Extreme Cold, Ice Storms, and Backup Power: Real-World Winter Prep

A major winter storm is moving across the country—and this episode of Unplugged Live turned into a real-time discussion on how people actually prepare when extreme cold, ice, and long outages are on the table.

Rodney and Eric are joined by a highly engaged live audience sharing firsthand experience from across the U.S. and Canada, covering everything from solar performance in ice, to generator fuel choices, to how cold is too cold for propane, diesel, and batteries.

This episode goes far beyond theory. It’s a snapshot of how real systems are being used right now as temperatures drop well below zero.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Preparing solar systems for ice and snow

• Battery behavior in extreme cold

• Propane, gasoline, diesel, and natural gas reliability

• Generator sizing and real-world runtime expectations

• Clearing ice from solar panels (what works and what doesn’t)

• Charging batteries from generators (Chargeverter discussion)

• Wood heat, pellet stoves, and alternative heating options

• Monitoring outages and knowing when the grid goes down

• Lessons learned from past winter storms and blackouts

If you live where winter can shut things down—or you’re planning backup power—you’ll hear real answers from people living it.