-39* and no power

[djblech]

I woke up this morning and instantly new something was wrong. 5:30 am and no power. Checked the thermometer and saw -39*. My boiler was overheated because of no pumps running. I sure am glad the Liberty in the front room was still heating. It kept the house at 65* until the power came back on at 11:00 am. It had been off since about 2:30 am. The Co Sheriff had the local firemen and the deputies go house to house to make sure everyone was all right. They had buses to take people to the community center to stay warm. At that temp it wouldn't take long for a house to freeze up.
Doug

 

[bogydave]

-39°f :bug:

That's cold even in Alaska. (well my part anyway)

Nice to wave at them a s they go by eh?
Saying "All "OK here!"

Good story to tell if anyone asks : Why have a wood stove?

 

[pen]

I love winter, but we aren't talking fun anymore at those temps.

No generator? To me that seems as necessary as long johns for where you are, especially w/ a boiler.

pen

 

[djblech]

Yes I have a generator. It sits next to the boiler plugged in and ready to go, and I have used it a couple of times when I caught the power going down. By the time I got to the boiler it was boiling and steaming out the air bleeders and pressure relief valves. I let it cool down, pumped in more antifreeze/water mix and fired up again. Everything worked fine. I am planning a battery back-up with a relay to switch it when the power interrupts, still on the drawing board.
Doug

 

[chvymn99]

-39 F? WOW! Thats there is cold. Glad to hear it all ended fine.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Yes, that is cold in anybody's book! Glad it turned out well for you. Chalk up one more for wood heat!

 

[Gary_602z]

Heck at that temp the electricity froze up in the power lines!

Gary

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Heck at that temp the electricity froze up in the power lines!

Gary

Nah, it was so cold, they started superconducting, and that fried the transformer

 

[BrotherBart]

Makes my head hurt to think about getting a generator started at those temps.

 

[begreen]

Wow, this is getting totally Arctic. I went to bed thinking about the extreme conditions facing folks in this cold spell and woke up concerned about the same. Good to know the outage was short and that you had backup heat running. It was very heartening to hear about the county going out to check on people. You live in a good community.

 

[remkel]

Good to hear about your power return. Had an ice storm up here a couple of years ago- no power for 11 days. Had the stove going and house stayed in the low 60's. Local emergency services could not make it around, but the National Guard came through once a day to make sure everyone was ok. One soldier offered to let my kid drive his humvee in exchange for a trip down the hill on her sled- that is when I became the child and started yelling "take the deal!"

One thing that came from the storm was the reassurance that everyone in the neighborhood helped each other out- whether it was clearing fallen trees, sharing a meal, or helping someone hook up a generator, everyone pitched in.