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Finding Our Power
Debra Redalia
Goal Zero Yeti 3000 Lithium Power Station
I have had two problems that involve power.
One is that my office and kitchen are in a room in a building that was wired 25 years ago when all of today’s need for power was not foreseen. So I can run my computer and cook on an induction cooktop at the same time, but I can’t turn on my portable heater or the window air conditioner or my toaster oven at the same time. If I forget this while my attention is on working and turn on too many appliances, the power goes off immediately and I have to go in another room and turn the circuit back on and restart my computer. This has been driving me nuts for almost two years. I tried to not forget, I tried to rewire ($500+ for an additional new circuit), but I just couldn’t come up with a solution.
Last Saturday Larry and I went into our local independent hardware store and happened to overhear a salesperson talking to a customer about a new generation power station that runs on lithium batteries. Unlike noisy and smelly generators that run on gas, these new generators were small, lightweight, quiet, and most important of all, had no odor. And you could charge them by plugging them into a wall outlet, plugging them into the cigarette lighter of your car (while you are driving) or with a solar panel.
This really caught our attention because this meant this small box could power the tiny house mobile home we are building and I could write anywhere.
These come in many sizes that store various amounts of power. The one we would need for our motor home was $3000, but that day was Super Saturday at the hardware store, a once-a-month event where you could buy anything in the store for 20% off.
So we would save $600 if we bought it that day.
We wanted more time to consider this, and then Larry saw a sign that said “20% Senior Discount First Wednesday of Every Month.” Well, the upcoming Wednesday was the first Wednesday of the month, so we decided to wait and do more research.
I kept nudging Larry to do the research but he was busy with other things. We decided we didn’t really need to buy it right away and another Super Saturday was coming up in a month. We could buy it then if we decided we wanted to. There was plenty of time.
Yesterday we were at the checkout stand of the market near the hardware store. There was a copy of our county newspaper at the checkout and Larry happened to look at it. Right on the front page, it said.
Sonoma County leaders outline plans
to help residents brace for PG&E power shut-offs
We had heard about possible power shutoffs but didn’t know the details. This was the first time we understood that our local power company would be shutting off power on hot and windy days to prevent more devastating fires like we have had here the past two years.
The article said that power outages could be as long as a week.
Well, I just can’t go for a week without power and still run do my work.
We needed to buy this power station NOW.
So we went to the hardware store, figured out what size we needed to buy, and made our purchase.
Not only will it solve the problem of insufficient power in my office, but it will be available for power during outages and eventually supply power for our tiny home.
And when we start powering it with a solar panel, it will be a clean source of power as well. I've always wanted solar power and now here it is.
Wow Debra, good to know! Practical, critical stuff. I have 24-hour backup battery for my Sonic.com fiber internet and electric phone. And 48-hour backup batteries for my smartphone. This is the last piece I need!
Even if you have short-term battery backup it’s good to have.
Now that this new technology is available we may have more and more people going off-grid, even in populated areas where grid is available. I’ve been wanting to go solar for many years but the cost was prohibitive. This makes it possible.
I’ve been using it to power my computer even though we have grid power and actually where I am living now my office has solar panels on the roof that produce the power for my office. But I’m “in training” for using it in my upcoming tiny house. For example, I now need to turn the computer off at the end of the day so the power station can recharge overnight. It’s a routine I need to establish. Better for my computer too, to not leave it on all the time.
So far, so good. 🙂
This is very interesting. Please give the details as you install and use it. There are always “things we just don’t know about” with technology like this. I’d like to hear how it works out for you over time and about any drawbacks.