Back in the house after a 37+ hour power outage ...

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  • BadeMillsap
    Senior Member
    • Dec 2005
    • 868
    • Bulverde, Texas, USA.
    • Grizzly G1023SL

    Back in the house after a 37+ hour power outage ...

    Which really has nothing to do with woodworking EXCEPT ...

    We took a lightening strike on the transformer that feeds the house at about 1AM Friday morning ... BIG BOOM and no power ... which also means no water/toilets...

    Well ... it's hot and humid in July here (although I must say it was cooler than normal and with cloud cover BUT still miserable in the house). Placed a call for service at 1:30AM Friday ... at 2:45PM Saturday a crew finished installing a new transformer ... we are .. the last pole in the line/county and since it's just one customer out we are always the last to get service.

    Now the woodworking part ... per previous rants and posts I have mentioned that I have a second meter that feeds the new shop and it is actually connected to a transformer across the street ... and ... I recently installed a new mini-split heat pump. So we bought a couple of air mattresses and camped out in the shop last night ... it really wasn't bad and I was really glad to have that as an option .. we checked on nearby hotels and found ONE ROOM... a "Presidential Suite" at a princely $259/night ... we opted against that ...
    "Like an old desperado, I paint the town beige ..." REK
    Bade Millsap
    Bulverde, Texas
    => Bade's Personal Web Log
    => Bade's Lutherie Web Log
  • gerti
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2003
    • 2233
    • Minnetonka, MN, USA.
    • BT3100 "Frankensaw"

    #2
    Bummer! I know how it feels. Here we seem to have bad storms routinely on fridays, and then are out of power often throughout the weekend. Longest so far was a bit over three days. Not fun when it is well below freezing outside and the furnace will not run.

    In your case I think I'd probably have an extension cord handy that can power whatever makes the water/toilets go from your shop!

    Comment

    • Richard in Smithville
      Veteran Member
      • Oct 2006
      • 3014
      • On the TARDIS
      • BT 3100

      #3
      The house I grew up in was struck by lightening three time while we lived there-each time blowing a bunch of fuses. The first time lightening came in through the kitchen window, between my cousin and me, and hit an electrical outlet. Talk about scary!
      From the "deep south" part of Canada

      Richard in Smithville

      http://richardspensandthings.blogspot.com/

      Comment

      • capncarl
        Veteran Member
        • Jan 2007
        • 3564
        • Leesburg Georgia USA
        • SawStop CTS

        #4
        That's one way to get shop time. We're you able to finish any honey-do projects while you both were there?

        Comment

        • BadeMillsap
          Senior Member
          • Dec 2005
          • 868
          • Bulverde, Texas, USA.
          • Grizzly G1023SL

          #5
          Originally posted by gerti
          In your case I think I'd probably have an extension cord handy that can power whatever makes the water/toilets go from your shop!
          Actually it has initiated the idea of seeing if there is a way to wire the booster pump that moves water from the 5000 gal concrete tank to the pressure tank to run off of 110V (as well as the normal 220V) so that in this situation I can use a small portable generator to at least get water to the house.

          The notion of a whole house generator has been considered several times over the past 32 years of living here but the actual cost of installation makes it a case of diminishing return considering the rarity of use it would really get.
          "Like an old desperado, I paint the town beige ..." REK
          Bade Millsap
          Bulverde, Texas
          => Bade's Personal Web Log
          => Bade's Lutherie Web Log

          Comment

          • atgcpaul
            Veteran Member
            • Aug 2003
            • 4055
            • Maryland
            • Grizzly 1023SLX

            #6
            Originally posted by BadeMillsap
            Actually it has initiated the idea of seeing if there is a way to wire the booster pump that moves water from the 5000 gal concrete tank to the pressure tank to run off of 110V (as well as the normal 220V) so that in this situation I can use a small portable generator to at least get water to the house.
            Could you install one of those bypass switches in your house main to take incoming 220 from your garage panel? Maybe you could move the essential house circuits like your pump and fridge outlets to a sub panel so you wouldn't need to upgrade your garage panel.

            I had an electrician help me install my sub. At the same time, he swapped out a 220V outlet for a 110 GFCI that was in a weather box on the corner of my house. My house was built first and the same builder did the one next door. He put that 220 outlet there so he could run his equipment to build the next door house.

            Comment

            • BadeMillsap
              Senior Member
              • Dec 2005
              • 868
              • Bulverde, Texas, USA.
              • Grizzly G1023SL

              #7
              Originally posted by atgcpaul
              Could you install one of those bypass switches in your house main to take incoming 220 from your garage panel? Maybe you could move the essential house circuits like your pump and fridge outlets to a sub panel so you wouldn't need to upgrade your garage panel.

              I had an electrician help me install my sub. At the same time, he swapped out a 220V outlet for a 110 GFCI that was in a weather box on the corner of my house. My house was built first and the same builder did the one next door. He put that 220 outlet there so he could run his equipment to build the next door house.
              Well there is really no way to connect the two "panels" (house & shop) ... they are over 500 feet from one another and it would require trenching thru solid rock and across septic, water and sprinkler lines, thru concrete porch slab and ... just not feasible.

              Being able to pump water into the house off of a portable generator is feasible if I can either wire the existing pump to do that OR get a portable that can produce 220V at 15amps OR even install a backup pump and provide bypass lines to reroute the water ... it's really all a matter of cost vs how often it is required.
              "Like an old desperado, I paint the town beige ..." REK
              Bade Millsap
              Bulverde, Texas
              => Bade's Personal Web Log
              => Bade's Lutherie Web Log

              Comment

              • capncarl
                Veteran Member
                • Jan 2007
                • 3564
                • Leesburg Georgia USA
                • SawStop CTS

                #8
                Does the booster pump from the 5000 have to overcome the pressure of the pressure tank? I guess it would. My houseboat water sys used a 12v pump and maintained 10-15 psi, I guess, to operate toilet, faucets and washdown hose. With a pump like this you could pipe around the pressure tank and feed the house plumbing lower pressure and still be able to flush and bathe with some success.

                Comment

                • LinuxRandal
                  Veteran Member
                  • Feb 2005
                  • 4889
                  • Independence, MO, USA.
                  • bt3100

                  #9
                  I would NOT recommend it in a normal situation, but if you have a normal, 15 amp generator, with two 110 outlets, you can combine the grounds/neutrals together, run the two separate hots, so you have the four wire, giving you 220. (I would build a special cable/box for this ONE USE EMERGENCY ONLY situation).

                  220 is 110 on two legs, your just recreating that here.
                  She couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod, and the bathroom. We had to go back for her.........................Twice.

                  Comment

                  • jdon
                    Established Member
                    • Feb 2010
                    • 401
                    • Snoqualmie, Wash.
                    • BT3100

                    #10
                    You really ought to negotiate that "Presidential Suite" saving into a shop upgrade....

                    Comment

                    • BadeMillsap
                      Senior Member
                      • Dec 2005
                      • 868
                      • Bulverde, Texas, USA.
                      • Grizzly G1023SL

                      #11
                      Well I'm seriously considering a propane powered "portable" generator that will handle 220V at 30amps ... these run around $1100.

                      This would give me the option of powering the booster very easily AND "portable" meaning it has wheels, I think I can reasonably easily move it closer to the house if I want to run the water heater long enough to heat for a shower.

                      I could also fairly easily move it to the shop area and run the mini-split to provide A/C or even heat if push came to shove ...

                      I could conceivably hook this up via bypass thru the main house panel to run refrigerator/freezer for a few hours as well ...

                      Still in the pondering stage but I think this is likely where I am headed ...
                      "Like an old desperado, I paint the town beige ..." REK
                      Bade Millsap
                      Bulverde, Texas
                      => Bade's Personal Web Log
                      => Bade's Lutherie Web Log

                      Comment

                      • JimD
                        Veteran Member
                        • Feb 2003
                        • 4187
                        • Lexington, SC.

                        #12
                        Looks like Home Depot has a gas powered generator with a 30amp 220 volt outlet as cheap as $550. It is only 5000W, however, which seems a bit small. I've always figured that with 6000W, roughly 50A, we could get by switching things on and off as needed. 200A service is nice, however, but a generator to duplicate that gets really expensive.

                        Harbor Freight has a 7000W (running) generator for $580. That seems like it could power a house in a emergency but not everything. My well pump is intermittent, however, since there is a pressure tank. Leaving the well pump off to run a AC or water heater would be a pain but a lot better than no electricity. Leaving all of the 220V loads off probably would let you run everything else in the house.

                        The house I'm selling next week has gas heat and hot water and city water. With that arrangement, 7000W probably lets you run everything in the winter.
                        Last edited by JimD; 07-20-2014, 07:37 PM.

                        Comment

                        • capncarl
                          Veteran Member
                          • Jan 2007
                          • 3564
                          • Leesburg Georgia USA
                          • SawStop CTS

                          #13
                          I purchased a 3000 watt Honda generator in 2000 just in case the naysayers were right and the elec grid went down. I chose this wattage based on fuel consumption. My 6500 watt genset in the houseboat gulped 1 gallon per hour while this 3000 watt Honda sips a gallon every 3 to 4 hours. The plan was to keep the food in the frig and freezer from spoiling and not worrying about the ac and powering up the whole house. I would probably have enough gas on hand in the 2ea 5 gallon jugs for the lawn mower to get buy several days. There was no way that I would have enough gas to run a 5-6 kW generator for that length of time. This was before gas had alcohol and would store for a few months before it ruined. I understand that the propane gensets get much worse fuel economy than the gasoline versions so that should also be a consideration. Natural gas from a city system would be a much better choice for genset fuel. 14 years later I have yet had to use this generator, just exercise it, change oil, rebuild carb.

                          Comment

                          • Eric
                            Senior Member
                            • Jun 2003
                            • 653
                            • Cocolalla, ID
                            • Grizzly G0691 & BT3100

                            #14
                            With my property, I have a power pedestal where the power from the utility comes in and then goes to the house, pump house and shop.

                            I can flip the main breaker so the power doesn't go out onto main line and then run the generator out in the shop and have it back feed into the house and pump house. I just have a little 5kw generator, but it gets the water pump running and powers the fridges and freezer.

                            Seems like around me the power usually goes out about the time we're getting up and ready for work. So, it's nice to be able to still get a shower.

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