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I've got 29% left on this battery and just wanted to say hi

M

Mill

Lifer
Wow. Ivan seriously impaired my ability to lead a normal life. No power = no nothing. Tis like I have been transported back about 6 decades or so. Every place around my subdivision has power, but obviously I haven't gotten mine back yet. I just filled my neighbor's generator with gas, and he has so graciously shared it with me. I've been able to run my refrigerator and the DSL modem tonight, but mainly just the frig. No lights as I am using flashlights, kerosene lamps and candles. Amazingly I only lost phone service for about 12 of the 48 I've been without power. The RT down the road had a generator hooked up by Bellsouth. and I got phone service back shortly after they hooked it up. I'd estimate that about 1/6 houses around here has a generator, and soon as some good 5000 watt ones come in I am splurging on one. I've actually considered a massive one that runs off of natural gas, but only because my subdivision ALWAYS loses power in a storm. It is as hot as sh!t in here with the thermo indicating about 85 degrees. All my windows are open, but the builder didn't put screens on them so I have to watch for bugs.

I've seriously gained an appreciation for what you folks in Florida went through, and I hope all goddamn hurricanes and tropical storms stay the hell away from the CONUS for the next decade(not gonna happen). I've been able to see some pictures of the damage in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Pensacola, and my heart goes out to those folks. My cousin and her husband live in Pensacola, but they only had 6 trees fall and no damage to the house. Later folks.
 
Damn man, heh.

Generators are a godsend in situations like this.

If I had 10 or 20k to front, I'd load up a U-Haul with generators and take a trip down there..

Some would call it taking advantage, but I just call it business... lol

Good luck. Everything will be back to realitive normalcy in a few days....

Honestly, If you can hold off on the generator, I would. I bet they're hella hard to find and expensive at the moment, and unless you're going to be with no power for the next week.. it's probably not worth it.
 
I'm not sure when I'll get power back. Alabama power is trying to get hospitals, nursing homes, etc back on track first, and they've said up to two weeks to get all folks in my area back on. My grandparent's on a generator as well that they borrowed from an old family friend. My uncle had a house in Gulf Shores, and I say had, because more than likely it is gone. Well, I'm going to try to get some sleep... almost 4am here, and still hot in this house. Been sleeping without sheets and taking cold showers.
 
Originally posted by: Eli
Damn man, heh.

Generators are a godsend in situations like this.

If I had 10 or 20k to front, I'd load up a U-Haul with generators and take a trip down there..

Some would call it taking advantage, but I just call it business... lol

Good luck. Everything will be back to realitive normalcy in a few days....

Honestly, If you can hold off on the generator, I would. I bet they're hella hard to find and expensive at the moment, and unless you're going to be with no power for the next week.. it's probably not worth it.
Click to expand...

Didn't you hear the story about the guy who parked a truck full of $200 (retail) generators just outside a sporting goods store that was selling the same item? He was selling them for $600. Cops nabbed him for price gouging. It was posted here on AT a few days ago.
 
Originally posted by: Nik
Originally posted by: Eli
Damn man, heh.

Generators are a godsend in situations like this.

If I had 10 or 20k to front, I'd load up a U-Haul with generators and take a trip down there..

Some would call it taking advantage, but I just call it business... lol

Good luck. Everything will be back to realitive normalcy in a few days....

Honestly, If you can hold off on the generator, I would. I bet they're hella hard to find and expensive at the moment, and unless you're going to be with no power for the next week.. it's probably not worth it.
Click to expand...

Didn't you hear the story about the guy who parked a truck full of $200 (retail) generators just outside a sporting goods store that was selling the same item? He was selling them for $600. Cops nabbed him for price gouging. It was posted here on AT a few days ago.
Click to expand...
No sh!t??.....

I dunno, I think that is down right stupid. I mean, I thought this was supposed to be a free market, capitalist economy.

Since when is it against the law to sell something for more than it normally goes for retail? It happens all day, every day. 😕

That makes me angry. As far as I knew, it was well within your right to sell something at whatever price you want to. If people are desperate and/or uninformed enough to buy it, that is their problem. Isn't that how it works??? You see it every day......

😕

I'm not condoning ripping people off, but if people are willing to buy them for 600$ when they're in the store for 200.... ???

If they were truely too expensive, then people just wouldn't buy them from him.
 
Originally posted by: Gurck
Pretty low thing to do...
Click to expand...
Like I said, I don't condone ripping people off, but in emergencies situations like this, it's simple supply and demand.

If people weren't willing to pay 600$ for the item, then he simply wouldn't have any business.

I don't really understand.
 
Rather than a generator, buy a higher end power inverter (much cheaper) and make sure your car is fueled up before a storm.

You can run an extension cord from your car and keep several items powered up during an outage. Hell some of them will power your fridge. but I am more concerned about light and entertainment 🙂
 
Mill, my power has been on and off for the past several days. Was off last night from 12:30 until this morning after sunrise. You know where I live.
 
Rather than a generator, buy a higher end power inverter (much cheaper) and make sure your car is fueled up before a storm.
Click to expand...

This is not recommended. Sure it will get you through a short outage perhaps a few hours.

A genny is the best bet for the long term. If you power fails frequently, a standby system powered by NATGAS is THE way to go.

I have a client that wants a diesel one for their house because they don't have NATGAS and they don't want propane and they heat with oil.

Either way, it's good insurance and in Northern climates it can be a lifesaver if the power goes out for days during an ice storm.

You can get a standby system with 15 kW that will do everything you want in your house installed for about $6k.

Cheers!
 
I'm in PA now.... we had a fire in my apartment complex this morning (stupid kids who dont know how to cook for the girls they are trying to woo back into bed) but the phones were out so we coudln't get back in, but the fire system couldnt call the police...

went to work in my pajamas and we're about to evacuate because the nearby stream is about to flood out our lab comples 😵

I dont think I'll be going home tonight, all of the roads around here are flooded... if I could just get to the highway....
 
Originally posted by: sharkeeper
Rather than a generator, buy a higher end power inverter (much cheaper) and make sure your car is fueled up before a storm.
Click to expand...

This is not recommended. Sure it will get you through a short outage perhaps a few hours.

A genny is the best bet for the long term. If you power fails frequently, a standby system powered by NATGAS is THE way to go.

I have a client that wants a diesel one for their house because they don't have NATGAS and they don't want propane and they heat with oil.

Either way, it's good insurance and in Northern climates it can be a lifesaver if the power goes out for days during an ice storm.

You can get a standby system with 15 kW that will do everything you want in your house installed for about $6k.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Absolutely a generator is a better power source, but I'm talking cost vs. frequency ratio (a few hundred dollars vs. a few thousand dollars)... Not sure where you got the "few hours" number from but I've dealt with a few days with a power inverter with no problems at all. Your car at idle gets as good or better fuel usage than a generator.
 
Absolutely a generator is a better power source, but I'm talking cost vs. frequency ratio (a few hundred dollars vs. a few thousand dollars)... Not sure where you got the "few hours" number from but I've dealt with a few days with a power inverter with no problems at all. Your car at idle gets as good or better fuel usage than a generator.
Click to expand...

I would not want my car sitting idling for hours!

Also, the inverter will not run the loads a genny will. You can get an inverter that can but these often require 24VDC or oodles of amperes that will burn out a stock alternator quickly.

Cheers!
 
Damage from idling is overrated.

The service vans at work (Chevrolet Express, 350 V8 engines) have these installed on board. These vans typically see 2-4 hours of idle time per day, 5-6 days per week. Typical service life is ~130,000 - 150,000 miles which is about the same as any vehicle that is used for city/stop and go driving. (very little highway mileage there)

BTW, I just did some quick calculations and on average, these vans will see over 3 months of idle time in their service life. This is time where the vehicle was specifically idling just to run the a/c or invertor and does not include the normal idle time associated with driving such as sitting in traffic.

 
Like I said, when your power goes out for tens of hours or days, you want a proper solution. The inverter is fine for short duration outages. I suppose it would be good for the bass freaks with their plutonium powered electrical system. Hell they could make a CD with 60Hz and set it to repeat and connect their subwoofer amp to their appliances!

Our neighbors had no power for 8 days from Isabel! In 1980 we had severe thunderstorms that spawned an F3 tornado that did tremendous damage and our neighborhood didn't have power for two weeks.

It really sucks to lose power in the winter time. That is why we have standby generators linked to a UBS system. I used to have to support livestock worth $100's of thousands of dollars and (not) spending $40k on a solution was just plain silly.


Cheers!
 
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