admin answers:

Day- People relying on ventilators and other electrical equipment would die. Cars suddenly stopped work while people were driving, more deaths. Riots would start, mobs would gather and cause more death and destruction. Violence would be everywhere, people do not react well to such massive change. World economy falters and slows within a matter of less then a day

Week- More violence an death. Gangs would roam committing crimes the police could not stop. Martial lwa would have taken hold. People would be shot in the street.Since the world economy has come to a sharp halt, no goods come or go. People are starving. Since there are no power plants cold food has rotted. Water treatment plants do not work. Any generators running have most likely stopped unless the have been supplied with gas. Gas is a very hot commodity. Thefts of this and non perishable food would be high. If you live near nuclear power plant I would get away fast. People who needed life saving meds will start to die

Month-More of the same, violence and death. Most already sick people would have died. Others will still be dying. People who maneged to hide out may be all right as long as they have a major stock pile of food and weapons. Injuries and sickness that would have been non life threating could end up in death.

Year- People would be coming to terms with the situation. Of course the nuclear power plants would have melted down and anyone within several miles would be dead, and the death and distruction would be carried even further by the winds. So you better be far away from that. People would have figured how to grow food and barter and trade just like they used to for most of human history. Money would be usless as there would be no bank to back it up.Life wuld not be easy it would be like people who lived 2 centuries ago only without the knowledge those people had to live there life. Infrastructure would start to fail somewhat, roads would crack and weeds would grow. Pipes would burst and buildings would flood. Whole towns would floods from dams bursting, eventually.There would be darkness and despair, violence and more death. The strong would live and the weak would perish just like in nature.

5 years- Things may have gotten better, there may have been a attempt to establish more law. People would learn to communicate as was once done by letters and maybe a telegraph. People would still be dying of things that could have once been saved but I would thin that there may be a attempt at “country medicine” like might have been done centuries ago. I Buildings and man made objects would start to decay w/o human hands to fix them, though for many it would be longer before the fell down. Cars would rust, etc. I would think that people would be tring to make electricity again of couse.Maybe using wind or solar power, if that for whatever reason was impossible life would go on if however limited

Despite having lived without electricity for most of human history people would loose it and not know how to function, at least in the beganning. Some people would figure it out though. Humans are like cockroaches, there always will be some who survive. I would hope the survivers would make a better world but I doubt it. Humans forget history and are far to greedy with the “me, me, me” mentality. There would be less pollution though, and wild animals would be better off

admin answers:

Outdoor works light power source,

so for example you are out on a farm, in the middle of field,
putting up a christmas tree, with no power for lights,

use low wattage lights that only require battery power, LED diodes are used and can light up fairly well,
http://www.brite-lite.com/Products/LEDchristmas.htm

then for power supply you could use automotive battery, the power could hold enough power for all night and then some,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/3/Batteries.jsp?locale=en

you can look at what they would use on boats at sea for electric power as well,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/search/search_results.jsp?bmForm=form_endeca_search&bmFormID=1293046597301&bmUID=1293046597301&bmIsForm=true&bmPrevTemplate=%2FAST%2Fbrowse%2F4%2FAuto%2F3%2FBatteries.jsp&bmHidden=OMNITURE_FROM&OMNITURE_FROM=Search&bmHidden=event26&event26=true&bmText=quick_search_term&quick_search_term=boat+battery&bmSubmit=quick_search&quick_search=Search&bmHidden=PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441897583&bmHidden=FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672400

there are portable backup booster battery for helping to start cars in the cold, those may be useful
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/3/BatteryAccessories/BatteryBoosting/PRD~0111558P/Motomaster%252B500A%252BBooster%252BPack.jsp?locale=en

if you use automotive emergency worklights those do not require 110 volt /amps the same as houshold bulbs,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/BulbsSwitchesRelays/AuxiliaryAutoLighting/PRD~0379405P/Cordless%252BAC%25252BDC%252BLamp.jsp?locale=en
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/BulbsSwitchesRelays/AuxiliaryAutoLighting.jsp

Flashlights are portable , for extended amount of time you would want quality batteries, and possibly larger six volt type, or rechargeable’s,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3/HouseHome/SafetySecurity/Flashlights/PRD~0653004P/Garrity%252B6%252Bvolt%252BFloating%252BLantern/CROSSSELL~0542948%20Jobmate%2B18V%2BFlashlight.jsp?locale=en
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/Camping/Flashlights/PRD~0542948P/Jobmate%252B18V%252BFlashlight.jsp?locale=en

other idea is to use solar power cells as source of power, much like garden or lights, so they are charged all day, and turn on at sun down , some have batteries, with solar power the source is daily, but may run down over time in cloudy or snowy weather,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/2/OutdoorLiving/GardenLighting/SolarGardenLights/PRD~0524014P/Westinghouse%252BSolar%252B3X%252BHigh-Output%252BLED%252BSpot%252BLights%25252C%252B2-Pk.jsp?locale=en
http://www.canadiantire.ca/search/search_results.jsp?quick_search_term=Solar+Garden+Lights&searchRefinementEvent=event21&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442204391&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672827&bmUID=1293046105686
..

admin answers:

Actually, check out some of the links on http://www.builditsolar.com

If you are going to do much of the work yourself, you will be sadly disappointed by what is available in print:

Homepower magazine http://www.homepower.com for example, it most often reads like a sales brochure, because “hands on” to a number of people usually means buying most of the system ready made in a kit. Hands on for me is breaking out the soldering iron and doing point to point wiring on components to construct the regulators (often called charge controlelrs.) Too much chaff for a hands on person to find useful. Some of the ads are useful.

Nuts and Volts http://www.nutsvolts.com/ is a bit better, but their topical coverage is far ranging so you do not always get as much as you would like. Spendy, might be better to sheck it out at the bookstores and buy it off the newstand when a decent article appears.

Mother Earth news http://www.motherearthnews.com is pretty good, but the best bang for the buck there is to buy their archives on CD rom, which is 3 disks, broke down by decade. There is a fair amount of substance, sometimes you encounter an article that sought to convert one item over to another, only it would have been much less work and cost for them to have started out from ground level and construct (with used parts) the same thing, which they sought to construct in the first place, a solar charged electric tractor is one specific item I have come to mind as one the author of the article could have done better. You might find the book they published “The Mother Earth News Handbook of Homemade Power,” which is not real good for specifics in some areas, but is good for some ideas if you are good at working from thumbnail sketches, you can fill in the blanks where there are gaps in detail. The book was written more as a “primer” than a complete compillation.

For your wind systems, there is a lot to be found at http://www.lindsaybks.com Hugh Piggott has written a few good books on the home construction of windmills. The LeJay Manual is a good reprint that has a lot of good info for home constructing- down to the wooden propeller profiles. As well as the book “Generator Secrets.”

One of the good sources for materials and tools supplies and systems is Northern Tool http://www.northerntool.com

One thing on propeller materials- never us ABS and never use PVC. As tempting as those can be they break. When they break, the blades will go for a great distance in modest winds. They can kill too.

admin answers:

Get a backup generator with enough fuel to last until power comes back. Keep the freezer door closed. That might mean you can’t sell ice cream to your customers until the power returns. Or you could take an armful of ice cream out of the freezer and have a blackout sale – “I must sell all this ice cream now”.

Solar is a good way to reduce the amount of power you draw from the utility, but it’s not steady enough to be a backup source.

Adding salt to ice reduces its freezing temperature and makes it melt faster. That’s a great way to chill something quickly (like when making ice cream) or melt ice from a road or sidewalk, but not so useful for maintaining cold temperature over time.