In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Helpful tips when Power Goes Out...:)

Discussion in 'The Wood Pile' started by Nordic Splitter, Feb 23, 2019.

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  1. Chris F

    Chris F

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    I have a 4,000 watt genny if I think it's going to be short outage and a 8,500 watt for longer periods. The 8,500 will power my submersible water pump. I added a four wire 30' extension cord into the electrical line for the pump and a four prong plug and socket set. When the power goes out I just go down and unplug the wire and run it out the basement window to the generator. I also have a 30 amp extension cord that branches off at the end to 3 120 volt outlets that I can run extension cords from.
    My modem, router and computer is on one power bar so that gets power right away. The router gives everyone else wireless access to the internet.
    This time of year the furnace fan gets it's own extension cord. I put a plug on that line too.
     
    Chris F, Feb 23, 2019
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  2. Backwoods Savage

    Backwoods Savage Moderator

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    For sure it is always best to be prepared. Not sure but I don't think anyone mentioned to have extra gas on hand to run the generator.

    When I almost died in the hospital a bit over a year ago my #1 priority when I came home was to get it set up to automatically start a generator when the power goes out as I just could not picture my wife trying to get thing set up. So, a new generator sets outside and it does come on automatically and then also shuts off automatically when needed. This gives good peace of mind.

    Tim mentioned getting water from a creek and we've done that. Also where we live now I've gone to the neighbor's pond for water to flush the toilet. No problem keeping the house warm for most of us hoarders!
     
    Backwoods Savage, Feb 23, 2019
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  3. billb3

    billb3

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    That stinks ! Squatters will revolt !


    Some will argue that an equivalent amount of energy will be required to re-cool the mass and it makes no difference with or without the extra mass- short cycling vs long cycling, but those opponents always ignore the amount of energy required for starting up a compressor . Short cycling utilizes gobs of surge voltage. The only way the two operating modes become equal is if you put a timer on the compressor forcing the full system to short cycle running longer to cool the contained mass vs no contained mass.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2019
    billb3, Feb 23, 2019
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  4. Backwoods Savage

    Backwoods Savage Moderator

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    Sorry the picture is not great but you can buy these things for when the power goes out too. Solar powered. We have several of them outdoors to use after dark or to use when power goes out (don't have that problem any more though). My son bought some and they take them when they go camping and they're not bad. When he is home they are hanging out on his deck.

    upload_2019-2-23_13-5-52.png
     
    Backwoods Savage, Feb 23, 2019
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  5. Screwloose

    Screwloose

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    I bought a Square D nema 3r 200 amp transfer switch to put next to my meter outside. It's the size of a mini fridge (a bit surprised when it arrived ) it will have a few outlets inside to plug in any of the generators I've collected, from 3/4KW to 45KW. Going to be simple enough. Oh, I forgot to mention I bought it over 10 years ago.......I'm a slacker I guess.
     
    Screwloose, Feb 23, 2019
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  6. Screwloose

    Screwloose

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    I have to say at first glance I assumed the jar was your answer to flushing !
     
    Screwloose, Feb 23, 2019
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  7. Backwoods Savage

    Backwoods Savage Moderator

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    Or drinking!
     
    Backwoods Savage, Feb 23, 2019
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  8. Screwloose

    Screwloose

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    And if your power is cheaper off hours you can treat it like a ice bank using a timer to only run the compressor at night unless overridden by a high temperature tstat.
     
    Screwloose, Feb 23, 2019
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  9. billb3

    billb3

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    We have one of those but the jar broke and go figure the threads on the thing doesn't match a single jar we could find.
     
    billb3, Feb 23, 2019
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  10. Erik B

    Erik B

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    I thought those jars were for fire flies:rofl: :lol:
     
    Erik B, Feb 23, 2019
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  11. BeechNut

    BeechNut

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    One of the good things about living in the boonies is you can just take a dump outside and take a leak of the front porch if need be. With only one bathroom and two kids there is permanent yellow snow off my front porch in the winter!
     
    BeechNut, Feb 23, 2019
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  12. DaveGunter

    DaveGunter

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    I do this with the fridge all winter, set gallon jugs of water on the porch to freeze, then put them in the fridge
     
    DaveGunter, Feb 23, 2019
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  13. ThomH123

    ThomH123

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    Couldn’t agree more. I have a camp toilet that I have used during outages.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
    ThomH123, Feb 23, 2019
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