Ice Storm 2013

[cindybubbles]

The day before yesterday, I believe, was when the ice storm started in Ontario and the Atlantic. Yesterday, however, struck us hard and left us without power for at least 24 hours.

So we stayed home, and I turned my dad's smartphone into a wireless hotspot so I could still surf the internet and play games on my iPad.

For meals, we ate luncheon meat, cold chicken, beans and apples. I ate at least half a can of spam that day, just to keep warm. I also wore a thick vest and a jacket over my usual three sweatshirts, my outside pants, a knitted headband and my outside boots inside my condo unit because we had no heat.

I also saw the cutest kid and puppy run around in the hall, because, as the parents said, "we're bored." And who can blame them? I was bored, too!

Too bad for that other neighbour, who demanded that the group move to the elevator area, because she "didn't need to hear all of that". She's lucky, though, that those were little kids running around, and not belligerent teenagers. I didn't say anything, because everyone is already upset with the lack of power, and I didn't want to make it worse.

Also, my friends postponed their Christmas party to after Christmas because of the storm.

How about you? How did you cope with this storm?

[AccountingDrone]

Too bad for that other neighbour, who demanded that the group move to the elevator area, because she "didn't need to hear all of that". She's lucky, though, that those were little kids running around, and not belligerent teenagers. I didn't say anything, because everyone is already upset with the lack of power, and I didn't want to make it worse.
?

Is it between 8 am and 8 pm? Then suck it up lady. If they aren't whacking the door or walls while playing, no problem with them being in the 'public' areas of the building.

[Ben_Who]

Something I've always been curious about - does anyone have any opinions about the use of a car as an emergency generator? I mean, I get that it isn't the most efficient power source, but plug a couple of power inverters into the cigarette lighters, run some heavy-duty extension cords through the mail slot, and you should have enough juice to run the lights and TV. I get not wanting to leave your car idling for the duration or trying to run the fridge off it, but it seems like a way to get some electricity into the house if you're out of lamp oil or want to run a space heater.

I have a PowerDome, myself; I bought it from ThinkGeek after some really stupid power failures at my old apartment, and it works great. Run a couple of lights, the TV, and a game deck for about six hours, which is usually three hours longer than we need. It can also jumpstart the car. I call it "the generator" even though it doesn't actually generate any power. It's about $100 and worth it.

[cindybubbles]

I live in a condo, so no dice for me.

We have, however, brought up the idea of buying a camping stove for cooking food and portable heaters that don't use electricity.

My dad also has a portable charger that he can recharge in his car. That's how I was able to surf the Internet yesterday: the charger and his phone as a mobile hotspot.

[cindybubbles]

Is it between 8 am and 8 pm? Then suck it up lady. If they aren't whacking the door or walls while playing, no problem with them being in the 'public' areas of the building.

Yes, it was. I think it was in the afternoon, and the children (yes, there was more than one, but the baby was the cutest), and puppy were probably all restless.

It happened in the hallway. Our walls are soundproofed, but our front doors are not, so if some idiot decides to play loud music in the hall, or pull the fire alarm, or make noise while playing/hanging around, EVERYONE who lives there will hear it.

The families eventually went to another unit to have fun after the neighbour chased them away.

[lordlundar]

How about you? How did you cope with this storm?

I... didn't have to. One advantage to living on the Prairies is that storms can't build up strength over top of me. Worst I had out of that storm was a small amount of snow and really cold temperatures.

My condolences to anyone out East though. I would not wish what you had on anyone.

[Aethian]

Mom had branches down, no power (still), and is handling it with a shiver. Now if only we could figure out what happened to those nice flannel and silk sheets I got her she wouldn't be shivering so much.

[ComputerNecromancer]

I live in a condo, so no dice for me.

We have, however, brought up the idea of buying a camping stove for cooking food and portable heaters that don't use electricity.

*Don't* do this unless you have carbon monoxide detectors. Every year people *die* using that sort of thing.

Most of those propane/kerosene/whatever heaters are intended for use outdoors. Not even inside a tent but actual *outdoors* where the wind carries away the fumes (as well as a fair bit of the heat).

Not only folks in houses, but folks in *tents* have died from using the heaters.

The stoves are not as bad, but it's best not to take chances.

[protege]

We got very little ice here in Pittsburgh. Other than having to watch where I stepped on the concrete, it wasn't too bad.

[cindybubbles]

*Don't* do this unless you have carbon monoxide detectors. Every year people *die* using that sort of thing.

Most of those propane/kerosene/whatever heaters are intended for use outdoors. Not even inside a tent but actual *outdoors* where the wind carries away the fumes (as well as a fair bit of the heat).

Not only folks in houses, but folks in *tents* have died from using the heaters.

The stoves are not as bad, but it's best not to take chances.

I thought a camping stove or a grill would be good for cooking food. We have both an outside balcony and a patio.

But the next time we get into a situation like this, we're heading to a warming centre instead.

[ADeMartino]

Something I've always been curious about - does anyone have any opinions about the use of a car as an emergency generator? I mean, I get that it isn't the most efficient power source, but plug a couple of power inverters into the cigarette lighters, run some heavy-duty extension cords through the mail slot, and you should have enough juice to run the lights and TV. I get not wanting to leave your car idling for the duration or trying to run the fridge off it, but it seems like a way to get some electricity into the house if you're out of lamp oil or want to run a space heater.

Actually, I have - but not directly off the vehicle. Instead, I mounted two battery boxes in the back of my pickup and fitted big marine deep cycle batteries. They stayed in the truck when not in use, where the vehicle's charging system would keep them topped off, but if needed, I could pull each of them out in only a couple of minutes and carry them inside, where I had two inverters to power lights and a few other selected devices during an extended outage. The truck's alternator was a big Leece-Neville 130-amp unit that was used in certain 'professional' installations (think ambulances and other heavy-duty applications).

Why did I have such a setup? Well, it actually was born of another application - drag racing. I used to play with race cars, and charging systems aren't usually installed in drag cars. So, I built my truck with this setup to charge the batteries between rounds. The 'quick swap battery' feature was useful at the track. It came into service at home because grid power was flaky where I lived. At least once a week, the power would go out, for periods of time ranging from 5-10 minutes to several hours.

If you decide to power home appliances off your car in a situation, I suggest intermittent use only. Perhaps 20 minutes every few hours to keep the fridge cold. Continuous use is probably not good for the car, and bear in mind that most 'big' alternators (90 amps or more) actually require the engine to run at least 2000 rpm to reach full output.

Other items can be powered from batteries, solar power, or a small generator. One quick note - a laptop with a DVD player is an awesome thing to have when the power's out.

[Chromatix]

The National Railway Museum recently had an article on how to prepare Christmas dinner if you happen to have a working steam locomotive to hand.

On a similar note, some power stations apparently keep old diesel-electric locomotives on hand to provide "black start" capability. Each locomotive has a megawatt-class generator built in, and they just have to rewire it to be able to spin up part of the power station's equipment.

Meanwhile, the ice storm's weather system has resulted in two exceptional storm systems crossing the UK this week. Great fun for all concerned.

[Dizazter]

I can personally attest to the fact that you can cook on a kerosene heater. Best to have one with a solid top though. Takes longer but you can throw some stuff in a pot and make a pretty good veggie soup and keep the room warm at the same time. (My inlaws lose power a lot where they live. Their heater plus a grill with a burner on the side come in really handy.)

[wolfie]

Something I've always been curious about - does anyone have any opinions about the use of a car as an emergency generator? I mean, I get that it isn't the most efficient power source, but plug a couple of power inverters into the cigarette lighters, run some heavy-duty extension cords through the mail slot, and you should have enough juice to run the lights and TV.

Depending on the vehicle model, the lighter socket will be on a fuse that ranges from 10 to 20 amps. Taking losses due to inverter inefficiency into account, that leaves you with a MAXIMUM of around 200 watts from an inverter that plugs into the lighter. Might be able to run a couple small lights, but a TV would be more than it can handle. You've probably heard about 1500+ watt inverters in heavy trucks - these are wired directly to the batteries (4x group 31 hooked up in parallel, with 150 amps being a typical truck alternator). Better to get a small generator (before things "go south"), along with a heavy chain and padlock - for safety, it needs to be used OUTSIDE, and the noise coupled with the fact that you have lights on makes it a target, so run the chain through the frame and attach it to something immovable.

I live in a condo, so no dice for me.

We have, however, brought up the idea of buying a camping stove for cooking food and portable heaters that don't use electricity.

If you use a camp stove, do it on the balcony. Don't want to hear about you on the news under the heading "Carbon monoxide kills family using campstove inside". I've seen fuel-fired (kerosene) heaters intended for inside use - they're semi-permanently installed, with the exhaust pipe going out through a hole in the wall.

[Chromatix]

Another option is a solid-fuel stove in the living room. Provides the same sort of ambience as a fireplace, and you can stick a kettle or a saucepan on top in an emergency.