My wife would like to get one but we cannot get natural gas only propane here. The figures I have seen are for
5000 watts = 10hp = 100,000 btu per hour or around 1 gallon of propane or natural gas

so for the 20,000 watt whole house that would be around 4 gal per hour


I forgot to mention my fuel storage plan did work out well. My original plan was to use the sea-foam to treat 10 gal of storage fuel in addition to the 30 gal I keep in my boat. We keep the deck boat at the marina now so I lost the 60 gal I had stored in it. I also had 20 gal, 10 gal, 10 gal, stored in my 3 tractors.

Since the entire western part of the state was without power and there was a 3 hour line to get gas at the station with a generator (when it wasn't out) I used my stored fuel. I used all but the 30 gal in the boat (because it is harder to extract) before gas became more available here.

Future plans will be to add a 3 way to the gas line of the boat to make it easier to drain. The height of the tractors makes it easy but the tank in the boat is down in the belly.

Bulk Water Storage
 

An interesting product for bulk water storage. I'm building a new house and am considering a place for 2 to 4 of these in my garage.
http://incaseof.ca/supertanker.htm#dealers

250 gal storage for a little over $500, that might not be a bad investment. I will have to look into this a little more.

Edit: The only suggestion or thought I would make is to have some 5 gal and/or 15 gal containers in case you need to bail out or move away from your home.

Be Prepared
 

...

move on...nothing to see here..

If you have a septic tank.. consider methane. We used to heat and cook with methane on the ranch in Colorado back in the day.
There is also a catalog of items for those who live without electricity.. Lehman brothers I _think_ it is called. You can even buy refrigerators that operate on propane.

Another thought, My house in Key West is part of a 'compound'.. the cistern that was created for all two houses and two apts sits beneath it.. all the gutters in the compound lead to that one house. The cistern was 500 gallons.

One thing is very very important, even the B&S will die if you don't do a regular maintenance check on things like gaskets and such. I Have a Honda 2k generator here. I use it off the dock for the AC unit or to charge my batteries if needed. It is part of my 6 month maintenance check, and the big overall yearly check on everything mechanical on the boat, which I live on.
I have it in a file that I can print out and then highlight as each system and its various components are checked, and verified GTG. I keep records over each time I do this and what is replaced or fixed and why it needed that replacing.
It allows me to track what is worth keeping and what is potential dumpster food.

Might also consider wind or solar. Air X makes a decently priced land wind generator. Back in the 1930's in Miami solar water heat was all the rage.
I think there is some stuff on the web about their methods. Fairly simple... black coiled hose on the rooftops to a storage bin painted black.

Sounds like overall you did well though..
AM

AM, I believe your a qualified 18C! Because for a woman(and I don't mean to sound or to be disrespectful) your surprisingly knowledgeable in mechanical, electrical, and just about any other technical subject that comes up. Remarkable,I've even picked up a few pointers from you..................:D

GB TFS :munchin

Must be that "liveaboard" thing! :p Nothing like the Ocean and a sailboat to teach "improvise, adapt, and overcome". Most of my "two is one, one is none" attitude came from MAROPS.

Survivalists 2.0: Regular people get ready for the worst

Being prepared goes mainstream!

I would like to thank TR and everyone else who contributed to this thread. I printed the whole thing off and sprung it on the wife during a 3 hr drive to the inlaws for Easter. After some initial hesitation, she saw the light and we began to go over our disaster plans. I also shared the info with the inlaws, which would be our bug out destination due to their rural location. They are also going to begin preperations. As one would imagine in MN we have about six months where winter survival becomes serious. We have a long way to go, but we are on the right track. Thanks again to all those here who helped.

Thank you... I think... Soooooooo for a girl..........................;)
(falls out of chair laughing)

So what did I teach you? and how much more would you like to learn.. :munchin

There is LOTS AND LOTS I don't know a know. Give me a manual and the schematics and I can figure it all out, and that I don't have the right specialty tool
to fix it.. story of my life.

Build yourself a cistern.. run your gutters to the cistern.. everytime it rains the water goes to fill the cistern.. You can turn an overflow into a waterfall or a nice stream.. its what we did with our cistern .. had a stream that had wild roses and columbine growing along it..

You can make a concrete cistern for about a thousand gallons for that kind of money. Or you can build one out of concrete blocks and then paint the inside with the same kind of paint that they use in underground storage tanks. I happen to have the name of a company that sells that kind of paint.
Ya gotta be pretty careful with the paint though. 3 or 4 layers, each painted a different way, one layer up and down, next horizontal, next up and down and so on..

One can purchase at Wally World collapsable water containers for a reasonable price. Water is easy to aquire.. keep a bottle with bleach in it..
few drops in the bottle and the water is purified.. too much and it tastes like crap.. btdt that last fall when I shocked my tank..eewww nasty taste but it biodegrades overnight. How much bleach.. You can put it in one of those plastic campting bottles.. do NOT use aluminum bottles. It will eat away the aluminum.

Unless collecting rainwater for personal use is illegal, like it has been for the last 100+ years here on the eastern slope of Colorado.
In other words, be sure to check your local ordinances before laying out money and effort.

Tang for Oral Rehydration
 

I have used Tang with some salt as an ORS for my family and I for years.

Tang ingredients are listed at 9 grams of sugar per 8 oz serving.

Using 4 grams/tsp of Sugar, there is 2.25 tsp per 8 oz serving, or 9 grams per quart.

Add your 1 tsp of salt, and you have an ORS with a little extra sugar, but a flavor most people will tolerate well.

Tang does not list Potassium or Magnesium. It lists 10% of the RDA of Calcium. It has quite a few Vitamins listed as well, and it stays useful practically forever.

Why on earth is it illegal there?

Odd water rights laws written a century ago with no updates.