Ready for power failures?

[Dave Sherman]

We had a couple heavy storms already this spring, one which triggered a tornado warning for us and caused some significant damage in a neighboring county. Our power flickered a couple times, but some other folks lost power for a few days. Last week we lost power for a couple hours and there was no storm involved. I get the feeling there will be more power failures this summer either because of storms or increased demand causing lines to sag into trees.

Two winters ago a tree fell down the street and took the power lines out for 24 hours. Had to put the generator into service running the furnace, refrigerator, sump pump, and some lights.

During the great northeast blackout of 2003 I didn't have a generator, but despite having no power for about 6 hours it was no big deal. Pulled the rope to get the garage door open so I could get my car in and had battery powered lights. Lit the gas stove with a lighter and had no trouble making dinner. Water pressure started going down, so I filled the bathtub so I had some water on hand. Read a book by candlelight until the power came back on later that night. I had to chuckle a little at work the next day when folks were bemoaning they couldn't get their car out of the garage, and they were basically helpless. They figured I was MacGuyver when I said how I handled it.

Generator is gassed up, and I've got enough gas in jerry cans for a couple days. We usually have a case of bottled water, and we've got a 5 gallon water jug for the camper if we need to fill it before water pressure goes out. Battery powered camp lantern had the battery replaced a year or so ago, and it's fully charged.

 

[javacontour]

Yep, and I rotated 5gal of my gas stash to oilBabe's car and refilled the can on Monday.

 

[Donald]

I think a significant factor is how much effort and money they put into maintenance of their distribution network. For NYSEG not so much, but for the electric coop in DE where I have a house its significant.

 

[Andrew1972]

I have a generator however oddly since I bought it 6 years ago only used twice. Before I bought due to ice storms lost power (includes well water pump!) for 4 days and another week 5 days in 40F winter weather (burr!). Those outages made the state come down hard on utilities to clear trees from lines and it was a major improvement. I used to loose power every few weeks summer/winter but live at end of a line.

I have a backup UPS (6hrs) for my Internet equipment as I work from home so only roll out after 4hrs when laptop battery low or need water in home and fridge going warmer. I do have a wood stove in winter for aux heat.

I only keep 5 gallons on hand but live near a major RT95 truck stop that has generators to power all the pumps.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Our power company here is terrible, so the power goes out frequently. My parents were without power for over 24 hours last month! I ended up running up with a generator so they didn't lose food. I completely expect it.

Thankfully, my power hasn't gone out since I bought a generator. I still need to get the interlock switch for my furnace so I can run that in the winter when the power goes out.

I only keep 5 gallons of ethanol free gas around. I figure if it's going to be longer than that, I have a 20 gallon in my Jeep and a 35 gallon tank in my truck and I can use those and just drain the gas out of the generator after.

 

[1978elcamino]

Here in Florida there is always a push this time of year for hurricaine preparedness. I just bought a Powerhorse generator from Northern Tool, its a 27k / 18k to run the whole house with a transfer switch on both panels. I also have a fuel pump setup with connectors to pump fuel out of the boat to my cans. I also have a small tool bag in each bedroom with a few flashlights and a LED lantern. So with that, I feel ready.

 

[JHZR2]

Our power is very reliable. Knocking on wood, we havent lost power during Sandy or the others, and this year we have had a lot of high winds and tornados, with a lot of trees down, but our power has remained on. We are very fortunate.

All the same, we have a small inverter generator. I see zero reason to have all sorts of creature comforts while the power is out. I prefer near-silence, long runtimes on minimal fuel, and can personally do load management to keep our refrigerator, freezer, and boiler pumps operational.

I think after Sandy, a lot of the fuel locations learned lessons about access to fuel. Plus, around us, many of the legacy gas stations, regardless of brand, are going away, and giant convenience stores with fuel stations attached are going up wherever there is a good corner that can be developed and offer enough space for gas, store and parking. These places seem to have good backup power.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by JHZR2
Our power is very reliable. Knocking on wood, we havent lost power during Sandy or the others, and this year we have had a lot of high winds and tornados, with a lot of trees down, but our power has remained on. We are very fortunate.

All the same, we have a small inverter generator. I see zero reason to have all sorts of creature comforts while the power is out. I prefer near-silence, long runtimes on minimal fuel, and can personally do load management to keep our refrigerator, freezer, and boiler pumps operational.

I think after Sandy, a lot of the fuel locations learned lessons about access to fuel. Plus, around us, many of the legacy gas stations, regardless of brand, are going away, and giant convenience stores with fuel stations attached are going up wherever there is a good corner that can be developed and offer enough space for gas, store and parking. These places seem to have good backup power.


Sometimes just the basics require a large generator, such as a heat pump.

 

[spasm3]

I keep more fuel on hand in the winter here, as outages can last longer. Generally 15-20 gallons of gas. i can get by on 5 gallons a day. Summer we have outages sometimes from thunderstorms or storms from hurricanes, but not out as long, so i really only keep about 5-10 gallons on hand.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by spasm3
I keep more fuel on hand in the winter here, as outages can last longer. Generally 15-20 gallons of gas. i can get by on 5 gallons a day. Summer we have outages sometimes from thunderstorms or storms from hurricanes, but not out as long, so i really only keep about 5-10 gallons on hand.


Gas should degrade less in the winter than the heat of the summer.

 

[SeaJay]

There are areas with above ground poles and wires with lots and lots of trees.

To keep all of the trees that could possibly be blown over or have big branches fall on the wires in a high wind storm trimmed or taken down would be a monumental amount of work. To bury all of the wires would be as least as expensive. Our electric rates need to be high enough to pay for any of those upgrades. Do any of us want say a 25% or more increase to our power costs to pay for all of this?

The solution of many power companies is to keep the rates lower and to fix the trees when they knock out power.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by SeaJay
There are areas with above ground poles and wires with lots and lots of trees.

To keep all of the trees that could possibly be blown over or have big branches fall on the wires in a high wind storm trimmed or taken down would be a monumental amount of work. To bury all of the wires would be as least as expensive. Our electric rates need to be high enough to pay for any of those upgrades. Do any of us want say a 25% or more increase to our power costs to pay for all of this?

The solution of many power companies is to keep the rates lower and to fix the trees when they knock out power.

Fellow NY'er here. There is a small development in Island Park where all the power lines are underground. Hurricane Sandy proved that system wasn't so good either. All their power went out, and streets, lawns, etc. had to be dug up to replace wiring etc. since the entire area was flooded. As it turns out they would have been better off with overhead power lines.

 

[Donald]

NY has high power rates because its NY. I think the earlier in the 1900s that they electrified the area the higher the rates as they are dealing with old equipment. (That is my guess not necessarily a fact).

 

[RhondaHonda]

Originally Posted by Dave Sherman
increased demand causing lines to sag into trees.


Is this really a thing?

 

[ecotourist]

We have winter storms here with high winds and lots of tall trees, so we have power outages. 18 months ago we lost power for more than 36 hours (don't remember how long exactly).

We have a wood stove for back up heating (and it doesn't get all that cold here anyway). We have a barbecue for cooking. And we have pretty good battery powered lights - suitable for short periods at least. The big problem was the warming of the refrigerator and freezer contents. We have a portable generator that we ran periodically with long cords to the refrigerator and freezer.

My septic pump is hard wired. We have adequate space in the pumping chamber if we're using the septic system lightly, but it would be a good idea to get it set up so there would be the option to run the septic pump with an extension cord too.

Our mains water pressure was unaffected. And our hot water tank is big enough that we never ran out of hot water for hand washing - though no showers.

That power outage was a good trial run for "the big one". It would have been nice to have more batteries, more gasoline and ground coffee. We were able to get all 3 from the nearby town. Otherwise we did fine during our trial run.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted by RhondaHonda
Is this really a thing?

Apparently, but no real information on how much:

https://www.atcllc.com/blog/why-do-power-lines-sag-on-hot-days/

 

[Dave Sherman]

Originally Posted by RhondaHonda
Originally Posted by Dave Sherman
increased demand causing lines to sag into trees.


Is this really a thing?


Yes. More current through the wires means more heat. Hotter wires expand in length, and they start drooping, sometimes into the trees if the trees around them haven't been trimmed back.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Nebraska has only public power. We have no IOUs. Nebraska Public Power District is headquartered in out city and the local co-op has a very reliable system. Our state is REA all the way.

 

[OilReport99]

Originally Posted by 1978elcamino
Here in Florida there is always a push this time of year for hurricaine preparedness. I just bought a Powerhorse generator from Northern Tool, its a 27k / 18k to run the whole house with a transfer switch on both panels. I also have a fuel pump setup with connectors to pump fuel out of the boat to my cans. I also have a small tool bag in each bedroom with a few flashlights and a LED lantern. So with that, I feel ready.


You're never too ready in Florida during hurricane season. We spent almost 10 days w/o power during Irma. Sucks

You did well buying a whole house generator. Cords on the ground are not the best option for extended periods without power.

 

[eljefino]

The northeast blackout of 2003 prompted me to get my first generator, a 1970's "Mite-e-lite" monster. It was loud, only held one gallon of fuel, and the governor was a little wonky so the fridge would speed up and slow down in time. But it got me through the 00's and a blackout every year. Did the well pump, some lights, the internet, was happy.

Ran it through Superstorm Sandy in 2012 then decided I could do better, got a "chonda" 2500/3250 watt with automatic voltage regulation and a 6-circuit transfer switch. Works great.

Got a propane carb for the chonda. Runs better if I start it on gasoline then switch over. But they extend my range. Have collected half-a-dozen 20 lb bottles from the dump, brought them into date with Blue Rhino.

Have a little inverter generator for the internet and lights if I don't want to run the big girl. Only makes ~430 watts. Would prefer a little more so it'd do the fridge. c'est lavie. Also have a 1000 watt inverter I could run off the Prius if it came to it.