Instead Of Having an Alternative Electrical Source For When the Grid Fails

Why not learn to live without electricity Instead

We have in previous articles talked about living off the grid, and how it can be done if you plan and have the necessary materials, equipment, and gear to make it happen. There is a caveat, however, living off the grid when there is a functioning grid is easier than trying to keep electricity flowing when there is no longer a functioning grid nationwide. What does this mean exactly?

Solar panels are not once and done, they need upkeep and solar panels over time diminish in capacity, in other words, they have to be replaced from time to time. Rodents can chew through cables, hailstorms can damage the panels, lighting strikes or an EMP can destroy your system as well.

Today, if damage occurs or you need repairs, you can order parts online or go into to town and get what you need, or even call up whoever installed the system to come out and make repairs. Can you do any of this if the entire nation is crippled by a failed grid however? Just how long can you maintain your system when parts and materials are no longer available?

Regardless of what alternative source you use, it will need repairs and parts at some point. Hydro and wind turbines can and will break down. Do you have the skill, tools, and parts to make repairs?

The idyllic 1800’s were anything but idyllic. However, those living during that time didn’t know any better, because you can’t miss what you never had. People that yearn to go off grid refer to the 1800’s as the perfect time to be alive, but we today have a disadvantage, we know what we once had, and having it taken away, or giving it up voluntarily to recreate that age will be hard, and some will not survive it.

When the grid fails, the consequences will reverberate for months and even years. If the grid fails and cannot be repaired within months, then any surplus medicine available will be gone, grain and coffee warehouses will be emptied out and sugar stockpiles will drain away quickly and any imported foods and materials would have stopped almost immediately.

Those dependent upon insulin and other life-saving drugs will be in serious trouble. A few months stockpile may be enough, but what if it isn’t, and how long before production, starts up again after the lights come back on.

The thing we have always stressed here is, “If you don’t have it now you won’t have it during a crisis”. If you are insulin dependent, then you need a stockpile, and the means to keep it cooled in most cases. You do need energy to some extent but there is a big different in supplying power to a small refrigerator than to an entire home. With the right equipment, fuel, and parts you could keep a refrigerator running for years essentially with a very small solar panel or solar generator, but other than that, you will likely need to learn to live without power.

A big problem is the fact that homes today are not set up to function without electricity. Water is pumped in from a treatment plant, toilets and drains need a sewer unless you have a septic tank and even if you do, you need electricity to pump water into the home from a well.

Whom out there has a hand pump mounted on their kitchen sink, and an outhouse sitting out back? If you live in the country and have planned for a grid failure, you are in better shape, but what about those living in suburbia.

Electricity is so much a part of our lives that some will not be able to survive without it. Humans lived for thousands of years without electricity and we can do it again, but it requires a high level of readiness and the mental fortitude to move forward regardless of the misery at the onset.

Our biggest problem as stated earlier, is knowing, what we once had and overcoming the loss, and realizing that we can live without electricity, but it will take time, years in fact in some cases.

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Source: prepforshtf.com