So it's thanksgiving, and I am giving thanks at 5:23pm for the power being on.

Yesterday, I went to work, thinking that we might close early. We did. I nearly skidded, with ALB, into the idiot that stopped short to turn, but only after he let the car where he wanted to turn out onto the main road. Then I nearly went into the ditch, speeding at 25 MPH. A driveway saved me.  I picked up my daughter from a friends' house and this time, I did go into the ditch....but just enough that I could back out. 15 MPH homeward.... To a small hill that stopped me. Three tries, and I gave up, reversed backward down to a driveway, pulled out and went to a gas station.

My wife was heading home from a meeting with our daughter's teachers. I tried again, up the hill. Made it! Down another hill and up... To our street, pulled into the garage and waited for my wife. She came in 10 minutes later. No problems driving in the snowstorm.

The difference? She just had 4 snow tires put on.

2 hours later, the power went out. 2 more hours and the generator came out. Somehow I kept the old girl generating till 3:30am when the fuel ran out.

Between flashlights, a cot in our room for our kid, and power management of a 6 Kw gen in a 12 KW house, we made it to dinner with the inlaws. Picked up 10 gal of gas on the way home, and was never so glad to see lights left on!

Lessons. Have enough generator. Maintain it. Have a backup. Wool is good. Our GHB wined up radio is a toy. You need the internet and/or POTS to find out no one cares about you but your family and friends. All the media is interested in is airline delays and car crashes. No news that is relevant.

How about your experiences? My story is kinda boring.

OP I think you learned a double fistful there.

Demand management is the key to successfully using a generator.  CJanNH (sp) has some sadly funny posts on that.  Bigger generators burn moar gas, so plan accordingly.

I am glad things are ok now

glad to hear of a happy ending, but...


you had only 8 (?) hours of fuel on hand?


but 10 gallons worth of "empty" fuel cans?

NOAA/NWS have been talking about this "mini-Nor'Easter" since sunday or monday.


http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/661411_Sandy____12_days_without_power__what_worked__what_didn_t____.html

ar-jedi

Sounds like you need to keep more generator gas on hand.

I look at a generator  as the ability to provide the basics; furnace, fridge, a couple lights, and the ability to recharge UPS's.
























 

Yep - Once you got backup heat that doesn't rely on electrical power, it becomes a lot easier to minimize generator run-time and fuel consumption.

NG or propane fireplace inserts, logs or space heaters, kerosine heaters, wood or pellet-burning stove, etc. - They're all good.

Having backup heat also means that you don't freeze if the generator conks out. Heaters tend to be much more reliable than generators.

Platt

If ya get stuck or need a hand, I'm just south of you. PM for my cell.

Vehicle  problems you will sort out when you feel like buying   proper tires.

Some great responses here. Appreciate the comments and offer of help. Thanks!

I read AR-Jedi's thread several times. That was a real storm. This power failure was just my block- maybe 20 houses, and, therefor, low priority.

Oh yes, no chance of a power outage from trees. Road crews swarmed our area this summer, cutting down everything near a line. Took them weeks...

As for fuel, I am 1 mile from a gas station; no problem getting fuel. I gave up on storing it, as we are getting a propane generator.

Tires. Yup. I tried to get snow tires for my vehicle, and *something* went wrong, and it was delayed. Bad luck.


We were plowed out by evening, and had the fun of an "emergency" for my 11 YO daughter. We found out what works, and what needs work.

This.

What are you powering that requires 12K of generator?  We get by on a combination of 2kW inverter and Honda EU2000 gen.

Either one can keep critical loads going in the house.  The generator runs 8 hrs per gallon.  If I run the furnace or frig then shut the gen down, I get more hrs/gal.  The inverter can run things for 24hrs w/o recharge on 4 golf cart batteries.

What is your vehicle?  Sand or tires cables are cheap if you are 2WD

i look at a generator as part of the solution, i keep two deep cycle batteries charged  so i can run off an inverter, this way i can use a smaller 800 watt generator to charge the batteries , it will run 5-6 hrs on 1 gal of gas. it will charge batteries  easily so that the inverter battery system can run other items. i can add batteries.

thsi way i have the larger generator to handle large load items and run it infrequently.  the small generators are a lot less fuel hungry and will conserve my fuel for  a medium term outage,  with the inverter i can run the furnace or refrig  for short time periods and charge the batteries as i need to.    the battery bank is expandable and i have a small and large inverter, seem like a 1500 watt is most usefull,


alex