Record High Temperatures - Are You Prepared for Power Grid Failures?

Self | June 29, 2012 | Vanity

[Perseverando]

With all the news focused on Obamacare, SCOTUS, Fast and Furious, etc., I was just looking at some of the weather forecasts here in Virginia.

Remember all the warnings about the effects of shutting down coal plants and the fear that it would potentially cause brown outs or black outs. If they're going to happen this summer, I would think that it's very possible it could happen in the next couple of days.

(Hey maybe Obama would even consider martial law to control crime, riots, potential civil unrest in urban areas.)

So Freepers have you considered what you would do without power to alleviate your family's suffering during the heat wave if the power goes out for a day, or two or three?

[MissMagnolia]

The generator is a big one - 17,500 watts. Still not enough do you think? Heat pump is two tons.

[EggsAckley]

Absolutely prepared with an 18,500W generator. It powers three houses with propane. Very sweet unit. Comes on/goes off automatically. We like to call him “Sparky.”

[Lurker]

May I also recommend you look into having a transfer switch installed. That way you could plug the gen set directly into your home wiring without having to use extension cords.

[The Duke]

Thanks for this important sanity check.

[crazydad]

National Emergency!!!! Marial Law until the situation is contained.

[Lurker]

It’s not the watt output that matters, it’s how many amps. It it’s a 30 amp output and your heat pump has a starting amp draw of 45 amps it will never start the heat pump.

I could be wrong but I’d be willing to bet that’s your issue.

Get a room air unit and have that for a backup. Thats what we did.

[crazydad]

Here in El Dorado County a bit chilly also. 69. Want hot weather to boat. Lakes are to cold with out hot weather.

[McGruff]

My wife is on an oxygen machine. We have a generator and enough gas for at least a couple of days. Gotta get some money from the ATM machine though. Learned that lesson last winter. Gas was cash only.

[crazydad]

Martial that is!

[DannyTN]

"Duh! The sump pump is in the basement! No, I was referring to Mrs. TSgt. ;)"

Okay, Now I'm just confused.

• The presence of the sump pump increases his chances of getting lucky with Mrs. TSgt. Is it cooler or is she turned on by the sound or what?
• Or is Mrs. TSgt already in the basement and the heat gives you an excuse to join her?

[MissMagnolia]

We do have a transfer switch - had the electrician put one in. I have told dad to go get a portable AC unit & he did look at them yesterday. He is a couple months short of 90 & you can’t tell him anything, if you know what I mean :-) He has an engineering degree and I think it’s more the challenge of figuring this thing out .... definitely keeping him out of trouble (inside, out of the heat, away from the chainsaw, etc.)! Thanks for your help/suggestions.

[Lurker]

Happy to be of service, ma’am.

If you look at the data plate on the piece of equipment in question you’ll probably find information on both the running and starting amps. The running figure is usually substantially lower than the starting amp.

If there’s a motor involved the starting amps may be labelled as “LRA” which stands for Locked Rotor Amperage. That’s the maximum starting draw when the motor is completely shut down. If it’s over 30 and your gen set is a 30 amp output, that’s the source of the difficulty.

[matginzac]

A bit chilly, yes...
Until it becomes Mexico Norde, you are in food lines, speaking Spanish and looking for an opening in the wall between you and Arkansas.
Cheers.

[MissMagnolia]

Ok, found the LRA (52) & amps for the generator calculates at 72 so it should be ok.

[mykroar]

Reminds me of the scene from Running Scared with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal when they are driving on the El.

Danny Costanzo: [driving their car on the L tracks] Try not to scrape the third rail, OK? There's about 600 volts in there.

Ray Hughes: It's not the voltage that gets you. It's the amps.

Nun: How many amps are there?

Ray: Enough to push a train. And shut up!

Still my favorite buddy cop show.

[Lurker]

While your generator may indeed be capable of putting out 72 amps (72000 watts divided by 100 equals 72 amps) you have to realize that’s spread across 2 legs meaning that you only get a max of 36 amps per side unless you’ve got it wired on the 220 circuits of the transfer switch.

Even then if the gen set has a 30 amp output you won’t get anywhere near the 52 amps required to start up that motor.

L

[Twinkie]

Get some small bills, too, (one’s, five’s, tens). Change is hard to come by when cash registers are down.

[MissMagnolia]

Thanks - he seems to ‘get’ what you are talking about & will check it out.

(I think he’s a little puzzled how I ‘know’ people with such good info! :-) FReepers are the best!!

[Lurker]

Like I said, happy to be of service.

I learned all this because I just did it myself. You almost can’t by a portable gen set “big” enough to start a central air or heat pump unit. So our workaround was a couple of room units on different “legs” of the transfer switch.

While the whole house may not be cool we’ll at least have a couple bedrooms we can retreat to. I’m sure Mrs. L and I will find some way to occupy ourselves.

Best of luck to you, ma’am.

L

[bgill]

Never waste a crisis.

Texas, with 100+ temps in May and June, has already had warnings about brown/black outs and cautions to not use appliances during afternoon hours. I’d bet Hussein wouldn’t want any down time this summer to tick the sheeple off but just wait until next summer.