[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Ice Storm - Running on Generator (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 1/6/2010 7:01:00 PM EDT
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The power in my neighborhood went off about 30 Min ago due to ice and high winds.
Fired-up the MEP-003 and I’m the only house around with power... I have to admit, I am feeling a bit smug... 
Andy.. |
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Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! I would, but I think the drone of the 10Kw Diesel generator in my back yard gives me away... Andy.. OK then only let the hot single moms in  I would but I think my wife might have a problem with that... |
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Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! I would, but I think the drone of the 10Kw Diesel generator in my back yard gives me away... Andy.. OK then only let the hot single moms in I would but I think my wife might have a problem with that... Send her out for milk, bread and eggs......dont forget the TP ......sorry, feeling like a wise ass tonight
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A generator cn be heard from a distance, but if you aren't showing lights, or if you are only showing candle light, most people won't know which house the noise is coming from, and may not want to go exploring, as it gets very dark when all the streetlights and home lights go out.
Whenever the grid goes down and the generator kicks on, my first move is to draw the heavy drapes and be sure which rooms are showing lights, then the tactical vest comes out, and any weapons unchambered get chambered. I think the key to many problems during Katrina began with the lack of electricity, and all that comes with it, which puts people on edge, and the flooding, which prevents travel, making even foot travel difficult, which drives people over the edge into chaos. Some or all of that is a possibility during an ice storm too. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! This I think his noise signature probably calls for better lighting before someone comes along to relieve him of his toy. John I like the idea of night vision cameras better. Sneak up on them and see how fast they can run. You can't shoot them if they are not in flight. |
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Fired-up the MEP-003 and I’m the only house around with power... I'm jealous. I just bought my house in September and it has all electric heat. So right now I'm screwed if the power goes out and its really cold. I've been trying to buy a MEP-003 or MEP-004 and the good ones that are within a reasonably driving distance always go for 3k+ The junker that is at the base where I work went for almost 2k I think. The fuel tank was half-rusted out and the fuel filters were full of sludge. Not to mention 2K+ hours and really rough looking overall condition. Guess I'll just have to hope and pray I make it through this winter and I can find one next year. Or get wood heat like I've been considering. |
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Quoted: Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! It's an ice storm, not a SHTF. I say let them come over for a bit of warmth and fun. Nothing like a bunch of guys standing around a generator drinking whatever strikes your fancy. They may very well learn a very valuable lesson from this. Networking, it's a skill for the coming apocalypse... |
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Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! It's an ice storm, not a SHTF. I say let them come over for a bit of warmth and fun. Nothing like a bunch of guys standing around a generator drinking whatever strikes your fancy. They may very well learn a very valuable lesson from this. Networking, it's a skill for the coming apocalypse... During the 1998 ice storm my neighborhood was without power for just over 21 days, and we lost city water and LNG about a week after the lights went out. Looking back, that extended outage was a cakewalk compared to the (much shorter) 2008 ice storm. The reason it was cakewalk was because of my neighbors. We got together, pooled our resources, and got through it. My home became the de facto shelter because I had a generator and supplies. One neighbor had an entire freezer chest full of meat, and rather than let it go bad we fired up his grill and feasted! It almost felt like an extended block party 
Aside from a couple of glaring exceptions, *most* people were grateful as hell to have a hot shower, a hot meal, and a warm place to sleep. Before we lost city water, neighbors showed up at my door with a bath towel in one hand and a portable gas tank in the other to feed the generator. It became a running joke to ask how many gallons of gas it would cost to buy a hot shower The reality was that it wouldn't have cost them a thing, and they knew it-though they still liked to needle me about it.
We had our share of problems, some of them serious, but we worked together pretty well as a group to solve them. |
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Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! It's an ice storm, not a SHTF. I say let them come over for a bit of warmth and fun. Nothing like a bunch of guys standing around a generator drinking whatever strikes your fancy. They may very well learn a very valuable lesson from this. Networking, it's a skill for the coming apocalypse... I agree with jeepnstein this can be a great opportunity to improve relationships with the neighbors. The last big ice storm that wiped out power in my area had been predicted for several days, so many of my neighbors had purchased generators and gas but didn't have a clue about running or taking care of them. I spent most of the first night checking oil, building shelters for the generators because freezing rain was still coming down, talking about surge loads and other such fun stuff. Everyone came out better friends and a little better educated and prepared for next time. |
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(1) What happened in the 2008 ice storm that was worse than the 1998, can you elaborate?
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Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! It's an ice storm, not a SHTF. I say let them come over for a bit of warmth and fun. Nothing like a bunch of guys standing around a generator drinking whatever strikes your fancy. They may very well learn a very valuable lesson from this. Networking, it's a skill for the coming apocalypse... During the 1998 ice storm my neighborhood was without power for just over 21 days, and we lost city water and LNG about a week after the lights went out. Looking back, that extended outage was a cakewalk compared to the (much shorter) 2008 ice storm. The reason it was cakewalk was because of my neighbors. We got together, pooled our resources, and got through it. My home became the de facto shelter because I had a generator and supplies. One neighbor had an entire freezer chest full of meat, and rather than let it go bad we fired up his grill and feasted! It almost felt like an extended block party
. . We had our share of problems, some of them serious, but we worked together pretty well as a group to solve them. (2) Can you kind of describe the "serious" problems you encountered. I am a firm believer of "to be fore warned, is to be fore armed." |
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(1) What happened in the 2008 ice storm that was worse than the 1998, can you elaborate?
Quoted:
Quoted:
Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! It's an ice storm, not a SHTF. I say let them come over for a bit of warmth and fun. Nothing like a bunch of guys standing around a generator drinking whatever strikes your fancy. They may very well learn a very valuable lesson from this. Networking, it's a skill for the coming apocalypse... During the 1998 ice storm my neighborhood was without power for just over 21 days, and we lost city water and LNG about a week after the lights went out. Looking back, that extended outage was a cakewalk compared to the (much shorter) 2008 ice storm. The reason it was cakewalk was because of my neighbors. We got together, pooled our resources, and got through it. My home became the de facto shelter because I had a generator and supplies. One neighbor had an entire freezer chest full of meat, and rather than let it go bad we fired up his grill and feasted! It almost felt like an extended block party
. . We had our share of problems, some of them serious, but we worked together pretty well as a group to solve them. (2) Can you kind of describe the "serious" problems you encountered. I am a firm believer of "to be fore warned, is to be fore armed." I'd like to know also. I'm thinking they moved or the really good people around him moved. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! It's an ice storm, not a SHTF. I say let them come over for a bit of warmth and fun. Nothing like a bunch of guys standing around a generator drinking whatever strikes your fancy. They may very well learn a very valuable lesson from this. Networking, it's a skill for the coming apocalypse... During the 1998 ice storm my neighborhood was without power for just over 21 days, and we lost city water and LNG about a week after the lights went out. Looking back, that extended outage was a cakewalk compared to the (much shorter) 2008 ice storm. The reason it was cakewalk was because of my neighbors. We got together, pooled our resources, and got through it. My home became the de facto shelter because I had a generator and supplies. One neighbor had an entire freezer chest full of meat, and rather than let it go bad we fired up his grill and feasted! It almost felt like an extended block party Aside from a couple of glaring exceptions, *most* people were grateful as hell to have a hot shower, a hot meal, and a warm place to sleep. Before we lost city water, neighbors showed up at my door with a bath towel in one hand and a portable gas tank in the other to feed the generator. It became a running joke to ask how many gallons of gas it would cost to buy a hot shower The reality was that it wouldn't have cost them a thing, and they knew it-though they still liked to needle me about it.We had our share of problems, some of them serious, but we worked together pretty well as a group to solve them. This is what it takes to survive. |
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how do you like the MEP-003? I've got a couple military 3kw diesels and was thinking of a 5kw or 10kw to add to the pile.... I love it. It will run my whole house, including the AC if I lose power in the summer... It's trailer mounted and has the Acoustic Suppression kit and really isn't all that loud. The sound is lower than the standard hardware store generators. I had to do a little work on it, replace the fuel pumps, the voltage regulator for the 24 volt generator and a few other things but that’s not bad. One really nice thing is that you can connect it to an external fuel source. I have a 55 Gal drum it feeds from, giving several days of run time even at a moderate load.. I have even used it to jump start my Deuce a few times.. Andy.. |
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Fired-up the MEP-003 and I’m the only house around with power... I'm jealous. I just bought my house in September and it has all electric heat. So right now I'm screwed if the power goes out and its really cold. I've been trying to buy a MEP-003 or MEP-004 and the good ones that are within a reasonably driving distance always go for 3k+ The junker that is at the base where I work went for almost 2k I think. The fuel tank was half-rusted out and the fuel filters were full of sludge. Not to mention 2K+ hours and really rough looking overall condition. Guess I'll just have to hope and pray I make it through this winter and I can find one next year. Or get wood heat like I've been considering. If your heat is gas all you really need is a small 1k gen to keep the heat on and run a few lights or TV... Andy.. |
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(1) What happened in the 2008 ice storm that was worse than the 1998, can you elaborate? (2) Can you kind of describe the "serious" problems you encountered. I am a firm believer of "to be fore warned, is to be fore armed." Despite being a far more serious situation that dragged out much longer, the 1998 storm was generally easier to get through because of the friends and neighbors around me. They became an extremely effective support system. It sounds corny, but we were completely united-and actually having a pretty good time considering. The biggest advantage I had in 1998 over 2008 was that I didn't have to go it alone. Rather than have to worry about (and do) every little thing yourself, getting help from others is awesome. One of the couples took it upon themselves to find fuel for the generator. They had to travel a few towns over to get it, but I didn't even have to think about it-I knew that one way or another they'd come back with a load of fuel. In an extended power outage, not having to worry about fuel is an amazing luxury. Some people cooked, some people liked to watch the generator (watching the generator was a great excuse to smoke cigarettes and drink beer). Some people liked to get supplies. Some people were good at playing games with the kids to keep them from going stir crazy. Hell, one lady even liked to clean! Problems in 1998: 1) Everyone has a bad neighbor. At the time mine was a miserable, ungrateful witch with a chip on her shoulder and an entitlement mentality. My witch showed up carrying her ten megawatt hair dryer looking for a hot shower. I told that wench flat out that she couldn't use her hair dryer. The generator (a 2500 watt Honda) was running flat out powering the furnace, water heater blower, and some small lights. There was no way in hell that it could support all that plus her hair dryer. After being in the shower for over 30 minutes (  ) what did she do? She tried to use her damned hair dryer, which shut down the generator, furnace, water heater, and lights. I stormed upstairs and asked her what the hell she was doing, and she was completely indignant-saying that she ran it on "low" so it shouldn't have been a problem.
Ten minutes later I got the genset running again, the pilot re-lit on the water heater, and the furnace back up. What happened next? She did the same damn thing AGAIN! I was so livid that my wife was the one who had to tell her to leave...I probably would have punched her-and I'm not like that at all. Right about the time she was making her exit I realized that my brand new Honda genset was FUBARed-the engine would run but it wouldn't produce any power. Long story short, by some miracle I found another generator, and no sooner did I get that one hooked up I realized that the furnace blower motor was FUBARed too. It was like a Greek tragedy. One of the neighbors knew somebody who knew somebody who worked on Lenox Pulse NG furnaces, so I got a new blower motor installed...one day before NG delivery was interrupted 
2) When you have a family as guests in your home you have to set boundaries. It sounds cold, but you can't save the world. Some of the neighbors who were staying with us took it upon themselves to invite other people into my home. Before I knew it, my house was filling up with people I'd never met, and a couple of them were lazy scumbags who expected to be waited on. I can't stress this enough guys: you have to set boundaries, even if it's your best friend or your brother. You cannot have people you've never met parading into and out of your home. I ended up losing several tools and a bunch of supplies. It could have been much worse though. Also, make it clear that your guests have to help out. It's amazing how many people think they're in a hotel. 3) When we lost town water, things got a lot harder. I had a couple of weeks worth of water stored for my family-not a house full of people. The National Guard was giving out water, but it's pretty tough to explain that you are hosting a house full of people and need ten times more than anyone else in the line. You can never have enough water. Despite the above, the 2008 storm was a lot tougher-primarily because I was completely alone for most of it. My family was in Florida when the storm hit, so I advised them to stay put until everything was back to normal. Most of my "good" neighbors from the previous storm had either moved, retired, or died. In their place is a new crop of Massachusetts transplants, and most of them have MASSIVE entitlement complexes. During the 2008 storm there were several attempts to steal my generator, and at one point I had a neighbor in my face-screaming at me because I wouldn't loan her a genset and other supplies. I was completely alone, and surrounded by people who haven't done a modicum of emergency preparation. Despite my efforts to reduce my noise footprint at night I still felt like I was in a fishbowl. Being completely alone in an emergency completely sucks. Network network network. Get to know your friends before they start knocking on your door. I cannot stress that enough. Sorry for the hijack. |
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Fired-up the MEP-003 and I’m the only house around with power... I'm jealous. I just bought my house in September and it has all electric heat. So right now I'm screwed if the power goes out and its really cold. I've been trying to buy a MEP-003 or MEP-004 and the good ones that are within a reasonably driving distance always go for 3k+ The junker that is at the base where I work went for almost 2k I think. The fuel tank was half-rusted out and the fuel filters were full of sludge. Not to mention 2K+ hours and really rough looking overall condition. Guess I'll just have to hope and pray I make it through this winter and I can find one next year. Or get wood heat like I've been considering. If your heat is gas all you really need is a small 1k gen to keep the heat on and run a few lights or TV... Andy.. I know, but I don't have a gas line in my neighborhood, and I don't really want to mess with propane right now. So for now, its all electric heat, and hopefully I can find a generator. Otherwise I'll be setting up my Coleman lanterns in the basement to try to at least keep the pipes from freezing. I am thinking about getting a wood stove installed over summer. If nothing else it'll put a dent in my electric bill in the winter. |
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I have a MEP-003A and it sure is no "drone" when that thing is running! The engine noise will wake the dead! I wish I had the sound suppression kit on mine. At least nobody can easily steal one of the MEP-003's unless its on a trailer or they have a tow truck.
I like the purr of my Honda EU 2000 if I just want to run the basics. Red |
| CJan_NH: Not a hi-jack, I appreciate your candor. You neighbor from hell, was an interesting story of a very inconsiderate person. That person could've had a very long power outage because you probably wouldn't let her take another show in your place. Now I learn your mistake, that I would've confiscated her hair dryer BEFORE you let her in the house. |
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Here is a good list of house rules when the SHTF:
1) First, I'm in charge. What I say goes, period. This isn't a democracy. I don't care about your opinion, and I don't want to hear about what's fair and what isn't. This is a dictatorship, and I am the supreme overlord of the People's Republic of My Friggin' House. If you don't like it, you are free to leave at any time. 2) I expect you to make yourself useful. Even if it's something as mundane as cooking, cleaning, or keeping any kids that might be sheltering with us as calm as possible, you're going to do SOMETHING to earn your keep for as long as you accept my hospitality. 3) I probably won't expect any sort of reimbursement for all the expensive supplies you consumed while staying with me, but a heartfelt thank you would be nice. 4) Shut up. I don't want to hear that I'm doing things the wrong way. I don't want to hear that I'm being unfair. I don't want to hear that I have too many guns or ammo or that I'm exposing them to the children, or whatever other bullshit you have to say. Just shut up, eat your MRE or beanie-weanies or whatever the crap I just fed you and stay out of my way. 5) I'm in charge. My shelter, my food, my ammunition, my equipment, my rules. If you want to give orders, go back to your place, assuming it's still in existence and habitable. 6) Children will be under control at all times. This is my place; they will not, I repeat, NOT be left unsupervised at any time, especially since I don't want them messing with my stuff, plenty of which is delicate, expensive, extremely useful in our time of need, dangerous, or all of the above. I do not want to deal with whining or screaming brats who don't understand the concept of obedience, courtesy, or discretion. If they insist on being uncontrollable little hellions, I can and will introduce them to the concept of corporal punishment if you refuse to do your job and raise them yourself. 7) No smoking. I'm allergic to that shit and I can't stand the stench of it anyway. If you absolutely must have your fix, go somewhere else to do it. When you come back, rinse yourself off and change your clothes. 8) No alcohol. An emergency is not the time to be drunk or disorderly. All alcoholic beverages will be rationed as anesthesia in case of emergency, such as a broken bone or we have to pull shrapnel out of your ass. 9) Please be considerate. Dispose of your trash and bodily waste in the proper manner. Do not unnecessarily consume my limited resources (food, water, fuel, batteries, TP, etc.), and don't make a bunch of noise or do anything that would be considered unpleasant by everyone else present, especially me. Nobody knows how long we'll have to be together, but I'd like to spend that time without being tempted to strangle you for being a complete asshole. 10) Lastly, and most importantly, I'm in charge. You will do as I say. I cannot stress this enough. |
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(1) What happened in the 2008 ice storm that was worse than the 1998, can you elaborate? (2) Can you kind of describe the "serious" problems you encountered. I am a firm believer of "to be fore warned, is to be fore armed." Despite being a far more serious situation that dragged out much longer, the 1998 storm was generally easier to get through because of the friends and neighbors around me. They became an extremely effective support system. It sounds corny, but we were completely united-and actually having a pretty good time considering. The biggest advantage I had in 1998 over 2008 was that I didn't have to go it alone. Rather than have to worry about (and do) every little thing yourself, getting help from others is awesome. One of the couples took it upon themselves to find fuel for the generator. They had to travel a few towns over to get it, but I didn't even have to think about it-I knew that one way or another they'd come back with a load of fuel. In an extended power outage, not having to worry about fuel is an amazing luxury. Some people cooked, some people liked to watch the generator (watching the generator was a great excuse to smoke cigarettes and drink beer). Some people liked to get supplies. Some people were good at playing games with the kids to keep them from going stir crazy. Hell, one lady even liked to clean! Problems in 1998: 1) Everyone has a bad neighbor. At the time mine was a miserable, ungrateful witch with a chip on her shoulder and an entitlement mentality. My witch showed up carrying her ten megawatt hair dryer looking for a hot shower. I told that wench flat out that she couldn't use her hair dryer. The generator (a 2500 watt Honda) was running flat out powering the furnace, water heater blower, and some small lights. There was no way in hell that it could support all that plus her hair dryer. After being in the shower for over 30 minutes ( ) what did she do? She tried to use her damned hair dryer, which shut down the generator, furnace, water heater, and lights. I stormed upstairs and asked her what the hell she was doing, and she was completely indignant-saying that she ran it on "low" so it shouldn't have been a problem.
Ten minutes later I got the genset running again, the pilot re-lit on the water heater, and the furnace back up. What happened next? She did the same damn thing AGAIN! I was so livid that my wife was the one who had to tell her to leave...I probably would have punched her-and I'm not like that at all. Right about the time she was making her exit I realized that my brand new Honda genset was FUBARed-the engine would run but it wouldn't produce any power. Long story short, by some miracle I found another generator, and no sooner did I get that one hooked up I realized that the furnace blower motor was FUBARed too. It was like a Greek tragedy. One of the neighbors knew somebody who knew somebody who worked on Lenox Pulse NG furnaces, so I got a new blower motor installed...one day before NG delivery was interrupted
2) When you have a family as guests in your home you have to set boundaries. It sounds cold, but you can't save the world. Some of the neighbors who were staying with us took it upon themselves to invite other people into my home. Before I knew it, my house was filling up with people I'd never met, and a couple of them were lazy scumbags who expected to be waited on. I can't stress this enough guys: you have to set boundaries, even if it's your best friend or your brother. You cannot have people you've never met parading into and out of your home. I ended up losing several tools and a bunch of supplies. It could have been much worse though. Also, make it clear that your guests have to help out. It's amazing how many people think they're in a hotel. 3) When we lost town water, things got a lot harder. I had a couple of weeks worth of water stored for my family-not a house full of people. The National Guard was giving out water, but it's pretty tough to explain that you are hosting a house full of people and need ten times more than anyone else in the line. You can never have enough water. Despite the above, the 2008 storm was a lot tougher-primarily because I was completely alone for most of it. My family was in Florida when the storm hit, so I advised them to stay put until everything was back to normal. Most of my "good" neighbors from the previous storm had either moved, retired, or died. In their place is a new crop of Massachusetts transplants, and most of them have MASSIVE entitlement complexes. During the 2008 storm there were several attempts to steal my generator, and at one point I had a neighbor in my face-screaming at me because I wouldn't loan her a genset and other supplies. I was completely alone, and surrounded by people who haven't done a modicum of emergency preparation. Despite my efforts to reduce my noise footprint at night I still felt like I was in a fishbowl. Being completely alone in an emergency completely sucks. Network network network. Get to know your friends before they start knocking on your door. I cannot stress that enough. Sorry for the hijack. C JAN... Thank you for this post. Best generator surrounded by dependant neighbor story yet. Thank you again for sharing. |
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I just got a Generator for Christmas, so I need to find a good Transfer Switch kit to get a dedicated outlet on the house to keep a few critically important circuits working during power outages. Anybody have Transfer Switch kit advice on which to get? I did a 6 circuit emergen transfer switch which works fine, but wish I had done an interlock kit instead. Having the whole panel available would be more flexible. interlock kit |
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how do you like the MEP-003? I've got a couple military 3kw diesels and was thinking of a 5kw or 10kw to add to the pile.... I love it. It will run my whole house, including the AC if I lose power in the summer... It's trailer mounted and has the Acoustic Suppression kit and really isn't all that loud. The sound is lower than the standard hardware store generators. I had to do a little work on it, replace the fuel pumps, the voltage regulator for the 24 volt generator and a few other things but that’s not bad. One really nice thing is that you can connect it to an external fuel source. I have a 55 Gal drum it feeds from, giving several days of run time even at a moderate load.. I have even used it to jump start my Deuce a few times.. Andy.. MEP-003???? DEUCE????? I hate you just a little bit. 
J/K Nice set up!!!! Congrats! |
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I just got a Generator for Christmas, so I need to find a good Transfer Switch kit to get a dedicated outlet on the house to keep a few critically important circuits working during power outages. Anybody have Transfer Switch kit advice on which to get? Go here. This is where I got mine and this guy is really knowledgeable. |
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C Jan, wow, what a story!!
....and we wonder if people will turn into savages and barbarians if the lights go out for good?? I think planning for it is a good approach. Trying to steal someone's genny during a power failure seems like it should be a capital crime. It's like rustling cattle in the 1800's, people were shot for less. It's one thing to pay taxes and feel owed some public services in exchange, quite another to think you have rights to someone else's private property. I'll never understand it. To the OP, good for you, you are prepared, best of luck to you, your family and community. |
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Thanks for the kind words guys. I hope someone can learn from my mistakes-it's a lot easier that way
As far as transfer switches go, I've had excellent results with a six-circuit GenTran transfer switch. Mine is one of the smaller ones-rated for 30 amps and 5000 watts. It's mounted in the basement under the main breaker panel. Mounted on the back of my house is a weather tight box with an L14-30 receptacle to feed the transfer switch. The outside receptacle is connected to the transfer switch via 10/4 SEOW cable. All of my generators have pigtails to connect to the outside box. Since my home runs on LNG (heat, hot water, dryer, range, fireplace) I don't have any heavy 220v loads. For this reason I can get away with a smaller genset than most of you. For years I got by with a Honda EB2500 before adding a Honda EB5000. The bigger Honda will just about run the whole house-with the smaller Honda I have to be a bit more selective. My most recent purchase was a pair of Honda eu2000i gensets with parallel capability. I just finished converting them to tri-fuel operation-and it's fantastic! Transfer switch: 
My transfer switch circuits are as follows: A) Hot water heater blower motor B) Deep freeze C) Fridge and GFCI outlets in kitchen D) Furnace blower motor and condensate pump E) Master bath, and CFL lighting throughout house F) Workshop This is the Honda that got fried by my neighbor from hell. Repairs were almost $600: 
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(1) What happened in the 2008 ice storm that was worse than the 1998, can you elaborate?
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Turn off the lights in the front of the house before the whole neighborhood pays you a visit!!!!! It's an ice storm, not a SHTF. I say let them come over for a bit of warmth and fun. Nothing like a bunch of guys standing around a generator drinking whatever strikes your fancy. They may very well learn a very valuable lesson from this. Networking, it's a skill for the coming apocalypse... During the 1998 ice storm my neighborhood was without power for just over 21 days, and we lost city water and LNG about a week after the lights went out. Looking back, that extended outage was a cakewalk compared to the (much shorter) 2008 ice storm. The reason it was cakewalk was because of my neighbors. We got together, pooled our resources, and got through it. My home became the de facto shelter because I had a generator and supplies. One neighbor had an entire freezer chest full of meat, and rather than let it go bad we fired up his grill and feasted! It almost felt like an extended block party
. . We had our share of problems, some of them serious, but we worked together pretty well as a group to solve them. (2) Can you kind of describe the "serious" problems you encountered. I am a firm believer of "to be fore warned, is to be fore armed." and to be fore skinned is to be not jewish......... Sorry, tired
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Fired-up the MEP-003 and I’m the only house around with power... I'm jealous. I just bought my house in September and it has all electric heat. So right now I'm screwed if the power goes out and its really cold. I've been trying to buy a MEP-003 or MEP-004 and the good ones that are within a reasonably driving distance always go for 3k+ The junker that is at the base where I work went for almost 2k I think. The fuel tank was half-rusted out and the fuel filters were full of sludge. Not to mention 2K+ hours and really rough looking overall condition. Guess I'll just have to hope and pray I make it through this winter and I can find one next year. Or get wood heat like I've been considering. If your heat is gas all you really need is a small 1k gen to keep the heat on and run a few lights or TV... Andy.. I know, but I don't have a gas line in my neighborhood, and I don't really want to mess with propane right now. So for now, its all electric heat, and hopefully I can find a generator. Otherwise I'll be setting up my Coleman lanterns in the basement to try to at least keep the pipes from freezing. I am thinking about getting a wood stove installed over summer. If nothing else it'll put a dent in my electric bill in the winter. KEROSENE HEATER .......best back up goin IMHO other than wood |
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Dude, yup, just had do that right. I deserved it, I left myself wide open for that!Quoted:
(1) What happened in the 2008 ice storm that was worse than the 1998, can you elaborate?
During the 1998 ice storm my neighborhood was without power for just over 21 days, and we lost city water and LNG about a week after the lights went out. Looking back, that extended outage was a cakewalk compared to the (much shorter) 2008 ice storm. The reason it was cakewalk was because of my neighbors. We got together, pooled our resources, and got through it. My home became the de facto shelter because I had a generator and supplies. One neighbor had an entire freezer chest full of meat, and rather than let it go bad we fired up his grill and feasted! It almost felt like an extended block party
. . We had our share of problems, some of them serious, but we worked together pretty well as a group to solve them. (2) Can you kind of describe the "serious" problems you encountered. I am a firm believer of "to be fore warned, is to be fore armed." and to be fore skinned is to be not jewish......... Sorry, tired |
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C Jan, wow, what a story!! ....and we wonder if people will turn into savages and barbarians if the lights go out for good?? I think planning for it is a good approach. Trying to steal someone's genny during a power failure seems like it should be a capital crime. It's like rustling cattle in the 1800's, people were shot for less. It's one thing to pay taxes and feel owed some public services in exchange, quite another to think you have rights to someone else's private property. I'll never understand it. To the OP, good for you, you are prepared, best of luck to you, your family and community. According to Missouri's castle law, I believe it would be (here). |
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Fired-up the MEP-003 and I’m the only house around with power... I'm jealous. I just bought my house in September and it has all electric heat. So right now I'm screwed if the power goes out and its really cold. Or get wood heat like I've been considering. Maybe some propane nonvent heaters with two 100# tanks under $500  and of course one of  ]these
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Eh its only a local mini emergency. Enjoy the warmth and comfort. When we loose power due to ice , snow , wind , flooding ect and have the generator going. I fire up the gase stove and make a big pot of coffee , transfer it into a thermos and make a 2nd. If its cold or real nasty we check on some of the neighbors , give them a hot cup make sure they are going to be warm enough ect.
Then again I know most of the home owners on my street on a 1st or last name basis. Most gather in the summer to chat while out for a walk or wind up on somones front porch having a convo in the evening or a glass of wine ect. Many of them were/are elderly. For any truely big shft we plan on leaving immediatly so Im not real worried about it. There really is no reason to go all lord of the flys over such a short term thing IMHO EDIT: Ive never had ANYONE just show up and squat. Ive had people stop by just to visit for a bit and take nothing they werent offered. Most are just glad to have a steaming cup of coffee and be with somone to talk and ease their mind I think. |
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Quoted: Eh its only a local mini emergency. Enjoy the warmth and comfort. When we loose power due to ice , snow , wind , flooding ect and have the generator going. I fire up the gase stove and make a big pot of coffee , transfer it into a thermos and make a 2nd. If its cold or real nasty we check on some of the neighbors , give them a hot cup make sure they are going to be warm enough ect. Then again I know most of the home owners on my street on a 1st or last name basis. Most gather in the summer to chat while out for a walk or wind up on somones front porch having a convo in the evening or a glass of wine ect. Many of them were/are elderly. For any truely big shft we plan on leaving immediatly so Im not real worried about it. There really is no reason to go all lord of the flys over such a short term thing IMHO EDIT: Ive never had ANYONE just show up and squat. Ive had people stop by just to visit for a bit and take nothing they werent offered. Most are just glad to have a steaming cup of coffee and be with somone to talk and ease their mind I think. That is the key. Get to know who lives near and around you. making friends is better than making enemies. |
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Thanks for the cautionary tale.
We had a power outage during a 100 degree day (squirrel took out the substation, believe it or not) and I was able to run the refrigerator and a few fans from my 2.2Kw Honda, and used water from my storage. Had all the in-laws over coincidentally for a picnic. They all saw me rushing around getting water jugs with spigots placed over the sinks for "running water" getting gas for the generator, etc. They remained firmly planted in their lawn chairs. I would like to think it's because they had confidence in my abilities, but somehow.... Anyway, thanks for giving us something to think about. Stay Safe, AGreyMan |
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They remained firmly planted in their lawn chairs. I would like to think it's because they had confidence in my abilities, but somehow.... This is a huge pet peeve of mine AGM. Even if you didn't need their help, they could have at least made a half-assed attempt to offer assistance. Lazy people really chap my ass. Related to that is my single biggest pet peeve: dealing with the deeply entrenched entitlement mindset that so many people have
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Funny previous ARFCOMmers advocate otherwise, ie keep to yourself, and don't talk to your neigbhors, but then this was ARFCOM GD too.Quoted:
Eh its only a local mini emergency. Enjoy the warmth and comfort. When we loose power due to ice , snow , wind , flooding ect and have the generator going. I fire up the gase stove and make a big pot of coffee , transfer it into a thermos and make a 2nd. If its cold or real nasty we check on some of the neighbors , give them a hot cup make sure they are going to be warm enough ect. Then again I know most of the home owners on my street on a 1st or last name basis. Most gather in the summer to chat while out for a walk or wind up on somones front porch having a convo in the evening or a glass of wine ect. Many of them were/are elderly. For any truely big shft we plan on leaving immediatly so Im not real worried about it. There really is no reason to go all lord of the flys over such a short term thing IMHO EDIT: Ive never had ANYONE just show up and squat. Ive had people stop by just to visit for a bit and take nothing they werent offered. Most are just glad to have a steaming cup of coffee and be with somone to talk and ease their mind I think. That is the key. Get to know who lives near and around you. making friends is better than making enemies. I personally talk to my neighbors to get them on board, because sometimes during a SHtF, you/me won't be home, but then someone in your family will. And they may need to be looked after. Since you know your neighbors that will facilitate things.
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Fired-up the MEP-003 and I’m the only house around with power... I'm jealous. I just bought my house in September and it has all electric heat. So right now I'm screwed if the power goes out and its really cold. I've been trying to buy a MEP-003 or MEP-004 and the good ones that are within a reasonably driving distance always go for 3k+ The junker that is at the base where I work went for almost 2k I think. The fuel tank was half-rusted out and the fuel filters were full of sludge. Not to mention 2K+ hours and really rough looking overall condition. Guess I'll just have to hope and pray I make it through this winter and I can find one next year. Or get wood heat like I've been considering. Just be patient. I got a trailer mounted low hour MEP-002 in great shape for $1700. They are very loud, if you can get one with the sound enclosure it would be worth it. Grove |