Big Cliff Posted December 29, 2008 Report Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) Boy, that wind storm yesterday sure made a mess of things, I haven't made a tour of the area to see how much damage there is but I did see some large pieces of a neighbour's boat house roof go blowing by. We are making out OK, I had a nice little 1000W generator that I picked up on special this summer. I had just taken it out of the box and serviced it on Saturday and started it. Filled it up with fresh gas and set it asside "just in case" I might need it. It is currently sitting on my back deck and purring quietly away! It isn't big enough to run things like the water pump so we have no running water but by switching things around I can run the fan on our gas fire place, it is keeping the house comfortable. If it gets too cool, our kitchen stove is gas so I can turn it on in the past I have been able to keep the house comfortable with the two of them going even when the outside temp is -20. (don't worry, I have a CO monitor hooked up and operational) Our computer or TV and a couple of the energy efficient lights as well as charge our cell phones and some power packs. Being a country boy (and forewarned by several posts on the board) I had filled the bath tub yesterday morning when I started reading posts on here about the high winds and power failures (it is one of those big corner tubs and holds about 95 gal) so I have plenty of water to flush toilets and stuff. I always have two cans of gas in the shop and the generator only uses 3/4 of a gal./7 hrs (approx) so no fear of running out of gas. Don't think I'll be going into work today though, oh well, could be worse! Hope everyone else is doing OK seems there are still a lot of people in the area that still don't have power and won't for some time yet. Latest update, Hydro said we should have power back on by 4:00 pm. Would be nice if they are right. Edited December 29, 2008 by Big Cliff
Roy Posted December 29, 2008 Report Posted December 29, 2008 AHHHHHH Cliff, I hope you and Sue get the power back soon. I know that you're a self-sufficient kinda guy but nobody needs the hassle. Be well my friend.
misfish Posted December 29, 2008 Report Posted December 29, 2008 I know pop dont regreted putting out extra dollars for thier generator Cliff. It does save on the lost of food in the fridge and freezer.Luckely they have an electric/wood furnace. Theres always heat when needed. Hope yer powers up and running soon.
motv8tr Posted December 29, 2008 Report Posted December 29, 2008 For once I didn't lose my power for any length of time....I was expecting to. As far as I know the folks are also without power...their biggest problem is boredom with no T.V. or computer They have a wood stove so should be warm enough, and they used the BBQ to make dinner. Hope they get it back soon though as they don't have a generator... Maureen
Big Cliff Posted December 29, 2008 Author Report Posted December 29, 2008 I would love to put in one of those nice big "Whole House" generators but they are a lot of $. Last quote I had on one installed with the auto start/stop pannel and everything included was going to cost me nearly $10,000.00. This little unit I have only cost me $450.00 including taxes (love those 50% off sales) LOL. It may not do everything but I'll bet there are a lot of people out there that wish they even had this! Apparently there are 230,000 people without power as of last night.
lunkerbasshunter Posted December 29, 2008 Report Posted December 29, 2008 hey good for you for being prepared! Hope the power comes back soon! Cheers!
Big Cliff Posted December 29, 2008 Author Report Posted December 29, 2008 Moe, if I get mine back on and they still don't have power (apparently there will be some places without for a couple of days) I will run my generator over to them. I will try to give them a call and see what the situation is. Let me know if you hear anything more. Cliff
perodimi Posted December 29, 2008 Report Posted December 29, 2008 Hi Cliff, I have a 5000 watt Coleman generator and a smaller 1000 watt Honda. The large one is loud but gets the job done. You're welcome to borrow them both if this thing lasts much longer and I'll even drive it up to you. Cheers, Peter
douG Posted December 29, 2008 Report Posted December 29, 2008 Now that's what I call being prepared, Cliff. Attaboy.
Big Cliff Posted December 29, 2008 Author Report Posted December 29, 2008 Thanks Peter, that is VERY kind of you! I just saw two hydro trucks go down our road and I talked to Beans, they saw the hydro trucks about an hour ago and their hydro just came back on. I am hoping we'll get the same results. I also had a really nice PM from Bill (bk2ptbo) who offered to come over and help with anything I needed. What a family!
Beans Posted December 29, 2008 Report Posted December 29, 2008 Like Motv8tr said we didn't starve...My bbq is on my screened-in back porch and a trick I learned by being the camp cook for a pack of cubs (jr. boy scouts) was how to make a foil wrapped dinner...I just buttered the inside (shiney side of the foil) and placed a bunch of mixed veggies (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli,celery, etc.)...after seasoning and sprinkeling a bit of lemon juice I wrapped the foil around the whole lot...did the same to a package of cod and placed all on a cookie sheet and put on the pre-heated bbq...veggies were a little over done but still tasted good...after dinner we listened to the Leaf game on our battery powered radio by oil lamp and candles... Was a bit cool in here when I got up (58*F) but there were enough hot coals in the stove to get a bit of kindling going so it warmed up real quick... Our power went off at 09:30 AM yesterday and came on at 09:00 AM this morning...wouldn't want to do this every day but once in a while is a change of pace...
Woodsman Posted December 30, 2008 Report Posted December 30, 2008 Mine was out yesterday from 06:50hrs until 13:30hrs. Long enough for me. A little generator is a good idea. I always have a few big covered pails of water stored in the basement for the toilet. Add a little bleach to kill the bacteria. Good Luck: Rick
Woodsman Posted December 30, 2008 Report Posted December 30, 2008 Here's a link some may find helpful. http://www.hydroonenetworks.com/en/about/o...s/south_map.asp
steverowbotham Posted December 30, 2008 Report Posted December 30, 2008 I'm in Lindsay too, we had no power on Christmas Eve!!! I would assume you're east of the river? I know they've been without power for a bit
irishfield Posted December 30, 2008 Report Posted December 30, 2008 (edited) Looks like some folks around Bancroft (over 10,000 of them) are gonna go without until New Years Day ! Edited December 30, 2008 by irishfield
2 tone z71 Posted December 30, 2008 Report Posted December 30, 2008 we just got ours back last night was off for 35 hrs never a good time ,on the other hand after driving around the amount of shingles and tarps on roofs I see gonna be a busy spring
Sinker Posted December 30, 2008 Report Posted December 30, 2008 Man, if my power was out for that long, I"d be screwed. My sump pump has been going almost non stop since friday!! I'd be flooded out fer sure by now!!! Good on ya for being prepared Cliff!! I'm going looking for generators now......cya! Sinker
Governator Posted December 30, 2008 Report Posted December 30, 2008 A generator would be an awesome xmas gift one year... We lost power from 8:30AM-Noon on Sunday. Wasn't that bad, but the radio really wasn't giving us much info. Glad I got a gas fireplace tho, kept the family room toasty.
Rattletrap2 Posted December 31, 2008 Report Posted December 31, 2008 Cliff, We lost our power at 7:58 am on Sunday morning....and it finally came back on at about 6:30 pm Sunday night. I went out for coffee and saw the tree down across the wires on Highway 10. Called in the location and all, but they said the outage only affected (1) customer!!! Arghhhhh... the fellow across the road was away and I guess none of my neighbours called in! Fortunately after the flood last January 8th, I had installed a 12 volt back-up sump pump...otherwise we would have certainly been underwater in the basement. The thing was pumping out every couple of minutes all day and all day Monday when back on the 120 volt pump. The river behind my home was up higher than anyone has ever seen it. We had about 6 inches to go before we would have been in major trouble! Fortunatel it is back down tonight. The winds yesterday night sure had me worried! The high winds on Sunday caused me lots of damage and the BBQ went flying right off my deck! I guess the 4 inches of snow today don't seem too bad compared to the winds we were seeing. I managed to find a small rental generator in Brampton on Sunday when we thought we would have to go through the night without power. Of course the power came back on 5 minutes after I wired up the Generator and fired it up! A portable generator is on my list of things to purchase if anyone hears of any good deals!!
Big Cliff Posted December 31, 2008 Author Report Posted December 31, 2008 Glad to hear it all worked out OK for you, good thing you had the 12V back up sump pump. Any idea how big a generator you want? I MIGHT be able to hook you up with something through the place I am working.
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