On Aug 29, 10:16*pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
"Ignoramus4719" wrote in message

...





On 2011-08-30, Ed Huntress wrote:

"rangerssuck" wrote in message
....
On Aug 29, 10:27 pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
"Ignoramus4719" wrote in message

...

Life lesson #116: having a generator or two is essential.

In my case, in this storm, a generator wouldn't have done anything. The
last
time I wished I had one was after a nor'easter 25 years ago. And all it
would have done for me then is save maybe $50 worth of food.

One of my neighbors bought his generator several years ago (after not
having one during a three-day outage) when his wife told him, "Either
get a generator or get a divorce." Interesting choice.

Smart wife.

I can see it if you've had that experience. But aside from that 3-day
stint
25 years ago, the longest we've been without power is 24 hours once or
twice, but without a water problem.

An electrical outage is not just loss of comfort. It is also a loss of
sump pumps, loss of refrigeration, computer use etc.

Iggy, I've lived in this house for 33 years. So far, power losses have cost
me $50. I don't need another gadget to deal with that.

--
Ed Huntress





Our problem here is not widespread loss of power, although that happened
downtown here during this storm. It's limbs falling from 80-plus-year-old
maples and oaks. They're brittle as hell and they're rooted at the curb,
all
over town. Power losses tend to be local and brief.

I was really impressed by the PSE&G crew that showed up here at 10:00 PM,
BTW. Those guys were working like furies, and they were at the end of a
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This is a good point that you guys are discussing...what tradeoffs do
you weigh to have or not have a resource on hand?

I am partial to having water, food and emergency tools on hand...it
costs little to have them on hand and are immediately available if
needed.

If I lived in a frigid climate, I would have an alternative heat
source available so one wouldn't freeze to death in the winter.

Generators cost money, require maintainance and storing fuel is a big
hassle.

Setting yourself up so you can live without power for days/weeks seems
to be a much easier approach.

TMT