How is the weather?

[Karl Henning]

By us, the snow has been less of an event that some of the (now-superseded) forecasting suggested. 

[Karl Henning]

Very windy here, my power went out about eighty minutes ago.

I'm hoping that since it's not raining pg&e can get on top of it, l really don't want another thirty-hour outage...

Good luck!

[DavidW]

While it was in the low 30s this morning, it was in the 50s when I came home.  I figured out and tried out my new riding mower.  And then it was too dark to see... but soon I'm going to mow that lawn.  I am surprised by how much faster it is  compared to the push mower.

[LKB]

Good luck!

Thanks Karl. 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Very windy here, my power went out about eighty minutes ago.

I'm hoping that since it's not raining pg&e can get on top of it, l really don't want another thirty-hour outage...

How did things go?

Knock on wood, I haven't so far lost power.  High winds expected today, so there's still a chance.  Received a fair bit of snow yesterday, so that kept me busy shoveling.  Alas, it was really wet and heavy.  Thankful that we didn't lose power then too as it would have meant also no heat for my home.

PD

[San Antone]

The best thing we did last year was buy a propane backup generator which powers our entire house and comes on after 15 seconds of no power.

We mainly did it because when we lost power, we also had no water since we have to pump water up a hill to our house. 

It was expensive, but worth it for us.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The best thing we did last year was buy a propane backup generator which powers our entire house and comes on after 15 seconds of no power.

We mainly did it because when we lost power, we also had no water since we have to pump water up a hill to our house. 

It was expensive, but worth it for us.

I've considered getting one before, but knock on wood, even when I have lost power here, I think that the longest amount of time was for about 3 hours.  As far as water goes, I'm hooked up to the town; I could see in your case though why you would want one.

How powerful of a generator did you get by the way?

PD

[San Antone]

I've considered getting one before, but knock on wood, even when I have lost power here, I think that the longest amount of time was for about 3 hours.  As far as water goes, I'm hooked up to the town; I could see in your case though why you would want one.

How powerful of a generator did you get by the way?

PD

24K.

We live in a rural county in Tennessee; pop. around 5,000 for the entire county.  Five miles from the closest town of 950. 

We've been without power for as long as five days (usually 2-8 hours) during 13 degree weather, several inches of ice on the hill (no way up or down).  For heat we have a wood burning stove, which kept the house livable - but we had brought my 95 year old mother-in-law in with us, and without water, it got pretty bad.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

24K.

We live in a rural county in Tennessee; pop. around 5,000 for the entire county.  Five miles from the closest town of 950. 

We've been without power for as long as five days (usually 2-8 hours) during 13 degree weather, several inches of ice on the hill (no way up or down).  For heat we have a wood burning stove, which kept the house livable - but we had brought my 95 year old mother-in-law in with us, and without water, it got pretty bad.

Eek!  That doesn't sound good!  Sounds like a smart and necessary move on your part to get a generator.

Is the wood stove your only source of heat?  I have a friend who heats solely by a wood stove (as electrical--which is what his house was built with--is way too expensive for him).  The sad part is that he is basically tied to his stove for the most part once it gets really cold out.  Hard to get him away for very long as he's always wanting to be at home to feed it and keep the house warm.

PD

[San Antone]

Is the wood stove your only source of heat? 

No, we have HVAC (heat pump) but when it gets very cold, it is not very efficient.  Our stove also has a cooking ledge, which came in handy that ice storm.  And it has a fan which pushes the heat out and keeps our large living room, with cathedral ceiling very warm.  Sometimes too warm.

Our stove is a newer EPA efficient model, with air supply control and damper, which allows us to burn the smoke and creosote, making the wood last through the night.

The stove and generator have been the two smartest purchases we made since we bought the cabin.

[LKB]

From an email l received from PG&E an hour ago:

" We expect your power to be restored by Friday March 17th at 11 AM. "

So, that would be seventy hours. I'm hoping that's the worst-case scenario. 

[LKB]

I'm in a motel near my workplace btw, so l won't be suffering. Hate spending the money for it though.

[DavidW]

Fingers crossed LKB.

[Spotted Horses]

From an email l received from PG&E an hour ago:

" We expect your power to be restored by Friday March 17th at 11 AM. "

So, that would be seventy hours. I'm hoping that's the worst-case scenario. 

Is that a public safety outage (i.e. preventative because if high wind?

[Karl Henning]

From an email l received from PG&E an hour ago:

" We expect your power to be restored by Friday March 17th at 11 AM. "

So, that would be seventy hours. I'm hoping that's the worst-case scenario. 

Yowch!

[LKB]

Is that a public safety outage (i.e. preventative because if high wind?

The wind was responsible. Over 120 trees were knocked down, some of which took power lines with them.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

From an email l received from PG&E an hour ago:

" We expect your power to be restored by Friday March 17th at 11 AM. "

So, that would be seventy hours. I'm hoping that's the worst-case scenario. 

I'm in a motel near my workplace btw, so l won't be suffering. Hate spending the money for it though.

That's a long time without power.  How cold is it?  Are you at risk of frozen pipes?

Glad that you are warm and safe in any event.

Wonder whether or not you could at least deduct the motel and part of the food costs from your taxes?  You might want to check with someone about that.

Fingers crossed for you that you get your power back soon.

PD

[LKB]

That's a long time without power.  How cold is it?  Are you at risk of frozen pipes?

Glad that you are warm and safe in any event.

Wonder whether or not you could at least deduct the motel and part of the food costs from your taxes?  You might want to check with someone about that.

Fingers crossed for you that you get your power back soon.

PD

Thanks PD. 

I've since received a second email from PG&E, informing me that power has been restored. 

As far as the costs are concerned I'm not overly perturbed. Two unexpected  weeks or such in the motel would have been a problem, but three nights aren't that big a deal. Hell, it's quieter than my neighborhood in the daytime, so I'll go ahead and take advantage, and check out tonight when l head for work.

Oh, and no frozen pipes, it doesn't get that cold here.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Thanks PD. 

I've since received a second email from PG&E, informing me that power has been restored. 

As far as the costs are concerned I'm not overly perturbed. Two unexpected  weeks or such in the motel would have been a problem, but three nights aren't that big a deal. Hell, it's quieter than my neighborhood in the daytime, so I'll go ahead and take advantage, and check out tonight when l head for work.

Oh, and no frozen pipes, it doesn't get that cold here.

You've got power!  As a well-known green frog might say "YAAAAAYYYYY!" [whilst madly waving his arms about]. 

And enjoy the peace and quiet while you can too.

PD

[krummholz]

We lost power for about 90 minutes on Tuesday. There was no wind, it was due to the weight of about 35 cm of heavy, wet snow (at that point) on branches and power lines. The owner of the local deli told me that her power went out immediately after a nearby power transformer exploded.

But it didn't stop snowing... in the end we received about half a meter in all, over roughly 36 hours. Since the mercifully brief Tuesday outage, our power has been steady.