors from the XVII century preserved water in their ships for months on end, even years and how you can use this method to preserve clean water for your family cost-free.
Mike Searson – who is a Firearm and Old West history expert – will show you what to do when there is no more ammo to be had, how people who wandered the West managed to hunt eight deer with six bullets, and why their supply of ammo never ran out. Remember the panic buying in the first half of 2013? That was nothing compared to what’s going to precede the collapse.
From Susan Morrow, an ex-science teacher and chemist, you’ll master “The Art of Poultice.” She says, “If you really explore the ingredients from which our forefathers made poultices, you’ll be totally surprised by the similarities with modern medicines.” Well…how would you feel in a crisis to be the only one from the group knowledgeable about this lost skill? When there are no more antibiotics, people will turn to you to save their ill children’s lives.
If you liked our video tutorial on how to make Pemmican, then you’ll love this: I will show you how to make another superfood that our troops were using in the Independence war, and even George Washington ate on several occasions. This food never goes bad. And I’m not talking about honey or vinegar. I’m talking about real food! The awesome part is that you can make this food in just 10 minutes and I’m pretty sure that you already have the ingredients in your house right now.
Really, this is all just a peek.
The Lost Ways is a far–reaching book with chapters ranging from simple things like making tasty bark-bread-like people did when there was no food-to building a traditional backyard smokehouse… and many, many, many more!
Books can be your best pre-collapse investment.
The Lost Ways (Learn the long forgotten secrets that helped our forefathers survive famines,wars,economic crisis and anything else life threw at them)
Survival MD (Best Post Collapse First Aid Survival Guide Ever)
Conquering the coming collapse (Financial advice and preparedness )
Liberty Generator (Build and make your own energy source)
Backyard Liberty (Easy and cheap DIY Aquaponic system to grow your organic and living food bank)
Bullet Proof Home (A Prepper’s Guide in Safeguarding a Home )
Family Self Defense (Best Self Defense Strategies For You And Your Family)
Survive Any Crisis (Best Items To Hoard For A Long Term Crisis)
Survive The End Days (Biggest Cover Up Of Our President)
Drought USA (Discover The Amazing Device That Turns Air Into Water)