Electrical Devices

There are many things to keep in mind about lighting and electricity to be used during the time following the Pole Shift.

Voltage Used

Most of the equipment in our houses uses 220V, as in Europe, or 110V as in the US. They are also power hungry. Those voltages were selected for many reasons. With a higher voltage, lower electric current is required for the same power. With a lower current the wires can be thinner. And with a lower the current there is less power losses. This is why power lines use higher voltages. But high voltages are dangerous, can in fact prove fatal, and this is very important as installations will be more or less primitive. Therefore, as transport will not be necessary, low voltages are most appropriate for post Pole Shift living. We have low voltage equipment that operates at 1.5V, 3V, 4.5V, 6V, 9V or 12V. Such items as car lights and battery powered lights use lower voltages. In general 12V equipment is a good compromise for post Pole Shift living. When buying equipment to use after the Pole Shift, go to stores with camping equipment, not ordinary stores.

 

Direction

The equipment in our houses uses alternating current, where the direction of current changes about 50 times a second. On the other hand, most battery powered equipment uses continuous current, where the current is always in the same direction. In general, to power ordinary household equipment in a standalone manner one would need a large generator. This will be hard to build and maintain after the Pole Shift. As explained above, high voltages are required only because of transport, and in a standalone situation, transport issues are not important.

 

Generators

The primary thing to consider is the generator! First buy a generator, so you can see what it is capable of. You can not connect a 12V light to a 3V generator, for example, as it just won't work. Likewise, you can not connect a 3V light to a 12V generator, as this will kill the light. The best approach is to get a 12V generator, the kind that are used in windmills. Bike generators are usually 6V, but can be connected two in a line to produce a 12V generator. At that point, you can use some car parts, such as lights, which are actually quite bright, or accumulators. Bike generators or generators from cars are also good, as they are separate parts, and can be driven by wind power, water power or human power, while other generators are usually integrated with a power source module.

 

Batteries

Another source of energy can be batteries. While generators can serve much of your indoor need, there will be cases when you'll need movable lights and other movable equipment. Such equipment is almost always powered by batteries. Batteries are of two types: a) normal batteries that can be used once and b) accumulators that can be recharged. Normal batteries are useless in the Aftertime, as they have a short life and when then are spent you won't be able to buy a new ones. Therefore, use accumulators. These are usually Ni-Cd or Ni-MH and come in the same sizes as normal batteries and can be used instead of them.

 

Recharging

If using accumulators (either car accumulators (Pb) or Ni-Cd and Ni-MH accumulators) you'll need to recharge them when empty. This means you'll have to connect them to generator or a special recharging device for a specified time (usually specified in writing on the batteries). There are some recharging devices that operate on alternative sources of energy, e.g. solar cells. By using them, you can recharge accumulators simply by putting them next to a fire.

 

When recharging keep in mind that not all accumulators should be recharged in the same way. For example: car accumulators should be recharged before empty, and once they are empty recharging is no longer possible. On the other hand, Ni-Cd and Ni-MH accumulators works best and have a longer life- time if completely discharged (spent) before recharging.

 

Rotational Speed

Another thing to bear in mind about generators is their rotational speed. Generators must rotate with some speed to produce enough power. If you use the same generator on a windmill, which rotates with few hundred rotations per minute (RPM), and also on a watermill, which rotates by only few dozen RPM, you'll need a reducer, i.e. gears.

 

Storage

The direction of the current is not important if you use electricity only for lights, although some fluorescent and other special lights are sensitive to current direction, so check it out. However, the direction of the current becomes important in two cases: (a) you want to use other equipment, sensitive to direction, (b) you want to store or accumulate electricity.

 

Generators generate electricity in proportion to the power going into the generator. For example: if you use a windmill generator, it will give power when the winds are strong, but no power when there is no wind. To compensate for that, you can use an accumulator. However, an accumulator works only with continuous current, while generators produce only alternating current. That means, you'll need a to convert from alternating to continuous current between the generator and the accumulator, and convert again between the accumulator and equipment that requires alternating current. Therefore, it is wise to use generators that have integrated accumulators. Most windmills and some newer bike generators are of that kind. It's usually easier and more efficient than making your own converters.

 

Frequency

If you use equipment or devices that require alternating current, check if the frequency is important. Frequency is how many times per second the direction must change; and this is in direct proportion to the rotational speed of the generator. If frequency is important, the device should not be used, as you will be scarcely able to match it with windmills, watermills or human powered generators unless you plan to use converters.

 

Power

Another important issue is power. You get the power consumption of a device if you multiply its voltage by its current, if it's not already written on the label. All the devices together connected to a generator must not require greater power than the generator can produce! If you have an accumulator, then all the devices together connected to an accumulator must not require greater power than the accumulator can provide!

 

Expertise

If a group wants to use electricity, they should have a person who knows how to deal with it, who understands what is required to make an installations, and so on. Otherwise the group may have more trouble with electricity than going without it.

 

Light Absorption

The brightness of a room does not depend only on the type of light in use. There are many more factors, and light absorption is one of the most important. Every object in a room, including walls, absorbs some light. You can see that a white painted empty room is brighter than a room full of dark objects or a room with dark brown wood walls, even if the same light is used. This is usually not considered, as we can use additional lights if required. However, this will become important when lighting is scarce. In this case, you should seek to minimize absorption. This is not complicated - the brighter the object the less light it absorbs. Black objects absorb almost all the light that falls on them, while white objects absorb almost no light. Best of all, shiny metallic objects absorbs practically no light, and even reflect it.

 

Aluminum Foil

One good thing to take with you, therefore, is aluminum foil. You can get it in rolls, and it's light weight and uses practically no space to store. You can stick it on the walls or darker objects so they will reflect light instead of absorbing it. You will make a room much brighter. But don't exaggerate this technique or you'll get the feeling that you're living in the middle of a bulb. Aluminum Foil can be used for more than reducing light absorption, it is also a good insulation material. Placed on a ceiling, floor, or walls it will insulate and reflect light and heat. Placed behind a fire it will reflect light and heat. One can also make condensators, used by many electric devices, from aluminum foil.

Authored by Kiko.