What to do in a raging ice storm with no power?

[Cason61]

Originally Posted by Whirnot

You must have some serious appliances, as we have a total electric home, and it gets way below zero here, we have never topped 5K watts.

Refer takes 1kw watts to run. Separate Freezer about the same. Microwave and coffeepot 7-1000w. The central air unit? 3500. After two days you will need gas for the gen and with every business closed cause no electricity for 40 miles and no TV cause no power there either. So we broke out the propane gas stove, the propane spot heaters and the coleman lantern to stay warm and powered up just what we needed for only that long. Yeah an RV in the driveway would have been better, but since no power, the gas lines at the Walmart was long and (if they ran out of gas) sporatic. Police were directing traffic cause no power for the signals either.

[revjeffrey]

I think people would be surprised @ how affordable NG home generators wired into a sub-panel are today (assuming you have NG). When there is a major outage the service stations are closed also. NG generators keep entire house powered day & Night AUTOMATICALLY if you are home or NOT.
They are also Quiet & Clean. They do pay for themselves.

Never hurts to just get a few estimates.

[Cason61]

Originally Posted by revjeffrey

I think people would be surprised @ how affordable NG home generators wired into a sub-panel are today (assuming you have NG). When there is a major outage the service stations are closed also. NG generators keep entire house powered day & Night AUTOMATICALLY if you are home or NOT.
They are also Quiet & Clean. They do pay for themselves.

Never hurts to just get a few estimates.

Yeah, good idea. So after we recovered I had an electrician to put in An outlet to block off city power (if it fails) to gen power. The 5 kw gen (not big enough to run the whole house but that's all they had) will run the central air, the refers and the coleman or battery powered lanterns give lite. Forgot to mention. Bought the torch heater for the 20 lb gas bottles and this heats up half the house. Always good to have a back up plan.

[revjeffrey]

Originally Posted by Cason61

Yeah, good idea. So after we recovered I had an electrician to put in An outlet to block off city power (if it fails) to gen power. The 5 kw gen (not big enough to run the whole house but that's all they had) will run the central air, the refers and the coleman or battery powered lanterns give lite. Forgot to mention. Bought the torch heater for the 20 lb gas bottles and this heats up half the house. Always good to have a back up plan.

Very true and Awesome Plan ! Have gone that way in the past.

Whole house generator is automatic if you are home or not. Protecting sump pumps, refrigeration, freezing temps.....etc.

[Cason61]

Originally Posted by revjeffrey

Very true and Awesome Plan ! Have gone that way in the past.

Whole house generator is automatic if you are home or not. Protecting sump pumps, refrigeration, freezing temps.....etc.

Yeah, make sure you got paper towels, toilet paper, 4-5 days of emergency food and if no power then no ATMs or no electric cash registers, a couple of hundred in mixed bills and coins. You know those pill bottles? Make great storage containers for real money, along with maybe some extra meds too.

[saddlesore]

Only issue I see with using NG (natural gas) is we are in the earthquake prone region..
Earth moves, gas lines break...

[gentilebrian]

Originally Posted by Dbadger777

Heading to Sturges Mi. Ford dealer wants the coach for a week to work on this. Getting an alignment while there. Forecast is for snow and low 20s. Coach is not winterized. I will show them how, but; Hoping that if they leave it outside, they run the furnace.

Yikes. I wouldn't count on them doing anything to protect it and the battery will wear down fast with the furnace. At a minimum have them pull the drain on the hot water tank.

Maybe you can have someone check it? Ask a mechanic to check it daily and if it is all good at the end of the week you will give him $100.

[Bob Denman]

I agree...
Good luck!

[JamieGeek]

Power finally restored after about 34 hours.

RV worked well for heat, extra kitchen, and powering misc items.

Turns out sump pump fried itself (even after power came back on it wouldn't run)--not sure if we killed it trying to run it off the RV or it died when the power died. Nonetheless there is now a shiny new pump running...

RV is back hibernating in its spot at the storage lot at least I filled it all up fuel and propane so that will be ready for our first trip of the year.

If we have nice enough weather this weekend I'll bring it back and prep for the summer if winter finally releases its icy cold grip on the region....

[Bob Denman]

Glad to hear that you all survived the ordeal!
And let's hope that this was Winter's last attempt to aggravate all of us!