Power to the People!!!

[DizzyDigger]

'er...electrical power, that is..

This year was one of the most memorable Christmas's..not because
of all the hoopla surrounding Christmas itself, but it will be forever known
around here as the "Christmas Outage of '18".

About every 15-20 years, we get a big windstorm up here in the Upper
Skagit Valley, and this time it arrived last Thursday morning. No idea
how high the winds were, but I'm guessing the gusts were above 70mph.

When you live in the woods, a bad windstorm can do miserable damage.
We didn't lose any of our trees, but the rest of the region suffered bad
damage, and massive trees were down everywhere. On our property
alone, we have 23 cedars that are all over 150', plus assorted fir
and alder. The fir and alders always go first, it seems.

Power went out about 1pm on Thursday, and like always I figured it would
be back up in a few hours. Not this time..

Our home is all electric, and while all the rest of the neighbors have either
wood or gas stoves, our home is newer, and, while contemplated, we never
took the steps to install a wood stove. I have COPD and the wife has bad
asthma, so we stuck with the electric furnace even though it's expensive to
run.

It was a damn cold 4 days..power came back on early Monday am. We didn't
starve as I set a Coleman camp stove up on top of the stove in the house,
so coffee and food weren't an issue. We have enough food to last a few months,
so nobody starved...but no power in the middle of December? It got COLD....

Sent my Mrs. off to a friends house so she would be warm enough, and I hung
out here with the cats and 'coons. We have two fridge-freezers and one stand
up freezer, but only lost minimal food in one freezer. I just opened the doors on
the fridge in the garage, so it was plenty cold.

House got down to the low 40's (inside) by Sunday, and my old bones could sure
feel it. Never been so happy as when the lights came back on..and now life is
back to normal.

Never take life for granted...appreciate even the most basic of things, like
electricity.

A Merry Christmas to you all....

 

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[Jim in Idaho]

That makes for a rough Christmas, Digger. There was a big outrage in California 10 or 15 years ago, that caused us here in Idaho to lose power for over 4 days. Thankfully, we have a woodstove, and generator, so it wasn't too bad. We can also cook in my 10' Alaskan camper, if necessary. Anybody in the north country should have a wood-burner for backup. Glad you got through it, in any case.
Jim

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Weve been off grid for about 10 years now, half of that without any power besides the cig lighter in my car.
Even with just a few solar panels and batteries now is nice for a radio or charging phones. I'd miss the little bit of electricity I have if it was gone but I dont have to rely on it for anything.
It's nothing but a luxury for me but a nice one to have.

Now if I had no firewood, that would be a problem hehe.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Weve been off grid for about 10 years now, half of that without any power besides the cig lighter in my car.
Even with just a few solar panels and batteries now is nice for a radio or charging phones. I'd miss the little bit of electricity I have if it was gone but I dont have to rely on it for anything.
It's nothing but a luxury for me but a nice one to have.
Now if I had no firewood, that would be a problem hehe.

Given the choice, I would have been much the same myself 40
years ago, but at this age and with the health issues my wife
and I have, it's just not feasible.

I have a lifetime of outdoor skills..hunting, fishing, long-line trapping,
etc. and my wife grew up on a working farm. The problem is our stinkin'
bodies just won't let us do what we want anymore.

Jim, agreed 100%. I've got an idea where I could put a wood stove, but
not sure it would meet code. It would only be for emergency use, and
firewood is readily available..all I gotta do is go cut it.

 

[releventchair]

I downsized my old generator.
Drag the mall one out if the shed and put it in the tarp shed when power is out.
It runs the furnace and fridge /freezer. Could run more ,but that's enough.

A nearby gas station runs a generator during outages ,and if I can't get there ,I can siphon gas out of the tractors.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Our home is all electric, and while all the rest of the neighbors have either
wood or gas stoves, our home is newer, and, while contemplated, we never
took the steps to install a wood stove. I have COPD and the wife has bad
asthma, so we stuck with the electric furnace even though it's expensive to
run.

Best option would probably be solar. You're already set up for the electric.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Best option would probably be solar. You're already set up for the electric.

Solar would be great, unfortunately the Sun sits far to the South
this time of year, and doesn't shine on our place during Dec. and Jan.,
and then it's only limited sunlight til late Spring.

If I cut down about 8 of my trees, and a dozen of my neighbors
we would get more Sun exposure, but still not enough this time
of year to generate sufficient wattage.

The trees in this pic sit on the north and east side of the house,
but it gives you an idea. Looking south (towards the Sun) is
about the same.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Solar might be a little cheaper than a new wood stove and no ashes or maintenance to deal with. I've got two kyocera panels and 4 Trojan batteries, a mttp smart controller and a 2500 watt inverter. It will run any power tools I need, a vacuum cleaner or whatever.
You'd need a little more power than I have but it was less than $1500 brand new and easy to install myself. Anyone with basic electrical knowledge or anyone that has installed a car stereo can do it themselves hehe.
If you rationed your power needs during down times it wouldn't take much for ya to get by for a few days.
If I had a house in town I'd detach from the grid and run my whole house on solar power. You could probably outfit a house for what they charge for 2 or 3 years of utility payments, and then the power still goes out hehe. Electric bills around gunnison can run $150 a month easy, especially when its cold.

 

[Red James Cash]

Try a windmill instead for generating.

 

[randywa]

We were hit by an ice storm Jan. 2007. We heat with a propane Warm Morning stove so that wasn't a problem. But we have a well so water was the big issue. Coffee and meals on the bbq grill. We're the last house on the line for a rural power coop so it was 11 days before we got power. By the fifth day if I heard what sounded like a lineman truck in the distance Id chase it down. It was the first time in a long time that we could get the kids to play card and board (or bored) games with us, and by lamp light even. That week and a half with no power was probably a good thing.

 

[Digger Pop]

We put in a Kohler whole house 14kW generator that runs on propane. Not crazy in price. With an auto transfer switch, it starts anytime we lose power. Hurricane Sandy it was 7 days. Once you have one, the peace of mind is great when you live out a ways.

 

[against the wind]

Living off the grid is a survivalist type of adventure.
When you lose power, you are forced to go back to your basic Boy Scout Training. "Be Prepared "
Let's burn some wood. You may want to consider an outdoor boiler and a back porch grill.
Glad you're back on the grid.

 

[Lunch Bag]

Longest we went without electricity was 11 days with a daytime high of 10* F.

Nightime was considerably colder.

A Koehler 14K generator with two (2) buried 1000 gallon propane tanks were installed after that fiasco.

 

[Holyground]

So nobody had to eat anybody? Boy, that would have been a story. I'm serious. It's gonna happen, sooner than later, you'll see.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

My main shop heat is a passive solar collector. I augment it with a small wqodstove. The passive solar is incredible. Will heat the shop to near 50 even when it's below zero outside.
Jim

 

[A2coins]

Glad you 2 were ok!! Happy new year!!! Tommy

 

[lairmo]

We were hit by an ice storm Jan. 2007. We heat with a propane Warm Morning stove so that wasn't a problem. But we have a well so water was the big issue. Coffee and meals on the bbq grill. We're the last house on the line for a rural power coop so it was 11 days before we got power. By the fifth day if I heard what sounded like a lineman truck in the distance Id chase it down. It was the first time in a long time that we could get the kids to play card and board (or bored) games with us, and by lamp light even. That week and a half with no power was probably a good thing.

We were without power 16 days in that storm.. busted ice from the pool to bring in to the tub..to flush the stool...etc Bought a generator on day 16..got home set it all up and the power came back on in an hour...lol Luckily had a fireplace.. bbq-ed everything in my freezer in a couple days and then set outside in coolers to reheat in the fireplace