Being Prepared!

[Loggerhead Mike]

I'd recomend an inverter that clamps to your batt. post opposed to the cig lighter, unless your like nate and just need it for a low amp draw like running a lap top or somthing in your truck

i use mine mostly camping for stuff like charging my t/m battery, plugging up spotlights, heated blanket. and the most important, power for running power tools where theres no power

 

[Waterwings]

Thanks for the info! Will definitely look into one. 8)

 

[redbug]

If you live in an area that has natural gas, you can purchase a generator that runs on nat. gas Please remember that when you hook up a generator to isolate your electric service to prevent back feed when the power comes back on and also protects the linemen working to get the lights on. For summer storms in our area If they are calling for real bad conditions that could lead to several days with out power I run out and pick up dry ice it will last for up to a week in the fridge. Batteries are a must be sure to have plenty on hand.
You can prepare for outages and possibly prevent them by trimming any and all trees that are around the power lines that go to your house (best to be done by a professional) look at the big picture lets say your area has 100k customers out and your house service was ripped off your house by a down tree will the company care about you (single outage) or the lines that will get 250 cust back on first? they will get to you but it will be way down the priority list.

 

[Waterwings]

Since this recent power outage, my brother and I have both talked about the installed generators. Some can run on either natural gas or propane. depending on what you want the generator to run during power outages depends on the amount of money you want to spend for the type/size of unit you get. From what we learned, a new breaker box is installed and has a feature that prevents back-feeding to the power lines which could harm repair crews. Both my brother and I have all-electric homes, so we would have to have propane tanks installed and hooked to the house/new generator. My brother figures a rough cost of $4k for the generator install for his home, but the security/peace of mind during a lengthy outage would be worth it. The size/capacity (how long it would run) of the propane tank would be a cost factor also. Our Lowe's here carries one model, with about a 1200kw capacity. Don't know the cost of the unit (no price labels on the shelf :roll: ), but the install price was about $1349.00 or there abouts. The size of the unit was about the size of a regular outside ac unit.

 

[redbug]

something else to consider if you are adding a propane tank outside for a generator you could go to a larger size Tank and convert your range to propane and also have a space heater hooked up to the line to get more bang for your buck

 

[Waterwings]

something else to consider if you are adding a propane tank outside for a generator you could go to a larger size Tank and convert your range to propane and also have a space heater hooked up to the line to get more bang for your buck

Good idea!

 

[redbug]

The more I sit here the more tings pop into the head you can also tap off the line and run you gas grill. I have a 75lb tank that I run both my smoker and grill off of i pay$35 to fill it and it is used at least 4 days a week from march through November The smaller tanks(17lb) cost $20 to fill.
Wayne

 

[Waterwings]

Great ideas Wayne! There were a few people around here cooking and heating water on their outdoor grills (charcoal & propane) during the power outage.

 

[Quackrstackr]

I know this is fresh in everyone's mind with some of us having just gone through it, but I have to wonder how much of this emergency generator planning is necessary. I'm guilty of it myself.

This was an ice storm the likes of which has never been seen here before. My power goes out occasionally but not on the magnitude of needing to install $4k worth of "just in case" hardware on the house. I'm not quite sure why I had that reality check this morning as I have been figuring the same things as some of you guys. This area just doesn't get that much bad weather to knock out power on the scale of this storm and was I inconvenienced $4k dollars worth?

I'm thinking a gasoline powered generator and a set of gas logs may be in my future but that is about it (outside of other necessary emergency items like batteries and water). Of course, my home is primarily natural gas so outside of the electric stove, if I had some way to wire in and run the blower on my unit with the generator that I had borrowed, I would have been set this past week.

 

[Waterwings]

I've ceratinly thought about the costs, and as you mentioned, we don't get a lot of bad weather here, unless you count tornadoes and the [far too many] wind storms that like to come through here. My wife totalled-up (guestimated) what we lost in the refrigerator/freezer this past week and it came to about $1400 worth of frozen foods, milk, eggs, condiments, juices, vegetables, etc. Yep, a portable generator would have taken care of the refrigerator and some lighting (lamps). I still the idea of the installed generator, but the costs will probably keep me from doing it. My brother on the other hand will probably do it.....................so I'll just drive to Berea next time and stay at his house.

 

[FishingBuds]

Well I got most of it all together, Getting a portable Generator in 3 to 5 days. 8)

 

[Waterwings]

8)