This past week I was without power in the Princeton, NJ area for six full days due to downed power lines from hurricane Sandy. The infrastructure of NJ is really pathetic and this storm exposed all its most hidden flaws. And this storm was barely category 1; we definitely need to upgrade our power grid from 1950 to at least 1995 era technology. It took some guys from Alabama Power to restore my area - the Jersey boys could not get the job done.
Hi
It was a huge wind field… 
After Katrina and Rita here we lost power for a number of days, but still had water and gas for heat/hot water. Those dang tree branches hitting the overhead power lines. Not sure why the don’t just start moving areas to underground. I do have a generator (now) and we have a grill, we seem to get reasonable warning so always have some gas in a 5 gallon container and make sure the gas bottle is filled for the grill…
I agree - I should invest in a generator; two other items come to mind: a solar powered 5 watt unit to charge cell phones and a portable short wave radio which runs on AA or AAA batteries not D batteries. There are no D batteries anywhere to be had right now.
RichardET wrote:
>
> I agree - I should invest in a generator; two other items come to mind:
> a solar powered 5 watt unit to charge cell phones and a portable short
> wave radio which runs on AA or AAA batteries not D batteries. There are
> no D batteries anywhere to be had right now.
Do an analysis after a few tests. You will probably be surprised at how
much fuel you need on hand. Figuring out the actual usage rates will be
time well spent when you get into a mess like this one. One thought - see
if you can find a generator rated to run on LNG if you have a decent natural
gas supply.
When I moved into this house we were pretty much out on the prairie in the
midst of a run of heavy snowfal winters. We were out far enough that the
power was not looped and some cowboy was always trying to climb the the
power poles in his pickup. Turns out, we get by pretty well with a 2kw unit
but we have to watch the load but this setup will only support the furnace
(natural gas), refrigerator, freezer or a few lights - one at a time.
–
Will Honea
On 2012-11-05 23:35, Will Honea wrote:
> Turns out, we get by pretty well with a 2kw unit
> but we have to watch the load but this setup will only support the furnace
> (natural gas), refrigerator, freezer or a few lights - one at a time.
My home is limited to 2300 W full time, under normal circumstances;
meaning that I have to choose what I plug, the hot water for the shower,
or the washing machine, or the ironing thing, or the microwave, or the
small air conditioner - almost none simultaneously.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))