Poll: Emergency power and heating

[XyloSesame]

Xylo, why would a vegan be cooking themselves meat to begin with?  It would be kind of funny to see what happens to a vegan when they run out of Tofu, though.

Man, I know a vegan who says they can smell the meat on your clothes.

When the power went out for us when I was a kid we used to put cold but not freezable stuff outside in a cooler with some hot water in a pan.  Coolers keep cold out nearly as well as they keep it in. 

We had almost our entire fridge on the front lawn before the temps raised above freezing...

Yes, but it's your house.  Your dog just fell down.  I'm not sure why.

It's either the meat fumes or the fact that you're cooking one of his legs.

[ChadTower]

Man, I know a vegan who says they can smell the meat on your clothes.

Tell him you can smell the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- in his words.

We had almost our entire fridge on the front lawn before the temps raised above freezing...

In college in the winter I used to hang frozen dinners out the window in a bucket (6th floor).   

It's either the meat fumes or the fact that you're cooking one of his legs.

It's not my fault everything in his fridge spoiled when the power went out.

[tommy]

Meat is Delicious. Too delicious to pass on. I never understood not eating meat, i understand the meaning for people like that but not eating meat leaves you feeling all empty and not full inside.

No homo jokes please. 

[vader]

Just light your house on fire stand outside and you'll stay warm.  Make sure your homeowners policy is up to date and don't leave fingerprints on the gas can.

[shardian]

Wow, I totally missed the propane debate.

Gas grills = Do not use indoors, or even under any overhang such as in your garage or covered car port. They are horribly inefficient and spew fumes into the air.

Propane space heaters (like the ones that attach to a gas grill propane tank). Don't use these inside either. They are a tip/fire hazard and they also will put off fumes. I considered this for my garage until I did my research.
Don't use this guy in your house!!

The only safe propane/gas heat in your house are clearly marked and approved for use in-house. You can buy wall-mounted propane heaters for you house. Then you can put a larger propane tank right outside the wall for it. They aren't vented, but rather engineered to have a very efficient combustion process. They also have an oxygen sensor that monitors the level of oxygen in the air and shuts off if the level gets close to being too low. Still, it is considered a good idea to at least crack a window.
You can use this guy in your house

[boykster]

To follow up Sharidans post about BBQ's in/near homes or even garages, don't do it.  During a power outage in the Seattle area last year, an entire family died from carbon monoxide poisoning because they were cooking on their propane BBQ in the garage.  It just so happens that the furnace intake was also in the garage and the carbon monoxide spread to the entire house.  The only surviving member of the family was not home at the time.

DON'T DO IT!

[shardian]

Oh hell, since we're already on the safety subject I'll throw this out there: If you have an attached garage you should have at least one carbon monoxide detector in your house. If you don't just replace a smoke detector with a combination detector.
Those people would never have died if they had had a CO detector.

[ChadTower]

Oh hell, since we're already on the safety subject I'll throw this out there: If you have an attached garage you should have at least one carbon monoxide detector in your house. If you don't just replace a smoke detector with a combination detector.
Those people would never have died if they had had a CO detector.

Carbon monoxide detectors are legally required in Massachusetts.  This is a very recent law. 

Of course, I am the only person I know who actually has carbon monoxide detectors.  I put combo detector in in the fall because the expiration date had passed for all of our smoke detectors.  I had no idea until then that they even had expiration dates.

Added suggestion to the previous:  check the expiration dates on existing units.  They're only rated for 5-6 years.

[vader]

Chad,

Is there ANYTHING you don't have or haven't done in your lifetime ?  I swear someone could say they have a nuclear furnace in their basement and you would reply " Had one, but it caused too much heat and the radiation made my kids glow so I volunteered time a St. Judes Children's Hospital to coach for their football team.

[ChadTower]

You're welcome to come see the detectors if you'd like.   

I don't mind if my kids glow.  Makes them easier to spot in a crowd.

[vader]

You're welcome to come see the detectors if you'd like.   

I don't mind if my kids glow.  Makes them easier to spot in a crowd.

No thank you, too far of a drive and nothing to watch at your house except OTA programming.  Thanks for the invite though.

[ChadTower]

nothing to watch at your house except OTA programming.

Erm, that's not true and not sure where that info comes from...?

[vader]

nothing to watch at your house except OTA programming.

Erm, that's not true and not sure where that info comes from...?

errmmm...  didn't you say at one point that TV was bad for the kids so you woun't have cable installed.  I've may have been mistaken since there are so many things your against.  Maybe I was thinking it was cell phones your against  because they are the bane of the devil.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Of course, I am the only person I know who actually has carbon monoxide detectors. 

Now you know someone else. I have them all throughout my New England home. (Stairwells, basement and attic)

[ChadTower]

errmmm...  didn't you say at one point that TV was bad for the kids so you woun't have cable installed.  I've may have been mistaken since there are so many things your against.  Maybe I was thinking it was cell phones your against  because they are the bane of the devil.

No, that wasn't me, if anyone at all said it.     We have DirecTV.

Mr C, that's cool.  I meant RL people but I really do wish more people were putting them in.  Too people I know don't even have smoke detectors. 

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Mr C, that's cool.  I meant RL people...

BUT I AM REAL!!! 

j/k - I'm really just rogue code in the Matrix.

[ChadTower]

Mr C, that's cool.  I meant RL people...

BUT I AM REAL!!! 

j/k - I'm really just rogue code in the Matrix.

Is there a law in MA now that you have to have them in order to transfer ownership?  You just bought recently - all of the people I'm thinking of have had their houses a long time.  Our house had brand new detectors in it when we bought it but that was in 2001 - hence the 5-6 year expiration date I mentioned and why I replaced them in the fall.

[JackTucky]

Chad,
Is there ANYTHING you don't have or haven't done in your lifetime ? 

What are you a noob?

=J

[shardian]

Chad,
Is there ANYTHING you don't have or haven't done in your lifetime ? 

What are you a noob?

=J

 

Yep, most of us residents just accept Chad for who he is...(take that as you will)

[tommy]

Just don't let Chad go near the grill without at least an open window around. 

[CheffoJeffo]

And it's not even my birthday ... so when does USSE show up to complete the trifecta ?

 

[Ed_McCarron]

Coolers keep cold out nearly as well as they keep it in. 

Damn.  How do they know whether to keep it hot or cold?

[shmokes]

Folks.. you live in the United States, a land overly full of abundant resources.  It's not difficult to find shelter.  You have several days worth of food in your house already.  More food will be arriving at the stores in less than a week.

Tell that to New Orleans

[CheffoJeffo]

Folks.. you live in the United States, a land overly full of abundant resources.  It's not difficult to find shelter.  You have several days worth of food in your house already.  More food will be arriving at the stores in less than a week.

Tell that to New Orleans

Nicely done ... maybe PBJ is the new USSE ...

[ChadTower]

Well let's think about this a bit... how many times has something the scale of New Orleans happened in the US in the last century?  When people prepare for a storm they aren't preparing for their entire region to be wiped off the soil.  You can't do much more than run from that.  Nothing Sharidan could possibly do other than flee would help his family if something like that happened in his state, so really, all he can do to prepare is make sure he has a place to go and a way to get there.

[shmokes]

Well . . . New Orleans was kind of a perfect storm situation (excuse the pun).  Even a Category 5 hurricane would not do that kind of damage in most cities, as most cities don't sit below sea level, next to a big-ass lake with shoddy levies.

However, ice storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, heat waves, Godzilla, etc., can make things pretty freaking bad.  From what I'm told, here in Miami, when there is a hurricane coming the grocery stores are literally empty.  People make a mad rush on food, gas and home depot.  If you aren't prepared you can be pretty ---fouled up beyond all recognition---.  When the storm is over it's gonna heat up, and maybe that won't kill you, but it's gonna make things pretty tough if you don't have access to any food.  And what if the municipal water supply is compromised?

With that said, I have a 72 hour kit.  It's sealed in a coffee can.  I should have water to go with it, but don't.

[shmokes]

I'm actually not sure what you're saying . . . you're clearly implying something, but I can't tell what.

[ChadTower]

With that said, I have a 72 hour kit.  It's sealed in a coffee can.  I should have water to go with it, but don't.

You have 72 hours of supplies for three people, including a baby, in a coffee can?

[shardian]

There were more than a few people who intentionally stayed behind because they had nothing to lose and everything to gain by looting, and then letting the government take care of them.
Sad but true.

However, there were also MANY people who stayed behind because they had no way of getting out. Elderly people, people with no transportation, people with no families to go to, people with no money to afford somewhere to stay by leaving in advance. Remember the nursing home in which the workers just left without getting the incapacitated patients out? I believe a few of them are in jail now.

Anyways, I'll stop there to keep out of the P&R realm.

[shardian]

With that said, I have a 72 hour kit.  It's sealed in a coffee can.  I should have water to go with it, but don't.

You have 72 hours of supplies for three people, including a baby, in a coffee can?

I was getting ready to say the same thing.

[shardian]

I'm saying if you can't survive a week or two without electricity in a warm climate, then you're a waste of resources.

Apparently someone here has never heard of heat stroke.

[shardian]

Apparently someone here has never heard of heat stroke.

Apparently someone here thinks air conditioning has been around forever.

And little kids and elderly folks died in those heat waves too.

[shmokes]

I have one each for my wife and me.  Baby doesn't have one, actually.   

We made them at an employee retreat when I worked for the Health Dept. in Utah.  Mormons are obsessed with 72 hour kits and food storage.  Many people have six-month supplies of food in their basements there.

Really, I think you should just take reasonable precautions.  72 hour kits are inexpensive and take up barely any space.  If you never use it, you've lost almost nothing.  If you ever need to use it, you'll be really really glad you had it.  I also keep a blanket and one of these propane catalytic heaters in my car (though now that I live in south Florida I can probably take those out.

[ahofle]

Reminds me of a story my friend told me.  His neighbor (a Mormon) was always telling him about his emergency food/water/supplies stores and was constantly urging him to do the same in case of Armageddon.  He replied, "that's OK, I have guns and I know where there is plenty of food and water." 

[divemaster127]

In tulsa last night on the news over 100 people went to the hospital for running generators inside their home or building fires in their home(people are getting desperate & short tempered).  BOTH of these ARE big no no's.  A friend of mine purchased a $1,000 dollar generator & after a hour he & his wife could not figure out why the house was still cold.  They could hear the unit running so he opened the front door to check the generator & there sat a $20.00 lawn mower running.
dm

[XyloSesame]

In tulsa last night on the news over 100 people went to the hospital for running generators inside their home or building fires in their home(people are getting desperate & short tempered).  BOTH of these ARE big no no's.  A friend of mine purchased a $1,000 dollar generator & after a hour he & his wife could not figure out why the house was still cold.  They could hear the unit running so he opened the front door to check the generator & there sat a $20.00 lawn mower running.
dm

I've got a friend who has power but his neighbor does not (separate transformers). He pigtailed an extension cord from his neighbor's blower fan to his powered house so the neighbor could use their central gas heat... Desperate and short tempered is exactly correct.

[nostrebor]

A friend of mine purchased a $1,000 dollar generator & after a hour he & his wife could not figure out why the house was still cold.  They could hear the unit running so he opened the front door to check the generator & there sat a $20.00 lawn mower running.
dm

This happened regularly last January during the ice storm here. The first three days someone was stealing the generators from the railroad crossings. After the Sheriff caught the first guy (literally red-handed) and put his name, address, and picture all over the news, people stopped stealing the RR generators. We were double chaining our generator to a 500 gallon propane tank with log chains and kryptonite brand padlocks. It just didn't make sense to pay $1000 for a gen and not go ahead and drop $50 on some good locks.

[knave]

This thread has been a good read.  My question is, for those who might know...

How would I get my Gas heat to function in a power outage... 

I know it has an electric ignition, so could I use a car battery, 9 volts etc...?
Or would I have to build something more dedicated?

With no pilot is there still has to be some sort of thermocouple or heat sensitive shutoff?

Anyone here good a HVAC?

It would be possible but not plesent to use our fireplace. 


And a note about the 72hour kits...I've thought about building something like this before but I always look at the shelves full of canned goods in our pantry and forget it.  I'm much more concerned about water, we have at least a week or two worth of food not counting what's in the freezer.

[BobA]

If you have forced air gas heating you will need to provide power for your control circuits and your fan.  If you have a newer unit with a pilot that ignites when heat is required then the fan and controls must have 120V probably from a portable gen to run.   I suggest a portable gen because your fan motor requires quite a bit of power to run.  If you have the older style forced air heat with a constant pilot your controls are not as complex but you will still have to power your fan motor with 120Vac so an aux gen is probably required again.

A 1/4 HP fan motor can easily require 600W to run and much more to start.  This is considered a small furnace motor.

If you have a constant pilot then the thermocouple keeps the valve open as long has you have flame.  It does not require external voltage to operate.  This is why a gas fireplace will operate without 120V.  If the thermocouple has flame then the on switch will open the gas valve without any other voltage.   A gas fireplace can provide alot of heat if supplemented with a 12V fan.

[tommy]

Apparently someone here has never heard of heat stroke.

Apparently someone here thinks air conditioning has been around forever.

I sat around every day, all day, in 90+ degree weather for years.  Somehow I survived.

This guy has never been in any situation other than sitting in his basement waiting for his mommy to ring the bell for him to come up and eat, obviously.