wc11

Over 24 hrs now with no power.
But hey, a gas stove & fireplace makes it easy. Camping lanterns and a good stock of cigars don't hurt either.

aviography

I had just moved in the current hosue when the July 03' black out hit, got to meet the new neighbors as we BBQ'ed and drank cold beer since we didn't know how long the black out would last .

Lost power for 5 hours today, then it went off again 50 minutes later but at least I have a gas fireplace to keep warm, parent's house in Scarborough was w/o power from 1am to 8:30pm and they have no alternative means of heat, I went to their place to get them to my sister's place in Mississauga as they never lost power, but the power came on so they decided to stay.

One of my sister living in Campbellville is now trapped on their property, brother-in-law is out of country on business, they have a long driveway on the 10 acre property, many trees right beside both side of the long driveway, and many branches came down, knocking down both power and phone lines, so they've been without power since 9pm last night.

The worst part is that the driveway is not only blocked with the downed lines, which thankfully is not sparking because the whole area is still without power, but the fallen branches etc. have blocked my sister and niece, plus their dog and cat from getting out of their property.

Fortunately they have a propane powered kitchen stove that works without electrical power so they've been using the stove to boil water to keep warm, but they don't have much firewood for the wood burning fireplace, so it's still not pleasant, especially if the temperature will be going down as stated in the forecast.

My sister has called local hydro company, tree clearing company, electric and company, but no one is responding yet as they are all too busy responding to other calls, so my sister and niece will be trapped there for a while yet until all the various companies can do their thing, I can't do much there due to the electricity and ice coated tree branches that can still come down, very frustrating.

She's using her iPhone occasionally charged by her SUV as the means of contacting the outside world.

69gaugeman

I took the 928 GT out as the Touareg was iced shut. Power was out Sunday for about 5 hours so I went to someplace that had power and would pay me... lol

Rally Guy

Two days w no power, right in the city. Managed to score a generator, basic systems running so not too bad, but boy do we ever rely on electricity eh?

Looking forward to full grid supply soon!

Rk

wc11

Power's back.

Rally Guy

Congrats!

I'd be jealous - but I'm watching a Rush DVD while doing email on my laptop in a warm house - despite no power in the 'hood. Feeling mildly guilty. : )

RK

pongobaz

First World Problem: we "lost" internet, cable and phone for an hour...had to rely on DVD's and conversation for entertainment.

Pags993

Finally got power back about an hour ago.

Question how big a portable generator would I need to run the basics in the house ie furnace and fridge? Stove and BBQ are nat gas so that's a plus.

petee_c

Im looking at a Harbor Freight one for temporary use. I am thinking I can get by with 3200W/ 4000W surge.

Furnaces are typically 220/240V, so your gen would need to be able to output that. Then you will need to get a transfer switch if you want to run it, cause it's hardwired to the panel. This would cost $$$ to do it to code in Canada. It won't be big enough to do our stove, but we have a toaster oven, microwave and propane bbq if it came to that.

Typically, it seems our power usually is only out for 12h at most. Fridges will keep their temp for 6-8h fine as long as you don't open it. For our basement fridge and small chest freezer, we would just have them plugged in a few hours at a time, and rotate between the 2.

For heat, we have a NG fireplace, and plan to run 110v via extension cords from the gen to it to the circulating fan, and then maybe direct the air with other fans to other parts of the house if need be.

At the cottage, we've been through multi day power outs. We usually shut down the gen at night, and wake up early and get it going again. Food still frozen in freezer, and cold in the fridge.

P

wc11

I was shopping last year.
1000 watt should do but most would buy 2500 or more to be safe.
You just have to make sure everyone in the house understands that its not for, the electric stove, drier, microwave, toaster, hairdrier or air conditioner.
Some people actually do that!

If it's occasional use, a propane/natural gas model makes more sense.
Natural gas doesn't need power to flow and is always available at your house.
It could be permanent mount or a quick connect like your BBQ.
Propane tanks can be had almost anywhere.

You never ever have to worry about stale gas, gummed carburetors etc.
And if you happen to run out of gas, no power means no gas!

myw

were you able to get the toureg unfrozen? my suv was parked outside nad its frozen bad.... anywhere between an inch to 2 inches of ice on it. im afraid that i have to hit it very, very hard to get the ice to break/crack.... but at the same time i dont want to end up damaging the car.

anyone else here who had their winter DD's parked outside suffering from this issue to this extreme?

aviography

Operation "Sister Rescue" complete, they have been trapped in their country property without power since Saturday night, quite a number of trees and branches fell on the long driveway taking down power line and telephone line, and made their very long one-lane driveway completely impassable.

Went over after lunch, used a tow strap hooked up to my car to move some logs out of the way, then a contractor my niece's boyfriend knew happened to be available nearby, so they came to clear the rest what needed to be cleared with a chain saw so the driveway is now passable.

Sister, niece, dog, cat, and a goldfish are all safe and sound at my place now, this might last quite a few days given how much needs to be done before the power can be turned back on at their property.

Brian 162

Just don't do what I did in post #14 of this thread.

Turbodan

both my audi and touareg were outside and iced over but not that hard to open on Saturday and just ran them with defrost on for 20 mins and ice fell off. Both cars have snows and zero problem getting around or stopping even on the ice.

69gaugeman

I used a heat gun to melt all around the edges of the door. Then just let the car run for 30 or so minutes on defrost. took me about ten minutes to get into the car. But soooo much better on the roads...lol... Still loved having to use manual 'traction control'. reminded me of the old days when I had the 914 as my only car. I had good winter tires on it, though, and drove it rain, sun, or snow. Lack of much of a heater kinda sucked, but I managed.