Massive Solar Storm - Mayan's on to something?

[mrsleeve]

So most likely scenario is we lose power for a little, MAYBE?

I'm not seeing much on Nasa's website, mostly I'm seeing maybe we'll be affected and it will possibly effect electricity.

The EMP, could wipe out the entire Grid and power generation capacity for a long time. Along with cell phones, and other communications, even much of the land line capacity could be effected hard by this. Many of all the electronics we take for granted in our day to day lives will be toasted, and those electronics control most of daily lives behind the scenes.

You live on city water, No power water supply will run out fast, as soon as the towers are below the intakes thats it. Back gensets too run the well pumps in many cases run on NG piped to them from a utility. Many of their compressors run on Electricity or if Direct drive from combustion engines, those are electronically controlled and would be fried by a big enough EMP .

So yeah pretty much most parts of modern life would be fucked, and for how long is the biggest question, Weeks, Months, Years, could be all 3. Could be all hype and nothing will happen, either way no matter what I will be just fine ;)

[ACMF74]

We heat with wood in the winter now, nevermind a hypothetical disaster. I've got 4 chainsaws, a 25 ton splitter, as well as hand tools (axes, mauls, wedges, and a two man saw).
There's also a stream that runs year round, so I do alright with power outages. If I get hungry, I'll just go shoot a pig or a deer. If we run out of fuel, I'll ride one of the 6 horses to town, and If I need to haul provisions or fuel, 2 of them are trained to drive.

Same here. I bought a Heathstone wood buring stove. Nothing like it for the winter!

[z31maniac]

Having been in home remodels ~9 or so years my first and foremost recommendation is windows. Then insulation. Look at your doors and seals. Roofing plays a bit of a role, but not as much as you'd think. Depending on the house, check under your floors (for a raised non-slab style foundation). If you've got a slab foundation, get yourself some drylock (with LOTS of ventilation) and paint all of your concrete floor surfaces before re-surfacing. Moisture comes through slabs like crazy and often times get's absorbed into the pad and carpets. Not to mention, really destroys heating in the winters.

Windows. Insulation. Floors. Pipes (dependant on age of the house and current plumbing).

There's HUGE room for improvement in most water heaters. You'll spend an extra ~$500 for a good system, but it'll pay massive dividends in efficiency within 5 years. Zone heating for your HVAC is also a good idea so you don't waste where the heat's going.

Tell me more about the Drylock stuff.

We have a slab house, with the HVAC ducts poured into the slab (thankfully moisture/flooding isn't a concern in my area). We have talked about re-doing the flooring in a few years, so I'm interested if there is something I can do here as well.

I figure our house is on the small side compared to new homes, but making an older home comfort and VERY energy efficient will helps it value in the future.

[87e30]

So most likely scenario is we lose power for a little, MAYBE?

I'm not seeing much on Nasa's website, mostly I'm seeing maybe we'll be affected and it will possibly effect electricity.

[mrsleeve]

We heat with wood in the winter now, nevermind a hypothetical disaster. I've got 4 chainsaws, a 25 ton splitter, as well as hand tools (axes, mauls, wedges, and a two man saw).
There's also a stream that runs year round, so I do alright with power outages. If I get hungry, I'll just go shoot a pig or a deer. If we run out of fuel, I'll ride one of the 6 horses to town, and If I need to haul provisions or fuel, 2 of them are trained to drive.

this is the set up I am working toward trying to get back into. Its hard though with the real estate boom it pushed land resources outta sight, and they are just starting to settle out and maybe in a year or so will be in a better position to buy.

[u3b3rg33k]

We heat with wood in the winter now, nevermind a hypothetical disaster. I've got 4 chainsaws, a 25 ton splitter, as well as hand tools (axes, mauls, wedges, and a two man saw).
There's also a stream that runs year round, so I do alright with power outages. If I get hungry, I'll just go shoot a pig or a deer. If we run out of fuel, I'll ride one of the 6 horses to town, and If I need to haul provisions or fuel, 2 of them are trained to drive.

[ck_taft325is]

Yeah it sucks how expensive it is. I'm also doing a ton of insulating.. as far as collecting energy I'm restricted to just solar and _possibly_ geo but the yard is kinda small for it. Reducing consumption is only half the equation though, when a service fails you need backup. I've got some plans for a wood burning boiler that can supplement my current boiler in case the natural gas fails. The pump runs on less than 1kW and could be converted to DC, 1 or 2 panels would have that licked. I almost rewired the thing to run through a UPS after a power outage let the place drop to 40º.
So there's the heat. If I spend ~2k and set aside space for it and the wood, both being reasonably significant sacrifices to me.

What about running water? That's a tough one.. lots of solutions but they all involve some serious storage.. also would be a tall order to integrate into the house.. I don't see it going farther than a camping sink+shower setup. Burning man was great water management practice, 2 weeks out in the desert.

Honestly the more I think about it the more it seems like I'd be converting the house into a stationary RV.
RV's rock but no room for a ton of canned goods.

Here's the real question: how will your preperations hold up to the event?? No sense having backup equipment if it all turns into junk.

that survival blog is pretty awesome btw, been reading it all evening.

Having been in home remodels ~9 or so years my first and foremost recommendation is windows. Then insulation. Look at your doors and seals. Roofing plays a bit of a role, but not as much as you'd think. Depending on the house, check under your floors (for a raised non-slab style foundation). If you've got a slab foundation, get yourself some drylock (with LOTS of ventilation) and paint all of your concrete floor surfaces before re-surfacing. Moisture comes through slabs like crazy and often times get's absorbed into the pad and carpets. Not to mention, really destroys heating in the winters.

Windows. Insulation. Floors. Pipes (dependant on age of the house and current plumbing).

There's HUGE room for improvement in most water heaters. You'll spend an extra ~$500 for a good system, but it'll pay massive dividends in efficiency within 5 years. Zone heating for your HVAC is also a good idea so you don't waste where the heat's going.

[ortholithiation]

Need a chemist? I can make drugs, explosives, purify water, and kind of half ass trained as a pharmacist as well.

A side note, all Canadians are skilled in survival. 5-6 we start clubbing seals, at 8 years old I took down a deer, at 10 shot and killed a polar bear. Nuclear winter, ha we get that every year.

But seriously about 3 days with no power there will be riots, after 3 weeks chaos.

[Farbin Kaiber]

z31,
Well, I no longer need to secure a brewmaster. The Chateau has a penchant for IPA's and Stouts.

http://www.survivalblog.com/2010/09/two_retreat_options_without_bu.html

Today's post's have some interesting relations to where this thread is going... I didn't even read that til after this thread.

Wiglaf,
And I'm glad to have turned someone on to his blog. As you read more, you will see where HE suggests to set up a retreat, based on a litany of requirements. Also, if you gain any knowledge, I suggest you look into his 10 Cent Challenge.

http://www.survivalblog.com/retreatareas.html

[mrsleeve]

I now know what my skill will be.

I'll be picking up the equipment to begin my ascension to brewmaster shortly.

Any particular style that is well regarded at Chateau de la Farbin?

Taters dont make that good of beer, but they do make Killer Vodka just saying you know

[z31maniac]

What I'm saying is regardless of IF it's gonna happen, everyone should have a well thought out plan. If some people's plan is to hightail it to ID/MT, then so be it.

But, everyone showing up at my door better have a priceless skill, or a really nice stockpile of goodies to throw into the mix. Each extra mouth to feed per year is gonna take out at least 400 lbs. of stockpile. People need to keep in mind, if the government and dollar based commerce go out the window, How are you gonna be worth 400lbs of food?

I now know what my skill will be.

I'll be picking up the equipment to begin my ascension to brewmaster shortly.

Any particular style that is well regarded at Chateau de la Farbin?

[Wiglaf]

Because at this point wind/solar power is still relatively expensive investment. Also been looking at solar water heaters as well.

IN the spring I'm looking at doing Thermal Windows throughout the house and adding more insulation in the roof, and putting some above the garage as well. Figure I need to make the house the most efficient it can be (for a house built in 1973) before I start worrying about doing my own energy stuff.

Yeah it sucks how expensive it is. I'm also doing a ton of insulating.. as far as collecting energy I'm restricted to just solar and _possibly_ geo but the yard is kinda small for it. Reducing consumption is only half the equation though, when a service fails you need backup. I've got some plans for a wood burning boiler that can supplement my current boiler in case the natural gas fails. The pump runs on less than 1kW and could be converted to DC, 1 or 2 panels would have that licked. I almost rewired the thing to run through a UPS after a power outage let the place drop to 40º.
So there's the heat. If I spend ~2k and set aside space for it and the wood, both being reasonably significant sacrifices to me.

What about running water? That's a tough one.. lots of solutions but they all involve some serious storage.. also would be a tall order to integrate into the house.. I don't see it going farther than a camping sink+shower setup. Burning man was great water management practice, 2 weeks out in the desert.

Honestly the more I think about it the more it seems like I'd be converting the house into a stationary RV.
RV's rock but no room for a ton of canned goods.

Here's the real question: how will your preperations hold up to the event?? No sense having backup equipment if it all turns into junk.

that survival blog is pretty awesome btw, been reading it all evening.

[z31maniac]

2: be totally self-sufficient, able to feed yourself from your land. Solar power for the house, 100% off grid. Also a reasonable investment, but this one pays for itself even if the world doesn't fall apart. Why not just do this anyways?

Because at this point wind/solar power is still relatively expensive investment. Also been looking at solar water heaters as well.

IN the spring I'm looking at doing Thermal Windows throughout the house and adding more insulation in the roof, and putting some above the garage as well. Figure I need to make the house the most efficient it can be (for a house built in 1973) before I start worrying about doing my own energy stuff.

[Wiglaf]

The way I see it there's 2 approaches to prepare for something like this:

1: stockpile 6 months worth of canned food, fuel, and whatever defenses it takes to make you feel safe. That should be plenty of time for the basics to get back to functionality. This is a huge investment that would only give you a return if we fall into chaos.

2: be totally self-sufficient, able to feed yourself from your land. Solar power for the house, 100% off grid. Also a reasonable investment, but this one pays for itself even if the world doesn't fall apart. Why not just do this anyways?

My yard is about the size of a postage stamp and saturated with a variety of liquids that e30's leak during motor work. Chances of me getting a useful amount of food out of it are not good.. most city dwellers have even less to work with in this regard. About the only option would be to work damn hard at getting things back to normal ASAP.

[Farbin Kaiber]

I'll have a ZAV fully stocked with food/guns/ammo/water/fuel.

But, keep in mind you are a "Technical Writer". I can let you slide, but in the mean time, go learn a priceless skill. There are lots of knowledge sets out there that people will desire and ask you to be a part of their "fold". The most useful item a person can bring to a retreat location is knowledge, one of us can't know it all, but 15 of us can know a little bit each, and be self sufficient. (Or be prepared to be utilized as a human backhoe...) :p