Preparing for the storm

I'm going hiking this afternoon at Bear Mountain.  I'll worry about the lawn furniture later.

My freinds been in line at Batteries Plus on rt 22 in Watchung since before 8 this morning to get an inverter.  Electricity is overrated.

Interesting, ten miles away from Harleysville here in Worcester Tw'pt, it's not raining at all right now, might be a drop or two, but certainly not much.

No rain here either in Royersford, I am sure it will come. Just sounds of train horns for now.

There was an earlier comment about avoiding the usage of sub 1,500.00 generators inside a home or other closed space due to potential carbon monoxide poisoning or fire hazard.  Anyone care to share more about this issue?  Thanks.

Just a drizzle here in Drums NE PA. 

Well, I suspect that's talking about running them in closed spaces.  I'm going to avoid usage of my 7000 watt one in a closed space too!  

Regardless of the size, running an internal combustion engine without proper ventilation is not a real good idea.  That's the only thing I can imagine the comment alludes to.

Just took this photo.

Our house in the City of Williamsburg is normally 50' from College Creek which empties into the James River.  The water is now about 30' away. A high tide resulting just from Sandy's onshore winds.  The level ties a high tide record set behind our house by a bad Nor' Easter a couple of years ago - and the heavy rains from Sandy have not begun. Our house is still 15' above this tide level so I'm not too worried about us, however, a lot of folks in the Tidewater area will be affected:

For many years we used several portable generators at the Farm [in particular during extended ice storm outages] for basic stuff like water pump, refrigeration,small appliances,etc. However for the house, my son eventually mounted a power-take-off operated generator on a 3-point hitch platform for his smallest[39hp]John Deere diesel. He just backs it up outside the garage wall and connects to the transfer switched 240/120VAC system where the Service enters.

Post outage the JD goes back to more mundane work. 

Here's to hoping all make it through this one safe and sound!

Be prepared. Hunker down. And don't forget to get a couple buckets of KFC!

(FWIW - out here in the sticks of northern texas, all we can do when a tornado wants to come plowing through....is jump in a truck and drive in the opposite direction. No basements around here! Run, Forest! Run!)

Yes there is one like that on my father's (now brother Dan's) farm.  It does quite well. Biggest issue with most portable generators is Voltage control and frequency control (60 hz). Ones that are coupled to a tractor like the one on brother Dan's farm should have some way to monitor both frequency and voltage, all dependent upon how fast the tractor is running.    Another very important piece of equipment if a major system, ( example: the entire dairy barn), is to be operated off a portable system, is a transfer switch, that disconnects electric company power lines and connects to the emergency source.  It is a must that it be either one source or the other, not both. 

Be careful out there. A lot of damage can occur via good intention.

Mike     

We visited my sister-in-law just a couple weeks ago who live just outside of Dover Delaware. Dover is very close to the centerline of the storm. They do not have any storm sewer system and I asked about their elevation, which is below sea level. Luckly they have driven back to Buffalo and are praying for the best for their home.

jim r from bridgeboss

Many of the portable generators are gasoline powered devices... so therein lies the issue.    It goes without saying, but just because they're portable doesn't mean you can run them in enclosed places.  Like automobile engines or lawn mower engines, they get hot and emit toxic exhaust fumes.  Best to use that type of generator outdoors with heavy duty cables running inside the home to select appliances such as a freezer or refrigerator, etc... to avoid loss of perishable foods.

After the October 2011 snowstorm that left folks in the mid-Atlantic without power due to downed trees for days and weeks in some locations, whole-house generators (very expensive) became quite the buzz.  Naturally, these require professional installation due to the interface with high-current power into the home.

Be safe, everyone!

David

I lust for a whole-house generator, and about one more extended outage and I'll bite the bullet and go for one that will run more than my little 7000 watt unit.  I figure I'd need about a 25KW unit for my house, heat pumps and the like.

We're hunkered down. Figure as soon as it settles down, if we get half the rain that is forecasted, there should be some pretty spectacular waterfalls through out the region. Won't have to go far either. If you go out of the Park & west of the Thruway on NYS lands just beware we're in hunting season now. A number of us are worried about whether the Jervis line is ready given the problems w/Irene last year.

Just a drizzle in  Exton, pa. Maybe it will fizzle but I need to cook my steak so it sizzles. So I hope it does not do more than drizzle.

I'm a few hundred yards from the bay and am expecting the worst but hoping for the best. Just got done moving trains and other items I don't want wet to the second floor, have our bags packed and am awaiting evacuation notice, which should come shortly.

I had one installed about two years ago.  It's a 10KW unit that will run about 90% of the house.  Was hit with a 3 day outage and several small outages running from 3-8 hours since then.

As far as I'm concerned, it was worth the investment. 

No shutting down for refilling, no running out to find a gas station that has power and can pump gas, no extension cords to trip over, no shutting it down over night, no spoiled food, and the ability to go to work rather than staying at home playing generator-man, hoping for when the utilities come back online.

Rusty

When I lived in the Texas Panhandle 35 to 50 MPH wind was normal. 80 MPH winds were starting to get on the high side on things.  Most stores had magnets in the doors to keep the wind for blowing them open and on some days the stores had to lock the doors that open inward to keep them closed. 

I hope the storms are not as bad as the weatherman say.

Good luck, we will be praying for all of you.

P.S. I keep my generator 50 feet from the house when run it.

I could look back to see if anyone mentioned it, but it's lethal oderless carbon monoxide gas being the reason to NOT run a generator or any gas powered machine, including propane gas grills to cook in an attached garage, basement, or enclosed area. 

Phil  

Having a generator in the area where I live about 35 miles west of Philadelphia is a waste of money. Rarely does the electric go off for more then 24 hours. If you live in a flood zone then a small generator could be an asset for those with sump pumps to keep them running. I mean how many times do we get storms like this.

Its almost like having a snow plow in this area, our average snow fall is about 20" per year, I have found it cost effective to hire somebody to plow my property when needed which may be 1 or 2 times a year, last year 0 times. In the past 15 years I have not spent the amount to hire someone then it would cost to buy a plow.  

Keep safe everybody

I have used my generator every year, most often multiple times.  I have a well and on-site septic, as well as mandatory sump pumps.  Being in a house with no water or sewer for 24 hours is not an attractive option for me, not to mention watching the basement water rise...

I have a snow blower as well, since the people that come to plow usually destroy enough landscaping to easily pay for one every year!

Hurricane checklist:

Plywood lean-to's over the basement window wells. (ask me how I know I need them)

Case of red wine.

Firewood in the dry boiler room part of basement.

Generator fueled and tested.

Squeeze the dog.

Drive out the 700' driveway through the woods to Mom's house, and park the vehicles and tractor out on her front lawn, for ease in getting onto the road.

Propane tank for kitchen stove topped off.

10,000 gallons of fresh water for flushing and bathing. (swimming pool)

A couple of books that I haven't started to read.

Being on an island, and one that is at the end of an Eastward-facing funnel of land, we are expecting an 11-foot storm surge, coupled with a high tide and full moon. I will be at the fire house, along with the cops, highway workers, Red Cross shelter guys, and ham radio operators. My house is at 83 feet above sea level, so I have a little breathing room.

ZIP code 11964, if anyone cares to see where we are and what it looks like staring down the muzzle of Sandy, with nowhere to run.

I think the name Shelter Island is a bit misleading in this instance.

Yup, good point. But it's easier than saying "Manhansack-aha-quash-awamock" every time someone asks where I'm from.  That's Indian for "Island sheltered by other land." In normal storms, we're sheltered. In abnormal storms, we're...

Here on the North Carolina coast things have calmed down, Sandy is now heading north. No damage to my trees, house, boat or train building, life is good in Dixie!

          Stay safe

          Bluegoose

All I can say is you are lucky for now. I have had 1 generator for over 2 years now and I have used it more then ever. We lost power during Irene for about 36 hours. But we had a freak last year where we lost power for over 3 days. So it has paid us back big time keeping us with power for our refrigerators, sump pump and lights. And I even gave power to our neighbors at times. I even broke down and bought another generator.

I grew up in my house and I never remember us losing power for more then a couple of hours. We started losing power at times about 3 years ago. And we live about 10 miles southeast from Baltimore City. My wife's parents less then 1 mile west of Baltimore City and they have live on a main drag and they have lost power more then us. And they have lost power for more then 5 days at a time, numerous times. The last time was this past June and we could not help them because we were on vacation in Florida. 

The freak storm that hit us last year caused more damage to the Food Lion store across from us, they have no emergency generator and they had to throw away over 10 dinosaur dumpsters of food.  

So count your blessings. The generator is worth the price of gold to us.

Prior to retiring to East TN We were living in South Florida for 50 plus years,......been there done that. Having no electricity for an extended period of time is a very humbling experience.

Larry

"Rarely" can become frequent without warning.

When I moved into my current house in the Western suburbs of Chicago, we'd get the occasional 3-4 hour power failure.  I saw a 5KW potable generator at Builder's Square on sale and bought it, little knowing that 2-3 weeks later, we' get hit by a major storm that knocked out power for 4 days.

I was the first kid on the block with a generator, but not the last.

That generator served me well over the following outages, things calmed down and we went over 10 years without a major issue.

Three years ago, we got hit with not one, but two multi-day outages within 3 months of each other and I would once again drag the generator to the garage door, run extension cords and fire it up.  But age finally caught up with it and the gas tank started to leak, I could only fill it half way, meaning I had to shut down and refill ever 90 minutes or so.

We made the decision to get the 10KW whole house unit and it proved it's worth the following year during another 3 day outage.

Rusty

Yes, in my earlier post, the safety concerns I was refering to with small portable generators is the emission of carbon monoxide fumes and possible electrical overload and fire which can occur if you're not diligent is their use. Also, if you read the owner's manual carefully it tells you to shield all units from moisture, i.e. rain/snow/sleet when running.

As for a whole house unit, Significantly more costly but way to go if you can. Mine purchased from Loewes two years ago for around $8500 installed. It's a godsend we needed because my entire house is electic. Not even a natural gas line running on property and unable to have fireplace due to asthma and allegies. It was  considerably less expensive than haviong gas line laid on property. Since no natural gas, mine is fueled by propane (Adiitional installation and cost. Have two tanks with a contract from provider who keeps it full much the same as folks with oil. One tank will will keep our 3br, 21/2 bath split level home heated, run fridge, freezer, tv, security system and moderate lighting powered for approx. 27 hrs.. It's seemless and kicks in automatically when electric service is interupted, whether or not anyone is home. Also, does an 11 minute diagnostic self check weekly and automatically notifies electician/service company of any problems. 

Kenn,

So, you're saying that after two days your propane runs out and you're out of luck?  How big are the tanks?

Ken has probably got a 15-20kw unit they use quite a bit of fuel per hour. One problem with gen sets is fuel supply when roads are impassable.

Gunny

Yep, that would be a deal-killer for me.  I've been tempted, but if I'm going to run out of fuel in a couple of days, the price just isn't worth it!  I can run my 7kw one for six or seven hours on one tank of gas, getting only a day out of what I presume is a pretty large propane tank is pretty bad!  BTW, he said it was a 10KW unit, smaller than I need.

I wouldn't be too hard on Ken, sound like he's made a decision based on his personal requirements and experience.  As he stated, he has no natural gas supply on his property.

Mine's hooked up to the natural gas supply.  Figured out it cost's about 3 bucks a day(24 hours a day and most of the house) to run, which beats what it was costing me in gas and effort to run the portable for two sump pumps, refrigerator and a light or two for 12 hours.

Rusty

Wow! All of you in the North have a completely different situation than the South with a hurricane. You have to be concerned about temperature control. We never ran a generator 24/7. Only some hours during the day and not at night. Mostly to keep refers and freezers cold. You can get real tired trying to keep those gas cans filled if you can find gas, as well as routine oil changes on  those portable generators running. Those with full house generators had it made. The first vehicles out after the storm was gas trucks in most cases. I can't help but to believe you have a more difficult time than we ever did because of cold weather. I certainly wish you the best.

Most of my neighbors at our high Mountain place with 10K propane generators had 1,000 gallon buried tanks. Better nowadays but during the early '80s the TVA power grid often failed during heavy snow or ice storms. Cost an arm and leg to fill those 1K tanks but having power for water and cooking in particular was great.

John,

        Figure about 5 gallons per hour(propane) at full load for 25kw unit. propane up here (Maine) is about three dollars a gal. if used only for cooking or generator. The units run much cheaper on natural gas and cost less to install.

Gunny

Dewey,

          A lot of the rich summer complaints up here have one or more 5000 gallon tanks!

Gunny

My whole house generator burns about 1 gallon of propane per hour at full load. It very rarely operates at more than about half load. It's 8kw and runs 10 circuits which give me heat, lights and plugs in family room and kitchen, well, furnace, fridge and freezer. I can watch tv, use phones and internet and cook anything I can fit in the microwave or toaster oven. We've had it for 4 yrs and we're glad we got it. My guess is the 400 gallons in the propane tank would last about a month in the winter. Good luck to you guys and girls in the storms path.

Ron

is there a storm coming or something? wondered why the grocery stores were packed.............  just kidding

I got the generator ready and filled the fridge with beer.......  maybe I shoulda got some food or some thing? too? 

This will be the BIG test on the dry basement system I just had put in......

good luck to every one!!