Coleroad
New member
I must be staying at the wrong hi express` s. We`re elite ihg members, but I`m not getting any smarter. In fact, sometimes I feeel like I`m lucky if I can remember how old I am.
No power but light bulbs faint glow?
- Thread starter BudgetPlan1
- Start date
BudgetPlan1
Active member
On the plus side, it looked kinda nice this morning. Woulda looked nicer out the window while sitting on my couch as opposed to driving to work but ya take what you can get
Stokdgs
dansautodetailing.com
Yeah, that`s what my pal`s is like. It ended up being more of an issue than he and his wife ever dreamed for some reason (I bet his [crappy] neighbor factored it whereas mine aren`t like that).
Mine would be somewhat sheltered by the deck, but "well...you`ll need one the size of a van.." + living through days without it in the dead of winter OK = live without it. We do pretty well with the 19th century lifestyle (for short periods).
Heh heh, sounds like you know a bit more than that.
Hermano,
I powered up an almost 4,000 sq ft Tudor Style house that had been remodeled and had 2 separate staircases to get upstairs with that 8,000 watt generator and never had an issue..
I have seen huge ones that you tow to places and run diesel - that would need a huge footprint..
Of course, you dont want to run the furnace, dryer, washer, dishwasher and electric stove all at the same time, but then who does that anyway during a storm??
If I had a good brick and tile fireplace and put in a good air-tight insert in it, then could just burn wood during outages and turn on the gas fired stove upstairs and the heat from both would be way better than no heat ever... Oh yeah, I did that exact scenario in that house..
Silly me... The dang thing had 2 brick and tiles and a nice big cook on the top stove upstairs.. I really miss that huge thing and feel bad that she imploded everything and sold that house.. It`s worth about 2 million today... Broken heart = no amount of money can replace that..
Dan F
Stokdgs
dansautodetailing.com
On the plus side, it looked kinda nice this morning. Woulda looked nicer out the window while sitting on my couch as opposed to driving to work but ya take what you can get
BudgetPlan1 -------
Love, Love, those pictures !!!!!
Must be blinding in the sun...
Heard a big storm heading to the E/Coast - hope it doesn`t hurt you guys ..
Saying a prayer for you guys..
Dan F
artm3
New member
sizing gensets
gas or elec htg?
gas or elec water heater?
same for cooking and clothes dryer
refrig 1000 w give or take
biggest elec load is usually ac, 4000-6000 watts
lights are small and can be limited during an outtage, a few hundred watts
the rest receptacle loads, a few hundred watts (don`t dry your hair lol)
gas or elec htg?
gas or elec water heater?
same for cooking and clothes dryer
refrig 1000 w give or take
biggest elec load is usually ac, 4000-6000 watts
lights are small and can be limited during an outtage, a few hundred watts
the rest receptacle loads, a few hundred watts (don`t dry your hair lol)
Stokdgs
dansautodetailing.com
Great checklist !
And lights can be a lot less now if using LED..
I prefer to measure it in amps; my generator is 66.6 amps ac at 120v, or half of that if all 240vac..
Dan F
BudgetPlan1
Active member
Thanks...storm rolled thru us in NE Ohio last night, quick and windy. Sun out this afternoon.
Nizmo
New member
Still mighty windy here in South Central, PA, but it was far worse in the Eastern part. I started yesterday in Allentown, the morning was just rain, but quickly went to snow. By the time we left at 12 there was a good coating. US22 was a disaster (more than usual) and we had to take an hour detour around I-78 West. The KUV body van I was driving was all over the road from the high winds; my wrist are still sore from wrestling the steering wheel.
There was a section of power poles that had blown over on US 30 on my route home (scroll down a little bit):
https://www.publicopiniononline.com...aking-havoc-around-franklin-county/388585002/
Luckily we have had power and internet the whole time.
There was a section of power poles that had blown over on US 30 on my route home (scroll down a little bit):
https://www.publicopiniononline.com...aking-havoc-around-franklin-county/388585002/
Luckily we have had power and internet the whole time.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Sounds like you did have that house squared away, but different situation here though and we didn`t want to bother with the whole generator thing just to power up maybe half the house.
Running the fireplaces didn`t do nearly as much as we`d hoped either, and heh heh, no we`re not gonna upgrade something that we never use otherwise. The one in the library did warm that room up enough that we could sit in there almost comfortably and read by LED lanterns.
trashmanssd
New member
I have a portable 10K watt that runs my house and it can run most every thing with in reason, but its manual hook up and manual interlock transfer system. so I need to be home to put it on and shut it down and it still scares wife. This year we are investing in a automated whole house diesel generator system (no natural gas on my street) it will be in the 16k-18k price range all in but then i am set for rest my time in this house. around 400-500$ a year for maintenance contract on it. Plus side is I have a 2000 gallon tank of diesel at my shop so I have access to lots diesel no mater what.
Accumulator
Well-known member
trashmanssd- Hey, I`m impressed that you`re gonna do that! Does your AC go out frequently or what? Gee, with no Natural Gas on your street you`re pretty dependent on elect. huh?
We thought about a pair of portables, but getting them into the obvious hook-up spots wouldn`t have been practical unless the weather were cooperation, and even then it`d be one *BIG* undertaking. Wacky property...just figures we`d have issues with the power, but hey it really *IS* a whole lot more reliable than it used to be so I`m Mr. Brightside.
We thought about a pair of portables, but getting them into the obvious hook-up spots wouldn`t have been practical unless the weather were cooperation, and even then it`d be one *BIG* undertaking. Wacky property...just figures we`d have issues with the power, but hey it really *IS* a whole lot more reliable than it used to be so I`m Mr. Brightside.
artm3
New member
Accumulator
Well-known member
No worries, I`ll never do anything electrical that hasn`t been all squared away by professionals. And I really do doubt I`ll bother with generators...easier to just revert to 19th living for a little while. Eh, we`ll see if I still feel that way when I`m elderly..
artm3
New member
smart man
electricity is unforgiving
you know how you tap something to see if it is hot (temperature wise)?
there`s people that think you can do that with electricity lol
you can`t
Dan
Well-known member
I think a generator backfeeding or a broken transformer could have caused the glowing bulb, but electricity does weird stuff. I once had a gutter that was 110v with a multimeter thanks to a bad light fixture on the other side of the garage. I kept getting zapped everytime I went on the roof, finally took a multimeter to the gutter.
On the generator topic, take this for what its worth, but I`ve been through a lot of storm in the south where we didn`t have reliable electric service even on a good day. A tiny generator is better than no generator. Part of what I think is going wrong with this world is the idea that something has to be perfect to fix a problem, otherwise they want no part of it.
With this wind storm we were out of power for 42 hours. I have two generators, one Champion 3500 and a Honda Eu2000i. Both were mothballed 6 years ago. Just ran the gas dry, drained the carb bowls and changed the oil. The Honda fired up on the 5th pull, the Champion on the first! I was able to run two side by side fridges (one was a neighbors) and a medium sized chest freezer plus a light and some chargers on the Eu2000i. I had to stagger the motor startups but its a small price to pay. I let one of my neighbors borrow the Champ. He ran his fridge and some chargers, his water heater and a few things.
I offered to run a cord to a few other neighbors houses. The conversation went like this:
Me: Hey, want to use my generator? We can run a cord down to you if you`d like.
Neighbors: Oh, cool, will that power the whole house, how does that work?
Me: No, its an extension cord to your fridge, you can keep your food from spoiling and charge your phones.
Neighbors: Gee thanks, we`re good.
Later spotted running their cars to charge their phones and one was complaining about the pool of water under his fridge. Both neighbors that took me up on the offer are now shopping for generators..lol.
Moral of the story, you don`t need a huge $10k generator to save your ass. You can run cords and plug things as needed. You can even add a plug to your furnace and run a cord to it.
On the generator topic, take this for what its worth, but I`ve been through a lot of storm in the south where we didn`t have reliable electric service even on a good day. A tiny generator is better than no generator. Part of what I think is going wrong with this world is the idea that something has to be perfect to fix a problem, otherwise they want no part of it.
With this wind storm we were out of power for 42 hours. I have two generators, one Champion 3500 and a Honda Eu2000i. Both were mothballed 6 years ago. Just ran the gas dry, drained the carb bowls and changed the oil. The Honda fired up on the 5th pull, the Champion on the first! I was able to run two side by side fridges (one was a neighbors) and a medium sized chest freezer plus a light and some chargers on the Eu2000i. I had to stagger the motor startups but its a small price to pay. I let one of my neighbors borrow the Champ. He ran his fridge and some chargers, his water heater and a few things.
I offered to run a cord to a few other neighbors houses. The conversation went like this:
Me: Hey, want to use my generator? We can run a cord down to you if you`d like.
Neighbors: Oh, cool, will that power the whole house, how does that work?
Me: No, its an extension cord to your fridge, you can keep your food from spoiling and charge your phones.
Neighbors: Gee thanks, we`re good.
Later spotted running their cars to charge their phones and one was complaining about the pool of water under his fridge. Both neighbors that took me up on the offer are now shopping for generators..lol.
Moral of the story, you don`t need a huge $10k generator to save your ass. You can run cords and plug things as needed. You can even add a plug to your furnace and run a cord to it.
Accumulator
Well-known member
The seemingly simple "just run a cord from the (outside) generator.." would be *FAR from simple with the layout of this house, but having *something* would indeed be handy. Though our friendly/helpful) neighbor`s power never goes out and well, we *have* gotten by for nearly 20 years without it (famous last words
).Eh, when I do get one this thread will undoubtedly come to mind
Dan
Well-known member
The seemingly simple "just run a cord from the (outside) generator.." would be *FAR from simple with the layout of this house, but having *something* would indeed be handy. Though our friendly/helpful) neighbor`s power never goes out and well, we *have* gotten by for nearly 20 years without it (famous last words
Eh, when I do get one this thread will undoubtedly come to mind
Oh, it is never really simple, but you gotta do what you gotta do. We had a freezer full of stuff, literally packed to the top. It took 3 cords to get to it, but I saved at least $500 worth of food in that freezer alone. Getting down to the gas water heater took 4! Made me miss the old school water heaters that didn`t require power. Thankfully this one seems very light on the amp draw.
Stokdgs
dansautodetailing.com
Dan,
Enjoyed reading your experiences with generators during your last storm..
I have never heard of an electrified gutter before !!! Amazing story.. Glad you know how to use a multimeter..
I have a nice Fluke meter and use it all the time..
I only have one Generator but its 66.6 amps and that can run a whole lot in one house alone..
Only got to help 1 neighbor who was too lazy to think about doing this..
The rest of them would just go to the nearest Hotel and rode it out there..
Amazing what you do when your "rico"...
Someday, look at your panel and perhaps think about changing it over to Square-D Breakers; they have the ones that allow you to cut off the Utility and run your generator directly to your panel via 1 big NEMA Outlet that your plug your generator into...
No more extension cords, everything in the house is on, and depending on the size of the generator, you can do about everything through any storm as long as you have gasoline,etc..
I had an Electrician come over and change the entire panel to a 200amp panel and install all Square-D Breakers in it at the same time.. The panel was really old and I hated thinking about old Breakers in there.. Can`t remember exactly how much this cost, but it was worth it to me to have it done..
They just unplug the electricity by removing the electrical meter, remove all old breakers and install new ones.. I have in the past changed out/added single breakers that were failing in their panels for neighbors..
When I painted houses for a side job, I would just bring the right breaker over, and install it in the house panel and wired a long, big extension to
a NEMA Outlet directly to the that breaker, and plug my DeVilbiss Airless into it.. No disruption to the people in the house, no having to look for an outlet, I`m making my own outlet right out of their panel...
I would go get 11 gallons of gas every year in the fall in anticipation of the almost yearly outages, and what was left over was stabilized and used for all my lawn equipment during the year, or if it got older, I would just throw it into the truck.. (89-Octane gasoline)..
Thank you for being such a great neighbor to all those around you !
Dan F
Enjoyed reading your experiences with generators during your last storm..
I have never heard of an electrified gutter before !!! Amazing story.. Glad you know how to use a multimeter..
I have a nice Fluke meter and use it all the time..
I only have one Generator but its 66.6 amps and that can run a whole lot in one house alone..
Only got to help 1 neighbor who was too lazy to think about doing this..
The rest of them would just go to the nearest Hotel and rode it out there..
Amazing what you do when your "rico"...
Someday, look at your panel and perhaps think about changing it over to Square-D Breakers; they have the ones that allow you to cut off the Utility and run your generator directly to your panel via 1 big NEMA Outlet that your plug your generator into...
No more extension cords, everything in the house is on, and depending on the size of the generator, you can do about everything through any storm as long as you have gasoline,etc..
I had an Electrician come over and change the entire panel to a 200amp panel and install all Square-D Breakers in it at the same time.. The panel was really old and I hated thinking about old Breakers in there.. Can`t remember exactly how much this cost, but it was worth it to me to have it done..
They just unplug the electricity by removing the electrical meter, remove all old breakers and install new ones.. I have in the past changed out/added single breakers that were failing in their panels for neighbors..
When I painted houses for a side job, I would just bring the right breaker over, and install it in the house panel and wired a long, big extension to
a NEMA Outlet directly to the that breaker, and plug my DeVilbiss Airless into it.. No disruption to the people in the house, no having to look for an outlet, I`m making my own outlet right out of their panel...
I would go get 11 gallons of gas every year in the fall in anticipation of the almost yearly outages, and what was left over was stabilized and used for all my lawn equipment during the year, or if it got older, I would just throw it into the truck.. (89-Octane gasoline)..
Thank you for being such a great neighbor to all those around you !
Dan F
Dan
Well-known member
Dan,
Enjoyed reading your experiences with generators during your last storm..
I have never heard of an electrified gutter before !!! Amazing story.. Glad you know how to use a multimeter..
I have a nice Fluke meter and use it all the time..
I only have one Generator but its 66.6 amps and that can run a whole lot in one house alone..
Only got to help 1 neighbor who was too lazy to think about doing this..
The rest of them would just go to the nearest Hotel and rode it out there..
Amazing what you do when your "rico"...
Someday, look at your panel and perhaps think about changing it over to Square-D Breakers; they have the ones that allow you to cut off the Utility and run your generator directly to your panel via 1 big NEMA Outlet that your plug your generator into...
No more extension cords, everything in the house is on, and depending on the size of the generator, you can do about everything through any storm as long as you have gasoline,etc..
I had an Electrician come over and change the entire panel to a 200amp panel and install all Square-D Breakers in it at the same time.. The panel was really old and I hated thinking about old Breakers in there.. Can`t remember exactly how much this cost, but it was worth it to me to have it done..
They just unplug the electricity by removing the electrical meter, remove all old breakers and install new ones.. I have in the past changed out/added single breakers that were failing in their panels for neighbors..
When I painted houses for a side job, I would just bring the right breaker over, and install it in the house panel and wired a long, big extension to
a NEMA Outlet directly to the that breaker, and plug my DeVilbiss Airless into it.. No disruption to the people in the house, no having to look for an outlet, I`m making my own outlet right out of their panel...
I would go get 11 gallons of gas every year in the fall in anticipation of the almost yearly outages, and what was left over was stabilized and used for all my lawn equipment during the year, or if it got older, I would just throw it into the truck.. (89-Octane gasoline)..
Thank you for being such a great neighbor to all those around you !
Dan F
Yep, its all about making due with what you got! Quite a few did go to hotels... I can`t imagine a big hotel bill on top of spoiled food sitting at home and worrying about frozen pipes too.
I added a transfer switch to my old house (the kind that takes individual circuits vs the whole panel), and it was great. My (first world) problem with the new house is a couple of issues:
1. My electrician entertains my ideas and then is busy when I decide to move forward, and in reality he`s helped me by doing so because I`ve re-thought my configuration a few times.
2. I have two 200 amp panels, massive overkill for my house, one panel is half full, the other less than that. Neither panel is perfect for the job. So I`d need to move circuits around. The good news is both are Siemens panels that support the backfeeding interlocks that are fairly cheap.
3. Now that both DD`s are electric, I need to get some 220v outlets added too.
2&3 are going to cost me some serious bucks. We`re not 100% sure how much longer we`re going to stay in the house too, so, that` leaves me right were I am, with no transfer panel. I`d be game if it added resale value, but the reality is most people don`t even want that stuff, I got nothing but dumb questions about it on the last house when I sold it. And the cherry on top is we`ve had super reliable service, those generators have stood idle for 6 years. Hard to get excited about dropping $1-2k for that stuff even though my inner geek really craves it!
Stokdgs
dansautodetailing.com
Dan,
Wow ! 2 - 200amp panels !!!
But makes sense with 2 Electric Daily Drivers...
I`m not familiar with Siemens Breaker Panels but will do some research..
So there are 2 Meters outside there ? Impressive..
I know, it`s always hard to know what to do, but the only sure thing I can see is that the weather has been more unpredictable and harder than I can ever remember..
We just have to decide the best way to take care of our family first and then see if we can help out neighbors..
Yeah, I know, if I was considering moving later, perhaps better to not keep investing into that house unless it becomes a "premium extra charge" to have it, when it goes up for sale..
I remember 1 year, one of my neighbors and I bought some generators, (Honda`s are quiet) and took them to people we knew who were freezing with no power, some with little kids, and connected them up to their furnaces, and refrigerators, and a couple extra extensions for lights, etc., and left them with gas and strict instructions on how to use them..
Good luck with that project..
Dan F