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

If the Texas calamity came your way what would you do ?

Discussion in 'Modern EPA Stoves and Fireplaces' started by Rich L, Feb 20, 2021.

  1. Eckie

    Eckie

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    Stinny, this comment is not criticizing your plan or comment, just an observation for others to think about. In terms of gas stations being close and having generators.... Soon after the ice storm hit here and power started going out (hit during night, power was out starting at 5 am in some places to 830 am in others) the gas stations that had power (line or gen) to pump were running out of gas. They were getting hit hard by folks who presumably didnt have much or any gas on hand and who realized "oh chit this is real". People were also driving from other counties to whichever station had gas....in other words increased demand on any gas station that was running at the time. This can and will throw a real monkey wrench into your plans, and makes you think, even if you had/have what you think should be an "adequate supply". The chaos with gas stations lasted about 2 days, then evened out a bit. But at the time we didn't know when or where we would be able to resupply. At that point i had to prioritize restocking gas as soon as I had the oportunity, not knowing when it would be unavailable again.
     
  2. stuckinthemuck

    stuckinthemuck

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    If what you need is not 100% within your control, you might as well not have it.. same argument can be made for those who rely on natural gas. The supply from the line to your house is a reliable source of energy..... until it isn’t and that is when you likely need it the most.. most lessons are learned the hard way.
     
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  3. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

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    I know a guy that went 24 days without power from electric company:whistle:;) and it snowed at least 15 of those days..

    35B559BE-0333-46FF-A771-9EDAA641A767.jpeg

    I dropped dead bolt to keep generator outside and door shut!
    This summer electrician supposed to add switches cutoff for generator
     
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  4. yooperdave

    yooperdave

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    I remember that same guy going through that time! :doh:
     
  5. Stinny

    Stinny

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    Good points.
     
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  6. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

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    And my wife and kid still live here:thumbs: and are :D

    And have nice things to say about FHC ;)
     
  7. Smokinpiney

    Smokinpiney

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    I'd fire up the ol MEP803 and let er rip. It'll power the whole house and then some. I've done a test run of the whole house including the electric stove burners and central ac unit and it was only at half load. Burns about .5gal per hr and i usually have at least 50-100gallons on hand. 20210225_164748.jpg
     
  8. amateur cutter

    amateur cutter

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    Nope, keep gas in that one. Diesel bulk tank is 500 gal.The gas tank sits in a spare truck & gets used on the property for the gas tractors.
     
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  9. Smokinpiney

    Smokinpiney

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    AvGas is ethanol free and has a much longer "shelf life". I started buying it a few years ago at a small airport nearby. It's much more expensive but i don't mind paying the difference for the piece of mind knowing my equipment will run when I need it.
     
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  10. amateur cutter

    amateur cutter

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    I have got to find me one of those. Well worth the $.
     
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  11. Rich L

    Rich L

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    Ya the gas running out thing is making me lean towards a generator that runs off home heating oil which has a long shelf life and huge tank.
     
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  12. Smokinpiney

    Smokinpiney

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    They're awesome units but verrrry complicated lol. My dad picked this one up a while back for dirt cheap because it wasn't running. Turned out to be a fuel delivery problem and it runs fantastic now. It has a few minor glitches here and there but it's amazing how much load it can handle and it just purrs like a kitten.

    He's since picked up a bigger unit (20kw) that's a genset + 100k btu heat/ ac. So the 803 lives at our place and the 20kw unit is his backup.

    The 802's and 803's are now bringing crazy money after this past year. Between the govt shutdowns and storms, people are much more afraid of losing power for extended periods of time.
     
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  13. Highbeam

    Highbeam

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    There are many inverter and noninverter gensets available that run on propane. Some use propane only but most portable propane gensets can also use gasoline which offers flexibility.

    These things are reasonably cheap and conventional with basic spark ignition engines. Get and keep a big propane tank full and you’ve got a reliable “conventional”source of power. No algae, no fuel injection, simple.

    In bad times, people might try to steal your diesel or even gas but you can’t really steal propane from a big tank without a pump.
     
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  14. Rich L

    Rich L

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    Worst comes to worst the oil will come from my in house oil tank.It'd be hell to pay for any to try and take it from there.
     
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  15. Eckie

    Eckie

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    Yep. Several people in the area had some gas cans, both empty and full, stollen during the ice storm power outage.
     
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  16. Highbeam

    Highbeam

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    Drill holes in your vehicle fuel tanks too. People were dying and couldn’t get fuel. Terrible deal.

    Honestly it’s not personal preparedness that I worry about. It’s the unprepared masses that will do whatever it takes to survive.
     
  17. amateur cutter

    amateur cutter

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    Yep, it can real ugly real fast. "Civil" society breaks down pretty quickly in a crisis.
     
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  18. Eckie

    Eckie

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    Dealing with the weather and lack of power is one thing. The added stress of "is someone gonna come sneaking around" is a whole nother ball game, and makes one very raw (even more than usual) under the circumstances. We were quite cautious the day we went and picked up the new generator.
     
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  19. bert the turtle

    bert the turtle

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    Wood stove would run the same as usual and its the only heat I use anyway so no difference there.

    Photovoltaics would run the same as usual but this time of year, get a fair number of cloudy days so I would want to be really careful about how much power I use- only have 26kWh of battery and that doesn't last long if you aren't careful. But it lasts plenty long if you are. Biggest thing is the car, so I would minimize travel and try to charge only when the house batteries are full. I can get 4 back and forth trips to work on a full charge and there is a grocery store on the way, so I should be alright for a few days even if I can't charge. I'd move the snakes in near to the stove so I could turn off their heat lamps ( 150w adds up when running 24/7). Make sure I turn off the lights when I'm not using them. It would be a good idea to fill a few gas cans so that if it stayed cloudy too long, I could run the generator.

    I'd use water normally so the well head doesn't freeze; if it were really really cold like 0F, I'd set the dishwasher to run in the middle of the night or keep a faucet trickling. Have friends and loved ones over to bathe and warm up and cook whatever they want to bring- the wood stove is good to go, and I buried my propane tank so I don't have problems in cold snaps.
     
  20. SloMoJoe

    SloMoJoe

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    How cold does it have to be to make it worth burying the propane tank?
    Just curious, as I've never heard of this.
     
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