Ugh - Power Outage

[Jerry1]

We lost power. Power is out all over town due to a day of high winds so I’m guessing it will be quite some time before we’re back up. I’m thankful to have a generator, but it still is unnerving. It puts me into protector of the house mode. I’ll probably be up all night because I don’t like having the generator on while I’m sleeping and it’s a bit too cold to shut it off for the night.

Then, things weren’t going too bad and we lost internet. They probably finally lost power at the source (cable company). I’m using my phone’s hot spot now. I guess we’ll see how the OTA antenna is working when the news comes on.

DD is out too and we’re not sure if they’re going to abandon their house and come here. They only have a small generator and it won’t run the furnace unless I go over there and rig something up, which I don’t want to do at night. Then with the grandkids at virtual school, I’m guessing even that’s going to be canceled tomorrow. Who said there won’t be snow days in virtual school. They’ll just be called blackout days - when too many are out of power to run class.

Oh well, hoping for the best and a quick fix tomorrow when the wind dies down. Wish me luck!

 

[gerntz]

Was out picking up small branches earlier from high winds here today (40+? mph for several hours). At one point lights dimmed but nothing reset/went off except this computer!

Good luck.

 

[Car-Guy]

Hopefully your cell site (hot spot) still has commercial power. If not maybe they have a backup generator too "or" it will be next to go when it's batteries are drained.



Good luck!

 

[steelyman]

Bummer. I’m thinking about a natural gas generator but don’t know much about them.

I hope it calms down for you!

 

[6miths]

We had the power out for 4 hours today. Winds of 60 mph. Waves along the Lake Huron shore of 15 feet and storm surge the likes of hasn't been seen in years due to the high lake levels. The gales of November.

 

[gauss]

High winds here and lost power around 10:30pm. Cable internet is down too. Fortunately I am able to use my phone as a hotspot and I have a small Honda eu2000 generator

-gauss

 

[Koolau]

I've mentioned before that our power is less stable than I was used to in the midwest. Our "grid" is the Island. We once lost the whole thing for 18 hours due to a relatively unusual thunderstorm.

We have frequent short outages due to "normal" winds. With a little luck, we only have to reset the clocks but sometimes the outages last for minutes to half an hour. The really good news is that we don't use heat or AC so a loss is more an inconvenience than a potential disaster.

Our more rare power outages on the mainland always seemed to happen during a "deep freeze" or extended heat wave. People did occasionally die due to these outages. Lots of folks I knew had generators. I took the low tech approach and installed an efficient wood burning stove in one house and a propane wall heater in another (We had 2 weeks of propane on hand at all times.) YMMV

 

[Nick12]

Bummer. I’m thinking about a natural gas generator but don’t know much about them.

I hope it calms down for you!

We have a Generac whole house gas generator. It's the best 12K we ever spent. Some things to note. It can run all the lights, AC/Heat , TVs, computers in the house and a total of 2 fridges. What the company doesn't really tell you is to keep cooking and washing machine and drying machine to a minimum while the generator is on running. It will cook the motor. The generator which makes a noise to wake up half the street if it runs continuous for several days, you need to call a contractor to change the oil ($150) even if the power is still out. When the motor hits a certain amount of run hours The oil has to be changed. The Generac also must be serviced at 1x a year to change oil, filter etc that runs about $300. 1x a week every week of The year at 2pm Wed our Generac is set to go on for 5 min just to run it per the Generac company. It's a life saver the Generac even though it will make a tremendous amount of noise. Our neighbor also lost power and we ran an extension cord to his house so he could power his fridge and a few lights. I did want my neighbor to not use his washer and dryer because that could wreck my Generac motor.

 

[DrRoy]

Nice review, Nick.

 

[Time2]

Several years ago we had a business where we often had $15k to $20k of frozen stock.
Being concerned about losing power from a hurricane (FL) or anything else, I wanted a generator. I decided to buy a Miller welder/11,000 watt generator. I figured it would be easier to sell when I didn't need it any longer. Well, we had a hurricane and the generator saved the the frozen stock, we were 8 days without electricity. It also made life much easier for those 8 days and nights. I could serve morning coffee to the neighbors. It's now been two years since the hurricane and I'm not selling the welder/generator, it cost $3,300 new, about 12 years ago, and now the cost is $4,200. It's worth more having it, than having the money.
btw, the hurricane demolished our business and we retired. Ya!

 

[RunningBum]

My neighbor has a whole house propane generator. They calls it money well spent too. I hear their generator every Wednesday. I think it runs for 15 minutes. I appreciate Nick spelling out all of the costs, which sounds similar to my neighbor's.

I've been here for 20 years and I can only remember one power outage that was more than an inconvenience. It was a 36 hour outage. They were out of town and I texted them to ask if I could use some freezer/fridge space. Without that I would've lost maybe $200 in spoiled food. For other outages I've waited it out with candles and flashlights, and a couple of times had to pull that hanging handle on the garage door opener to detach it so I could open it.

A few years ago I bought a portable generator, just in case, and also because I had a separate need for some trail running races I help out with. I fired it up once in an outage, thinking I could get my internet back by powering the cable modem, but whatever equipment is outside the house needs power too, so it didn't work.

We have buried power lines and don't have that many outages. It's cool enough here that I rarely run my AC, but I do miss the ceiling fan if there's a summer outage. I hate to use a phrase that's been worn out here, but YMMV.

 

[njhowie]

Our neighbor also lost power and we ran an extension cord to his house so he could power his fridge and a few lights. I did want my neighbor to not use his washer and dryer because that could wreck my Generac motor.

The dryer would likely not be able to plug in to the extension cord. The washing machine likely would not be an issue - it doesn't draw anywhere near what the dryer does.

 

[Jerry1]

Well the electric company (DTE) just updated the outage map with estimates for getting service back. Both me and DD are listed by end of day Tuesday. I’m fine but I’m going to have to go help DD and SIL to hook a small generator up to run their furnace.

Internet is down and DD is trying to help one of the boys do virtual school using a phone and cell service. That’s not looking good. I suspect with pall the power outages here, he won’t be the only one that will have problems connecting.

 

[Aerides]

My parents just put in a small generator - not a whole house - but enough to keep the fridge/freezer running, and the mini AC in their spare bedroom, that sort of thing. They live in a newer 55+ community, and noticed there was a lot of generator installation going on this summer - the whole house ones you have placed in ground and stuff.

They looked into those, but they are hella expensive to run, literal gas guzzlers (don't quote me but I think it would be almost $200 a day?) And because they might not run for months and months, potential issues reported with not starting and stuff. Still, peace of mind I guess, and I imagine there were a lot of unspent travel dollars in their neighborhood going towards those installs this year.

Good luck to those without power from the weekend weather, hope it is all restored soon!

 

[steelyman]

Nice review, Nick.

Yes, very nice review with good information, thanks!

I’d asked a friend about generator noise (one of his relatives has one) and he thought it was about like an outside central AC unit. Sounds like it may be more.

It’s still on my mind but probably not for a year or two. So there’s time to do some research. Googling turns up several sites that list details about gas generator maintenance.

 

[Jerry1]

Yes, very nice review with good information, thanks!

I’d asked a friend about generator noise (one of his relatives has one) and he thought it was about like an outside central AC unit. Sounds like it may be more.

It’s still on my mind but probably not for a year or two. So there’s time to do some research. Googling turns up several sites that list details about gas generator maintenance.

Not even close to an A/C unit. Much louder. I have a water cooled whole house unit (came with the house) and it’s a small car engine with a muffler. It’s not bad but louder than A/C for sure. My previous house I installed a med size generator that was not water cooled. WAY louder than AC. Think riding lawnmower loud. Still, better than being without, but if noise is a concern, do some research. There may be models or options to reduce noise.

 

[Aerides]

Not even close to an A/C unit. Much louder. I have a water cooled whole house unit (came with the house) and it’s a small car engine with a muffler. It’s not bad but louder than A/C for sure. My previous house I installed a med size generator that was not water cooled. WAY louder than AC. Think riding lawnmower loud. Still, better than being without, but if noise is a concern, do some research. There may be models or options to reduce noise.

Oh yeah for sure. As someone without one, but with a cross-the-street neighbor who has one and cranks it up in his garage during storm outages, let's just say with howling 70 mph winds, and hurricane proof windows that reduce outside sound, we still knew he had it running.

 

[steelyman]

Not even close to an A/C unit. Much louder. I have a water cooled whole house unit (came with the house) and it’s a small car engine with a muffler. It’s not bad but louder than A/C for sure. My previous house I installed a med size generator that was not water cooled. WAY louder than AC. Think riding lawnmower loud. Still, better than being without, but if noise is a concern, do some research. There may be models or options to reduce noise.

Good comments, thanks! I am definitely sensitive to noise pollution (both for me as well as neighbors). I will rethink whether a generator is really necessary. At present a small UPS keeps things running for 4-5 hours. It only services Internet-related things (modem, router). Spectrum Internet has stayed up even when Duke Energy (electric utility) disappears.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I live deep in the woods and outages are frequent.


I only have a small 3500 watt gas generator, about $350 at the local hardware store. Honda makes a better one for about $1,100. Keep about 20 gallons of premium gas on hand. When you get a portable generator be sure to get good heavy cords that are long enough to reach your house. Then you don't have to keep the generator right outside your window.


My only concern is the fridge & freezer and this unit handles them just fine. I rely on a gas grill & my camping gear for cooking. I keep about 30 gallons of water in the basement.


We lived for one solid week without power after a bad storm in 2016.


For short term outages I have a power inverter and two deep cycle batteries which I keep charged monthly. This will run the radio, TV and a string of LED lights in the evening.

 

[statsman]

The dryer would likely not be able to plug in to the extension cord. The washing machine likely would not be an issue - it doesn't draw anywhere near what the dryer does.

Gas dryer maybe?

 

[njhowie]

Gas dryer maybe?

Sure - I stupidly just thought of my own electric.

 

[gerntz]

Sounds like power in lots of places is less reliable than mine. Once in my life power was out for 3 days. Outside that, not more than 8-12 hours once or twice. Probably have around 5, 1 -60 minutes outages per year. Net, $10K+ for generator feels like overkill. Businesses? I get it.

 

[Jerry1]

Update

Well at least they got the internet working again. It was a pain using my phone for everything. They actually installed a generator and ran power up to their box on a pole right on my property. Heck, if I’d have known that, I could have ran an extension cord up there last night (just kidding). DTE still has our estimate out to end of tomorrow. Hoping for the best.

 

[monte1022]

+1 on whole house generator. We had a Cummins natural gas 20kw installed this summer for $6300 all in. Now all we need is access to Starlink internet and power outages will never impact our TV, phone, or internet ever again.

 

[Walt34]

There are generators and then there are generators. As some have mentioned they can be noisy and that's what you'll get if you buy one from one of the big box stores. Those are "contractor" generators and they generally don't care too much about noise but they do care about costs. After being without electricity for four days in 1999 after an ice storm I did a lot of research on home standby generators. Yeah, the whole house ones are pricey but in some areas (like FL) they're probably worth it. Especially after going without A/C in 100° heat for two weeks.

What I ended up with is the one pictured below, no longer made, but they make better ones now. At twice the price of course, this one was $2,500 in 1999. But the sound level is very low, I think it is 65 dBa. You can stand right beside it when running and easily carry on a conversation. It is air cooled but the cabinet is foam lined and the muffler looks like it came off a small car (probably did, given that Honda makes them). Honda now makes a 7,000 watt inverter generator that is priced at ~$4,500 which would be the one to look hard at if you're not going to get a whole house set. It is also very quiet.

We used it frequently when we lived near D.C. since the area was "mature" and the power lines were up in the trees and outages in storms were common. This one will power the gas furnace (NOT the A/C) the refrigerator, freezer, TV, computer, and a few light bulbs. And that's all we've needed. We did use it once here in WV so I'm not going to sell it. It connects to the house with a heavy (10 gauge?) cord that has to weigh 50 pounds via a transfer switch. My father was a lineman for a while so I'm well aware of the repercussions of not using one.

When considering a whole house set, look for the sound level ratings. You'll notice that Generac makes that pretty hard to find on their web site if you can find it at all. There is of course a reason for that as some have sadly discovered. The manufacturers who have built a quality product are quick to publish their low sound levels. Those sets are usually a few hundred to a thousand more, but as usual you get what you pay for. The engineers here will know that sound proofing is generally not cheap. Suffice it to say that if I'm ever looking for a whole house set, Generac would be the last one I'd consider.