generators and hurricanes

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: 757guy
I have a genset too, but my reason is for what no one has mentioned here. There is a strong possibility that hackers could bring down the entire grid for a very long time period.



In an extended power outage situation like you mention, getting enough gasoline to run everyone's generator will be a problem. Also, I would not assume that things like substations and power plants are connected to the internet.

 

[Donald]

In upstate NY I have lost power for days after a storm. To keep the heat on and not burst pipes a generator is needed.

I strongly recommend a propane generator. Gas is a PIA.

 

[757guy]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: 757guy
I have a genset too, but my reason is for what no one has mentioned here. There is a strong possibility that hackers could bring down the entire grid for a very long time period.



In an extended power outage situation like you mention, getting enough gasoline to run everyone's generator will be a problem. Also, I would not assume that things like substations and power plants are connected to the internet.


You're assumption is incorrect: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-ted-koppel-power-2015oct28-htmlstory.html

As far as gas goes, I have 2 cars that I keep filled (20 gallons each) and three 5 gallon gas cans for my motorcycles and other power equipment. My parents have a large storage tank with gas on the farm so I should be good for a long time.

757Guy

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
I'd love to see that V8 generator.

If I remember correctly, it was purchased for some rich guy's vacation lake house who wanted to be able to run everything in the house on it and it turned out not to have enough output. So another larger one was purchased and Dave kept this one which was really overkill for a three-level one-family house. All the outside lights were on at night, they were taking hot showers and flushing toilets, watching TV, etc. It didn't impact their lives in the least. I think he almost felt a little bad about not being able to share it.

I distinctly remember it was powered by a 305 small-block Chevy, possibly running on propane? It certainly wasn't a diesel but I don't think it was gasoline either.

 

[cheech279]

After Hurricane Isabel left us without power for three days in 2003, and after seeing a few local merchants start their price gouging on generators, building materials and other post-hurricane supplies, I used a portable 5KW generator and then had a 16KW whole house generator installed in 2006. My only regret: buying a Generac instead of a Kohler.

BTW in 26 years on the Outer Banks of NC, we have never evacuated for a hurricane, including two CAT 3 storms.

 

[sleddriver]

There is a diff. between those who are prepared before-hand and those who are not. The later clog up the hwys, the grocery stores and the gas stations. Having a generator to run the necessary things and keep food cold (particularly in hot, humid S. Tex.)can go a long way to keeping you comfortable amidst the chaos.

So can bleach, dry ice and a water filter...

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
I've gone more than a week without electricity before. I was inconvenient, but I managed to live. The hardest part was having to drink warm drinks. There was no ice to be had anywhere. People today are big babies.
what about my mom? She needs oxygen 24/7 to live. She has a machine that runs on 120v to keep her alive.

 

[Doog]

I have a small generator to run the fridge and tv and some lights. But we have only had one power outage over 3 days in 50 years. My home in Florida is on the grid where the police/fire/emergency services and county government get power. So even after a CAT4 hurricane (Wilma) they were only down 72 hours. But I'll get a generator and a 300lb propane tank there when I move down.

 

[KingCake]

I'm from SE Louisiana. Been through countless storms including Katrina. Unless you get a natural gas generator then you'll only probably get a few days out of it....it the storm is big you won't be able to find gas unless you drive a few hours away.

 

[SaturnIonVue]

motor_oil_madman: Apparently, you have led a charmed life there in Houston. Try a Katrina and check back with us! I think you may re-consider a generator (connected to natural gas) as a good investment after that.

Would you consider a nice long family cruise (with the kids) on a ship with no lifeboats? The odds are in your favor, because practically all modern ships go to the scrapyard without ever having used their lifeboats! Risk management and rewards for prior planning have there place in our contemporary USA. 757Guy may sound like a nut, but he's picked up on something possible, considering all the enemies we've accumulated! I think many of us would be very-very surprised at how easy our electrical grid could be taken down. Consider that one little squirrel succeeded, a few years ago, in darkening the northeast and parts of Canada for a few days, and he wasn't really trying!

 

[JimPghPA]

Originally Posted By: 757guy
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: 757guy
I have a genset too, but my reason is for what no one has mentioned here. There is a strong possibility that hackers could bring down the entire grid for a very long time period.



In an extended power outage situation like you mention, getting enough gasoline to run everyone's generator will be a problem. Also, I would not assume that things like substations and power plants are connected to the internet.


You're assumption is incorrect: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-ted-koppel-power-2015oct28-htmlstory.html

As far as gas goes, I have 2 cars that I keep filled (20 gallons each) and three 5 gallon gas cans for my motorcycles and other power equipment. My parents have a large storage tank with gas on the farm so I should be good for a long time.

757Guy


Modern cars are very hard to get gasoline from. The fill stem has things that prevent you from putting a hose down it.

Unless you have some type of a tap already rigged up like a fuel pressure test point under the hood ready for some kind of connection that would let you attach a hose, you probably will find that the gasoline in your vehicles is not accessible.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: NMBurb02
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Why are so many people worried about having a generator for a hurricane? Most people evacuate for a hurricane and they aren't going to let you back into your city until they have power lines and that kind of thing are back together. They aren't going to let you come back when they're lying across the road. I've been through hurricanes before and unless you actually stay home for it I don't see the need for it. The last hurricane we had they wouldn't let people come back for three days. We stayed home though.

I think you answered your own question with your last sentence...


Well yes, but what I've experienced 95 percent of the people pack up and leave, so unless you're the kind who wants to stay behind then yes a generator would be great for the 3 or 4 days to get power up.

 

[RoadRaceJosh]

The power grid isn't that susceptible to hacking, but the system isn't perfect. There is a corporation dedicated to improving grid reliability and they issue regulations that utilities are obligated to comply with. Some education could go a long way towards "not being an alarmist". http://www.nerc.com/Pages/default.aspx

Originally Posted By: 757guy
I have a genset too, but my reason is for what no one has mentioned here. There is a strong possibility that hackers could bring down the entire grid for a very long time period. Think about who might want to do this and the list is very long: terrorists, North Korea, Russia, homegrown jihadists, etc.

Not to be an alarmist but being prepared to care for yourself and not depend on others is the only way to being ready.

I can remember many years ago when the entire mid to northeast section of the country went dark because of a single transmission tower failure. If I recall correctly, we were only dark for several hours, but that incident left an impression on me that the grid could be brought down easily by taking out a few strategic towers across the country.

Have a plan, be prepared, and shelter in place - but be ready to move if needed. Wouldn't hurt to have some cash on hand (small bills) to buy gasoline (ATM's will be down too!), food and water supply, and don't forget your ammo just in case.

Hope it doesn't happen- ready if it does,

757Guy

 

[punisher]

I live on the TX coast. I have 3 generators, one natural gas powered and another one for backup, or to loan to the neighbor if need be, and a cheapie little HF 900 watt unit which is the backup to the backup.

Air conditioning after a hurricane....well that's something nice to have. Nothing better than working outside moving debris in 95F heat, at 90% humidity, and being able to come inside and cool off, and have something cold to drink. Actual sleep without being drenched in sweat=priceless. Sometimes we might have elderly family staying with us during a hurricane and it is nice to have backup power for medical devices that come in handy for stuff like maybe staying alive.

Ye without generators I do pity.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: SaturnIonVue
motor_oil_madman: Apparently, you have led a charmed life there in Houston. Try a Katrina and check back with us! I think you may re-consider a generator (connected to natural gas) as a good investment after that.

Would you consider a nice long family cruise (with the kids) on a ship with no lifeboats? The odds are in your favor, because practically all modern ships go to the scrapyard without ever having used their lifeboats! Risk management and rewards for prior planning have there place in our contemporary USA. 757Guy may sound like a nut, but he's picked up on something possible, considering all the enemies we've accumulated! I think many of us would be very-very surprised at how easy our electrical grid could be taken down. Consider that one little squirrel succeeded, a few years ago, in darkening the northeast and parts of Canada for a few days, and he wasn't really trying!


For the record I have a generator, although I bought it to run lights while night fishing, didn't quite work out how I planned since I can't get anyone to go fishing with me. It has 41hrs on it mostly from just from running it to keep the fuel circulating so the carb doesn't get gummed up. Good little generator I put a nice heavy load on it when it was new and alternated the loads so it would break in. Doesn't seem to burn oil.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Why are so many people worried about having a generator for a hurricane? Most people evacuate for a hurricane and they aren't going to let you back into your city until they have power lines and that kind of thing are back together...

Funny, but we live over 100 miles from the ocean and 270 feet above sea level where no hurricane evacuation is ever likely to come. That said, we lost power due to hurricanes Irene and Sandy, to name a few. Sandy was two days for us, but up to five for others within a thirty mile radius.

Most of our generator usage has been due to more localized storms or infrastructure failures. We mainly rely on electricity for refrigeration, but the ignition for our our gas fired stove, furnace and hot water heater all require electricity as well. We've ridden out two power failures in excess of 8 hours each since Hurricane Sandy, so I think that a small generator is a good thing to have in case of emergency.

Bringing this back on topic, our small gas powered generator is filled with Rotella T6 5w40.

 

[JimPghPA]

I have two generators, both portable and gasoline powered.

My biggest generator is a Coleman Powermate 5000 Watts / 6250 Watts peak with a Tecumseh 10 HP motor that is big enough to run the whole house AC if ever required on a hot summer day. We have elderly and trying to get by on a hot day without air-conditioning is not an option.

My small generator is a Generac IX2000 2000 Watts / 2200 Watts peak, inverter, second generation version with the small primer bulb on the side of the unit. I have normally closed 30 Amp contacts of a double pole relay wired in parallel, and those in series with the house 120 AC plug for our refrigerator. The coil of that relay is wired to a switch that is fed power from the blower motor of our furnace. If I throw that switch the relay will shut off the refrigerator when the blower motor of the furnace comes on. This enables the small generator to run both our furnace and the refrigerator but not both at the same time, with the furnace getting priority. The advantage of this little inverter generator is that it gets about 4 and a half hours from a gallon of gasoline, and it is lite weight enough that I can lift it by myself and place it in the back yard far from the house. So with a bad winter storm when no one can make it to our house to help me pull the big generator up the cellar steps, I can rig up the small generator all by myself.

I also have 22 two-and-a-half gallon plastic fuel cans to store 55 gallons of gasoline stabilized with Sta-Bil for winter storms. And I rotate my stock of gasoline so it never gets too old. That is enough gasoline to run the small inverter generator continuously for 10 days. And of course, I have enough oil stored for the generators.

One of the reasons I want to be prepared for a long outage in the winter is because major ice storms have hit in all four directions of the compass from here and when a major ice storm hits it can knock down ALL the power lines and power can be out for a week or more.

I only store 5 gallons of gasoline for the summer because I can always run for more gasoline in the summer.

 

[henni]

Having experienced 3 weeks without power due to grid down after hurricane, you'll plan better for the next time.

We spent couple weeks one winter (sunny and balmy 17 C outside even in winter) rewiring all outside and inside breaker boxes, replaced all utility pole wires and created plug-in points for multiple gensets with manual disconnect/transfer switches.

Quite often, even in the middle of the year with no storms, utility grid is down (fallen trees at sub-station, exploded transformers, neighbors excavation broke main line, etc ) for hours.

Very convenient to turn on the quiet 7000 series honda inverter, can not hear it inside house and one powers all 6 heatpumps, variable speed pool and spa pumps, 4 refrigerators, routers, wifi hotspots, LED TV's and multiple servers.

In fact, we run on a rotation one genset every month for at least one hour and change filters and oil annually.

 

[Cujet]

I live and work in South Florida. Evacuation is out of the question, as I'm needed at work.

Backup generators are an absolute must here.

Hurricane Matthew looks to be on a direct course for my house

I predict the power goes out by 2AM, Friday morning and remains out for an extended period. Thank goodness I have alternative power.

This is a 20HP, 15KW, "Listeroid" diesel generator that I assembled 10 years ago. It's a pretty cool setup. That's a 6 gallon outboard engine fuel tank behind it for size!

 

[CT8]

Cujet, The generator is awesome.