Candles Won't Last Forever ...

DaDad · Jan 2, 2019

So the little cabin we bought was all electric with a woodstove. As such, I brought in a 500 gal propane tank and started work.

The electric cook range is now propane, we kept the electric hot water heater (she 'verkin), but installed "T's" and valves at the connections, and bought a propane unit that I can hook up within minutes. I also installed a propane "down-draft" wall heater and continued the propane line up and through the wall, and attached a "Falk" single globe propane light, if the power should go out, which it does fairly frequently.

And yeah, I have candles which can provide some illumination in the bathroom, but the centrally located propane gas light should take care of the main living space.

They're easy to operate and are fairly affordable, running about $75 for the single, and $120 for the double, plus about $45 for shipping (calculated for 1ea single, and 1ea double):

The Cabin Depot Off-Grid Living Solutions

Thanks,
DaDad

DaDad · Jan 5, 2019

... and just so we know, -- gasoline is only good for about a year if it's stabilized, but propane NEVER GOES BAD. And where a person can always pay exorbitant prices for a tank through a propane company, typically in the $2K range including tank, taxes, fees, and delivery, you can sometimes find a good deal off Craigslist.

Thanks,
DaDad

david tyler · Feb 24, 2019

IT'S ALL GOOD, GOD BLESS,I MYSELF WOULD HAVE 3-4 ALTERNATIVES TO HEAT, I REGRET NOT PUTTING A FIREPLACE(BURN WOOD) IN MY PLACE,

Southernscotty · Mar 5, 2019

A case of 100 hr candles last a good while if a person doesn't use much light at night. Going to bed at dark and only using candles to make trips to the outhouse, They will last a long time.
Thank You for the info :]

drjean · Apr 2, 2019

Have you thought about solar lights? They are very inexpensive and small enough for smaller rooms, and recharge hundreds of times... no fire hazard.

But you can also get a bee hive and make your own candles in the future

c64tm · Sep 3, 2019

What's wrong with getting off grid solar, with big enough battery to last you over 24hrs... forget using candles...

FreeinChrist · Sep 4, 2019

My husband and I are off the grid using solar power with a butane generator back up (in Belize). We can go for 5 very cloudy days. Works great.

However I am thinking about the possibility of hurricane damage to the solar panels on the roof and what I would do. The butane generator will back it up so we would have that. But it will cost more in butane. We have candles but I also got a few glass oil lamps and oil.

I was thinking about getting one or two crank type flashlights like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-E...three_browse-bin:8235814011&s=hardware&sr=1-8

I was also going to pick up some more small solar lights.

Sophrosyne · Sep 4, 2019

c64tm said:
What's wrong with getting off grid solar, with big enough battery to last you over 24hrs... forget using candles...

I agree. With todays LED technology you can get incredible runtimes off cheap batteries that obsolete candles and removes the fire hazard that they have totally. As for crank lights... forget them too with LEDs runtime off common batteries is so long that you may find you can buy enough batteries to power a light for a hundred cranking hours for the same price plus not worry about wearing out a cranking mechanism.

joshua 1 9 · Sep 17, 2019

FreeinChrist said:
I was thinking about getting one or two crank type flashlights like this:

They sell crank generators on ebay for around 2 or 3 dollars. They sell various usb compatible items: lights, batteries, solar panels. I got a good price on solar panels to charge an old style iphone, then all I had to do was buy an adapter to covert it to usb.

SavedByGrace3 · Oct 8, 2019

Our son bought us some solar lamps. We have four. We use them in a lights out situation. Had them for years. You can recharge them, but if you leave them in the widow during the day, they will always be charged and read to go. I cannot remember ever having to charge one of them.

SavedByGrace3 · Oct 8, 2019

c64tm said:
What's wrong with getting off grid solar, with big enough battery to last you over 24hrs... forget using candles...

Yes... we have plans to do that one day. :clap:

Harbor Freight has single panel, 100 watt systems that you can daisy chain together. On sale you can get them for about 150. You have to buy some good batteries and a better regulator than what comes with it, but people on youtube have shown some pretty nice systems they have created. I figure for about a thousand bucks and some electrical help, you can put together a system that will keep your freezer and lights going.

Sophrosyne · Oct 8, 2019

Solar power is useful but not always best for occasional short outages due to it needs sun to replenish the batteries after they are drained and the batteries age and over time (4-7 years or so) they need replacement. You can spend 1000 dollars on a solar setup but it may not be able to put out the same power continuously even with a long day of good sun every day that a gas generator can and the cost of gas vs replacing large lead acid batteries under occasional use may not add up in savings. If you are trying to run large fridges you may find you need 2000 watts of output either solar or generator not necessarily continuously but peak output as compressors and large motors have a start up power drain higher than the running power needed.
I could go on about generators you can spend 500 dollars and up for them and buy inverter models more expensive that may be more cost effective and useful for some situations. The negative about generators is maintenance and keeping fresh fuel in stock for them and sourcing fuel in an outage.

SavedByGrace3 · Oct 8, 2019

You are very correct.
There is no perfect solution. Gas runs out so no more generator. You have overcast days so the solar panels do not work. There will not be enough wind to turn the turbine. The batteries give out in time.
We are shooting for the solar to be the primary and the generator to be backup. With all the additives these days, gas will not last as long as it used to.
We are even considering a steam turbine generator... or even falling water driven.
Each of these have the common weakness of your generator just wearing out in time.
Back to steam engines. :yawn:

Sophrosyne said:
Solar power is useful but not always best for occasional short outages due to it needs sun to replenish the batteries after they are drained and the batteries age and over time (4-7 years or so) they need replacement. You can spend 1000 dollars on a solar setup but it may not be able to put out the same power continuously even with a long day of good sun every day that a gas generator can and the cost of gas vs replacing large lead acid batteries under occasional use may not add up in savings. If you are trying to run large fridges you may find you need 2000 watts of output either solar or generator not necessarily continuously but peak output as compressors and large motors have a start up power drain higher than the running power needed.
I could go on about generators you can spend 500 dollars and up for them and buy inverter models more expensive that may be more cost effective and useful for some situations. The negative about generators is maintenance and keeping fresh fuel in stock for them and sourcing fuel in an outage.

Sophrosyne · Oct 8, 2019

SavedByGrace3 said:
You are very correct.
There is no perfect solution. Gas runs out so no more generator. You have overcast days so the solar panels do not work. There will not be enough wind to turn the turbine. The batteries give out in time.
We are shooting for the solar to be the primary and the generator to be backup. With all the additives these days, gas will not last as long as it used to.
We are even considering a steam turbine generator... or even falling water driven.
Each of these have the common weakness of your generator just wearing out in time.
Back to steam engines.

I've heard of people making Stirling engines for steam use in a generator, and like you I believe more than one source of power is best. I cannot afford a generator so when power goes out I only deal with lighting and entertainment and communication and usually go buy some ice for my ice chest to keep from losing my food if the outage persists longer than a day.

SavedByGrace3 · Oct 8, 2019

Sophrosyne said:
I've heard of people making Stirling engines for steam use in a generator, and like you I believe more than one source of power is best. I cannot afford a generator so when power goes out I only deal with lighting and entertainment and communication and usually go buy some ice for my ice chest to keep from losing my food if the outage persists longer than a day.

We have also almost given up on relying on the freezer to preserve our long term preps. Without a reliable source of electricity, it is not realistic to expect freezing as a long term solution to food storage. We are dehydrating, canning, and vacuum sealing.

Sophrosyne · Oct 8, 2019

SavedByGrace3 said:
We have also almost given up on relying on the freezer to preserve our long term preps. Without a reliable source of electricity, it is not realistic to expect freezing as a long term solution to food storage. We are dehydrating, canning, and vacuum sealing.

I've found canned food is better for long term storage, but often costs the same as frozen and the added salt isn't good for some folks who has elevated blood pressure due to too much salt.

SkyWriting · Mar 16, 2020

DaDad said:
So the little cabin we bought was all electric with a woodstove. As such, I brought in a 500 gal propane tank and started work.

The electric cook range is now propane, we kept the electric hot water heater (she 'verkin), but installed "T's" and valves at the connections, and bought a propane unit that I can hook up within minutes. I also installed a propane "down-draft" wall heater and continued the propane line up and through the wall, and attached a "Falk" single globe propane light, if the power should go out, which it does fairly frequently.

And yeah, I have candles which can provide some illumination in the bathroom, but the centrally located propane gas light should take care of the main living space.

View attachment 248169
View attachment 248167
They're easy to operate and are fairly affordable, running about $75 for the single, and $120 for the double, plus about $45 for shipping (calculated for 1ea single, and 1ea double):

The Cabin Depot Off-Grid Living Solutions

Thanks,
DaDad

Try sleeping at night.
Historically, it has worked.

SkyWriting · Mar 16, 2020

Sophrosyne said:
I've found canned food is better for long term storage, but often costs the same as frozen and the added salt isn't good for some folks who has elevated blood pressure due to too much salt.

Cleaning out my mother in laws basement, some cans were empty.
I couldn't tell how old they were but the contents were gone, evaporated.

Sophrosyne · Mar 16, 2020

SkyWriting said:
Cleaning out my mother in laws basement, some cans were empty.
I couldn't tell how old they were but the contents were gone, evaporated.

Could be evaporated milk in them

FreeinChrist · Mar 18, 2020

Cans need to be rotated. Use some then buy some to replace and put them in the back. We shouldn't hold them indefinitely.

Candles Won't Last Forever ...

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