Power down!

[Ashful]

Heard the old UPS on our NAS beeping at 4am... power went out. Estimated repair at 8pm, so we'll be living like most of the former residents of our house, for today.

With two 3 cu.ft. stoves, making heat is no trouble, but circulating it to the far reaches of 6700 sq.ft. is going to be the problem. I plan to watch our third floor and attached garage temps, as we have plumbing ad sinks in those two locations, but with outside temps just hovering around the freezing mark today, I don't anticipate any problems.

It got cold fast, with only one stove going, after the power went out. No wonder they had a half dozen woodstoves in the pre-electric version of this house .

 

[Knots]

Consider this though: you have a slight inconvenience with the inability to push the air around. People with no stove have a full-blown crisis on their hands...

6700 sq ft is a hefty amount of heating to do, but as long as the pipes aren't freezing, the worst that can happen is you need to sleep closer to the stove!

 

[velvetfoot]

With 580,000 customers out in the Philly area, I wouldn't count on an 8 PM restoration.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

The ice storm never materialized for us here in central Pa. Just a little snow

 

[tcassavaugh]

The ice storm never materialized for us here in central Pa. Just a little snow

us either here south of d.c. all ice was to the north....this weekend might be a different story depending on the path of the storm.

 

[HybridFyre]

Damn. 2 3 cb ft stoves and 6,700 sq ft. You must burn through a ton of wood

 

[weatherguy]

Did you get an ice storm Joful? We have heavy wet snow here so may be some power outages, especially if it changes to freezing rain on top of it.

 

[DougA]

Good thing the groundhog didn't appear on our property. I would have shot it. Cabin fever is setting in.

 

[tarzan]

I believe Joful meant the main breaker tripped at his house and it will take him till 8:00 pm to walk across it and reset the breaker.

 

[Ashful]

Good one, tarzan. Actually, PECO called to say power has been restored to "parts of our neighborhood," although our house is still dead. I might do well to check that main breaker, when I get home from work.

Yeah, we got nailed with at least 1/2" of solid ice, and an inch or so of slush after that. My car and all of my trees look like a glazed donut. I could hear trees snapping and coming down around my yard about every 20 minutes, this morning. I'll be real busy with the chainsaws, as soon as weather and work permit.

Right now, I'm conducting several experiments in my back yard on just how far a walnut tree can bend before it snaps.

 

[velvetfoot]

As long as there are no overhead wires in the backyard, that might not be so overhead any more.

 

[Ashful]

Still no juice. The novelty of the situation is wearing thin. Fourth major outage since we moved in two years ago. Time to start shopping generators.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

I have got the best generator for you! It's a Honda 3500 about 7 years old, overly maintained case I get bored in the winter. It is a great generator but it is oh so much more! It is magical! That's right, it can do magic.
If you buy it, with all the wires and boxes etc...it will guarantee power will not be lost for more than 3 hours at a time and not more than once a year once the purchase has been made.
Since this genny is magic and that will clearly cost more, asking price is $5000, but you'll never loose power again! I bought it nearly 5 years ago and haven't needed it since!
Ask about details. No guarantees, warrantees, you get Nutting but the magical generator. Good deal. Really.

 

[BrotherBart]

6700 sq.ft. is going to be the problem

I didn't know they had airplane hangers back in those days.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I didn't know they had airplane hangers back in those days.

Iv got a commercial building with 4 large apartments 2 storefronts and a 1500SQ ft basement thats smaller than 6700SQ ft

 

[Ashful]

I didn't know they had airplane hangers back in those days.

1773 = 3000 sq ft plus attic
1894 = added 800 sq ft
1994 = added 2600 sq ft
1998 = finished attic = 800 sq ft
2013 = added 300 sq ft

Got a Powermate 6000/7500 generator. Not my choice, would've pref. Honda or Robin, but it was all I could find in stock.

Wire to sit in the driveway near house, or out in the barn, 250 ft from house? I'm thinking closer is better, for hearing how it's loaded, and convenience of starting/stopping, even if it means having it sit outside.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

I think the wire is (forget what you need to use) is like a buck a foot. So, that's why mine sits outside. I put a saw horse on either side of it and a piece of plywood for a roof. It's my low budget generator house that sets up and comes down in a matter of minutes.

 

[velvetfoot]

These things can get feet and walk away too.

 

[jharkin]

Yea, to run that generator 250 feet out in the barn wont be cheap. 8 gauge is typically what generators that size are wired with on short runs, but looking at the wire size calculator on Southwire's website its coming up with #4 copper for 25 amps @ 250ft < 3% voltage drop if you do direct burial. Add in the connections at either end or if code wants it sized to the surge rating you probably need to go up even to #3 Cu or #2 Al.

3-3 w/G UFB wire is going to be $$$$$$$ (edit, I dont know if they make regular UF-B in sizes like #3, probably have to use SE cable!)


Might want to build a little doghouse for it. I'm thinking of doing that with my generator that currently lives in the garage and has to get dragged out through the back yard to plug in.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

1773 = 3000 sq ft plus attic
1894 = added 800 sq ft
1994 = added 2600 sq ft
1998 = finished attic = 800 sq ft
2013 = added 300 sq ft
.

I wouldnt want to pay your Real estate taxes on a place that size in Philadelphia.

 

[BrotherBart]

That genny shed I built on the end of the wood shed three years ago is something I should have done 20 years ago. Right behind the garage. At the far end of the wood shed with a walkway so I don't tromp in the mud anymore for either.

Four twelve gauge cords running into the house. Pull the rope(s) and go. Two 3250s and one 5500 in there as needed.

 

[Ashful]

Sorry, guys! There's already a sub-feed with running out to the barn with a breaker panel out there, so I'd only need 10' of cord to wire into the panel. Main advantage of putting it out there is that it's out of the weather, but disadvantages are running out there to turn it on/off, and not being able to hear it or get to it quick. I also always worry about fire out there, not that it's likey to happen, but it's a wood shop with sawdust piled in every nook and cranny. I hate to leave engines running out there, unattended.

This generator came with a cord, roughly 25 feet of AWG 10-4, with a NEMA L14-30P (240V 4-pole twist lock plug) on one end and four NEMA L5-20R's (regular 120V 20A receptacle) on the other. For expediency, I just cut the receptacle set off the one end of the cord, fitted it with a second NEMA L14-30P (suicide cable), and plugged it into a L14-30 receptacle I hung off my sub-panel in the garage. Shut off the main breaker, and anything high load (washer, dryer, microwave, range, etc.) and within an hour, I was up and running!

Living without power is an inconvenience, but never bothered me that much. However, with two sick kids at home, and unable to go to work for the last WEEK, my wife was right on the edge of losing her mind. For her sake, the permanent install (interlock / transfer switch, circuit re-routing, etc.) will have to wait for fair weather. Our estimated repair time was 11pm Sunday, but today they pulled that estimate in to 11pm Friday.

Our taxes are surprisingly low... one of the many advantages of living in PA. I'm not actually in Philly, but it's my closest major city.

 

[Madcodger]

I suspect we're not far apart, and we're still hearing Sunday. But several friends in more civilized areas are already restored. I see crews everywhere as I was out and about yesterday. Our little 8Kw gennie has kept us purring along, and warm with the two pellet stoves. I switch to one stove on battery at night, but may wire in the second to my big battery system over the weekend.

 

[woodgeek]

The utility is progressing, looks like they crossed the 50% mark for power restoration last night. The out of state crews show up today. They think 'most' will have power tonight. I don't think I will be part of 'most'.

My pre-EPA insert is keeping my house >40°F warmer than outside (mid-60s no problem) without a struggle, but this recreational burner's wood stash was not what it should have been (about 2 days worth on hand), I'm buying wood and borrowing from neighbors.

 

[jharkin]

Living without power is an inconvenience, but never bothered me that much. However, with two sick kids at home, and unable to go to work for the last WEEK, my wife was right on the edge of losing her mind. For her sake, the permanent install (interlock / transfer switch, circuit re-routing, etc.) will have to wait for fair weather. Our estimated repair time was 11pm Sunday, but today they pulled that estimate in to 11pm Friday.

.

Glad to hear that you got everything up and running... I'm suprised they supplied the genset with 10/3-G (30amp max), most sets 6000w and up are usually wired for a NEMA50 and 8/3

... and glad to hear you plan to do a proper interlock later, so we dont have to give you the backfeed dangers speech

Our taxes are surprisingly low... one of the many advantages of living in PA. I'm not actually in Philly, but it's my closest major city

Must be for sure... In my town a house that size would be valued over 2mil with a tax bill big enough to buy a new Benz every year!