Efficiencies aren't efficiences...

I got into a, let us say vigorous, discussion the other day. A few of us were talking about generators and energy requirements... A few people piped up that they quite happily had five kilowatt generators, which can quite readily run their houses. I pointed out that my standard load is barely 500 watts - which was scoffed.

But the discussion got me to thinking - would I want a large generator to see me through a cataclysm? Generators require fuel - and maintenance... Efficiencies aren't efficiences, when you think about it - the technology required to get a two or three percent more power out of anything may make the difference between easy to repair at home, and impossible. If your PSHTF power supply takes more to keep running than you can do, is it worth having?

A fifty year old generator that doesn't need much to keep going is significantly better... A steam engine with external combustion maybe even better - okay, you don't get as much power out of the same size, but... for the want of a nail, the war was lost...