Elec power outages really SUCK

applecruncher

applecruncher

SF VIP
Location
Ohio USA
Several streets in the area were affected; there was a thunderstorm and we lost power at about 10:00 PM last night when a tree hit some electrical equipment. Thought it would be back on shortly. Nope. :(

Called to report, over 400 households affected, first projection for restoration was 2:00 PM...that didn't happen, next projection was 8:00 PM. At 7:15 power came back on- YAY! :)

But for awhile AC had no AC, couldn't run a fan, frig was down and things in freezer mostly defrosted. No using washer &dryer, cooking or microwave or coffee maker, no TV, no internet. I took long naps and put ice cubes in paper towel to try to cool off, then ran out of ice cubes. Took several cool sponge baths. I used the data on my phone sparingly, but a few hrs before power came back on my juice was dangerously low. I considered calling someone to come get me and Bella.

Several yrs ago during hot weather we had a serious outage....over 50% of the city including most of downtown, many stores, and schools. Some people lost power for 2 weeks! I was luckier- that time mine was off for a looooong 2 1/2 days. Miserable.

Well, gotta wash hair since I can now use the hairdryer.
 

I also used a powerful little flashlight that I have. I refuse to use candles; too dangerous.

I still have a landline as a backup - it went dead. Nice backup. :rolleyes:
 

AC - AC = :grrr:

Power outages are really bad, ours usually don't go out for more than a few hours, once it was around 12 hours. Power out in winter is no fun either, house gets cold pretty fast. We have a fireplace in the basement if we get desperate, also sleeping bags and a gas powered generator if needed for long term.

I don't like to use candles either, although I have a lot of them. We have battery operated small "lanterns" that we use for camping, so those come in handy during blackouts.
 
Makes me wonder how we got by without air conditioning. I remember as a kid a fan was considered a treat.

Last night I found myself thinking about my (deceased) older brother. He worked for the electric company in the town where I went to high school. He was a "lineman for the county" :), but later he took some classes and got a promotion to a desk job at the main office. I also think of him if I see crews from the electric company when I'm out.
 
Invest in a 2000 watt generator
$5oo or less
It'll give you some lights, charge yer phone, and even give you TV/DVD player entertainment....while you sweat.
 
It's funny that we don't know what to do with ourselves when we have a power outage at home but a few days camping is always considered great fun.

I don't use an air conditioner but I would definitely miss my fan and I would be obsessing about the food in the freezer going bad.

I've been very lucky in my area only a couple of very brief outages in the last several years. I'm not well equipped to deal with them anymore about all I could do is sit in the dark or jump in the car and drive towards the light.

Glad to hear that your power has been restored!!!
 
Question:
For those who have some type electronic security - such as keypads where you have to enter a number to lock/unlock your home - does power outage affect that?
 
I haven't had a power failure here in years, but I took precautions years ago. I have a whole-house generator and an automatic switch. It uses diesel, but if I were doing it today I'd use LP Gas. I run it every two weeks to make sure that it's functioning. I also have a small Honda generator as a backup to the backup. I can also use a battery pack to keep my computer and phone working. I use both for business and investments so I can't afford being without them.
 
applecruncher said:
Question:
For those who have some type electronic security - such as keypads where you have to enter a number to lock/unlock your home - does power outage affect that?
Click to expand...

We have a battery back up for our security system. It lasts several days (found that out during the 1994 earthquake). Also, the alarm monitoring company gets a signal when there's an interruption of power that lasts more than a few seconds. They phone to double check that everything is ok when the power is off (to make sure it's not someone cutting the power from our house in hopes of thwarting the alarm system, for instance).

We also have 4-6 hour battery backup on our Internet router and internal security cameras for the same reason.
 
Living in Houston, TX whenever a weather something starts of the coast of Africa I eat from the freezer so it will be nearly empty if the result is a hurricane. Second. I learned years ago to have battery operated fans in the house because hurricane season includes July, August and September very hot months here.
 
Since moving here in Jan '09, have been thru two tropical storms and two hurricanes. One tropical was mostly wind, while the other was mostly rain. Couple of less than 5 minute power outages. Mathew was 50 miles off of our Atlantic coast and we felt some of it, but no power outage. Irma, on the other hand, had our power off for about 48 hours. We'd never/ever been thru a power outage that long. Have two external cell phone batteries, a large cooler full of ice and my wife off of work for two days. Took a shower by candlelight (each of us, separately). Had small LED flashlights to see thru the apartment at night.

Irma happened in Oct, so wasn't nearly as hot as during June, July or August.

Because we rent, we can't have a generator...…..against rental agreement.

We were both extremely happy when the electricity came back on, but was on for less than a minute and went off again. Less than a minute later, came back on and stayed on.

Come to find out, the loud "boom" we heard early on Monday AM, was a transformer blowing up, from the wind.

Will take a snowstorm or blizzard any day over a dang hurricane.
 
I live in a condo on a slab and generators are not allowed. Years ago there was an ice storm, lost power for 5 days. We put frozen food in insulated carriers we had & buried them in the snow. All food went into the snow.

Next door neighbor had a big grill and we were all able to grill meats as well as cook and grill veggies. With flashlights.

I had my 2 young grandsons living with me- their parents had no power either. Pile on the blankets! Had small battery lanterns in the bathrooms.

I was still working in the office (On generators but power was restored there, next day) and they opened one of our closed buildings that had a gym and showers -to the employees and families, thank goodness, so we were able to wash with hot water and it was only down the street.

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to get gas at the only gas station in town on a generator. The police had to direct traffic at that gas station!

Some stores opened on generators, Home Depot where we got extra batteries and flashlights, and a grocery store with rotisserie cooked chickens, fruits, milk and other things we needed "for the snow pile."

As far as frozen food going bad, as long as the freezer compartment stays shut, food stays frozen a couple days. It doesn't "go bad" but it will eventually thaw. Thawed doesn't mean it's bad, but if not cooked, it will go bad eventually.

So, with meats, once power is returned, I would cook as much of it as possible. You can then eat and freeze COOKED meat. Cook and eat your veggies. For fish or shellfish, I wouldn't mess around. If I couldn't cook my fish from the frozen state on a grill somehow, I'd toss it.

As soon as I got power back, son and dil came begging for showers- they were still out.
 
Good information, folks thanks. I need to make some decisions ....I never want to endure the crap that I recently had to....fear that my smart phone would run out of juice and I wouldn't be able to contact anyone.
 
applecruncher said:
Good information, folks thanks. I need to make some decisions ....I never want to endure the crap that I recently had to....fear that my smart phone would run out of juice and I wouldn't be able to contact anyone.
Click to expand...

I take it you don't drive, AC because then it would be easy to pack up princess Bella and go to a friend's.

When we had that big power loss I was blabbing about, some local gas stations and other small business allowed people to charge their devices, free. Sometimes towns set up charging stations- if any are walkable for you consider that.
 
RR, correct, I no longer drive. BUT - it happened night of July 3 while various fireworks celebrations were going on. The neighborhood was pitch black......not safe. Even if I could have gone out, no place near to charge phone (several businesses also lost power). Next day on the 4th, well, it was hot again and lot of people not home or just not available.

This morning a friend was telling me about portable chargers; I need to look into that.
 
Power outages remind us how great electricity is!

We have a generator we bought after hurricanes Fran and Floyd. It's big enough to keep things going for a while.
Applecruncher, sorry about your outage. They do suck!
 
applecruncher said:
RR, correct, I no longer drive. BUT - it happened night of July 3 while various fireworks celebrations were going on. The neighborhood was pitch black......not safe. Even if I could have gone out, no place near to charge phone (several businesses also lost power). Next day on the 4th, well, it was hot again and lot of people not home or just not available.

This morning a friend was telling me about portable chargers; I need to look into that.
Click to expand...

Or, try the Bagdad Battery, LOL

battery.jpg
 
applecruncher said:
RR, correct, I no longer drive. BUT - it happened night of July 3 while various fireworks celebrations were going on. The neighborhood was pitch black......not safe. Even if I could have gone out, no place near to charge phone (several businesses also lost power). Next day on the 4th, well, it was hot again and lot of people not home or just not available.

This morning a friend was telling me about portable chargers; I need to look into that.
Click to expand...
There are both solar chargers and hand chargers that work by squeezing and releasing your hand. They are very slow, but they do work. Here are one of each as examples. You must use a charger compatible with your phone.

https://www.amazon.com/Generator-Ce...3&sr=8-4&keywords=hand+charger+for+cell+phone

https://www.amazon.com/F-DORLA-1500...128&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=solar+charger&psc=1
 
Sorry what you had to go thru applecruncher. About two years ago I bought this place in WV which is kinda remote. Talking with neighbors and being told about ten day (!!!) power outages and being snowed in, I bought a generator that runs on propane OR gasoline. I start it up every couple months to make sure all is OK. However... Murphy's Law says that now I have spent that money on a generator I will never HAVE to use it :)
 
fmdog44 said:
Living in Houston, TX whenever a weather something starts of the coast of Africa I eat from the freezer so it will be nearly empty if the result is a hurricane. Second. I learned years ago to have battery operated fans in the house because hurricane season includes July, August and September very hot months here.
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You got that right!! The rain is gone but news just said another system coming from Louisiana with a lot of rain. Hope not as much as the past few days. I eat from the freezer too!!
 
applecruncher said:
Makes me wonder how we got by without air conditioning. I remember as a kid a fan was considered a treat.

Last night I found myself thinking about my (deceased) older brother. He worked for the electric company in the town where I went to high school. He was a "lineman for the county" :), but later he took some classes and got a promotion to a desk job at the main office. I also think of him if I see crews from the electric company when I'm out.
Click to expand...
I was once married to a lineman and when a hurricane was on the way in, the crews would be on their way before it hit. They would ride it out and then go to work working 20 hour days. The money was good but I was a scared 19 year old with a 6 month old baby to cope by myself when our lights would go off. He would be gone for weeks until all lights were restored. They would be exhausted but would go to work again the next day. It was a learning experience for me in a lot of ways. I grew up very fast and learned I could do more than I thought I could.
 
Loss of electricity quickly shows us how dependent we've all become, on the same. I have a generator that will power a small window AC unit and a few other things like a lamp, phone charger, radio. As long as we stay in one room, we're OK, to an extent, as long as our gasoline and oil hold up. Thing is, I wonder how many of us would do well if our water service simply stopped. We have thirty gallons stored in glass, but that might be good for a couple of weeks, and then, if only used judiciously. The good life is good as long as we are supplied by "the system." I think the majority of folks would soon be virtually helpless if water and electrical service disappeared. Trouble is, with the world situation being what it is, I think the time may not be too far off when we will all be put to the test. Remember, be prepared, is more than just the Scout's motto.
 

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