Lessons from Sandy

For me, they include:

  • Run the generator every year
  • Boredom is a terrible thing
  • Candles don't put out enough light to be useful.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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Reply to
Stormin Mormon
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Things you should have already known. Family here learned also that you should not run your generator indoors.

My neighbor who came over for water an outage or two ago was complaining that they could not find any D cells for their portable radio.

Some people never learn.

Reply to
Frank

A inverter is a wonderful thing, just connect to your car battery and let engine idle. for a 100 bucks you can get a thousand watt inverter, for lights, radio and a tv if the load isnt too heavy

Reply to
bob haller

Ah, yes, the old reliables.

During 2003, I asked one neighbor how he was doing. Fine, but no batteries for his radio. I gave him some. Later, I asked if he was going to do anything different for the "next one". Nope. So, this time I didn't bother to ask how he was doing.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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Things you should have already known. Family here learned also that you should not run your generator indoors.

My neighbor who came over for water an outage or two ago was complaining that they could not find any D cells for their portable radio.

Some people never learn.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Nice thing about the car. You're fairly sure it runs. And you probably have some fuel in the tank. Did the TV have static and such on the picture? Or did it run properly?

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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A inverter is a wonderful thing, just connect to your car battery and let engine idle. for a 100 bucks you can get a thousand watt inverter, for lights, radio and a tv if the load isnt too heavy

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

My next door neighbor owns a welding company. When the neighborhood had a sustained power outage, she brought one of her big diesel generators home from the shop and shared it with us. Her house was one of the most badly hit in the storm, and everybody'd run over there first and helped clean things up even before attending to our own problems. Groups handle disasters better than individuals can.

Reply to
Moe DeLoughan

Well, if it's the right group, that is. I've heard on NYC, the groups spent more time looting than repairing.

Nice to hear some good people left in the world.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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My next door neighbor owns a welding company. When the neighborhood had a sustained power outage, she brought one of her big diesel generators home from the shop and shared it with us. Her house was one of the most badly hit in the storm, and everybody'd run over there first and helped clean things up even before attending to our own problems. Groups handle disasters better than individuals can.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

-snip-

I agree. Before the storm I noticed that the State[?] had chained a generator tot he pole at a very busy intersection.

Seems to me that was a waste of a generator that could have been better used somewhere else.

You could hide a battery, but that thing was just screaming 'steal me!'.

A battery is a lot more reliable left unattended.

you could swap out batteries faster than you can refuel a generator.

seems like a good marine battery would last longer than a tank of gas- and would cost 1/5 of the generator. [this was a 5K or so generator.]

Am I all wrong here? Do traffic lights need more juice than an inverter could supply? [granted there are 8 lights at the intersection, but they are LED-- plus the switching equipment]

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

If you want to stock up on candles, then buy candles made with bees wax instead of paraffin. When bees wax burns, it produces much less soot, and that makes for a healthier indoor environment.

Candles made from bees wax are more expensive, but you don't need them very often.

Reply to
nestork

A TV or computer is fine on a regular inverter. We have done it a lot.

In fact this was my first generator

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Reply to
gfretwell

I don't know your answers. If you do find out, please write again, and let us know.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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I agree. Before the storm I noticed that the State[?] had chained a generator tot he pole at a very busy intersection.

Seems to me that was a waste of a generator that could have been better used somewhere else.

You could hide a battery, but that thing was just screaming 'steal me!'.

A battery is a lot more reliable left unattended.

you could swap out batteries faster than you can refuel a generator.

seems like a good marine battery would last longer than a tank of gas- and would cost 1/5 of the generator. [this was a 5K or so generator.]

Am I all wrong here? Do traffic lights need more juice than an inverter could supply? [granted there are 8 lights at the intersection, but they are LED-- plus the switching equipment]

Jim

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Pity you missed: Do not top-post...

Reply to
Douglas C. Neidermeyer

ble thing * Candles don't put out enough light to be useful. Christopher A.= Young Learn more about Jesus

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Here's a good alternative to candles:

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We bought one of these over a year ago and keep it plugged in and charging = up all the time. It got its first use for Sandy and did very well; nice and= bright and very convenient. Besides the wall charge, it can also run off 3= AAA bateries or you can charge it up with the generator crank on the side.= We're going to get a couple more for the next hurricane.

The only thing I wish I'd done to prepare was to check the drainage system = by my wife's greenhouse. It was clogged with leaves so we ended up with a 3= " puddle in front of the door; since my boots are 6" that wasn't a problem,= just an annoyance.

I start my generator on the first weekend of every month and run it for abo= ut five minutes, just so it doesn't rust. (I changed the oil last weekend, = figuring that it might get heavy usage during the storm.) Depending on the = season, I'll also start the snow blower or garden tiller at the same time t= o make sure they're ready for action.

Paul

Reply to
Pavel314

Might be a question of the kind of voltage. If the traffic system is set up for 120AC power - probably is - the generator is simpler than the several pieces you would need for a battery/inverter/charger or quick change hardware. Got to mount them into some kind of assembly and wire them somehow and then do it different the next time you use it for something else. Might have to make the battery change without interruption or you might lose the synchronization between intersections.

Multiple use - that same generator can be used to power other things in other times and places. Battery? Back to having to adapt it to the load de jure.

More likely the reason - a generator can be drained and stored indefinitely. If it's quality, it can be rebuilt indefinitely. A battery needs service even in storage and with the best of care, it's life is limited.

Reply to
Winston_Smith

For $36.49, I'd buy two eaches $9.97 fluorescent lantern from Walmart, their house brand "Ozark Trail". Use the rest of the money to buy Raoyvac D batteries.

My experience with LED lanterns, the light pattern is really not very even.

How's yours? Are you pleased with it? Didn't mean to rain on your parade, but my experiences are different.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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Here's a good alternative to candles:

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We bought one of these over a year ago and keep it plugged in and charging up all the time. It got its first use for Sandy and did very well; nice and bright and very convenient. Besides the wall charge, it can also run off 3 AAA bateries or you can charge it up with the generator crank on the side. We're going to get a couple more for the next hurricane.

The only thing I wish I'd done to prepare was to check the drainage system by my wife's greenhouse. It was clogged with leaves so we ended up with a 3" puddle in front of the door; since my boots are 6" that wasn't a problem, just an annoyance.

I start my generator on the first weekend of every month and run it for about five minutes, just so it doesn't rust. (I changed the oil last weekend, figuring that it might get heavy usage during the storm.) Depending on the season, I'll also start the snow blower or garden tiller at the same time to make sure they're ready for action.

Paul

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I keep some of this stuff in the house for lighting and cooking in emergency.

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Reply to
harry

"Pavel314"

I start my generator on the first weekend of every month and run it for about five minutes, just so it doesn't rust. (I changed the oil last weekend, figuring that it might get heavy usage during the storm.) Depending on the season, I'll also start the snow blower or garden tiller at the same time to make sure they're ready for action.

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Run for at least 1/2 to 1 hour under 50% load.

Reply to
NotMe

We have a lot of power outages with lines coming here along treed roads. In one extended one, before I had a generator, this neighbor had to get water for his toilets from the creek a quarter mile away. When the power was only out a few hours, they had run out of water to drink or brush their teeth. Even with a generator, I still keep bottled water and extra water for flushes. There are times that the well pump is broken. When that happens I can hook up to a next door neighbor and I've had them hook up to me.

If you don't have a few bottles of water, a flashlight, or a few extra batteries, you're a FUBAR loser.

Reply to
Frank

At the time I had dish satellite TV and cobbled together a light, tv and dish receiver so my then wife could see the amazing race...

today i could power the tivo connected to comcast or use my new flatscreen on my outdoor HDTV antenna.

Cable typically dies when the back up batteries die, although my tivo has a couple hundred hours of recorded shows in stock

Reply to
bob haller

I've decided to phase out candles. New light sources will include oil lamps, propane lamps, and battery power lamps.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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If you want to stock up on candles, then buy candles made with bees wax instead of paraffin. When bees wax burns, it produces much less soot, and that makes for a healthier indoor environment.

Candles made from bees wax are more expensive, but you don't need them very often.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

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