14 days without electricity or water(well) in molino. i quit counting downed trees... what ivan missed, dennis got the next year
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Start preparing for hurricane season
- Thread starter Bay Ranger
- Start date
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Dennis hammered my wife’s sister's place on Hazel Godwin Rd. a few miles south of Jay,Fl.
Ivan knocked down trees closing off the road I live on. There’s an old farm road that is inside my fence that I opened up for the neighbors to use by taking my back fence down that blocked it and left my gate open until we got the road open
ABlaster
Marksman
We went with the 24Kw Generac as well. We only lost power for about 12 hours last hurricane (Idalia?) that came through the panhandle, but we have been 5-7 days without on a few occasions. When my father passed away we used the money he left to buy it and every time it comes on I like to think that he's still looking after his son. Makes me smile.
FWIW, I read a Consumer Reports article that most refrigerators only last 3-6 hours before reaching a food-unsafe temperature.
Bodhi
Expert
Just as important as your source of power are the items that you will have on hand to weather (pun intended) post-landfall.
We’ve all become so dependent on electricity, yes, but taking things a step further and doing what my wife calls “soft prepping,” for day Zero when things all really fall apart.
Juat now I’m listening to my Genrac’s Monday morning test run that it does every Monday. I wouldn’t think of running it wide open for days or weeks post hurricane, but for a while, yes. After that? How does my family get by without electricity!?
So what else do you keep handy? We keep batteries and fuel-burning lanterns on hand. I have a cast iron skillet dedicated to cooking over an open fire. I have half a dozen can openers. I usually buy a bic lighter every chance I get. Water filtration and purification are on my list too. Rolls of duck tape. Rope, etc. What else do you try to stockpile for the eventual end crisis? Inquiring minds want to know.
We’ve all become so dependent on electricity, yes, but taking things a step further and doing what my wife calls “soft prepping,” for day Zero when things all really fall apart.
Juat now I’m listening to my Genrac’s Monday morning test run that it does every Monday. I wouldn’t think of running it wide open for days or weeks post hurricane, but for a while, yes. After that? How does my family get by without electricity!?
So what else do you keep handy? We keep batteries and fuel-burning lanterns on hand. I have a cast iron skillet dedicated to cooking over an open fire. I have half a dozen can openers. I usually buy a bic lighter every chance I get. Water filtration and purification are on my list too. Rolls of duck tape. Rope, etc. What else do you try to stockpile for the eventual end crisis? Inquiring minds want to know.
FWIW, my 16 year old Kenmore fridge that I keep set at 37 degrees will go from 37 degrees to into the 4x degree range after 2 hours of no power. That gives me 2 hours to plug it into my solar generator that I keep charged.
I use 12 volt light bulbs and fixtures that I’ve scavenged from junk cars and trucks for illuminating my home. 12 volt brake light bulbs put out a lot of light and even park lights put out enough to light up a room. Then there are the 12 volt fans that help if you don’t have a small window a/c and generator. Then you need at least 2 or 3 solar panels and at least 2 deep cycle batteries that are fully charged before the storm hits. The 12 volt fans are for after the window unit gets the room cooled down and I turn my generator off. These are on top of all the other things needed for after the storm
Have taken my off grid solar electric system off line so I can add solar panel on/off switch (recommended by Kendive after he inspected it) (safer and quicker than unplugging cables) and add 630 more watts of solar panels facing east and west for more input earlier and later in the day (main panels face south).
While off line, I’m slow charging the battery bank and letting it sit without output to equalize all the battery cells.
Edited to add: white cord goes into the house to a dedicated outlet to plug things into from inside the house. The red cord is a freezer plugged in. The skinny red and black cords are usb for phone, radio and tablet charging. The black cord if online would be plugged into a 120volt ac outlet so the system will instantly switch to grid supply if not enough solar or battery power. I have it set to use solar first, followed by solar and battery, followed by battery only and finally switching to grid if battery gets low. I have it set to only charge battery from solar to maximize use of solar. In this photo battery and solar cables are unplugged. The beauty to me is that I can add or subtract components as needed. Mounted on an old table leaf painted with 600 degree heat resistant paint, I can add or move parts. Two 100amp 12v LiFePh batteries are connected in series to give the 24v the inverter requires.
While off line, I’m slow charging the battery bank and letting it sit without output to equalize all the battery cells.
Edited to add: white cord goes into the house to a dedicated outlet to plug things into from inside the house. The red cord is a freezer plugged in. The skinny red and black cords are usb for phone, radio and tablet charging. The black cord if online would be plugged into a 120volt ac outlet so the system will instantly switch to grid supply if not enough solar or battery power. I have it set to use solar first, followed by solar and battery, followed by battery only and finally switching to grid if battery gets low. I have it set to only charge battery from solar to maximize use of solar. In this photo battery and solar cables are unplugged. The beauty to me is that I can add or subtract components as needed. Mounted on an old table leaf painted with 600 degree heat resistant paint, I can add or move parts. Two 100amp 12v LiFePh batteries are connected in series to give the 24v the inverter requires.
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ABlaster
Marksman
Why not? You paid for it, let it run! Personally, if I was planning on turning a generator on and off and dealing with the logistics of all that as well as the problems with refrigerators not holding cold for long, I wouldn't have pulled the trigger on a Generac that cost more than my first two brand-new cars.
ABlaster
Marksman
I can't help but wonder how much energy savings there would be if they held cold better.
True. I’ve attached a watt meter to my fridge and other appliances to get the actual watts used so I could make a grid down plan. In cooler months the fridge averages 50 watts per hour. Warmer months it’s 63 watts per hour. Not bad at all. Freezer is 38 watts per hour. 60” lcd tv and satellite dish when on for viewing are 160 watts. When off are 40 watts. We don’t unplug the tv and satellite as it takes 15-20 minutes to reboot the satellite system…we’ll live with the 40 watts “wasted”, and besides solar is powering the tv/satellite.
Just a thought…wonder if an appliance store would allow me to bring a watt meter in to test fridges?
Bodhi
Expert
For one, the noise and lights at night might draw some unsavory folks. One of my friends from college rode out Andrew and had stories about leaving the generators on at night.
I am from Miami lived in Marathon most of my life been thru some hurricanes. Left Marathon when Andrew was coming to ride it out in Miami at my parents house. Me my girl 2 big dogs and a cat in a cage left Hialeah at dawn after the storm wild trip to Homestead had to move turnpike signs, power wires all manner of junk Guns were heard not long after daylight. Made it to the last chance bar in Homestead their was a state trooper with no windows in his car told us key largo fire was clearing road we could leave in about an hour. I could fill pages with the things I saw on that trip.
Bodhi
Expert
Andrew then Katrina and New Orleans. Society is held together by threads. That is the lesson, folks. The US is maybe 96 hours out from total anarchy. Think about it.
ABlaster
Marksman
I could see that depending on where you live. I live deep in suburbia, decently far from major throughfares, not really near any entrances to the neighborhood, not on a corner lot, with no conspicuous cars in the driveway, and I'm about the 6th house on my street with a whole-house generator. Any ne're-do-wells would have to pass a lot of houses that looked and sounded just like mine to get to me under really any circumstances. Based on some of the places I've lived, it's actually a welcome change to have that level of anonymity.
Bay Ranger
Master
Post Katrina story from the MS Coast.
Damn, thieves are ingenious. If you are running your generator all night you would normally wake up when the constant generator noise would stop. What thieves were doing was stealing a gas lawn mower from some place. They would then start it up near the gen, move the running lawn mower close to the generator, stop the generator and then seal it. People would not normally wake up because of the running lawn mower replicating the generator running. Thieves then move on, steal another lawn mower and then move on to the next generator. Law finally caught a couple of guys doing this and selling the generators.
My portable generator anti-theft device is one of those screw-in trailer anchors. I run a tow chain through that, sit the generator over top, then run the chain through the generator and pad lock it so you can't move the generator off the anchor without cutting the chain. The padlock is one of those security deals you can't get bolt cutters on when locked.
Viking1204
Master
My biggest preparation for hurricane season happened back in 2022. We sold our house 75 yards from the sound for a lot more than we built the house for and after renting for a year bought a house in the center of FWB built out of cinder blocks in 1952, not anyway near the water. I no longer sweat hurricane season like I did when my house was just 75 yards from the sound!
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nrajeeper
Shooter
"Having Natural Gas hot water heater was great after the storm, always had hot water to shower up after working all day outside. "
We indoor camped for several days after Ivan just off the sound in Navarre. Was never so happy we opted for gas water heater when we built the house.
We indoor camped for several days after Ivan just off the sound in Navarre. Was never so happy we opted for gas water heater when we built the house.
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