Nomad.. thanks will check out the wiring under the cover...it is my understanding that both 120v lines are disconnected by the main breaker...

Trying hard not to steal a thread...but...




What you will find (probably) are two very heavy wires each going to a switch. They are not two sides of the circuit, but one side each of two circuits that feed your house. Together they give you 220v. However the switch breaks only one side of each circuit.

Not being opened are the neutral and ground.

If the backfeed is wired wrong (very easy to make a mistake here) you can still put power back onto the grid, even if these are open. I am not sure how that can happen and seek understanding here.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread...

Nomad

I have now completed my HurCon checklist and have assumed HurCon 1.

Per the Weather Channel, this is going to grow to be Cat 1,000 hurricane just before it wipes out the Gulf Coast. I'm not seeing that. It looks like it will be doing well to grow to be a strong Cat 1 storm at the most.

The beauty of it is, we're ready if it did.

Nomad... as long as the electrician is not black/white color blind, its pretty hard to wire a hot black lead to a white neutral or uninsulated copper buss bar....but again, mechanical devices can fail...It was easier with my older panel, that allowed you to pull a fuse block to isolate the grid... you make the assumption that if the main breaker isolates you from the grid, that it will isolate the grid from you... and then there is that word "assumption"... regards

Keep in mind that Katrina was just barely a cat 1 hurricane in New Orleans. That one was much stronger elsewhere, but the TV images focused on the aftermath of a hurricane that was... about the same strength as this one may be.

Elevation, tides & storm surge at your location matter more than wind speed.

I was surprised to see people still buying "D" cells...what for?

People have old crummy flashlights to feed, most likely.

In addition to a few Fenix and 4Sevens AA LED flashlights I have a couple of those old crummy Maglight flashlights that I upgraded with an aftermarket LED bulb, complete with the TerraLUX LED Light Engine (voltage reg circuitry?). Three D cells does a nice job pushing a 3 Watt LED. Add the Maglite reflector and you've got a fairly robust light. ymmv

my 2D LED MagLight is still my go-to flashlight...my ceiling fan gizmo powered by a tent fan did not last but a couple of hours on a AA Eneloop in a spacer vs. 9+ hrs by a real D

1 D Cell is equivalent to 4 AA Cells for capacity -

Rechargable NiMh LSD D cells are available such as the Ansmann maxE Rechargable Battery D 8500mAh

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002A...ler=&sr=8-1

They work very well with the Ansmann Powerline 5 chargers

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ANSMANN-POWERlin...8338&sr=8-3

which can be used with a Cigarette Charger output such as provided with a portable PV solar Charge (20-30W panel) or an SLA battery/Solar PV setup.

The D cells once charged work nicely with the Varta 4W LED 3 D cell Lanterns (equivalent to 12 AAs), which have 3 high efficiency Nichia LEDs.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Varta-4W-LED-Cam...7247433-4786234

These will typically give 300 Lumen for around 6 hrs or 12 hrs on the lower settings. They are quite effective as they can be hanged up side down if used in areas difficult to light.

D cells are also useful for D-cell Maglites with replacement LEDs bulbs. These flashlights are still useful for home use and will typically give out 100 Lumen for around 20 hrs before recharging the NiMh D cells.

The real benefit is having not to constantly recharge so often the smaller AA cells again and again compared to the D cells, which can be a pain.