Articles about Battery

Energy Independence and Home Power

Domain hub for home energy self-reliance. Two tracks: building permanent energy independence (solar, wood heat, propane, battery systems) and responding when the power goes out (generators, emergency lighting, heating and cooling during outages).

Battery Power: The Complete Household Guide

How to choose, use, store, charge, and safely dispose of household batteries. Five levels from AA cells to whole-home backup, matched to what you actually need.

Electric Vehicle Preparedness

The honest EV preparedness guide. Strengths (home charging, low maintenance, V2H/V2L power) and vulnerabilities (grid dependence, charging fragility, range under stress). The 50% charge habit, vehicle-to-home power from F-150 Lightning and Ioniq 5, charging network planning, and the honest scenario trade-offs between EV and gas vehicles.

Using Your Vehicle as a Power Source

What a car's 12V outlet and battery can safely power, the fuel and battery-drain limits, and the carbon monoxide rule that governs every scenario involving a running engine.

Vehicle Readiness, Your Car as a Preparedness Tool

How to keep your vehicle ready for everyday disruptions. Monthly four-point vehicle check, the glovebox vehicle file, seasonal transitions, one-car household planning, the replacement decision, and the overlooked who-else-can-drive scenario.

Winter Driving Preparedness

Cold-weather vehicle readiness and the stuck-in-a-storm protocol. Pre-winter vehicle check covering battery CCA, tires, antifreeze, and wipers. Winter tires vs all-season comparison. The six-step stuck-in-a-storm survival protocol. When not to drive.

Powering Your Radios When the Grid Is Not

How long handhelds, weather radios, and 50-watt bases run on batteries, what to stock, how to size a 12-volt LiFePO4 battery or power station, and how to recharge from solar or a vehicle safely.

Automotive Basics, Skills

Everything a household should know about its vehicles. Vehicle literacy, hands-on maintenance, tire care, fluids, battery and jump-starting, warning lights, troubleshooting, and knowing when to call a

Battery Banks for Off-Grid Solar

How days of autonomy translate into bank capacity, why usable energy sits well below nameplate capacity, and how lithium and lead-acid reach the same usable figure at very different sizes. Includes the cold-weather charging limit that quietly damages lithium banks.

Charge Controllers and Inverters for Off-Grid Solar

Where array output becomes usable power. Sizing a controller from array watts and bus voltage, why MPPT recovers energy that PWM discards, the cold-morning voltage that sets a controller's rating, and the surge behaviour that decides whether a well pump starts.

Controlling a Hydro System

A hydro turbine cannot be unplugged. Remove the electrical load and it runs away within seconds; close the valve quickly and water hammer can turn 26 psi into 94. How diversion loads resolve both by never interrupting anything, and a precise account of what the electrical code does and does not say about redundant control.

Disposable Batteries: A Household Guide

Which disposable batteries to stock, how to store them safely, and the critical voltage difference between lithium types that every household should understand.

Flashlights for Emergency Preparedness: Types, Features, and How to Choose

Every type of flashlight a household might need for emergencies. Standard, EDC, keychain, work lights, and right-angle models. How to layer types and standardize batteries.

Headlamps for Emergency Preparedness: The Definitive Guide

Everything a household needs to know about headlamps for power outages and preparedness. How many, what features, which batteries, and why a headlamp beats a flashlight for most tasks.

How Your Vehicle Works, Automotive Basics

Eight systems that keep your vehicle running: engine, lubrication, cooling, transmission, steering, suspension, braking, and electrical. What each system does, how to spot trouble, and when to call a

Keeping the Refrigerator Cold During an Outage

The power side of protecting refrigerated food during an outage. FSIS passive windows and door discipline, battery station runtime math, generator cycling by thermometer, dry ice and cooler transitions, and the temperature thresholds that decide when food goes.

Lanterns for Emergency Preparedness: Area Lighting That Keeps a Room Functional

LED lanterns for power outages: rechargeable vs. battery-powered, runtime math, placement, and why a lantern is safer and more useful than candles for household area lighting.

One Battery, Every Tool: Choosing a Cordless Platform

Portable Power Stations

How to choose, size, and get the most from a portable power station. Capacity math, key specs, recharging options, and how a station fits a larger energy plan.

Power Banks: The Complete Guide to Portable USB Power

How to choose, size, charge, and travel with a power bank. What the mAh numbers really mean, USB-C Power Delivery explained, air-travel rules, and keeping one ready for an outage.

Rechargeable Batteries: The Complete Household Guide

When rechargeables beat disposables, which chemistry to choose, how chargers work, 18650 and 21700 safety, and the break-even math. A plain guide to reusable household cells.

Solar & Battery Setup, Support, Skills

Small solar charging system setup, the four components, wiring and fusing, charge controller configuration, battery types and state of charge, and the utility-connected systems that always require an

Solar at Property Scale

The Solar track of the property-scale Generation section. Seven guides covering what changes when an array has to carry a whole property rather than supplement a house: worst-month sizing, storage measured in days, mounting, code, and winter. One worked example runs through all seven.

Solar Battery Systems: How to Size and Pair Panels with Power Stations

How to size a portable solar-and-battery system: the energy budget math, panel-station pairing, day and night cycles, and when to scale up.

Solar Through Winter

Cold weather helps panels and hurts everything else. Short days and low sun angles, snow cover and shedding, the charge cutoffs that take a cold bank offline, and the compound run of grey days an off-grid property has to survive on storage alone.

UPS Systems: Instant Battery Backup for Computers, Routers, and Critical Gear

What an uninterruptible power supply does, how it differs from a portable power station, how to read VA and watt ratings, what to plug in and what to keep off it, and how to test and maintain one.

UV Water Purifiers: How They Work, When to Use Them

UV light kills bacteria, protozoa, and viruses in clear water instantly. No chemicals, no wait time, but it fails in turbid water and requires a working battery. The full picture.

Vehicle Maintenance, Maintain, Skills

Basic vehicle maintenance, tire pressure, fluids, battery, jump-starting, and the monthly walk-around. Level 1 and Level 2 tasks with specific thresholds for professional repair.

Home Battery vs. Generator: Which Actually Makes Sense for Your Household, New World Survival Field Notes

Batteries are getting cheaper and generators are getting smarter. The real question is not which is better, but how long your outages last and what you can afford.