any of you lose power?

[Caveman Jim]

My big wood pile on the East side of the garage threw it's cover including the weighted 2'x8' ply wood and spread it about. A PITA getting it covered again with gusts that must have been 40mph.

I had two people helping me put a 24'x20' tarp on the car trailer, was definitely a yugeeee PITA.

 

[rjmt]

Unfortunately I have an electric stove/oven.

you need an air fryer - works great with a generator

 

[bionic knees]

Unfortunately I have an electric stove/oven.

so do we but when the power is out I set up the camp stove on the counter.

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

NW Natural asks customers to conserve gas use during winter storm

The natural gas provider is seeing high demand across Oregon and southwest Washington amid extreme cold.

www.oregonlive.com

 

[Norwestr55]

Other than 10 homes in the Dallas area there hasn't been any outages in Polk County that I know of. I've been on oxygen since last month after getting RSV on top of moderate COPD.
PP&L knows that, but I don't have much faith in the oxygen supplier. I figured I'd just head for the fire dept or ER if I got down to my last tank.

 

[Tlock]

I know people like that....same guys that drive 70,000$ pickups and won't take them down a gravel road, has a wood stove in the house but doesn't own a saw....ya that guy

 

[orygun]

Kinda like a dime store cowboy.

 

[Burt Gummer]

@Tlock LOL that was me 1993-1996. Sky high Chevy.

In my defense, there were a massive amount of smoking hot women at the Rock N Rodeo in Sellwood and I became a faux cowboy really fast. Women - "it is so nice to meet a REAL cowboy" - "Thank you maam!"

I pity what a young man must go through now to 'be with' hot, fit (read not obese) women.

A buddy of mine once said, 'a dog with a note could get laid here - it is like being at a Playboy party." Ahh good times.

 

[orygun]

I went to Rock N Rodeo once. I don't think there was a real cowboy within miles of that place.

 

[rjmt]

Other than 10 homes in the Dallas area there hasn't been any outages in Polk County that I know of. I've been on oxygen since last month after getting RSV on top of moderate COPD.
PP&L knows that, but I don't have much faith in the oxygen supplier. I figured I'd just head for the fire dept or ER if I got down to my last tank.

do you qualify for an Inogen oxygen concentrator? Medicare covers the floor unit
I've had an Inogen backpack for 3 years - runs 4 hrs on battery
ran it off my generator for the last 4 days

 

[rjmt]

there was just a notice on Chan. 2 news
the Portland Fire Dept said if you don't have a near death emergency, don't call 911
the spokesman said people will just have to care for themselves
how many people in Portland can do that?

 

[Norwestr55]

do you qualify for an Inogen oxygen concentrator? Medicare covers the floor unit
I've had an Inogen backpack for 3 years - runs 4 hrs on battery
ran it off my generator for the last 4 days

To get the portable unit I think I need to get down to 2 liters while walking, I'm at 3/4 right now. I've got the home unit but I live in an apt so I don't know how a generator would go over. Probably not good.

Still waiting to see if this is gonna be permanent. Doctors say that its likely to improve, but it'll be a month tomorrow. Hit me outta the blue, my o2 was 92-94 and I did my normal 2 mile walk the day before I went to the hospital.

I noticed last night we really didn't much if any freezing rain here, none at all on the power lines and trees like usual. That bailed us out some.

 

[rjmt]

To get the portable unit I think I need to get down to 2 liters while walking, I'm at 3/4 right now. I've got the home unit but I live in an apt so I don't know how a generator would go over. Probably not good.

Still waiting to see if this is gonna be permanent. Doctors say that its likely to improve, but it'll be a month tomorrow. Hit me outta the blue, my o2 was 92-94 and I did my normal 2 mile walk the day before I went to the hospital.

I noticed last night we really didn't much if any freezing rain here, none at all on the power lines and trees like usual. That bailed us out some.

something like this may work for you

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Station-Generator-Included-Outdoors/dp/B0C3V4X796/ref=sr_1_18?crid=1A7TM3O62NKRF&keywords=600%2Bwatt%2Brechargeable%2Binverter&qid=1705264677&sprefix=600%2Bwatt%2Brecharagable%2Binverter%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-18&th=1

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

I prefer the Bluetti brand of power stations.

Portable https://www.amazon.com/BLUETTI-Portable-EB3A-Recharge-Generator/dp/B09WW3CTF4/

Mid price https://www.amazon.com/BLUETTI-Portable-AC70-Generator-Off-grid/dp/B0CLG6FYLQ/

High end https://www.amazon.com/BLUETTI-Portable-AC200MAX-Expandable-Generator/dp/B0CHMSX641/

Whole house https://www.amazon.com/BLUETTI-B300S-Expansion-Emergency-Blackout/dp/B0BPRVQGVF/

 

[gmerkt]

We haven't lost electric power here. Yet. We got dusted by about 3/4 inch of snow as the cold front out of the north came through, but it blew fast and there wasn't enough time for a big snow dump. That all came further south . However, we've gotten out share in the past. Maybe three years ago (?), we got a big dump of snow. Over the years, the suspended utility lines have gotten heavier and heavier with additions of digital services. A neighbor down the road wanted to level out the land on his road frontage, and in the course of that he dug away about six feet of earth around a utility pole. All the factors involved resulted in the pole tipping over and snapping lines. It was a fairly small network of power connections, so far down the priority list of the PUD's for correction. I had all the emergency power gear out, burning in the wood stove, etc. It's all a nuisance to set up and keep going. I never got into building the power transfer device into the house electrical system. It's not often needed, but wished for when it is needed.

As the cold front retreats back in our direction, snow is again forecast for Tuesday. Hopefully it will be light if at all.

 

[gmerkt]

after 2 days without electric furnace heat, we were still at 58 deg

When the temps get low, like in the teens here, it takes a while for exterior cold to penetrate. The longer the extreme cold persists, the deeper it penetrates until you reach an equilibrium of how much interior heat you can produce versus the exterior cold. Ordinarily, I don't have to touch the thermostat on our heat pump. Which I supplement with wood heat. But in the teens, I have to play around with the thermostat a bit. The heat pump has a kind of little brain in it that considers the outside temp. and decides how long it should run in advance to achieve a certain set interior temperature. In any event, the longer the temp. is in the teens, the longer the heat pump wants to run because the exterior walls have cooled down to that equilibrium point. Of course when the power goes out, without any heat, those walls (and the interior of the house) would eventually cool down to the natural equilibrium point -- the outside temperature. Or close to it. If you have concrete floors, those tend to retain some of the natural warmth of the earth, especially if shielded from the exterior.

Of course this worry mostly goes away here when our normal, coastal weather returns. But it makes me wonder why people live in mainland Alaska (or whatever they call that large area which doesn't include the SE part). Where these concerns are permanent for long periods of the year.

 

[Provincial]

Other than 10 homes in the Dallas area there hasn't been any outages in Polk County that I know of. I've been on oxygen since last month after getting RSV on top of moderate COPD.
PP&L knows that, but I don't have much faith in the oxygen supplier. I figured I'd just head for the fire dept or ER if I got down to my last tank.

I can account for 2 of the 10. About 2:30 yesterday afternoon the PP&L crew came by and said that they had a line down just past my house and would have to shut off power to one neighbor and us. I asked why they didn't just pull the fuses on the first pole past my house, which was standard practice before Scottish Power ( and later Warren Buffett) bought them. He said it was because they use a bucket truck to pull the fuses out at the County Road. I told him that real men used to walk the 100 yards and pull the fuses with a fibreglass pole. Of course, that didn't do any good.

He promised to have the power back on by 6:30. Four hours, mostly daylight didn't seem so bad. The power came back on minutes before 10:00 PM.

Thanks, Warren. I hear you feel guilty for not paying enough taxes. Why not just give your customers decent service? Especially after my rates went up by 40% in December.

Edit to add:
We have wood heat, gravity water, and a 6KW 240V diesel generator. I just didn't feel like going out an starting the generator for such a short time. We ate chili dogs cooked on the wood stove.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Would love to have a diesel gen tied into the main panel or one of those Generac gas units. I can dream.

I have a Bluetti 1500 solar gen charged and ready for short outages, and thought about using it yesterday. Super fast and convenient.

But then I see setting up the gas or propane gen, even though it is a pain running cords into the house and possible pissing off neighbors, as a good trial run. Found I had a bad long AC ext cord for instance and I need to have more small battery powered lights on hand.

Just bought a FI Generator 3750? the other day and almost set it up, but will later. The little workhorse Honda 2000 had a heater, frig, and all my TV/electronics (UFC lol), AC lighting all working without tripping the overload light. As a unmarried, no fam guy the GenMax will do it all for just me and come in at 59db - quieter than the pretty quiet Honda.

 

[gmerkt]

the longer the temp. is in the teens, the longer the heat pump wants to run because the exterior walls have cooled down to that equilibrium point

Quoting my own post. I should add, with a heat pump, the system starts to lose efficiency when temps. get below a certain point and of course this alone causes them to run longer. Combined with deeper cold penetration into the structure.

 

[orygun]

It finally got into the 20's today. Teens for quite a while up til then. The hardwood floors are cold!