Power has been out since about 7 o’clock last night, and they don’t know when they will have it back on.
I am seriously considering buying a natural gas generator that automatically kicks on. I need one that will supply enough power for my fridge, my freezer in the basement, and my desktop. Any suggestions?
Todd
A few years ago, we went through a derecho outage, a hurricane remnant outage and an ice storm outage over an 18 month period or so. I thought about blowing 12K on a generator, because each outage lasted for days. I refrained, though, and it all came out OK.
Chris Gerrib
I see Generac backup generators for sale at Home Depot. They also install them.
freemark
We have a Generac Guardian ng generator and it is awesome!!! We lose power out here constantly and it automatically kicks on and powers pretty much everything but the stove. Having AC and heat when power is out for days is really nice. It also stays on if the power comes on at too low a voltage. Before this Generac occasionally had damage from extended ‘brown outs’ when power was restored.
We’ve noticed that 2 of our neighbors gave gotten them since we did. Talking to on ethe other day he said het got tired of seeing our lights on when they were sitting there with nothing to do trying not to freeze. And I have greatly appreciated the AC when its 98 deg.
John Davis
We got a 20Kw whole house generator a couple of years ago and it does pretty much run our whole house, chiefly our freezer and well pumps but also the a/c. We live on the Gulf Coast so hurricanes and week long power outages are not uncommon. We don’t have natural gas so we had to put in a propane tank. Total cost was about $7000. Of which about $4500 was the generator and the switch for it. Comes on automatically 20 seconds after the power fails; shuts down automatically when the power comes back on. It’s a Generax (sp?)
shortstop
John, do you really have that many outages? Or are you just doing that shopping thing you love to do?
zifnab25
Don’t want to just thrower panels on your roof like a proper hippie? I guess that wouldn’t work during the storm itself.
Davis X. Machina
That’d be one big generator. 6-9kw — maybe $4000 excluding installation?
c u n d gulag
Drive around, find one that the cable company is using as power comes up in areas, and steal it!
That’s what people did during a nasty ice storm in the Triangle Area of NC ten years ago.
I worked for the cable company then, but I still got a chuckle out of that one.
I don’t know why. Just some Robin Hood, or ‘stick-it-to-the-man,’ thing in me.
PeakVT
No recs, but the prices seem to 3-4x that of a gasoline generator that would do the job, albeit in a less convenient fashion. Plus there would be permit installation costs for the NG generator. But if you have money to burn…
Allen
Buy a Cummins generator. Quite site model. You won’t hear it and neither will the neighbors. Expensive but good. Transfer switches aren’t cheap either and neither will be the second electrical box or, for that matter , will be the electrician. Much to go into here.
HRA
Yes, get one. I have never regretted getting ours after years of no power for days during our infamous storms.
Linda
But…but…libraries are a waste of money! Bums just go there to play and look at porn! A Fox News station said so!
Trakker
Funny how every time we lose power the price of a good generator seems like a bargain but once power is back on the price suddenly looks enormous for how little we would use it.
Valdivia
no generator experience to talk of but I hope you get power back on soon John. I think I am going to have quite a few power outage refugees this weekend.
the antibob
Since you’re at home most of the time, you probably don’t need to worry about it automatically kicking on. We wired our generator in so that it could kick on automatically, but never use that feature, because you don’t really want it kicking on to run continuously for weeks. Also, short power outages at night that you don’t care about will wake you up.
Don’t know how big your house is, but you may want to separate out a portion of your wiring at the breaker box so that you don’t have to power the whole house. We have our Freezer, Water Pump, Kitchen and living area circuits separated out to be able to run off the generator- so we can cook, run the entertainment center, and internet. (But you might be able to minimize your wattage by just not turning things on when the generator is running.)
In an outage, we only run for a few hours after dark and before bed. And in the morning to take showers. If we’re away, we have someone check and run for a couple of hours a day to keep the freezer cold. Warning- all your neighbors will be over to take showers, when their water pump is out.
Sorry I’m not familiar with any newer generator models, Ours is 15 years old- Briggs and Stratton runs off propane. Still in great condition. It’s been a great investment. Good Luck!
WereBear
@Trakker: Law of Perception.
catclub
I think Political Animal made the observation that there was a time when these things happened and power was restored rapidly.
We no longer live in that country. So maybe the generator is needed. But it implies a surrender to individualism that does not really end well. We are a nation and we should have each other’s backs, as the president put it.
Thank goodness there is no global warming! It might exacerbate all these once in 500 year floods, Tornado seasons that start in February, and such.
floridafrog
Mr. frog and I have a 15 kV Generac that we put in the year we had 4 hurricanes in 6 weeks – Previous commenters are right, it is not cheap but amortized over many years of frequent power outages, I am glad we bought it.
freemark
It will cost between 8-11000 installed depending on what you want to run. We have a 25kw residential.
Our close friend and an uncle have gasoline generators and both now wish they had sprung for ng. No worries about bad gas or stoeing dozems of gallons whether you use it or not. And don’t forget in large outages the gas pumps don’t work either. And having to transfer gas every few hours is a pain.
We end up using it probably 10x a year for short outages and at least once a year for 1-3 days.
TD
First world problems! Errr…wait…
TD
First world problems! Errr…wait…
redshirt
I’ll vouch for Generac as a manufacturer.
smintheus
If you go with an ordinary gasoline generator, I’d recommend a Honda. I wouldn’t buy any machinery from Home Depot, though; they typically have manufacturers create more cheaply made products that masquerade as the real thing.
Lit3Bolt
Depends on if cleaning out your fridge and freezer regularly is a net positive or negative, lol.
shortstop
@smintheus: Not to mention the CEO is a big Barack basher who claims that small-business owners–the core of his customer base–are insanely stoopid if they vote for Obama.
RossInDetroit
I spent my week working on Kawasaki FH541V propane engines and I don’t want to hear about generators.
Maintenance and upkeep on a generator should not be overlooked. It’s not like a spare battery sitting there ready to be plugged in. More like a spare car that you have to keep maintained even when it’s not driven or it will fail when you need it.
Consider how much it would cost you to replace all of your refrigerated food once a year and compare that to the cost of buying and maintaining a permanently installed generator. Grocery shopping might be cheap in comparison.
OTOH, you can get small portable generators that would run your freezer and ‘fridge intermittently. They’re noisy and dirty but they work.
Violet
Look into solar. The price of solar panels has plummeted since the Great Recession. If solar is effective in Germany, which is a much higher latitude than WV, it’ll be effective where you are, so long as your roof gets some sun.
As far as a backup generator, check with your gas company to see if they are offering rebates. In my area they offer a rebate if you get a whole house backup generator.
It stinks being without electricity in high heat. Did that after a hurricane for two weeks. Miserable. I feel for you. Hope it gets turned on soon.
smintheus
@shortstop: That’s one of the other reasons I try to buy nothing at Home Depot.
I find that my local hardware stores tend to be as cheap or cheaper on price, and they have people who actually know their stuff.
jeffreyw
We bought a Generac LP-fueled unit, sold and installed by a local Carrier HVAC dealer. Not too long after it was in we suffered a huge power outage that lasted a week. It’s big enough for the whole house, AC and all. We did bypass the electric oven when wiring the transfer panel because that was pushing it. We do try to limit electric use when it is running. Very comforting when it fires every Thursday morning for 15 minutes on programmed test schedule.
Yutsano
John Cole is in the Library. John Cole has been saved…
PurpleGirl
@catclub: a time when these things happened and power was restored rapidly.
Yes, there was a time when the electric utilities kept much larger staffs of line repairmen and such. They may not have worked as much (as executives thought they should) but they were available for emergency work and often loaned from one region and company to another. But with deregulation, company consolidations and companies retailing power they don’t generate, there are fewer of these emergency workers on hand. This goes ditto for tree cutters and foliage containment programs.
HRA
@Linda:
It’s becoming more evident that the Right is bound to attack everything educational lately.
Yes, once in a while I notice a quick click when I walk past one of the computers in the public area. More often I noticed patrons leaving the stacks with books to take out.
Lately I have noticed a couple with many bags and a laptop come down to occupy a table in the public area near my office and stay there for hours. Especially since the man crashed into my office one day yelling about the alarm someone set off going through the wrong door. I do want to continue being compassionate for I do believe they must be living out in our far woods after I saw him carry a packed tent last week.
scav
@PurpleGirl: I do love how they manage right-sizing. I mean, phone centers are always experiencing unexpectedly high call volumes.
TaMara (BHF)
Generators are that pricey? Had no idea.
I’d go with solar panels. That way the investment will pay for itself. Energy is saved in battery packs that will work when it’s dark/stormy. Unless you have regular outages, this is the most practical solution.
And there are still PV (and thermal for that matter) tax credits until 2013 and some electrical companies are offering rebates…and of course in some places you can sell back your excess power.
You can find out about rebates here
robertdsc-iPhone 4
How are the pets handling the outage?
gogol's wife
@PurpleGirl:
I agree with catclub that we’ve come to a sorry pass, but after years of never having the power out for more than a couple of hours, we had two terrible experiences within a few months of each other, where the power company just seemed to go AWOL for more than a week (in the first one, we didn’t lose power but all our friends did), so looking at what’s happening to the climate as well as the infrastructure, we bit the bullet and got a big propane generator. Expensive, but I have calmed down quite a bit (although of course the power has not gone out since). Ours is Briggs & Stratton, for what it’s worth, but I understand that Generac or GE would also be fine.
BGinCHI
Cole, just move into the library.
They have nice bathrooms, a ton of books, and free internet. There’s probably even a place to view movies with headphones on.
Just get your pets disguises so that they look like little kids and stash them in the children’s section.
Lemons? Lemonade.
Emrventures
Twenty some-odd years ago, we had a power outage on Christmas Eve, and ended up cobbling together our Christmas dinner on our gas grill out in the driveway with snow falling. My father went out right after and bought a generator, and got the house rewired to use it efficiently. Twenty years went by without another outage, and Dad got used to saying about his unused generator that it was the best insurance policy he ever bought. He maintained it faithfully, though, cleaning and draining it every season and running it periodically just to keep it fit.
Then last year Hurricane Irene came along, took out half the trees in his yard and put his power out for six days. After twenty-some years, the generator finally came in handy.
Get the generator. Its talismanic presence will ward off outages, but when its powers of persuasion someday fail, make sure it is happy and in good health, and you will be grateful for the purchase.
jak
We have a generac generator installed when the house was built about 5 years ago here in central virginia. Powers all the essentials-lights, fridge, seperate freezer, well pump, phone and dsl. Septic system is gravity so no pump needed for that. Water heater, stove are gas. System can be reconfigured by an electrician to add, remove, or change circuits which we had done after we lived in the house a few months and figured out what we needed. Runs on propane because that is the main gas source. Generator startup is automatic. Power is pretty reliable, except for the big storms like the one last night or big snows like a year or two ago, so intermittent failures/startups do not occur here but might be a concern.
Lowes and HD sell them but sometimes the ones they sell are not the latest or have the latest upgrades. Many electricians will install and maintain them. There are some companies where this is their only line of work. I recommend going with those or an electrician over going to HD or Lowes.
Also look into a service contract. They will test the circuits, change the oil, and check the battery a couple of times a year.
If you are running a home business or working from home in a rural area one of these is essential.
pragmatism
You could fashion a large hamster wheel and make Rosie and tench power it. Good secondary benefits.
Origuy
Speaking of libraries, Zandar tweeted this a few minutes ago:
Jindal eliminates state funding for Louisiana libraries.
The article points out that libraries don’t just house books; they have computers that low-income people use to find jobs, apply for social services, etc.
Villago Delenda Est
@PurpleGirl:
This.
Short term profit as the only objective of a business has no place in anything that is a utility. I include telcos and ISPs in this category.
Profit needs to be used for three things: reinvestment in the infrastructure, payment of dividends to stockholders/investors, and last and certainly least, bonuses for CEOs. Frankly, bonuses for workerbees in these outfits should come first.
The mission is service, not profit. Profit only as it is necessary to fulfill service. See prioritization above.
the antibob
@the antibob:
My right brain just reminded my left brain that our heating unit is also on the circuit. (We don’t need AC because it’s heavenly in the White Mountains in the summer). In a winter outage, we limit our heating usage then by keeping the woodstove going. I guess if you want AC and heat 24/7, having the generator kick on automatically might make sense.
scav
Speaking of Meltdowns and Outages and Whoops, it has nothing to do with maintaining little used equipment / resources for emergencies: how many here are familiar with RBS/NatWest and the bank not knowing where millions of peoples money was for, oh, well, what’s a few 10 days or so. Guard.
Amir Khalid
While John Cole is asking for advice on what generator to buy, I think I too could do with some purchasing advice. My four-and-some year old 14″ Compaq laptop (Pentium dual-core, 1.73MHz, running a freebie copy of Vista Ultimate that some Microsoft guy dumped in my lap) is starting to show its age, as I mentioned not too long ago. The time may be approaching for its replacement.
I don’t need a top-of-the-line screamingly fast machine, oh no. Just something that lets me hang out here, can play my CDs, and isn’t wheezing and gasping for breath at odd moments. What should I be look for on the spec sheet?
pragmatism
Lol autocorrect tunch
MikeJ
@Yutsano: What I want you to remember is this, and I know it’s hard. The real world is a lie and your nightmares are real. The Library is real. There are people trapped in there. People who need to be saved. The shadows are moving again. Those people are depending on you. Only you can save them. Only you.
Henry Bayer
In unreliable areas, people used to prefer non-defrosting refrig/freezers because it built up an ice bank that kept things cool till the power resumed. Accomplish same thing by keeping several reused gallon water containers in freezer. Move them to fridge when power goes, and Keep Doors Closed.
Side benefit is if you have a large mass in your freezer in normal conditions, it cycles less often to maintain temp and saves power/money.
wesindc
A friend of mine who lives in MD losses power in a gentle breeze. He bought a natural gas generator. I’ll find out what model etc. It came in handy many times.
Neutron Flux
20 KW Generac, runs on propane. Local power company wanted to be present for transfer switch installation. Auto starts and runs 10 minutes per week. The local Generac rep is very good.
Yutsano
@Origuy: Yes but it only supports those people so who needs them anyway? Piyush’s cronies need their precious Job Creator tax cut dontchaknow!
@MikeJ: :: does quick shadow count ::
HEY! Who turned off the lights?
Anoniminous
Always trade-offs.
Losing electricity implies gas pumps won’t work either so if you need gas to keep the generator running you’re outta luck. Ditto for diesel.
NG, if you don’t already have it, is expensive to install and may, depending, be intermittent depending on the company’s reserves, how they pressurize the lines, etc.
PV has a daily charge cycle and battery storage is still expensive. Something to take into consideration if a goal is 24/7 redundancy.
Wind Turbines give the option of 24 hour power production but still have to have battery storage. Turbines are expensive as the good ones aren’t cheap and the cheap ones aren’t good. Depending on your local zoning and land use ordinances this may not even be an option. Check it out before plonking down teh bucks for a system.
scav
“The real world is a lie and your nightmares are real.”
That is the exact point I became an abject idolater of SM. It was an admittedly short step to fall.
David Fud
@TaMara (BHF): Those cut out automatically during outages so electric workers don’t get shocked. So, that is a non-starter if your panels are grid-tied (i.e., integrated with your house’s electric system to work seamlessly with the electric company’s power).
gnomedad
@Linda:
Nice find. Next up: hookers are using the sidewalks paid for with your taxes!!
Henry Bayer
@Amir Khalid: Amir, thank you for switching the discussion to computers. Don’t you think we should first decide if Apple or PC computers are better??? (Aieeee! I fed it!)
Allen
I, personally, wouldn’t buy anything other than a Cummins Quitesite III gen-set and transfer switch, Square D electrical panel. I have over 30 years of experience with all of these products and have no qualms with any of these products.
BGinCHI
@Amir Khalid: At the top of the spec sheet it should say:
Macbook Pro.
Other questions?
RossInDetroit
15 years ago I worked for the local power utility. I maintained an amazing mainframe computer system that tracked power outages. Power companies really aren’t well organized to handle a wide area outage. They usually have to call in manpower and equipment from other regional utilities. If the outage is regional, well, you’re going to be in the dark for quite a while.
This reminds me of the time my boss at the power utility took me to meet the company meteorologist. He had a small bare office in an out of the way corner. One thing I’ll never forget was seeing a well worn copy of the Farmer’s Almanac hanging by a string tied to his filing cabinet.
TaMara (BHF)
@David Fud: There are work a rounds. A good installer will make it so. And I know many a good installer – just not in WV, unfortunately.
piratedan
is “blogging from the Library” the current equivalent of “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room”?
JScott
Whichever system you decide to get (gasoline/ng) have an electrician wire it into a core circuit for essentials (fridge, freezer, microwave, TV, router). That’s what we have. Much peace of mind. We’re up on the mountain above John Cole with a gasoline system we seldom have to use – under a kind of Murphy’s Corollary, having emergency power back up seems to protect from actual power outages.
If you are on “city water” be aware if any sump or lift pumps are involved in your home plumbing.
RainyDay
Portable generators are under $1,000. They have 4 gallon gas tanks which run for 8 hours. They would run the appliances you need with a power strip and some extension cords. This is the messy, but under $1,000, solution — fine for the very few times you’d need to use it. Easy to store when you don’t need it. Comparison shop on Amazon; you can have one delivered right away.
Anoniminous
(Since this is Open Threadiness)
NY Review of Books (behind paywall):
Those people are just frickin’ and unbelievably stupid.
PurpleGirl
@RossInDetroit: One thing I’ll never forget was seeing a well worn copy of the Farmer’s Almanac hanging by a string tied to his filing cabinet.
LOL. Thanks for the laugh.
Amir Khalid
@BGinCHI:
Alas, I have a chronic vitamin-M deficiency due to living on a disability pension. So I’m not looking for anything so pricey. Just something decently above the bottom of the barrel in a PC.
PurpleGirl
@Origuy: In the three library systems in NYC, they only allow you an hour’s worth of computer time per day. And you cannot reserve time for future use. You could join each of the library systems but it’s hard to coordinate time at a different branch on the same day. This makes it harder for poor(er) and home computer-less people to effectively use the computers for job hunting. I’m sure that all libraries have to deal with restricting use time to give more people a chance to use the machine.
bcinaz
Why waste your money on a one-off event, you don’t believe this is a climate change trend, do you?
Or apply for a grant from Koch Industries, Exxon/Mobile, BP and Massey Energy. I’m sure they would be happy to pitch in.
TaMara (BHF)
From my buddies (and Prez Obama’s too):
Grid tie systems simply feed into a breaker in your main service panel. Adding back-up power capability requires the installation of a sub-panel to isolate your emergency loads (refrigerator, well pump, furnace blower etc), but this work is common and simple.
lamh35
interesting video. Gov Scott and aids fining out about ACA. the first are all smiles once someone saw the initial “struck down” reporting, then those smiles disappearing once someone corrected them. check out the big azz smiles despite the facts that millions of people might be without health care.
Bondi tells Scott about healthcare decision
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V0p-vl_4qA&feature=player_embedded%E2%80%AA
TaMara (BHF)
@TaMara (BHF): That was suppose to be “my buddies at Namaste” typing too fast for my brain today.
Thom Rogers
After last year’s freak Halloween snow storm and not having power or heat for seven days, we invested in a Generac 20kw natural gas generator. Generac is one of the top rated units on the market. (check them out at Amazon.). Our unit is on the larger end since the house is over 4000sqft. This model comes in at around$4500 but that includes the crossover switch which by itself ain’t cheap. Whatever size you choose you will need a plumber and an electrician for the installation. Is it worth it? You bet. No more freezing on the winter or baking in the summer. The bonus is that it adds direct value to your house.
ciotog
@Todd: Where do you live, Todd? I think we may live in the same place!
The Pale Scot
@Amir Khalid:
Amir, you should try a clean install if you still have the disks, do a search of how to do it, it’s not that hard, just need 3-4 hours. Unless of course, you have needed software that you don’t have disks to. It’ can solve those weird problems though. And there are a lot of old XP disks floating around for sale now and days. Just make sure you don’t run the “MS certificate validation update”, it has a habit of disqualifying re-installations.
Edit; ixneea the XP-ay if you need a newer OS, but XP would probably be easier to work with
joes527
@freemark:
Where do you live? Unless you are at a wilderness outpost that sounds like a crazy amount of time for the power to be out.
quannlace
Here in Norther NJ, we’ve gotten smacked with constant thunderstorms this season (We lost power on Monday for a few hours when lightening struck a transformer.) How’d we miss out on these?
*******
Reading all this is giving me flashbacks to last Halloween, when we lost power for 5 days due to that freak blizzard. Yup, a blizzard in October. But nothings wrong with the overall climate. No-siree!
Cermet
Even a portable unit can handle a frig, a computer and maybe a microwave – I had a very nice one that did all that and the average woman could carry it when fully fueled. Don’t get a monster unless you want AC, washer, stove, and just want to run the house; I have one of the wheeled units (its running right now!) and they are ok to move. An auto-system requires a fixed place (outside!) is $$$$ to buy and install and that can be a hit.
For portable units, just never run one in a house, attached building or near an air intake.
Ajay
I bought this couple of days ago(I receive it on Monday).
http://www.amazon.com/WEN-56352-4-Cycle-Portable-Generator/dp/B003N9AT5G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&coliid=I25AACO622BLR8&colid=2ODM3MU219OAR
If you want it, today is last day to get 20% off from Amazon on this (or any other generator). Good time to buy any generator from Amazon just now if you have Amazon Visa card:
June Savings on Select Purchases in Patio & Garden
Through June 30, 2012, save 20% on select items in Patio & Garden with the Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card.
Steve in DC
Outside of generators you should look into some quality UPS devices. All my game consoles, all three TVs, all my computers, all my arcade machines are backed up by UPS. Power goes out, oh fucking well, the rest of that stuff still works just fine for a while.
The amount of power you get out of them varies wildly, but it’s generally enough to finish watching or doing what you were doing and power everything down. You get a few hours out of laptops as well.
gogol's wife
@Cermet:
But don’t you have to run it every month for a half hour in perpetuity? So that you’re constantly going to get gasoline for it? Plus all the gas stations close down here when there’s a big outage anyway.
David Fud
@TaMara (BHF): OK, that is fair. When I had a solar system, they said is wasn’t possible – now I can theoretically see that if you wire the system directly to various circuits that you could isolate it from the grid. I imagine that isn’t cheap or easy, but… certainly it could be done. So, I retract my “non-starter” comment.
pseudonymous in nc
Coming from Foreign, I’m amazed at how flaky the American electrical grid can be in urban and suburban areas, not just the far-flung sticks.
I understand the economics of why it happens — you roll out the power lines above ground quickly as residential development expands, and instead of spending money on more reliable transmission infrastructure, backload the cost onto repair and maintenance and fund it through monthly billing. People suck it up and deal with ten times as many outages, and keep the generator business healthy, but it’s pretty fucking shabby going.
Cermet
Also, hardwired it myself, I just kick off the mains before turning on my own submaster (a couple light switches.) Bottom line – any electrician can do this rather cheap if you are willing to throw some switches and start the unit yourself (my bigger unit has a starter.)
For less than $400 I run my house and water pump (county = well)on my wheeled , hand pulled to start unit. The AC and water heater are turned off, of course.
My second larger generator runs the AC if I need it for short periods. Keeping gas is easy just use stablizier and its good for a year if in the shade/protected. I NEVER store in/near the house but an outside shead.
Cermet
@gogol’s wife: I run mine ONLY when needed (but that is about twice a year). Now, I do service (oil) myself and make sure the fuel line is exhausted before I store it (by using the fuel cutoff, and letting it run dry; I do not use the off switch.) That way, the line/carb stays clean. If you don’t do that, yes, running every so often is critical. Yet all units have fuel cut offs, so I/m at a lost why people don’t use them? Also, the portable and wheeled units are stored in a heated building.
By the way, I’m using it right now!
Steeplejack (phone)
Steep back on line after removing myself to my brother’s palatial Arlington manse. Power here this morning, unlike my place, but no Internet or cell/text (Verizon) until a little while ago.
Hurricane-level damage in NoVa, a million people without power, and news radio is saying it will take days to get it all fixed. Huge tree in my brother’s backyard split and crushed the fence by the neighbor’s yard, but it missed both houses. In any case, white people’s problems. A lot of people have it really bad now.
burnspbesq
@BGinCHI:
FTFY
Mystical Chick
My .02: hubs got one about 4 years ago and I told him it was a waste of money and fought him tooth and nail. I now tell everyone what a great idea it was and that I was wrong. It’s seen us through many a weather event and I’m thankful for it each time it comes on.
We have it wired for certain things (well pump, fridge, lights in certain rooms, upstairs window a/c, etc) and I think the total cost of it including electrician to put in new panels was about $4000. Totally worth every penny. For real.
Hawes
What? No solar panels backed by a fuel cell powered by used fry grease and the equivocations of David Brooks? That would get you off the grid completely.
Kristine
@Yutsano: One of my fave episodes.
TaMara (BHF)
@David Fud: If I understood right from the Namaste guys, the back up doesn’t add that much more to the $$. But my view is kinda skewed on costs. We install solar thermal, so when I look at PV, it always looks cheaper because the rebates are better and the possibility of selling it back to the utility (which in some places is easier and more cost effective than others) makes it relatively cheaper.
But the truth is, natural gas, oil and electricity however it’s generated, are going to continue to go up. Once you install PV, it’s fairly maintenance free, so it begins to pay for itself right away. Solar thermal, too, though it has more moving parts that need replacement at about the 20 year mark, but in both cases the panels are just about indestructible, save for hail, which I’ve only seen destroy one or two and insurance covered replacement cost.
And yay on you for having solar panels! I dream of having wind power one day (don’t tell my boss), I like it best.
Ok, end of my alternative energy rant. But it is my day job after all. See I do more than cook….
Mnemosyne
@catclub:
It’s not just the power line workers, though. When we had a huge windstorm that swept through the Pasadena area, I knew people whose power was out up to two weeks because there weren’t enough workers to cut apart the trees that were tangled up in the power lines, and they couldn’t turn the power back on until that was done or else they could have sparked fires and/or electrocuted unsuspecting people.
donnah
We were supposed to visit my aunt and uncle in Beckley this weekend, but our plans fell through. It’s a good thing we didn’t go: my aunt called and said there are massive power outages all over the state. Local stores, businesses, and even some roads are shut down.
Sucks to be without power. Good luck to those who are stuck.
RossInDetroit
@pseudonymous in nc:
Exactly. Tradeoffs for cheaper quick expansion versus upkeep. I’m sure you’ve noticed that the roads need frequent repair, especially in the Midwest. We use a cheaper build technique that doesn’t last as long. Suburbs go up fast but the paving has to be torn out every 10 years. I used to go round and round on this with my wife’s Brit expat boss.
schrodinger's cat
Good to know you are doing fine, but I am surprised that no one has asked you the most important question of them all? How is the master of the blog, the blog deity also known as Tunch.
Original Lee
We currently have a gas-powered portable Honda generator in case the power is out for more than 6 hours. It is good for the fridge or the chest freezer, plus a laptop and a cell phone recharger. However, we frequently have power outages that last about a day, so we are saving up for a natural gas in-ground whole-house generator. The gas company will give us a rebate when it is installed. It’s probably self-indulgent overkill, but it is a massive pain to have the power go out for an indeterminate period of time, every time we have a storm, even though we have a hard-core “time to break out the Honda” rule after 6 hours of outage.
BTW, if you get a new natural gas hot water heater,the ignition is no longer dependent on electricity, so you can have hot water as long as you have gas.
kindness
It isn’t a full house generator but the Honda EU2000i is a sweet thing.
Whisper quiet. Literally. 2000 watts. I see them at all the festivals & music shows. It’s what a bunch of the vendors use because they don’t stink up the place with fumes and are so quiet you can talk right next to them.
Karen
I’m in Aspen hill/Silver spring and have no idea when we will have power again. I find it interesting that va gov bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency for FEDERAL ASSISTANCE and pres Obama has reached out to him and md gov o’malley. Have the wingnutbats blamed this storm on obama yet? Please bear with my improper grammar typing since I’m typing this on my iPhone and since I have no car I’m stuck in this apt with 98 degrees. But I’m blessed compared to others.
Dcrefugee
I’m on FL’s west coast, in a rural area. Bought a used 14Kw generator for $750 from the owner of a home in foreclosure. He was happy to have the cash.
Then, I had to get a propane tank buried/installed/filled. After that, the electrical was the biggest challenge. The generator won’t run everything in the house at the same time, so I put in a subpanel (in addition to the main breaker panel and the generator’s panel…) to enable switching things on and off if I want. With the subpanel, labor, tank, generator itself and whatnot, I’ve probably got around $4K in it.
It’s been installed for a couple months now and actually got some use a few weeks ago during a couple-hour outage. I leave it auto mode, unless I’m going away for a few days. Works well, lasts a long time…
DCr
Karen
What is an ups?
Allen
This will not be be an issue for Mr. Cole, but to those on the West coast you must remember that natural gas is not reliable out here because of earthquakes. The solution is a dual-fuel gen-set, natural gas and propane.
Steeplejack
@Karen:
UPS = uninterruptible power supply. Like a power cord bar on steroids. Has a battery in it so that if your power goes out the things plugged into the UPS keep going for a little while, until the UPS battery is exhausted. That’s typically not a long time, but enough to quickly finish what you’re doing and power down everything gracefully.
pseudonymous in nc
@RossInDetroit:
Not spent much time in the Midwest, but I think the Great American Pothole has a fairly wide range these days. The road I’m on started cracking its entire width about six months after it was surfaced, so I’m guessing they’ll patch the cracks eventually, scrape the entire thing up in a few years and make the same mistakes over again. It’s pretty fucking shabby that there’s not much incentive to make the upfront investment instead of passing on recurring maintenance costs.
Karen
@Steeplejack:
Are they expensive?
redshirt
I just solar panels in and was told seven ways to Sunday they cannot be used to power the house when the grid is down. When the grid goes down, the panel inverter shuts off. The only way around this is another inverter and a battery bank. Pricey! The battery backup was 18K. No thanks – and I really, really wanted it.
So, Generac generator it is.
stickler
@redshirt: Yeah, we have solar (3800kW array) and were told the same thing. Plus, as with the UPS batteries, you’re still dealing with BATTERIES. Power goes down for a day, you’re set. Power stays down for a week, you’re pining for a generator as the batteries go. (With solar, this of course depends on the size of your array — but to be truly off-grid-capable, you’re talking one hell of a big array, and one very large bill to install it.)
redshirt
@stickler: Yes. And you’ve got to replace the batteries in short order. A not good solution. I’ve been thinking and searching for an alternative.
My dream: A water tank with a well. When the solar is running, it’s pumping water from the well into a very large tank. When the power goes out, the water is released and spins a turbine. Was also thinking of some kind of system that detects rainfall and opens the top to collect. All a dream though. Not gonna happen unless I win Powerball.
Steeplejack
@Karen:
For the
normalaverage home setup, you can get an okay one for $50, a good one for $100.Steeplejack
@Karen:
Previous reply went into moderation. FYWP!
You can get an okay one for $50, a good one for $100.
Steeplejack
@Karen:
Sent you two replies that went into moderation. FYWP! Check back tomorrow. Maybe they will be released.
Short answer: $50-100.
John Davis
@shortstop: We live in a fairly rural area and an electric co-op supplies our power. We’ll have an outage that lasts more than an hour about once every three to four months. It’s usually caused by a Bubba in a big pickup taking out a power pole. It’s nice to be able to flush the toilet while they’re getting it fixed.