Lessons from the Seattle Power Outage

[color:"green"]Lessons from the Seattle Power Outage[/color]

It's been some weeks now, and it was hardly a "survival" scenario, but I learned a few things from my week without power and thought I'd share a few thoughts.

We lost power due to a wind storm - 700,000 people - roughly half the greater Seattle area, I suppose - had no power. Seattle has a mild climate, but after about 48 hours without power the house was down to 41 degrees – same as outdoors. After 6 days 70,000 were still without power and I was one of those fortunate few.

During those first two days a wide enough area was without power that it was virtually impossible to buy gas – all the areas that did have power quickly sold out. However the grocery stores all had generators for minimal backup power – not the big freezers – and were selling everything they could.

Lesson #1 Technology requires electricity, and sometimes DSL or cable access!
"Who knows the emergency number any more? Not me or my cell phone! I'll just check the web if anything goes wrong..." Of course, you cannot check your workplace’s web page about adverse weather if trees took out your power, cable, and phone lines. Even if you had a generator...

Some of my friends don't have "land lines" any more - and when their cell phones died they were out of luck.

Lesson #2 Something unexpected WILL go wrong – even if it’s only minor
I didn’t have a battery powered radio – or rather, I did, but I didn’t know where it was. On the first morning of the outage I had no idea how widespread it was, so I tried to go in to work. Big mistake. The whole east side was out. The night before my fuel light had come on, but I hadn’t filled the car - figured I'd do it in the morning. After all, even if we lost power (as we often do here) most places would have it. Wrong. No one could pump gas, and no traffic lights were working which REALLY slowed the morning traffic. My 12-mile-or-so commute took forever (well over an hour), burning virtually all of my remaining gas, so I had to abandon the car once I got to work or risk running completely out of gas, clogging the fuel filter, etc. On a happier note, I had arranged ahead of time for this possibility, and so had a ride out of there (work had no power).

Lesson #3 Have a battery-powered radio – but don’t depend on the radio stations
Because the city of Seattle itself has many fewer trees, and probably more buried power lines – the core of the city was much less affected than the “outskirts” such as Bellevue, Redmond, etc. In practical terms, what this meant was that as I attempted to drive in to work the radio stations – all based in Seattle where people were still experiencing the benefits of alarm clocks, hot showers, traffic lights, etc. – made virtually no mention of the CHAOS on the east side of Lake Washington in Bellevue, Redmond, etc. where virtually no one had power. Sure, Bellevue is a pretty far cry from NY or LA, but it’s hardly a backwater – some concern for the half of their listeners further than 5 miles from their broadcast towers would have been appreciated.

Lesson #4 Thou shalt stockpile appropriate batteries – particularly D Batteries
You could easily find AA. You couldn’t find D - or most others. Batteries went fast and everything but AA stayed gone for a long while. Only this past week have I seen D cells return to grocery stores. Fortunately I had a good stock of batteries.

Lesson #5 Car chargers can be a godsend
From a cell phone to a gameboy, at least you have a bit of power.

Lesson #6 Me No Know… How Make… [color:"red"]Fire[/color]
As someone who has read this site on and off for over a year, I thought I had fire covered. Not that I believed I was a master, by any means, but I figured I knew how to put one together, and I had the tools. However I discovered my “book learnin’” wasn’t worth much when my first attempt to start a fire with dry firewood, indoors, in a fireplace, with newspaper and a lighter – failed. My only excuses are that this was my first fire of any sort, ever – being a city boy who’d only camped with white gas stoves and lighters – and that my second attempt worked fine. Clearly, wet wood, in wind, with a match and I would have been in trouble – I guess I’m going to have to spend a weekend sometime getting some practical experience.

Lesson #7 Tolerance for cold and discomfort varies… WIDELY
I didn’t mind that the house was 41 degrees. I didn’t enjoy it, but I didn’t mind it. On day five with no power – despite the ability to spend the day at work with power, heat, and shower, my fiancée declared we’d be spending the remaining powerless days with friends whose power had returned. She was upset and uncharacteristically assertive on the issue. I hadn’t expected this response – and it just goes to show that even people you know well (or you yourself) might react unexpectedly in a “crisis.”

Lesson #8 Regarding Generators
I didn’t have one. Now I do. I cleverly purchased it - once I finally found one - about 6 hours before our power was finally restored. I'm so clever.

I decided minimalism was the best choice here. While I considered a generator in the 6,000 watt range, doing the "gas math" made me change my mind.

Many generators, like a top-rated model in consumer reports, could sustain 6,200-,6300 watts – which is more than three full 15 amp circuits. With that you could run quite a lot of stuff. However, such generators run about 13 hours on 7 gallons at half load. At 80% load it runs about 7 hours on 7 gallons.

If I’m usually running at half load, why buy a 6,300 watt generator (even if it does have over 8,000 “starting” watts)? But let’s say I do run at half load, and that I want to run it about 12 hours per day. That’s about 7 gallons of gas per day. Which is 49 gallons – let’s round to 50 – if I want to be prepared for a week without power. If I want to run the generator 16 hours a day at 80% load I need over 100 gallons for a week. I’m sure somebody, somewhere, knows how to store that much gasoline safely for a long time, but I sure don’t.

Furthermore, such generators weigh around 200 pounds, and even with wheels, I’m not convinced my fiancée could easily handle moving one around if I were out of town – as I was during the week-long “snow storm” in early December.

(You’ve really got to use quotations marks around terms like “snow storm” when you’re talking about Seattle. However, it’s legitimate to be concerned because even a small amount of snow here can really isolate you fast, especially if you live in a somewhat outlying area. There are no plows, people don’t know how to drive in it, cars are abandoned and further block roads, emergency services are spread thin, etc. But if your neighborhood spills out onto the “main” 2-lane road via a steep hill with a sharp curve at the bottom as ours does (wonderful design!) then you can be fairly well stuck for a few days if that ices up and you don’t happen to own a Land Rover with snow tires.)

I picked a 2,000 watt generator (really around 1,600) which can only handle about one circuit, but I get four hours out of a gallon of gas at maximum load. For 12 hours of use for 7 days I’d need 24 gallons or less. I’m likely to stick with two five gallon cans of gas and plan to minimize my usage – some power is a LOT better than no power. And if I follow-up on picking up a kerosene or other “safe” indoor space heater I won’t need electricity for that.

It’s also less than 50 pounds and can fit in an average car trunk.

Lesson #9 The flashlight you’ll carry is the one you’ll use
I’ve collected various lights over the years. I had some decent long-lasting lights designed to spread light out in a room which were useful in the dark evenings. In general, however, I found a lot of our lights to be nearly worthless. Large lights? Awkward to carry around, heavy, would leave them behind in some situations, etc. Head lamp? I’m sure I could find a better one, but mine didn’t want to stay on my head and gave me a headache (despite loosening the strap) after about an hour of wear. What I really used, kept on me, and worked well were lights about the size of one of those Maglites which takes 2 AA – although these were LED lights which took CR123A (of which I have many on hand). I could set it down pointing upward to temporarily bounce light off the ceiling while I did some task with two hands and I kept them in coat or pants pocket when I was in a room with light, so I had them at hand. They were the ones I used and the ones I didn’t want to do without.

Lesson #10 Cold food sucks
Our house has no gas. As I mentioned I had no generator. I had no butane camping burners or other such stoves. I don’t even own a BBQ grill (not that I could have found charcoal to put in it after the first 12 hours). I could have tried to cook awkwardly over the fire in the fireplace, but mostly ate cold food. Yeah, you can survive on cold canned stew quite well – just don’t plan to enjoy it.

Bonus Lesson #11 Pets can be affected by “disasters”
I have two big fluffy dogs (picture Samoyeds, but not white) who probably thought it was fun the house wasn’t so darn hot that week. But I know people with small short-haired cats and dogs, and I’m not sure exactly what they did...

I hope this is of some interest or value to others. The experience has been of value to me – After reading this site for the past year or so, I had done some minimal preparedness (throwing some useful stuff in my car, having extra food and water on hand at home, putting whistles on our keychains, etc.) but I’m now much more motivated to do more detailed planning and prepare a bit more thoroughly.

So thanks to everyone who's aided my education.

Hey Chef- Awesome, and thorough, write-up! Glad you came out relatively unscathed and learned some good lessons.

Jason

Nice writeup, and well worth the read. Is your generator one of the Honda EU series? If so, be aware you can hook two of those together for 4000/3200 watts.

Thanks for the read! Well done. It is always interesting to see how people use their skills, tools, and how it shapes future planning.

BTW, are you laying in a small camp stove? <grin>

On another note, I've read a lot of planning for people in these forums (and others), but emergency prep for one's animals is usually lacking. Were you able to find food, etc? Does your vet have any sort of emergency plan?

Excellent first post. I grew up in a farmhouse north of you in the 50's/60's. Knowing how to start a fire safely is sorta second nature and having lots of firewood stacked outside was nothing special. While visiting at my parents house about ten years ago a cold wave was forecast so I naturally made sure firewood was available (lots) and the woodstove in the basement was cleaned and available (new stove, you can cook on it). Mom asked me to start it up and that woodstove heated the house on its own. Mom had stopped using it because she wasn't up to hauling firewood, but that stove was awesome. So while I was home, that was my job <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

As for letting your car get low on gas. . . I suppose you own that lesson now. I'm in SOCAL, and I don't ever get below 1/2 tank day-day. Driving distance it goes to 1/4 but by then I really need a pit stop anyway. Living in an urban sprawl with all the services can give you some bad habits.

Ditto the Honda EU line from the post below. They're designed to synch up. Then you can run one or both and for logistics, you can carry your 4KW generator 2KW at a time and two will store easier than one large gen set.

Batteries: My other half was always going through AA batteries while I had stuff that needed D's but rarely used them. So I transitioned to AA's (flashlights and radios) and keep them stocked. She keeps the batteries rotated. I keep fresh D's in my big Maglites, but I don't maintain a big stock.

As for cooking, I have a propane cookstove and a 20# bottle in the garage. Propane doesn't go bad. Get a 20# bottle (or two) and a propane campstove with the adaptors for a large bottle. Being able to cook is good. Then again, if you own your home, consider replacing that nice looking fireplace with a woodstove that can really pump out heat and has a flat top to cook on. Just a thought.

Enjoy, if you live in Seattle long enough, it will happen again.

Nice writeup. We want to get a propane-power generator for our house. The only time-critical utilites we get are electricity and telephone. Our cell phones are backups for the telephone, but we have no backup for electricity.

What kind of dogs do you have? We have a samoyed and a very large keeshound (think a black & gray samoyed).

Something else to consider adding for not a lot of money is a few propane lanterns. I have 2 that I use when camping and alwys make sure I have a few extra bottles of propane.
More than once they've come in handy during power outages. Make sure that when using them indoors keep them away from flammable curtains etc and crack a window to help with ventilation.
Great wrtie-up. Has me thinking about some things I need to do.

Welcome Chef.

It sounds like you learned a lot thanks to that week. You now want to remember it for the future. What you do not want to do is become complacent, and next time look like those folks in hurricane country that, EVERY time a big storm is coming, have to fight for bottled water, batteries, etc.

The post about propane stoves is a good one. You can get a long hose to run from cylinder to stove at most RV supply stores, so that you can leave the cylinder outside and cook inside. There are also large propane heaters available for less than $100 that put out a lot of BTU's. They do take quite a bit of propane, so you will want a large tank, and a fairly easy refill...

Hi Swedishchef,

Thank you for the great first post. Glad that you and yours were able to see it through so well.

Hmmm...Mother Nature is like that....gives the exam then teaches the lesson (to those that have survived).

I suspect that there will be others like you that will take the lesson to heart and do things to prepare more. We saw a bit of that in south Florida with Hurricane Andrew, then after about two years it died off....a lot of folks were really unprepared (despite a massive amount of timely warnings) when the four hurricanes hit several years ago along with Hurricane Wilma last year.

NOW a lot more folks are in the preparedness mode, sadly still not enough as many still thinking that it "can't happen to me (again)".

While this past hurricane season was rather quiet (and folks really needed the respite) there will still be those that think that they will be rescued by whomever and that they don't need to prepare.

Side note: Several folks have made reference to having the propane / white gas stoves and/or lanterns. These are a great idea, just keep in mind that they are just like flashlights and generators...make sure that you have spares on hand, lamps and batteries for the flashlights (LED's help out on the flashlights) spare mantles for the lanterns, a spare glass for the lantern is also good, and there are now some mesh steel screens that can also be used. There are also adapters for using the 20# propane bottles with stoves and lanterns. Much less trouble than having to deal with the smaller bottles, although it is still a good idea of have some of them on hand.

With the stoves and generators, make sure that you have spare parts on hand for the items that might need replacing at an awkward moment. Many here found out the hard way that replacement fuel filters / carburetor rebuild kits etc. could not be had at any price for some time after the storms. Also, get a heavy chain and good lock to secure your generator, it was bad enough during the hurricanes with generator thefts (stealing them from the temporary wired traffic light signals and homes etc.) but most recently, there was a rash of thefts in SE Fla. from folks that had them in their garages and/or sheds.

Regards,
Comanche7

Very nice first post. Thanks for taking the time to record the lessons you learned from your own experiences.

I think I would be very annoyed, too, that the major radio stations were basically acting as if everything was fine since the area immediately surrounding the stations were relatively unaffected.

Actually, since so many radio stations these days have been gobbled up by giant companies like Clear Channel and basically turned into automated broadcasting operations with little staff--and no local news reporters--I wonder if that affects how useful local radio is these days? I mean, just because there's a DJ talking about the local weather on the Seattle radio does not mean that the person is even in Seattle. Scary, isn't it? Could be some guy in Kansas who just does "local" weather for stations all over the country.

I think that being able to watch/listen to broadcast TV is becoming a necessity during disasters. Although the information is often wrong or overhyped, at least the big TV stations have staff that can actually go out and collect information, unlike so many radio stations now. A fire may only merit a ten-second mention on radio since it only affects a tiny, isolated area, but on TV, they'll cover the same fire continuously for 30 minutes just because it looks so dramatic on screen. Anyway, my battery-powered radio also gets TV band for this reason.

Thanks for the tips. My parents took my kids garage sale-ing last spring and picked up 3 Coleman lanterns and a Coleman fuel stove for $1 a piece. I have used the lanterns when camping and now have an extra stove. The lanterns were propane. I use the stove on the patio often so I don't stink up the house with bacon. I have gotten pretty good at cooking with it. Of course, we have had no power outages here for a while, but I will be prepared when we do. I guess if everyone could find an unused Coleman stove for $1 it would make planning and preparing easier.......

1 thing that I now do for electrical lighting, I went to the hardware store and got "pigtails", it's 2 wires, screw type bulb socket that hooks onto a 6 volt battery. it uses 6 volt screw single post light bulbs. The battery will support 1 pigtail for 24 hours. It provides enough light to play cards or a board game. It's a safe "night light" for nervous children to go to sleep by.
This pigtail is one of a few backup lighting systems that I use for emergencies. My all time favorite still remains: the Hurricane Lamp, it offers light and heat. heat for the room and/or heat to cook over, & lamp oil is dirt cheap!

Assuming that your Coleman stove is a liquid fuel model, it is a good idea to get a spare generator for it. The generator is usually the only thing that goes wrong with a Coleman, so I always have a spare on hand. A funnel with a built in filter is a good idea to. You can usually find both of those at a store that sells camping gear...

Looks to me like your fiancee is a sticker. It was five days for she decided that enough was enough. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> A lot of people (including me) would have been throwing wobblies by day 3. Cold food in a cold house sucks. Not to mention washing in cold water.......... <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

From the BTDT column regarding cold water showers. Presuming there is warm weather, take a garden hose and run it up to the roof or lay it out on dark asphalt in a zig zag (back and forth) or loops and place some dark material on it (folks in south Fla. used black visqueen and/or tar paper and weighted it down with lumber or sand bags). The longer the hose the better. Our experience is that the roof is somewhat hotter than the sidewalks or driveways due to the attic space heating up to about 120F on an average south Fla. day, YMMV.

Make sure that you have a shut off valve on the very end of the hose and be sure to let it run for a bit to clear it out before shutting off the valve at the long end, then turn off the spigot at the house.

During sunny hours the water in the hose will get rather warm and if you are quick and careful, you can get one or two warm showers out if it, most folks here just ran it into the house through their bathroom window since the power was out and there was no air conditioning.

It's not perfect, but it really makes a difference on ones outlook as compared to dancing in a cold shower.

Sidenote: Although it may take a little more in the way of "handyman skills" one could also use the thinwall black plastic irrigation pipe that most Home Depot / Lowes / garden supply places carry, several hundred feet of it can be had relatively inexpensively compared to garden hoses and the longer the hose, the more "solar hot water tank" you have. Depending upon how long the power is off, you may have many new friends once they hear that you have hot water. The regular solar water heater panel installations on most of the roofs around here were signifigantly damaged and there were more than a few variations of the above that could be observed.

Regards,
Comanche7

Nice report SwedishChef with some astute observations. Thanks!

I too neglected to do intelligence gathering before I headed out, and blissfully (as in ignorance is..) didn't turn on the news until I started guessing that the 520 bridge was closed... Doh!

Good point about TV (in general) having more resources to cover more localized news. The gotcha of course is that the TV news tends to focus more on the hype and less on information that might actually be useful to you. Scanning the FM stations, I happened upon a small station that was taking call ins from around the area and that proved to fairly helpful.

Regarding Internet: Our CableTV and Internet was out even when power was back on -- no guarantees.

Land lines can go out too. Folks with cell phones should consider a way to charge or power their phone by batteries. I have one of these Civilian Labs "Tankers" that power a USB port from 4AA batteries. This works for my PDA, cell phone, and iPod.

We found the Rayovac 8D fluorecent lantern to work well in "low" mode (only one tube lit), but as you point out, "D" cells are unobtainable during and directly after an emergency. While they are not as bright, the Osram Golden Dragon 2W LED lantern is nice because it has dual brightness and runs on AA batteries.

-john

A case or 2 of HeaterMeals http://www.heatermeals.com/ can make the diffrence, they are kinda like microwave meals but it has a heater with it that is activated with water a packet is even provided. They arnt gourmet meals but warm food is warm food. Mre's with heater arnt cheap either but once again hot food can be a godsend if you cant microwave something and the stove is dead. I've got one of these http://www.acemart.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=IWAZA-3 runs off of little 2.00 butane canisters that you can find at resturant supply places along with the stove.

Swede,

Great write up.

I always appreciate reading about the "adventures" of others.

Ya'll always teach me a lot. Thanks for the lessons.

As someone who is ever one to "cheap out" when possible, this last christmas Target had LED lanterns (chinese) 5.5"H and about 1.75" D. They run off of 4 AAs and power 4 LEDs. These things were in 3-packs as christmas gifts. I believe they were about $20. Anyway, they're not like staring into the sun, but they're small, fairly good lighting ability, and take AAs. The company that makes them is

JLR GEAR
1451 Dolittle Drive
San Leandro, CA 94577
[email]customerservice@jlrgear[/email]
http://www.jlrgear.com

Also, they seem to have been put out under the Brunton name with an ever so slight change in the base...everything else identical.

As I said before, they are small and are easily left in strategic locations around the house and cars. I can't yet report how long a set of 4 AAs will last. The switch only does on/off...no dimmer or flashing.

Are other folks familiar enough with these that they can report battery life while left on?

IIRC, the Brunton one (also branded by Brookstone) uses a different, and much weaker LED than the Osram Golden Dragon version.

-john

I have the Brunton LED model. Too many artifacts in the light. It's good for not tripping on stuff, but it hurts my eyes to use it for reading.

Check this CPF thread about frosting the lenses on LED lanterns. It's primarily about teh Rock River lantern, but shows some pics of the Osram after frosting too.

-john

Great Post Chef,
I have many ???, but let me focus on one: What do you actually use the D Batteries for if you found that smaller flashlights were better tools for the job? I want to stock about 3 cycles of batteries for each application I have, but didn't see where D's had that much functionality for the tools I have. I appreciate knowing they are the most scarce, but any ideas why?

I think zillions of people have flashlights that use D cells. The bummer about this is that the discharge curve of D cells doesn't lend itself well to flashlights since it drops off so fast. As a result, the light goes dim and yellow fast and people switch to a new set, even though they only used the batteries for a short time.

-john

Theres an elderly expat British lady who keeps buying Digestives at the local import shop for whenever I drop in later. During El Nino she barely survived a car wreck in front of my then job working with a cockney mechanic. The presence of my vintage ' Brown Betty ' and an immediate 'hot cuppa' made a world of difference to her sitting in our glorified waiting room. Get an old fashioned speckled enamelware coffeepot and a supply of your favourite Starbucks ( shameless plug for your nieghbor Randy here.) It's simple; water,coffee, fire and settle grounds with a splash of cold water after brewing. Every culture has a few ikons of genteel and proper living. Tea or coffee seem to be a biggie. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

We have a couple of lanters that use D's. They have florscent tubes, and get a pretty good life out of a set of batteries. We just buy a stick of Duracell D's at Costco from time to time...

OK...I've taken a look at the various models mentioned....here are my observations...

The River Rock lantern from Target is a different lantern than those from the Christmas three-pack (3 lanterns for $20) that I mentioned. Those from the three pack are nearly identical to:

Osram Golden Dragon lantern
Brookstone lantern
Brunton Glorb LED Lantern

Besides a slight difference at the bottom of the base, these from the holiday Target 3-pack seem to only have on and off rather than the strobe/low/high features mentioned by folks for the others. Also, the use-sheet that came with them says there is a low and high mode but none of mine had the low mode...just on and off.

However, as noted above, John says that the LEDs in the Osram version are different...I can't comment on this. Outwardly, they're the same. Does anyone own all of these models?

What I learn every time we have a power outage and when we take the family camping:

I have way too many flashlights and lanterns! (but it is a good thing) <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The portable gas stove is awesome!

Cold showers are no problem in Hawaii.

And most importantly...the kids are fine without TV!!! I think it helps that we normally limit their TV to 30 to 60 minutes per day max. And we only let them watch a select list of programs.

SwedishChef:

Welcome to the forums, I must say that is some very good information. Others have posted information about obtaining and storing extra parts, which I agree with. But, like the fire building you mentioned, if you are not familiar with doing the maintenance on your generator, or Coleman stove / lantern, I recommend you practice changing "broken parts" now when you may not be using the equipment. Knowledge gained now is indeed vital. Again welcome and thanks for the post.

Take care,

Stargazer

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

Generator: I did select a Honda - the EU2000i. Expensive, but has some nice features. I'll look into the hook-up kit if I get a second one, although I might be tempted to diversify generator types since there are a lot of options in that price range.

Flashlights: I wasn't as clear as I could have been about this. For lighting a room from "dark" (around 5:30 pm at the time, I think) until bedtime I used two lights which each took four D cell batteries. One is flourescent with two tubes (you can use one or both), the other is designed to sit on a table or hang from above and to distribute light outward - rather than focused in a small area like a flashlight does. Those were fine for generally lighting up the room to avoid tripping on stuff, but weren't bright enough to read by for long unless I was right next to them. The one that used a small, traditional incandescent bulb didn't have terribly impressive battery life, but the flourescent one seemed to last quite a while. I'm sure most people use the D's for large flashlights, and I admit I have a big Maglite lying around somewhere. But it sure didn't turn out to be very convenient for my needs.

The small CR123A lights I mentioned were what I used to walk around the house, go outdoors with, read with, and generally get things done. I've got one with switches to control the brightness which helps make it versatile, adjustable for reading, and extends battery life.

Camp Stove: I'll look into them. I'm only familiar with the really small ones designed for lugging around, like the Jetboil system. I could get something cheaper and maybe larger for home use.

Dogs: We have Eurasiers - created in the 50's - half Samoyed, quarter Chow, quarter Keeshond. We had plenty of food. Our vet has a 24-hour emergency hospital, but I don't know what they do in the event of a power loss.

Propane Lanterns: I'll have to look into these.

Better Battery-powered Radio: Receiving TV band would be useful. Think I'll add a new radio to my list.

I am curious, though - How fast does gasoline go bad? And how do people store more than 5 or 10 gallons safely?

Thanks,

Can I ask how you occupied your time during the later days?

You say it got dark around 5:30 - what time did you go to bed? (I'm a curious about how many hours of artificial light you needed.)

Thanks for clarifying, but you can identify brand names here. It may tip us to a light we aren't familiar with and it may help someone looking to buy make a choice. LED lights running on CR123 batteries are becoming common and it would be nice to know the specific model since it seems to have worked well for you. I'm always in the market for a better light.

As for a second generator -- things break. It might be good to keep spare parts, learn maintenance etc and having two of the same is very beneficial in that regard. Unless you don't like the EU2000. Also, if you buy a different model, you lose the ability to synch them. FWIW, $.02, YMMV

Something I did for a camp stove was buy a camp grill. Mine is a Grill 2 Go We had a regular backyard grill and lack of space in the garage made me store it outside and something built a nest in side one of the burners and I didn't know it and it caught fire. Instead of rebuilding it or replacing it with a normal grill we bought this little one and I store it in the garage on a shelf. I have some of those little 1lv tanks and one 1lb tank will last about 6 meals cooking steak. Then I bought the adapter hose and use the 20lb tank from our old grill so we have many months worth of propane for it. Since its small it cooks pretty efficiently. If we loose power I just sit the grill out on the back porch and we cook out. I've cooked out in the rain or snow by sitting the grill under the overhang in front of the garage door and stood inside the garage while it cooked. Every now and then we stick it in the back of the truck and go to a park and cook out too.

Good choice on the Honda. They are pricey, but pretty small, and much quieter than many gens. As for the gas storage, go to an RV supply store, or probably even the automotive section in Wally World, and get a bottle of Sta-bil , you put some (directions on the bottle) into your gas can and it will store for a long long time. And be sure to chain that Honda to a tree or something. I am sure you heard during the outage of gens walking away from their owners...

Arney, after reading your post concerning the lack of local radio news and the utilization of a radio covering the TV-audio frequencies to keep tabs on local events, I just wanted to mention that you might consider acquiring a scanner (scanning receiver) capable of monitoring the local Police, Fire and Public Services in your area.

As a practical matter, the cost of a suitable scanner for your area will depend upon whether the local Public Service in your communications where you live are based around traditional fixed frequencies (ie. Police always at 145.3 MHz) or utilize the newer "trunking" technologies (of which there are two flavors -- analog or digital). In a trunked radio system, several agencies share the same set of "channels" in the 800 Mhz public service band. You can't efficiently monitor a trunked system with a traditional scanner since the conversation will jump from channel-to-channel with each transmission. A decent scanner that can monitor fixed frequencies can be had for around $ 150 new. An analog "trunk tracking" scanner for around $ 250 (ie. Bearcat Br330t) new -- and lastly, a "digital" trunk tracker for between $ 400 and $ 500(ie. Bearcat 396D or Radio-Shack Pro 96).. Yes, the scanner can be expensive, but like anything else, you'll get a jump on everyone -- including the local TV stations regarding events as they unfold.

The reason I've come upon all this technical information is that I've been researching the purchase of a new scanner for my own use as the Public Service agencies where I live have switched over to an analog "trunked" radio system -- so I thought I'd share some of the insights I've gained with the group.

One other thought -- with regard to TV audio via radio, I believe it may be the case that when broadcast-TV is switched exclusively to "digital" mode -- none of the current generation of radios which receive TV-audio will work anymore.

Best of luck to you in your efforts to stay informed in the face of adverse conditions.

jds, you make an excellent point about the transition of broadcast TV to digital-only. When that time comes, though, I'm hoping that there will be inexpensive portable radios that will also pick up the new digital signals. However, I'm not holding my breath. Digital HD radio transmissions have been available for a while now, and the prices on the few models available are still very high. There will probably even be less demand for inexpensive digital TV receivers when the analog signals are finally turned off, so I'm not hopeful that affordable options will be available then.

I have thought about getting a scanner. I'm no expert on this topic and have never been into scanning before, but my area has a county-wide 800 Mhz digital trunked system. I don't think it's fully implemented countywide yet so there are still some agencies using analog, but at least in my immediate area, all law enforcement channels are encrypted, so that greatly limits a scanner's usefuless for me. Besides, just in general, the cost of scanners required for such a system seemed too high for me when I last did some research into it. I'm not even sure if scanners that can work on this particular system are available to the public.

Nice run down SwedishChef.

Our experience was somewhat similar, but we more or less had sufficient batteries, radios, gas fireplaces, gas stove and phone (old style hardwire) along with gas water heater, so only the lack of lights and central fan forced heat presented any challenges.

I used my manual coffee grinder to good effect to prevent my most harrowing of situations....lack of caffeine <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

One thing that I was just amazed at was the constant references on the radio about checking their websites for additional information...things like shelter locations should not be placed on a web site....that was simply stupid.

My wife and I volunteered to man the local shelter, but only one family showed up....how was anyone to hear about it?, so we just chatted a while then went back to our 48 degree house.

I do think things like this minor event can have positive outcomes if folks look carefully at their prep and make some changes.

Contact your local fire department and ask how they would want to see gasoline stored. I would suggest a location detached from your main residence as safest, perhaps a properly set up storage shed with good ventilation. Better to lose gasoline than your life and home.

Secure your Honda to a poured concrete slab. Trees can be cut down. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Welcome Amigo. Darned good post. Having been through one similar while living in Puyallup back in the 70's and a lifetime of experience since, let me respond to your lessons:

Lesson #1: I keep a pair of two way business band portable radios at home programmed with municipal emergency frequencies. If I need to contact a local unit in an emergency, I am not all to concerned about violating an FCC regulation or two while doing it (incidentally, I went ahead and acquired an FCC GRT license, good for life, which I use as a pretense to access goverment service radio all the time).

Lesson #2: As a general rule, when the nasty comes, I find it best to stay in place and not take unnecessary risks. See Lesson 1 for keeping informed.
Lesson 3: Pay attention to the local surroundings a bit more now. If the broadcast groups aren't reliable for your area, find a source that is that you can contact in an emergency. See response to Lesson 1.

Lesson 4: I bought a couple of those wind up am/fm/siren/led light products up at Costco and keep one handy wherever I rest my head these days. I also got one of those crank up Grundig models with shortwave capability, just for giggles. No worries about batteries or light bulbs anymore.

Lesson 5: A car is a poor but expedient replacement for a small generator in some cases. Now that you own a generator, you won't have to worry about using your car for something other than to bug out.

Lesson 6: Making fire at home ought to be vastly improved over making fire on the move. Logistically, it would be really inexpensive to stock excellent firemaking items at home without any undue encumberance. Still, learning the skills is always the first priority.

Lesson 7: Sounds like a warm week at elk camp, except with all the amenities of home (a shower even...). Having the ability to function without modern utiltiy conveniences, like when I spend a week or two at elk camp, has given me the mindset to always have that provision ready to go. I keep my grub boxes packed, my propane tanks filled, and my water jugs topped off, when I am home. When I am TDY, as I am now, well, I come up with alternatives. Finding a companion that will tolerate my lifestyle choices? Well, that is the challenge of a lifetime ain't it? or it ought to be I reckon. When cold, the little dog will find the warmest blanket in the house, usually the one I am under, and snuggle down in it.

I view generators as a luxury in such events. Ultimately you'd be better off if you could find a way to do without, but it sounds like you made the right choice here. I prefer diesel to gas, but finding a small gen made for diesel is an exercise in futility. Generators are handy for keeping the refrigerator and freezer functional so you don't lose food supplies, so I reckon that is worthy enough considering how hard I work for my elk meat.

Lesson 9: Due to the type of work I do now, I find that those little microlight keychain type LED flashlights are EDC compared to when I was a working tech and could belt loop a mini mag. I still keep those hand crank LED flashlights handy at home, as well as a couple LED pop up type portable lanterns. For emergency lighting at home, I have about a dozen oil lamps spread out over the house. They aren't the brightest lightsource, but they are there when I need them. I have a few lamps that have kept the same oil in them for 5 years on the mantle, and they light just as nice and make good light to function by at night, and add a few hundred btus to the mix. Did I mention how cheap they were? Maybe I spent a hundred bucks for all 12. The oil is cheap and most lamps will last a week on one fill with regular nightly use.

Lesson 10: I used to muck around with coleman stoves at camp. Then I got smart and bought a big camp chef HD propane stove. Three 25,000 btu burners produce enough heat to do all my kitchen work at elk camp for a full week on one 20 lb tank. With that and my dutch ovens and occasionally a charcoal or wood fire, I can crank out a pile of some of the best food I can make. A good camp dutch oven or two (the type with a lip around the top of the lid for holding embers on top) will work well in the fireplace for heating, baking, roasting, boiling, frying. They were made for using with a wood fire at camp, and ought to adapt well to fireplace use, depending on the room you have. Contrary to popular belief, they are also quite easy to maintain and clean. There's been a few times where my 4 quart recipe of beef stroganoff sure made a big difference in my outlook on the day.

Lesson 11: See lesson 7. Pets at home are smart and a lot more tolerant than us humans.

We're in day 3 of the worst ice storm to hit Southwest Missouri in 20 years. I actually think locally it is the worst in 50 years based on the fact that even the giant hardwoods like Oaks & Hickories are being destroyed like I've never seen before. Some of the oaks on & around our land are 50 & 60 feet high & really old. They have been snapping off all weekend - at times sounded like a war zone.

We lost power 10:00 pm on Friday. Moved all refrigerator items to boxes & put in van & put all freezer items in cooler on front porch. We were initially afraid that the power would be out a week plus and that it would warm up & spoil the food so we have been cooking microwave meals in a frying pan on the BBQ.

Been using this flashlight all weekend:

http://www.amazon.com/MasterVision-308ww-Cap-Light/dp/B0006515C6

And I love it!

Both hand free at all times! It was only $11 at WallyWorld. After using it cave crawling this summer I got both of my boys the same ones for Christmas. It doesn't light up the world, but works great for navigating the house when there is no power. Very, very comfortable as I can't tell it's even on the hat. And always with me.

The biggest problem with our house is we don't have a woodstove and the fireplace is in the great room so any heat goes up to the top & with no electricity to run the fan it is worthless as far as heating the house.

The good thing is it's an earthberm so we camped out in the Masterbedroom & bath which is along the berm. With 7 candles & 4 bodies heating the 12 X 15 bedroomroom it stayed in the upper 60's even though the temps outside hovered 28-32 all weekend as the rain kept coming down & freezing.

The best part of this weekend is my wife will be very open to future "preparation" expenditures.

Another question: What were your thoughts on saving the contents of your fridge when it became apparent that this event was going to around for a bit?
I have read other widely varying opinions about what to do about the contents of your fridge, freezer and maybe deep freeze chest.
One school of thought is to not open the door at all, keeping the cold as long as you can, but also cutting into your ability to use up whats inside.
Another expert I read said start unloading your most valuable food and pack it into a cooler with your remaining ice, as from a food safety point of view, 6 hours without power means your food in the fridge will have already moved into the dicey status- you may not want to consume even if the power comes back on now anyway. And you don't wan toruin your appliance by having that mess to clean up.
I have heard freezers may hold for 2 days, but the contents will pretty much be on the thaw, and you may have to consume 12000 calories of Market Day enchiladas anyway in the next 24 hours if you want to save them!
Anyone have a strategy they feel is a bit more foolproof?

Personally, I think moving stuff to a cooler is the best approach. I've had coolers packed with ice last many days before the last of ice had melted.

Also, a chest won't spill the cold are out as much when you open it.

-john

Power. I went cheap and bought a deep cycle marine battery to go with a 300 watt inverter. In a pinch it'll charge with jumper cables from a car. So far we've mostly used it to charge and run laptops and run our neighbor's coffee maker. They bought a nice smaller Honda generator though.

Light. Target's Rock River LED Lantern is now our main backup light. At $20 I was tempted to buy them as Christmas gifts for others. I still want to pick up another one or two for our house. It's just so handy and perfectly safe. It meant the end of candles and other fire-based lights for us, though we still have some for backup. Cheap LED headlamps were another winner. Hand-crank LED flashlights or momentary-on keychain lights keep the kids happy without wasting batteries.

Food. I was surprised how badly we crave a hot meal after a day or two of no-cook food. We have backpacking stoves (white gas and alcohol) and use them, but I'd like something safer and more idiot-proof, especially around kids. That "something will go wrong" bit keeps me worried about cooking with containers full of flammable liquids.

Radios. I'm swamped with radios, being a ham, scanner listener, and shortwave buff. But our neighbors didn't have a single battery-powered radio (except their car), so we loaned them one.

Gas. Keeping the cars topped off is still a problem for us. At least we get some warning of when storms are coming, but there are still things that could pop up without warning. Driving on fumes is just a bad idea all-around.

I was always told as long as there are ice crystals at the center of any meat, then it would be "safe" to re-freeze, so I guess that would mean just a little after that and you should start cooking it.

Duquesne Light says the same thing on their Power Outage Tips webpage.

"When it doubt, through the food out"

Now you just need to throw a "ice block" party.

Aloha Swedish Chef,

I have never used a generator so have no experience with them.

For lights, I really like my Petzl Tikka XP. I have used it nightly on three camping trips so far and haven't had to change batteries. Very useful. I will probably change out the batteries soon and burn the old ones up in my kids flashlights or something. I am going to buy a Fenix P1D CE. It is a keychain size light but throws 135 lumens for one hour on high and 12 lumens for 21 hours on low.

A Coleman propane lantern is also plenty bright and runs a long time. Coleman claims 7 hours on high and 14 hours on low. I am not sure how long the propane really lasts as I almost never use it on high.

I use one of these



for home power outage back up cooking along with an outdoor grill. I even use the portable stove for family camping. It's like bringing your kitchen stove with you.

During our last extended power outage, I used a Grundig radio to listen to the only station that was online for news and updates. It runs on batteries or a built in crank generator.

Good luck to you in your preparations efforts.

Our food consumption strategy has been to eat the stuff in the fridge first (with minimal opening and closing), freezer second and can and dry stuff last.

What do the experts say on this?

Aloha,
What's the brand and model # of the stove you have pictured? Looks like a nice set-up.

An amusing footnote to the WA power outage.

Both Lowes and HD have had to put up signs that the generators they bought during the power outage WERE NOT returnable.

Some people have been fussing about that. Apparently, they think they just RENTED the generators.

A lot of the people here have incredibly short memories.

Sue

After spending some time on eGullet, a food forum, I suspect there is even more leeway than that, although I suppose as a rule of thumb it is probably safe advice.

The main factors are time and tempature. If you keep them in an ice chest with ice and they stay at, say, 34F, they may be totally defrosted, yet as safe as in your refrigerator.

Perhaps it would be good to get an old mechanical thermometer to throw in there with the food.

Also, it depends on what kind of food. If I understand correctly, steaks are fairly free of critters on the inside. It's the outside that starts to grow stuff. This is why it's fairly safe to have a fairly rare steak -- the outside is cooked, killing anything there.

But if you take hamburger as an alternate example, it is ground, so the inside is the outside and thus undercooked hamburger is much less safe, reference all the e. coli associations with hamburger, esp. undercooked.

I won't go into it, but chicken should always be well cooked.

Our nose knows when meat is past due. Use it.

And of course, consider you are going to cook that puppy. 160F will kill e. coli.

Make sure you maintain proper sanitation so you don't contaminate your work surfaces and other food with the raw meats. This may take a little more attention without hot water and possibly less light.

While not exactly on topic, I asked a similar question over on eGullet that might be of interest: eGullet: Stupid question: Meat, how long in the fridge?

And getting a bit farther off topic, here is some more discussion about food safety and sanitation:

eGullet: food safety, keep the bugs away
eGullet: Washing Your Sponges, Do you do this?
eGullet: Disinfecting kitchen, Nice-smelling bleach doesn't work

-john

So far our situation has been easy on this question as the temps never went above 30 and after the storm passed the temps plunged down even further. Holding at 4 degrees right now day four without power. In fact we have had the opposite problem in that a lot of the fridge stuff that we didn't eat up already - like the lettuce - has frozen solid & will have to be tossed. Of course the the meat is so expensive that I'm glad that has been our problem.

What was your experience with water pressure from the tap? Most communities use electric pumps to store water in towers. Was there a decrease in pressure?

Ya gotta love 'em. Who helps these people dress in the morning???

Thanks for this thread. Being in South Lousy-anna, heating has not been a priority in my list of concerns. If an ice storm comes, we will surely lose power and that means a loss of heat. I am going to remedy that situation immediately. The climate is definitely changing according to the view that I have from these shoes.

Wow, thanks for all the input. In response to a few questions...

Artificial Light Needs: I'm not a morning person, so I'd say we used lights from maybe 5 or 5:30 pm to about 1 am. That's about 8 hours per day. After tripping on something the first night, I also left one tube of the flourescent light on in the corner throughout the night so I wouldn't have to fumble for a flashlight if I woke up in the dark and decided to use the bathroom.

Lesson Learned #12 Keep things clean, especially the floor
It's not like I was that busy, but I let things accumulate and had a big clean-up once power came back. Extra blankets, clothes, used batteries are all trip hazzards, too, and I had no excuse but laziness.

Specific Flashlights: One is an old Inova, no longer available (not sure which model), but I'm sure they have similar models now. The other was a limited production run that a guy on the candle power forums had made. I picked up two and think they're great, but don't know the manufacturer - or even if one was ever identified. They're not as fancy or tough as the stuff from HDS, for example, (which also have variable output) but I love the fact that I have a nice bright 42 lumen flashlight (lasts only 1-2 hours at that output, if I recall correctly) AND a lower output light, suitable for other uses such as use indoors, reading (with much longer battery life at lower output) - all in one light. I can't recall specifics, but I think there are about 20 steps, each cutting the output by 20% or something, so 42 lumens, 34, 27, 22, 18, 15, 12, 9, 7, 5, etc. There are many situations in which just a small amount of light is just fine.

I can be a bit of a gear geek at times - although I always try to focus on features I'll actually use. I read a bit on the Candle Power Forums and flashlightreviews.com before selecting this light. (Sadly, not before selecting that headlamp I complained about previously.)

I've been looking into Petzl and Fenix, but had felt like I'd spent enough on gear for a while. I'll look again and maybe pick one up.

Lesson Learned #13 A GPS device can help in (mildly) surprising ways
At least it was surprising to me. After abandoning my car due to virtually no gas and getting a ride home on the first day of power outage, the traffic in Bellevue was a mess. We tried to be clever and take a street called West Lake Sammamish down to I 90. This is a lakeside street with virtually no stop signs or lights, and thus less likely to be impacted by the power outage than the other major streets we'd driven through early with no-traffic-light=four-way-stop every block. Essentially, this would have worked fairly well, except for the fact that, well, we'd just had a wind storm so trees were down across the road every half mile.

Now, directions from the GPS weren't helpful because it just kept trying to route us back to the main roads we wanted to avoid. And we didn't really want to explore - many of the side streets there are isolated neighborhoods that just feed out onto that road, and those that have exits are a suburban maze. But I was able to use the GPS with it's handy zoom and drag features to browse the surrounding area and identify a way to turn off of - and come back to - the street we wanted to take. After 3 detours for downed trees we were about ready to give up, but had made a lot of progress. We stuck with it and made it through. I'm sure we saved at least 30 minutes (and more importantly, perhaps, saved that gas) by avoiding the main roads.

Fridge: I didn't worry about it much in the first 24 hours. I didn't check the temp, but I doubt our fridge had gotten too warm in 6 hours - it's new, and I keep it at 33-35. I know lots of people who seem to keep theirs at 40, but I like cold drinks!

Later, since I'd been paying a lot of attention to temperatures, it was 38-42 outdoors for the most part, which was better than indoors that day, so I moved some things out. After 48 hours, it was 41 inside, and maybe a few degrees cooler outside, so I went back to not worrying much about it.

It was also clear at this point that Seattle had power and the east side was slowly regaining it, so I wasn't going to go hungry. I would have worried more about the freezer, but we had almost nothing in it. Eventually I'll get a chest freezer and stock it, but I don't know how long one would stay cold without power. You'd think it wouldn't be too expensive to for the makers to insulate one of those as good as a cooler.

Water Pressure Excellent point! I'd completely forgotten. We normally have fairly high water pressure here. For the first 48 hours or so I didn't notice any change, then we started to see it decrease, and it was much lower by day 5. I assume that electric pumps are somewhere "up stream" and that they weren't working. Had there been some sort of real disaster or prolonged outage, I suppose we might have ended up without water.

Scanners - thanks for the info.

Benjammin - thanks for the many interesting points

[color:"blue"]WallyWorld[/color] - is this a real place? Perhaps an abbreviation - er, lengthening - of Wal-Mart that I haven't heard before?

Lesson #14 Bad Luck and [color:"red"] Evil Social Engineering[/color]
I know of one person who was without power much longer than we were. Their neighborhood was restored, but there was an additional tree down that prevented the newly restored power from reaching 3 homes. When 70,000-ish people are still without power after a week, the power company has got to prioritize and issues affecting a handful of people are going to be lower on the list. This could have been any one of us.

During the conversation in which I heard this story, I also heard another story. I was shocked to later hear someone else say they'd done the same thing. I want to be very clear that I do not support this, nor advocate it - but I think it's worth reporting what some people are doing.

What these people had done was falsely report live downed power lines in their neighborhood. They were tired of not having power, and tired of the automated phone system the power company had put in place to prevent having to try to deal in-person with thousands of phone calls. Once these people found a back door to get to a real person at the power company, or once the volume of calls was reduced to the point the power company could start handling them again, these people called in, identified where the tree had taken out their line, and claimed the line was live. One of them said, "Well, I said it MIGHT be live."

Live power lines are obviously very dangerous - at least one person was killed stepping on one covered by storm debris in the aftermath of this storm - and I have no problem with someone legitimately reporting a line they believe to be live. But these people were essentially lying in order to get their area bumped up on the "fix list." The power company needs accurate information to prioritize their work correctly. What if another area with a REAL live downed line had to wait longer because of this? I found it troubling that some people valued their convenience so highly, and other people so little.

Thanks,

While I respect your view on Generator sizes,
most smaller units (Honda's excepted) don't last long.
Change the oil on a regular basis and especially after the first 3 to 5 hours of use.
Use Stabil or equivalent fuel stabilizer.
Lacquer is no fun to keen out of a carburetor etc.
Also fuel consumption is less true than claimed by advertising.
The fuel math is a little jaded too.
You will burn the fuel equal to your power setting (load).
What you seem to be saying is that the minimum fuel use (or flow rate floor) is higher in larger generators, but that's not really true.
More or less you will consume fuel based on the power consumption. The difference in fuel efficiently isn't like an automobile where the large car weights more than the compact.
Also remember that the performance ratings are not really continuous duty unless the generator is name plated as such.
It's nice to have some head room in capacity, you never know what you are going to run into or need.
Fuel can still be saved if necessary by just running the generator on & off time as a 1 hour on 1 hour off for most things (like fridges, microwaves etc).
The bigger generators also typically regulate better and have more stability and reduced electrical noise (but not always acoustical noise of course) You can build/buy an enclosure to reduce acoustical noise.
One final thought, mark your calendar or set an appointment, but run the generator once a month for at least a little while.
We have a number of gen-set both personally and at work.
Many has been the time when someone tried to fire up a generator for an emergency (unexpected need) and couldn't.
Good luck.

Again borrowing on experience from more hurricane power outages than we care to remember, when you have the various flashlights / lanterns etc. in use around the house, it is beneficial to place (common sense safety permitting) mirrors behind and or above illumination sources. It makes a dramatic difference, particularily when the room has darker decorating colors. Even tacking a white bedsheet against a dark wall behind a flashlight will increase the reflected light, although a mirror is much better. When using any mirrors or light backdrops, remember just how hot the source of illumination can be interms of possible fires / melting and/or heat stress fatigue on glass mirrors.

Regards,
Comanche7

Here in the D/FW area, we've seen a LOT of stores carrying inexpensive, chinese import generators. We're talking sub $300, sometimes sub $200. We were discussing this in the local ham club meeting, when one of our members said that those generators were generally aimed at contractors and had an engine lifetime of 400 hours.

The general idea is that contractor generators get stolen on a regular basis, so no point in buying an expensive one. They are cheap enough to get charged onto a single job, and if they outlast the project, they can be given away to an employee.

The club member's understanding was that the engine would not generally be rebuildable, as it'd be a really low cost design for which parts would not be available. I can't speak from personal experience on this subject.

Recently I've been involved in moving a radio repeater from one water tower to another, and I got told that city water isn't supplied by pumps, at least not directly. Rather, your water pressure is supplied by the mass of water stored in the area water towers. Water is pumped up the water tower, but your faucet pressure is passive. I would imagine in a power outage situation that the water in the towers would continue to supply passive pressure until the level in the towers got low.

It might only be good for 400 hours then it's scrap metal, but that's still 20+ days (assuming 8 hours of sleep when it is off) of enough power to keep the basics running. If you need a supplimental gennie, or one that you can keep out in front as a decoy, or are just someplace with really well protected (ie burried) lines, then this might not be as bad an idea as it sounds.

Hi kghirardi

Not taking issue with your thoughts here, just forwarding a few observations...

"While I respect your view on Generator sizes, most smaller units (Honda's excepted) don't last long."

While I generally concur, longevity also depends heavily upon the environment and how units are operated...I've observed some pretty nice units turn into trash due to negligence. Our Coleman Powermate 5kW gasoline unit is still kicking along pretty nicely, it was purchased just after Hurricane Andrew and has about 600 hours on it. This is attributed to:

1. It was treated with Microlon (engine oil treatment) when it was first purchased and has been serviced with 25-30 hour oil changes, air filter checked and/or replaced regularily and only two carburetor rebuilds with four fuel filter reprlacements (we put on a very large inline fuel filter to replace the original). [Microlon Disclaimer: Not a sales pitch, or vested interest, just a product that seems to work.]

2. When we run it, (typically once a month for at least half an hour) we typically take a household box fan and blow it towards the genset from about 5 feet away (and take advantage of any prevailing breeze as well). I always figure that it was worth the 1 to 2 amps of 120 volt output to ensure that there was not a build up of heat.

3. When we exercise the genset, we also apply a load to it, typically two of the old fashioned parabolic coil heater space heaters (antiques, but they still work). The thought here is that the load can be almost anything, but be sure to load your genset up to at least 65-75% of capacity when you exercise it. This helps to dry out any moisture that has condensed on the windings and put a load on the engine itself. Running a motor without a load, particularly at moderate to higher rpms for that motor is not conducive to longevity.
Granted, it is a much bigger and slightly different animal than the 5kW aircooled genset, however the principle is still there.


4. It is not run in sandy and/or wet areas, when it is raining, we keep it under a rainshed of somesort, this has ranged from makeshift awnings, to tarps to covered overhangs of buildings. Typically I try to have about six feet of clearance above it and open sides where practical.

"Change the oil on a regular basis and especially after the first 3 to 5 hours of use. Use Stabil or equivalent fuel stabilizer. Lacquer is no fun to keen out of a carburetor etc."

CONCUR. BTDT. Gas Stabil has been pretty effective in my experience. Rated amount placed in 5 gallon cans, then the can is topped off with gas. Cycle the fuel cans (first in = first out). I've use stored fuel that has been six months old without problems.

One way of cycling the fuel is to have several cans on hand, and use the fuel as you exercise the genset / run the lawnmowers etc. and never let yourself get below 2 of 3 cans [or drums or what ever works best for your situation]. This way you only have to refill one at a time.


"Also fuel consumption is less true than claimed by advertising. The fuel math is a little jaded too. You will burn the fuel equal to your power setting (load)."

CONCUR. Treat all consumption and lifetime expectancies with suspicion until you have actual experience with the unit in question.


"What you seem to be saying is that the minimum fuel use (or flow rate floor) is higher in larger generators, but that's not really true."

Hmmm...while the smaller engines might be relatively in-expensive to replace, when you get to the larger engines, there are actually guidelines as to minimum loading recommendations. The manufacturers operating guidelines for a 1megawatt Caterpillar genset (~1,600 HP?) at work indicates that it gets unhappy at less than about 15-20% loading. {unburned diesel accumulations in the exhaust system etc.]


"More or less you will consume fuel based on the power consumption. The difference in fuel efficiently isn't like an automobile where the large car weights more than the compact."

CONCUR, the loading / power consumption will directly impact the fuel consumption.


"Also remember that the performance ratings are not really continuous duty unless the generator is name plated as such. It's nice to have some head room in capacity, you never know what you are going to run into or need."

CONCUR


"Fuel can still be saved if necessary by just running the generator on & off time as a 1 hour on 1 hour off for most things (like fridges, microwaves etc)."

CONCUR. Suggest scheduling removals of food in batches, rather than keep looking in all the time just to enjoy the cool air (gotta watch the kids here...)


"The bigger generators also typically regulate better and have more stability and reduced electrical noise (but not always acoustical noise of course)"

CONCUR in general, there are some bigger units that are not really that good when you get them on an occilliscope. With power quality it pays to try to get a genset that is "brushless" and has good speed control. There are many generators out there where they can / need to be larger, but electronic nois & power quality is not an issue, i.e. industrial gensets used for jobsite welding.

Sidenote: When operating any high dollar electronic equipment from smaller generators / poorly regulated units etc., it is wise to use an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) inbetween the generator and computer / television etc.


"You can build/buy an enclosure to reduce acoustical noise."

CONCUR. Ref. my notes #2 & #4 above.


"One final thought, mark your calendar or set an appointment, but run the generator once a month for at least a little while."

CONCUR. Add to the list, check that the spare parts / filters / plugs / oil / belts etc. that you have already purchased are REALLY the correct item / type for YOUR particular unit.
>Wry grin<...don't ask how I know this... ;-)


"We have a number of gen-set both personally and at work. Many has been the time when someone tried to fire up a generator for an emergency unexpected need) and couldn't."

CONCUR, this is so true here as well...


[Due to the age and runtime of our Powermate, we're planning on getting a Honda, albeit costing more $ due to the increase in efficiency and lower noiseprint, the Powermate IS a racket maker and while I believe in preventive maintenance, I think that this one is getting "long in the tooth", besides, redundancy is a wonderful thing.]

Regards,
Comanche7

beadles,

Another "gotcha" with those cheapie imports is that the output voltage may be listed as 100 instead of 120 and/or 200 instead of 220-240. For an incandescent lamp or a heater, this is not really an issue, however for motors and electronics this can present much grief. Then on top of the low output voltage, when you factor in the line losses (reduced voltage at the far end of your extension cords) it can really get ugly.

Regards,
Comanche7

This is correct. Water can only flow two ways: it can be pumped upwards, or flow by gravity downwards.

What you described is pretty typical. A community will pump water up to an elevated tank, then let the water flow by gravity back down into town. This keeps the pumps running less and provides a good, usable pressure.

In some cases there is no water tank to feed an area by gravity, and instead water is pumped via "booster pumps" into the area, with the pumps providing operating pressure. These are generally very small parts of a town at an elevation higher than the storage tanks. So unless you live on the highest hill/mountain around town and can look down on everyone else and the city lights, you probably aren't in such an area.

Where you might run into a problem (in either case) is if the electricity to the pump stations go out and/or there is no backup generator, or the generator has run out of fuel. In that case the water department might (hopefully) have a backup connection to another water provider or system for use during emergencies.

Aloha RAS,

I am not sure. It was a picture I pulled up off the web. I can check mine tomorrow if you like. It is identical. I have seen the same product under various brands and they are sold for over $35 - 40 on some sites. But they are available at various stores, including Walmart for just under $20. It runs on a butane canister $2-3 which lasts for hours. I have two in the house and extra fuel canisters. They are awesome in a power outage and are great for family camping. But not for extended lugging around on foot.

In Hawaii, we use a gravity system where reservoirs are uphill and gravity maintains great water pressure when the power is out. The power is to pump water into the reservoirs.

You sort of mentioned it, but one other thing that really came home during the storm (and other events lately) is how seriously we have micro climates and micro occurrences/events around here.

For example, your point about the east side being a wreck, but things were pretty normal in downtown Seattle.

As time went on this became more and more acute. As things returned to normal, there were still pockets where they didn't have power or other services.

With the snow and ice we have been having lately, some streets and areas are completely dry and others are sheets of ice, stranding the local inhabitants.

-john

You're right about the micro cimates. I believe we are going to see more occurances and more extreme examples.

Lesson #10 Cold food sucks
Our house has no gas. As I mentioned I had no generator. I had no butane camping burners or other such stoves. I don’t even own a BBQ grill (not that I could have found charcoal to put in it after the first 12 hours). I could have tried to cook awkwardly over the fire in the fireplace, but mostly ate cold food. Yeah, you can survive on cold canned stew quite well – just don’t plan to enjoy it.

I think that one of the least expensive ways to have prevented this would be to keep an eye open at Garage sales or larger second hand shops or Ebay for a covered chafing dish. Lots of folks pitch then out when they "declutter". I bought one for 2 bucks, fire it up with sterno (about $2 for 3 cans) and I actually have used it to entertain. Cooking right at the table is a big hit... you should taste my seafood nuburg!
Anyway, it is a kitchen appliance that has fallen out of favor, provides a great cooking surface with either direct Sterno flame or as a double boiler and it is energy effcient.
I know I could have done something with that canned stew. Swing by your local China town, pick up a 2 level 6 inch bamboo steamer (I paid - wait for it- $2 for mine) and now you can fry, steam or double boil for a very low investment.

And while you are looking for a chafing dish, look for a cast iron Dutch oven w/ lid... Most women "declutter" these when they upgrade to Allclad. I picked up one ($4) and almost everthing I have cooked in it has come out great. I wouldn't hesitate to use it over burning wood embers in my fireplace. I even use it on my BBQ as well.
That way your fiance doesn't have to watch as you put her new Allclad pot in the fireplace!

I've got a couple of batteries that I keep charged (one gel cell, one marine) for emergency power, but they aren't going to last long enough for a week's power outage (I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in a major earthquake, I'd expect power to be out longer than a week). The issue of gasoline going bad and diesel generators "wet stacking" has kept me from considering buying one.

Nobody here has mentioned propane powered generators; why is that? The fuel won't go bad, can be used for cooking and heating, and so on. Are propane powered generators just not ubiquitous enough for consideration or are there problems?

I think propane generators are the way to go. A farmer friend of mine has converted all of his irrigation pumps to propane power. He says that due to the clean burning nature of the fuel, the engines last a lot longer and require less maintenance, plus can easily be converted back to gasoline if the propane runs out. We are looking at either propane or natural gas fueled stationary units (a whole house generator).

Great report. I had the same experinece happen in 1990. We were in Northern California for a week without power and water. The high temp was -11. Good learning experince and the wife decided it was a good that I had been prepared.

No one seemed interested at all in September when I mentioned the Energizer Quick Switch flashlight in this post. But given what SwedishChef went through, sounds like they could have come in very handy. For those not familiar with the Quick Switch, it can use AA, C, or D size batteries just by adjusting something (I don't have one--sliding some stopper tab in the battery compartment, maybe?). Anyway, it's a self-contained way to use any batteries you would commonly find at the supermarket. Even if you have your own stash of batteries for your own lights, it might be very advantageous to have a couple of these Quick Switches to give to others.

The other idea I had along this line of thinking are battery adapters or "upsizers". They let you use AA's in products requiring C or D size batteries and cost a couple bucks each. Less, if you bought them in volume, I suppose. They are basically plastic shells, shaped like a C or D size battery, into which you can slip in a AA. So, if your supermarket runs out of D's for your flashlight, but has AA's, you can use upsizers with the AA's as substitutes. Obviously, a single AA holds a lot less energy than a big D, but at least you'll have power available.

One unique advantage of an upsizer is that you could put lithium AA's in a D-sized light for lighter weight, better cold weather performance, and/or better shelf life. Lithium D's do exist, but that's definitely an exotic item. Well, of course, you could also just buy a light that takes AA's in the first place, but then you lose the fun of talking about how to get lithiums in your D-cell light. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Anyway, not perfect solutions or substitutes, but when you've got a D-cell light or radio and the only batteries available are AA's, seems like these will do in a pinch.