I grew up in Pakistan. We had more days with blackouts than without, and there were often multiple per day. Everything in this post checks out (except we had a diesel generator, not gasoline, which is easier to improvise fuel for). Incidentally, Pakistan has been in a Cold War-ish situation with India for over twenty years, so we had lots of flour in the basement, and we had on-site water tanks (as opposed to tap water).
A few comments on generators:
For most people, an off-the-shelf battery solution may be the best bet. Pre-made battery systems lessen the risk of making a mathematical or didn't-read-the-manual error that introduces hazards to you or the system.
However, in a community of mathematically inclined nerds willing to follow rules that make sense, many readers may prefer to build their own battery setup.
For introductory reading in deciding whether it's a project for you, I highly recommend the Overkill Solar ("more is better") BMS instruction manual: PDF link. For those with disposable income and moderate tinkering skills, going fully off-grid and becoming electrically self-sufficient can be surprisingly attainable.
For ways to replace electrical needs with non-electrical systems that offer comparable quality of life, Low Tech Magazine is a good read.
I have a little experience with this. I'm a type 1 diabetic and insulin needs to be kept refrigerated or it denatures and doesn't work.
I've just gotten a bunch of EcoFlow products for this. They work well together, but are maybe not the cheapest. Many are out of stock at the moment, anyway.
My 400W portable solar panel appears to actually generate around 140W in bright sunlight when pointed in roughly the right direction. This is a substantial amount for powering phones and probably even laptops! Not so much for refrigerators, air conditioners, electric water heaters, or other electric heating or cooling appliances, though.
A car plus an inverter can be used as a generator in a pinch. It probably isn't very efficient, but if you just need a little electricity, it can work. (Also, typically cars have heat and cooling so they could be an emergency conditioned space, but DO NOT use it this way inside a garage; carbon monoxide can kill you very quickly.)
I would highly recommend metal cans for storing gasoline. The typical plastic ones are junk.
For longer storage you might want gasoline without ethanol. Ethanol is especially volatile and will evaporate.
Based on my research, Sta-bil might extend the life of gasoline by a meaningful amount.
If you have and regularly use a car, it's probably best to just put the gas from one of your cans in the car after you've used enough to have room for it, and then re-fill the gas cans at a station, so you rotate through your gas stock.
Author: Finan Adamson
Last Updated: 03/2022
Overview
This doc goes into details on how to maintain electricity if it’s important to your survival and flourishing even when the power goes out. It may not be necessary to do anything here if you don’t depend on electricity to live. If the electricity is out for many weeks or months, you’ll likely go elsewhere so you don’t need to prepare on that scale. You may also want to do some minimal amount of preparation so you can charge your cell phone.
If you need to have electricity when the grid is down your options seem to be generators and/or batteries. What setup you want will vary depending on your needs.
You may want both so you can charge your batteries off the generator, but this can get expensive so you may want to skip this unless you really need it for medical reasons.
Finan has sleep apnea and needs to use a CPAP to function well.
If you are running generators you will need gasoline. In preparation for emergencies you’ll probably want to store at least a little bit at home in case gas stations get shut down.