you dont need to power a fridge in a less than 24h powercut, just use it sparingly, stuff will still be cold and wont spoil

heavenlywild: Hehe prefer a non petrol solution.

I live in the burbs so storage is an issue.

What about this?

https://www.rvsupercentre.co.nz/ecoflow-delta-1300-portable-power-station-1800w-12

Average fridge power consumption is around 1-2 kWh per day, so this device would last somewhere between 14-28 hours before batteries totally depleted, running just a fridge.  I guess you could add extra batteries to extend this.  Prices mount up quite quickly though - I have about 3kWh useable (4 x 6v 230 Ah batteries) in a boat and that's $2500 worth of batteries

As someone who has lived for years with daily power cuts, nothing works better then a decent solar setup. Might not fit your budget, but if you want to do it properly, there is no better way.

From your list:

1. Fridge can survive for at least 48hours if you limit your use and have enough ice to keep it cool.

2. Take your EV to a local free charger (as you said you stay in the suburbs) - OR trade in your EV for a EV or PHEV that can back feed and run your house. - some set up fees due.

3. Laptops, cellphones etc - your linked solution can work to keep this going, even able to add ONT/modem so have some internet.

4. TV - depending on size/spec - rather watch on your phone/laptop for the hours that the power is off.

heavenlywild: Hehe prefer a non petrol solution.

I live in the burbs so storage is an issue.

What about this?

https://www.rvsupercentre.co.nz/ecoflow-delta-1300-portable-power-station-1800w-12

It's 1260Wh with an 1800W (continuous) pure sine inverter.

That inverter should be grunty enough to start most fridges, and to run a mircowave.

As for run time, using my example 52W average draw fridge, it should run the fridge (alone) for 24hours.

heavenlywild: Yeah I think the fridge and essentials are more important to me than the EV.

 

Based on my calculations I would need to fork out 7k just to make it worthwhile, which is a huge cost. But with the storms and what not becoming worse by the year, it may be a lifesaver.

If a 6 - 12 hour power cut is a potentially fatal event for you, I hope there is some plan in place for longer power cuts (Go to hospital?). The 1988 Auckland power crisis lasted 5 weeks.

Some options:

- A standby generator. Appreciate you don't want petrol. LPG can be a good option, as unlike petrol the fuel doesn't go stale. They are often designed to be placed in your garden. Should run at $10k to 15k installed, and a pair of 45kg cylinders should keep it running for several days. Would have a transfer switch, so it can power your entire home via it's normal wiring (no running extension cords)

https://www.omcpowerequipment.co.nz/product/kohler-lpg-standby-generator-14resa

- A Home battery (i.e.e tesla powerwall). Often paired with a solar system. Family members have such a setup. Cost around $50k. Covers Pritty much all of their summer power needs, and perhaps half of winter (and they are running an EV). In a power cut their system will automatically fall over to island mode, In summer they could largely live life as normal without the gird, but in winter, they would need to conserve power to roughly half their normal usage (shouldn't be to hard, they could kill no essential stuff like pool pumps for the duration of a power cut).

- A Nice pure sine inverter and a car. Car will produce 400W or so of power at idle. Something like the below. Hook up to the car's 12v system, and use the car as a generator. (obviously requires a space that is safe from both a security point of view and fumes point of view to idle the car. Note that non hybrid / non electric cars will typically only make about 400W at idle, so average draw would need to be less than this, or you would need to rig a high idle.

https://www.mrpositive.co.nz/2000w-12v-electrically-isolated-pure-sine-wave-inv

- A car with vehicle to load. Something like a Kia EV6 LR has the ability to create 16A of 230v power, and with a 72kWh battery, would have the ability to keep essential loads running for many days.

Up North I've seen many people who have lost power (including a few of my colleagues) use their EV's to power essential appliances in the house. The EV6, BYD Atto 3 and MG EV all have vehicle to load support which I actually see as an important feature. These EV's often have massive batteries so will be able to support a moderate load for many hours.

I personally have a Tesla Model 3 which has no such capability but have charged it up a little more than normal always just in case we need to get out, or charge devices. I have a little 150w inverter I can use for some things like the router / access point.

I think my next EV will have vehicle to load capability with an EVSE that can support this too (so will just power the house in the event of a power outage). The beauty of this solution also is no extra space required for a generator or anything as your car is already there but is a house-wide UPS.

Despite me living on the Kapiti Coast and not seeing any of the strong winds yet I am still jealous of those with their BYD's and MG's happily surviving during a power cut by powering their heat pumps, fridges and other essentials from the large batteries in their car. This to me is the ideal solution.

I lived in Chch (New Brighton) through the earthquakes and was without power for I think about 14 days... My dad was in holidaying in Nelson at the time, about to come home and phoned me to see if there was anything I needed.

I said "Go buy me a 2kw or bigger generator please and see if you can get to my place with it"

We had fun getting it set up, oiled and running in the pitch black with just cellphone torches that night, but a couple of extension cords and multiboards and I was comfortable for 2 weeks just using during the hours of daylight (I was working from home and it was enough to keep internet, PC, laptop, fridge, TV, stereo, projector and some lamps going just fine)

I turned it off at about 9pm most nights and just kept the freezer shut until the next morning.

The ecoflow type devices are great for glamping but for actual standby power resilience, get a generator.

There are much better options now than a 2.2kw petrol generator for this sort of thing...  I would probably get something like this is buying today.

https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/powermax-silenced-inverter-generator-4000-watt/p/327892

Cheers  - N

All very good suggestions, thank you so much. Plenty to think about and consider. Good to know there are options!

heavenlywild: Yeah considering if a power pack is gonna cost north of 7k I should use that money for solar.

But, I'm just not keen on having panels up on the roof which is a wind hazard (after the experience last night) and a leak hazard with all those installation screws.

I know I'm paranoid.

Almost certainly not an issue. I have panels fitted and they are basically flush with the roof.

Talkiet:

There are much better options now than a 2.2kw petrol generator for this sort of thing...  I would probably get something like this is buying today.

 

https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/powermax-silenced-inverter-generator-4000-watt/p/327892

Jase2985:

 

it only has 600w output so wont be powering all those or even some of those, the microwave is 800-1200w, fridge is about 150-200w when its compressor is running.

 

you will never find a portable power bank like that that can power an EV.

 

do you need your PC running, do you need your fridge running, how long do you expect to be without power for?

 

Well, define portable. Luggable? Wheelable? 

Will Prowse (based in Las Vegas I think so has more solar capacity than he knows what to do with), a regular not trained guy on Youtube regularly tests luggable power stations and their add on batteries, tests charging his Tesla from them and some hacks like charging the car(s) at free power locations and then dumping that power into the batteries at his house. 

DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse - Youtube.

Bjørn Nyland - Youtube also, takes a battery power station with him when doing range tests on EVs in Norway / northern Europe.  

They both seem to have some $$ to throw at the problem however. 

Depending on how much money you wan to throw at this:

The 'classic non-generator' approach would be a solar system with a battery and off-grid support.

• Say 4-5kW of Panels (~$10k)
• Tesla powerwall or equivalent ($15-20k per 10kWh) with off-grid support enabled
• Then get the house wired with a critical loads circuit that covers the kitchen (Fridge/Freezer and Microwave) and maybe the light circuit. If you minimize your power use to the fridge and maybe the microwave to heat premade meals (say 5min at 2kW ea) then you are probably good for a couple of days. If it's sunny then you maybe good for a few weeks if you ration your power, but as long as the sun is shinning you can get away with loads in the couple of kW range and happily run AC during the day.
• The full blown version of this would be a complete off-grid setup >8kW of panels ($16k) and 20-30kWh of battery ($30-60k) which is a complete off-grid set up and you could disconnect from the grid should be able to run a reasonable off-grid lifestyle for a week or more off such a system

A modern style 'emergency system':

• A 4-5kWh solar System using a Fronius Gen24+ Inverter, this provides an up to 3kW backup circuit with out a battery (~$12k)
• An EcoFlow, Anker, Blueti power bank with 1-2kW inverter and 1-3kW of battery. Ideally one that can charge at the same time as providing power or ideally feed the power through (pass-through) to any devices using it (maybe $2-7k depending on the size of the battery).
• Plug the battery into the Inverter to charge, then your critical load Fridge into the battery then when it's sunny plug other stuff into the Fronius inverter (assuming you stay under 2-3kW). As long as your panels are producing more power than you use everything will work fine. The problem with this setup is if you pull more power than the inverter can supply the solar inverter will reboot and you'll lose power for a few minutes (clouds go over the sun for example). The Battery should how ever keep your critical load working. Safest way would be just to plug stuff into the Battery. Even in really crap weather like today you should get enough power to keep the laptops and phones charged and maybe charge the battery enough to run the fridge for an hour (our 5kW Solar system generated 1.6kWh of power today). But you'll need to control the charge range of the battery and really baby things along if it's still raining or just charge phones/laptops.

A minimal 'Emergency system'

• A EcoFlow, Anker or similar power station (0.5-7kWh battery, 600-2kW inverter, $1-7k) with 0.4-1.6kW of portable solar panels ($1-3k)
• You set up the portable panels when you lose power and plug them into the battery, then plug your critical loads into the battery. At the smaller end of the range 0.5kWh battery you are talking about maybe running a fridge or TV for a few hours in peak sunlight. Otherwise it's just charging your phone/laptop or running a radio.

heavenlywild: While I would love to throw 50 to 60k into it, that amount does buy me a lot of power for about 20 years based on my usage.

I think the easiest and quickest solution is to go with an Ecoflow equivalent solution. I don't usually get power cuts or power cuts for that long so perhaps that's a good middling solution for me.

An alternative cheaper but less clean option would be something like a DIY off-grid kit:

https://gridfree.store/products/the-weekend-warrior-kit

2.4kWh, 2kW inverter and ~800W of panels for ~$4200

It's not a all in one system, but it provides considerably more power at a cheaper price than an EcoFlow but you have to set up or build the system when you need it. Alternatively you can combine standard panels like the ones in that kit with a Ecoflow unit and a set of adapters to connect those solar panels to the EcoFlow unit. Normal roof top panels are noticeably cheaper than the 'portable panels' from EcoFlow and the other all in one groups.