DURR it's cold outside there can't be no global warming or hurrrrr

[tomdalton22]

We got power back at 2 AM Wed. No water due to burst pipe, and plumbers are all booked up, so despite assurances he'll be by today, I have no idea when we'll have water, and city supplies are all fucked up regardless, so if we do have pressure, we might still be under a boil water advisory for a couple days.


This is a nightmare... you don't sleep well because you're cold & constantly waking up to check on things. Everyone is irritable. I have a constant headache.



We haven't even had it that bad. House fire killed 4 people in a neighborhood nearby (including three kids). I've seen tons of stories of carbon monoxide poisonings, house fires, and pipes burst all over, rendering everything from single family homes to apartment blocks flooded.


And it's not like we have a choice here... I can't decide to go buy power from another state... I have to stay a customer of the same psychopaths that created this disaster.

do like I did...get a backup generator.

 

[Gulo Blue]

We got power back at 2 AM Wed. No water due to burst pipe, and plumbers are all booked up, so despite assurances he'll be by today, I have no idea when we'll have water, and city supplies are all fucked up regardless, so if we do have pressure, we might still be under a boil water advisory for a couple days.


This is a nightmare... you don't sleep well because you're cold & constantly waking up to check on things. Everyone is irritable. I have a constant headache.

That sucks. Sorry to hear that.

I saw someone put blankets over a table to create a tent inside their house they claimed was much warmer to sleep in.

 

[Michchamp]

Tag line: Bid for Power.

And the guy who sets the bid price is completely psychotic. Al Capone would show more compassion.



I saw someone who buys their electricity through an electricity app (griddy) post a screenshot of their electric bill for 2/1/21 to 2/16/21 and it was over $1000, but I'm not sure if that's true or what the deal was.



I don't know what my electric bill will look like next month. I am dreading my gas bill for the 5-6 hour time period we tried to heat the house using our gas fireplace that first night (it was less than worthless)

 

[Gulo Blue]

I am dreading my gas bill for the 5-6 hour time period we tried to heat the house using our gas fireplace that first night (it was less than worthless)

That shouldn't be too bad.

 

[Michchamp]

do like I did...get a backup generator.

That's first on my shopping list. I'm renting a house now, so it's not that easy (can't modify the wiring to allow for an external plug and place to run the generator), but in retrospect I should've found a way to make it work.

Didn't realize there were non-insulated pipes in the attic. I specifically asked my landlord what I should do to avoid a pipe bursting and he said not to worry as long as the house was above freezing. It was! Even without power we were above 40F. But not the attic...

 

[Gulo Blue]

Does anyone have experience with those cheap little 300 watt power converters that plug into cigarette lighter power ports?

There's not a ton you can do with 300 watts, but I think you might be able to run a small chest freezer for a little bit each day to get through a period without power.

edit: Maybe not, there's a power surge when you start a freezer.

 

[byco42]

Even though we were unaffected this time ... this will encourage me to “prep” a little more aggressively than I am presently.

 

[Michchamp]

That sucks. Sorry to hear that.

I saw someone put blankets over a table to create a tent inside their house they claimed was much warmer to sleep in.

I've heard that too. A couple people who've lived through similar episodes said to get as many carpets as you can as floor insulation, and pitch a tent in the house. Heat some water by any means necessary and fill hot water bottles and put them in sleeping bags. Warm as toast all night.

Unfortunately, I read those accounts after we got power back. And I don't have a tent, sleeping bags, or hot water bottles...

I was relatively prepared for a hurricane. Had a battery backup on the router which would give us 4 hours of internet & communications w/out power. 2.5 gallons of water per person for a couple days. Non-perishable food. Rechargeable flashlights and lanterns.

Had a portable battery generator to charge devices, which could be re-charged with some solar panels I bought. All that works best in direct sunlight, which we haven't had much of...

Need to find a heat source that doesn't require electricity... (our fireplace is gas). maybe some kind of oil-filled radiator you can light manually. It looks like all the ones that Home Depot and Lowes sell are still electric to heat the oil.

 

[Michchamp]

Does anyone have experience with those cheap little 300 watt power converters that plug into cigarette lighter power ports?

There's not a ton you can do with 300 watts, but I think you might be able to run a small chest freezer for a little bit each day to get through a period without power.

I've seen those. Looks like they're marketed mostly for use at construction job sites to power equipment, but still... power is power. Would suck to have to leave your car running outside though while you sleep, esp. if you can't lock it in somewhere that doesn't trap CO.

I'm thinking home solar panels with a battery backup is the way to go from here. (But I also work for a solar company now so maybe I'm biased...) Ideally a small wind generator as well, since in theory if it's cloudy or rainy there will be more wind.


No one can charge me for sunlight or wind, right? Yet...

 

[Gulo Blue]

(But I also work for a solar company now so maybe I'm biased...)

Oh really? Nice.

 

[tomdalton22]

Does anyone have experience with those cheap little 300 watt power converters that plug into cigarette lighter power ports?

There's not a ton you can do with 300 watts, but I think you might be able to run a small chest freezer for a little bit each day to get through a period without power.

edit: Maybe not, there's a power surge when you start a freezer.

yea, I'm sure that is nowhere near enough to run a freezer.

Food should keep in a freezer for a while. A good freezer should stay cold at least a week. If you run out of power in the winter, hopefully your freezer is in the garage and it will keep even longer. In the summer, you are probably screwed after a few days.

 

[Gulo Blue]

I've heard that too. A couple people who've lived through similar episodes said to get as many carpets as you can as floor insulation, and pitch a tent in the house. Heat some water by any means necessary and fill hot water bottles and put them in sleeping bags. Warm as toast all night.

Unfortunately, I read those accounts after we got power back. And I don't have a tent, sleeping bags, or hot water bottles...

I was relatively prepared for a hurricane. Had a battery backup on the router which would give us 4 hours of internet & communications w/out power. 2.5 gallons of water per person for a couple days. Non-perishable food. Rechargeable flashlights and lanterns.

Had a portable battery generator to charge devices, which could be re-charged with some solar panels I bought. All that works best in direct sunlight, which we haven't had much of...

Need to find a heat source that doesn't require electricity... (our fireplace is gas). maybe some kind of oil-filled radiator you can light manually. It looks like all the ones that Home Depot and Lowes sell are still electric to heat the oil.

There's also a cell phone charger out there that can run on a small pile of burning sticks.

 

[tinselwolverine]

There's also a cell phone charger out there that can run on a small pile of burning sticks.

Did the professor on Gilligan?s Island invent that?

 

[byco42]

Did the professor on Gilligan?s Island invent that?

Yeah, to keep the two-way radio he made from a coconut charged and functional.

 

[tinselwolverine]

Yeah, to keep the two-way radio he made from a coconut charged and functional.

Makes sense.

 

[Gulo Blue]

Did the professor on Gilligan?s Island invent that?

He must have had one just off camera powering the coconut radio.

https://www.bioliteenergy.com/products/campstove-2-plus

 

[byco42]

Makes sense.

The only problem was that no one could build a fire.

 

[tinselwolverine]

He must have had one just off camera powering the coconut radio.

https://www.bioliteenergy.com/products/campstove-2-plus

Makes sense.

 

[byco42]

Makes sense.

Link

 

[Gulo Blue]

The only problem was that no one could build a fire.

This is a fatal flaw.