1/2 house is in 'brownout'?

[Elixer]

This is highly strange, was sitting here, then, all of the sudden I hear the UPS alarm go off in the other room, and checking on that, it is reporting 'brownout' (low voltage).
In the other room, all is fine.

Downstairs, freezer is working, fridge is not.
Oven is working (burner elements turn on), but TV and cable box are not.

Took a meter and started checking outlets, and some outlets are right, while others are low, 70v.

How is it possible that, pretty much, 1/2 the house is experiencing a brownout with those being at 70v, and the other side is 120v?

All breakers are fine, and I even reset them just to see if it did anything, and nothing changed.

WTH?

 

[NutBucket]

Assuming you have 2-phase coming into your home is it possible the low voltage is on one phase while the other phase is normal? Are all the low voltage circuits on the same side of the panel?

 

[Elixer]

Looks like the power company was doing something a few houses down, and they messed everyone up.
They claim they will have it fixed in a few hours.

NutBucket, no, it is random in the panel which ones are 70v and which ones are 120v.

 

[echo4747]

Looks like the power company was doing something a few houses down, and they messed everyone up.
They claim they will have it fixed in a few hours.

NutBucket, no, it is random in the panel which ones are 70v and which ones are 120v.

the transformer that feeds your home probably lost one leg. power company will correct it

 

[Elixer]

And all is back to normal now.

Never knew that type of thing could happen, I always thought that if one outlet was 70v, then they all would be.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Assuming you have 2-phase coming into your home is it possible the low voltage is on one phase while the other phase is normal? Are all the low voltage circuits on the same side of the panel?

No such thing as 2 phase. He has single phase like 99.999% of all other houses in the USA. That single phase is however split into 2 "legs" with 120V to the grounded neutral in the middle, 240V between the two legs directly. Blow a leg, you still have partial power to the house.