No power

[riorider]

Good old Michigan, I live in Leslie about half way between Lansing and Jackson we had a small storm come through last night and lost power! Consumers says restore time is 11:30 Wed. night! I say thanks but no thanks sucks feeding my gen. for 2-3 days!

[USAFrox]

At least you are prepared enough to have a generator. Good on ya for being prepared.

[dakotashooter2]

As our current prez keeps pushing for renewable power this will become more commonplace. The sun can't make power when it doesn't shine and the wind doesn't make power when it's not blowing........

[wallenba]

I'm in the suburban Detroit area. We get our power knocked out about six times a year. My next door neighbor says it is a particular transformer on a pole behind the local Kroger store. He says that tractor trailer rigs backing up, making deliveries to the rear dock, sometimes hit the pole. It gets a low priority sometimes, and takes a full day to fix. If this is truly happening, it seems like something permanent can be done.

Is this really possible?

Sorry. did not mean to hi-jack thread, it just leapt to mind.

[Ed Barrett]

I used to live at the end of a rural electric line. If a cloud came over we lost power, if it rained the creek came up and you couldn't make it to the mailbox. could get a lot of reloading and casting done while the sun was up.

[willie_pete]

By happenstance, I lucked into a fix for power outages. Lived in WV for a while and over the years had a number of snow storms and attendant power outages. Moved into a neighborhood where half the neighbors worked for the local power company. For whatever reason we always got our power back first and days before other people. Never did figure out why. ;-)

wP

[dtknowles]

As our current prez keeps pushing for renewable power this will become more commonplace. The sun can't make power when it doesn't shine and the wind doesn't make power when it's not blowing........


Are you serious? The more likely case for in increase in power outages will be the lack of interest in maintaining the electrical distribution network with adequate back up capability and proper switching gear to route power around damaged lines and network equipment. More capacity provided by wind and solar will not cause the power to go off, the utilities know how to provide the right amount of generating capacity from different sources to provide power independent of time of day or the weather except it seems in southern California where for some reason they can seem to install enough capacity to cover peak demand for hot days and they can't seem to pull power from other parts of the country because of their network configuration.

Tim

[Beagle333]

I used to live 2.5 miles back down a dirt road....... if the power went out, prepare to rough it for a week. Now, I still live out in the country, but close enough to a substation to sprinkle it with birdshot. They always start there and work outwards when repairs are needed. We are never out more than 30 minutes, and any outage at all is very rare. I don't even has a UPS on my computer because it never blinks here. :cool:

[lightman]

Interesting thread, this is what I have done for a living for 34 years. riorider, I hope you come back on sooner than that. Lightman

[Sweetpea]

IIRC, the summer of '94 we had one heck of a set of thunderstorms, complete with twisters, run across Mid-Michigan.

I was at church camp at the time, ran back from the swimming hole when several twisters touched down in the immediate area.

I believe close to half the state was without power for pretty near a week.

Us guys didn't have it so bad, but the girls sure were complaining about the well pumps not working, and having to squat in the woods...[smilie=l:

[MaryB]

My cure for the frequent outages here

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd248/maryalanab/Solar-panels-complete.jpg

and a large battery bank, will run the heat for days, in summer I can keep the fridge and freezer going for 2-3 days of cloudy, longer if we get sun during the day. Also runs a couple lights, my ham radio gear, and the router so I can go online with my tablet...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

My cure for the frequent outages here

and a large battery bank, will run the heat for days, in summer I can keep the fridge and freezer going for 2-3 days of cloudy, longer if we get sun during the day. Also runs a couple lights, my ham radio gear, and the router so I can go online with my tablet...

Mary,
nearly every post, you mention something extra ordinary about yourself...I just knew you were a ham :) :kidding:

[dakotashooter2]

Are you serious? The more likely case for in increase in power outages will be the lack of interest in maintaining the electrical distribution network with adequate back up capability and proper switching gear to route power around damaged lines and network equipment. More capacity provided by wind and solar will not cause the power to go off, the utilities know how to provide the right amount of generating capacity from different sources to provide power independent of time of day or the weather except it seems in southern California where for some reason they can seem to install enough capacity to cover peak demand for hot days and they can't seem to pull power from other parts of the country because of their network configuration.

Tim

I'll agree that distribution is the biggest problem at the moment but the current administration is pushing hard to shut down our coal fired generation plants. Every time our plants meet emission standards they are changed and become even more restrictive and the plants are forced to invest in the newest standards/equipment which often doesn't make enough difference to justify the cost. About a year ago they were trying to force our plants to install "scrubbers" which were less efficient than the new equipment which had just been installed (mandated) to meet emission standards. We have several wind farms in our state. They only seem to operate about 60% of the time. The reason for some of that is demand but it is also partially due to no wind or too much wind. The claims that wind farms allow the land to be multi functional is also some what a joke. The farmers in this state have been moving to larger equipment and tearing out shelter belts and tree claims to make it easier to use that equipment. Windmills are just proving to be another obstacle when they are trying to farm the land beneath them. I'm not saying renewable energy isn't valuable just that it isn't what it is claimed to be....and FYI residents of this state are footing the bill for the construction of the mandated renewable energy which is then transmitted to another state.

[MaryB]

:groner: :-) I also do astrophotography from my observatory in the backyard... gotta keep busy you know. Being disabled and retired doesn't mean sit and do nothing! And nothing more peaceful than a night under the stars with no internet to annoy me.


Mary,
nearly every post, you mention something extra ordinary about yourself...I just knew you were a ham :) :kidding:

[Hickory]

As our current prez keeps pushing for renewable power this will become mlore commonplace. The sun can't make power when it doesn't shine and the wind doesn't make power when it's not blowing........

Welcome to your new and improved, built by Obama, third world nation.

[FISH4BUGS]

During the Great Ice Storm of 2009 we lost power for 10 days. With a wood stove, no problem with heat. We kept the generator going about 4-6 hours a day only when we needed water or the freezer and fridge to keep doing their thing. Actually it really wasn't all that bad. Minor inconveniences. But we were prepared. Burned up almost 50 gallons of gasoline but that was our inventory.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

:groner: :-) I also do astrophotography from my observatory in the backyard... gotta keep busy you know. Being disabled and retired doesn't mean sit and do nothing! And nothing more peaceful than a night under the stars with no internet to annoy me.
And Yet another one :) My Mom is/was an observer also, so much so, when she retired in 1985 from 40 years of employment at a small town, family owned Bank, they gifted her a telescope.

[dkf]

Around here the electric was more reliable like 50 years ago. The electric boys are too overpaid and underworked to do something as menial as trimming trees or maintaining lines. They just wait until things pop and then get to it when they get to it.

[ourflat]

MaryB, do you have those panels wired into the grid or is it a standalone with an inverter?

Cheers,
Frank

[FISH4BUGS]

Around here the electric was more reliable like 50 years ago. The electric boys are too overpaid and underworked to do something as menial as trimming trees or maintaining lines. They just wait until things pop and then get to it when they get to it.
Public Service of NH is becoming very agressive in their tree trimming. They cut back 20 feet from the lines starting after the 2009 ice storm. I have to say as much as I hate seeing so many trees cut down, the electricity has been far more reliable. I have to start the generator about every two weeks and let it run just to make sure it is there when (if) we need it.
In the process now of rotating out the gas so we will have 50 gallons of fresh fuel for this winter.

[MaryB]

Stand alone into a 928 amp hour 24 volt battery bank. Working on adding 8 more panels too to bump me to 2800 watts. Grid tie is to expensive and to intrusive on my property. Special insurance, special disconnects, utility reserves the right to cut me off any time they choose... heck with that. Once the next set of panels are up they will feed a separate inverter for the fridge and freezer. Both will have a transfer switch and low voltage battery detector to switch back on grid as needed.


MaryB, do you have those panels wired into the grid or is it a standalone with an inverter?

Cheers,
Frank

[CastingFool]

I live a little farther south than Riorider, and I lost power for 2 days. Unfortunately, I don't have a generator yet. It was a challenge to keep stuff cold. Our freezers were fine, but the refrigerators didn't do very well. We took some items to our daughter's house, as she did not lose power. One winter we lost power for 3 days, keeping food cold was not an issue at all. kept the house relatively warm with a pellet stove and a gas log.

[BrassMagnet]

My big brother lives in Oklahoma City, OK and was there for a big ice storm that killed their power for more than a week.
He had a 1000 Watt inverter and the 12 Volt battery in his VW Golf. With that, he was able to run the oven element in his electric stove and a single light. He had to run the VW at idle to recharge the battery. The VW had a standard transmission so it could be push started if necessary.
He was the most prepared in his neighborhood.