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At 2:30p we had the generator my buddy graciously loaned me hooked up and running the fridge.
At 5:30p we got a notice from the power company to not expect restoration of service until 11:59 Sunday evening.
There had been trucks in our neighborhood all day, so I figured that we wouldn't have to wait that long, but Harvey decided to plan for the worst and knowing that another day of this without power would kill Harvey's mom... We started looking for hotels that still had vacancies. None.
We immediately started moving Harvey's mom down here where the power is and moved the unused window AC unit with her.
A couple extra fans and the window unit in the kitchen window made a huge difference in comfort, even if it was small in measurable temperature. Humidity reduction, YO!
Pretty much the moment we got her situated... The power came back on.
7:30p today, you will note, is literally days before the expected restoration.
27-1/2 hours without power.
I know people who've gone much longer, but this is our personal record.
It's verra nice to have the electrons flowing again.
Angus, I am surprised and appalled you do not have a generator on hand, it's Floriduh for Loki's sake!
ReplyDeleteYou can own a gas operated generator set in the 4 to 5 KW range for 500 bucks if you strike the right deal.
Even though in MI, we have wind issues and more frequently ice damage to the lines in winter, so I keep a unit in the garage for such eventualities. In the last 30 years, it has saved my ass about a half dozen times. If I count up the loss of food from the freezer and fridge this has prevented, it paid for itself. Yes there is maintenance involved and some things to do to the cheaper units to make them last. For one, I use alcohol free gas for the genset (at 5 bucks a gal) and added a fuel shutoff petcock that allows me to run the carb bowl dry before storage. Also an oil change after run test about every 12 months. Hope you find a good deal on one locally after the current emergency subsides. Stay dry.
I'm going to offer my buddy $600 for the 5.5kw he's loaned me. He's a wheeler dealer who will prolly be able to take that $600 and get a nuke plant installed at his house.
DeleteGood to hear the electrons are flowing again.
ReplyDeleteCivilization can't exist without reliable electron flow. A couple of years ago, people were saying if everyone switched to electric cars we'd need to double or triple the power generated in the country. Now I'm hearing we're going to need to increase it even more to power the AI. Someone said 30 times more, but that sounds too extreme to me. I've yet to hear a single serious move to increase power generation.
We were out of power for most of 4 days here a few years ago when we had "snowmageddon". I had a tiny little 700 watt 2-stroke generator, not enough to run anything major. Keeping food frozen was the least of concerns really. Put it in coolers and take them out to the back patio. Keeping pipes hand humans and cats and dogs from freezing was the bigger concern. Thank goodness for having a fireplace in the house. We burned every scrap of wood and cardboard around the place and even broke into our BBQ wood. But we kept the house above freezing. Texans generally just aren't used to dealing with such extended periods of coldness, and I've gotten complacent about that in the last 20+ years down here.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have a larger generator now, and I keep larger stocks of fireplace wood and even BBQ wood. And the wife no longer complains so much about me not throwing away cardboard boxes right away... At least in the fall and winter.
Glad to hear things aren't worse. It's generally the way it goes that as soon as you have something dealt with it's no longer an issue. But that's not a bad thing most of the time. Better prepared for next time.
-swj