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The Grumble

Mike Labbe

Mike Labbe

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4,292
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Lincoln, RI
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Get The Picture
The Picture Framer's Grumble forum is down until further notice, due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

It may take several days for power and internet to be restored in coastal Rhode Island, where the server is located.

Mike
 
Mike, it is nice to see you are up-and-running. You and Cliff have been on my mind a lot today since you are in the danger zone. We had some nasty wet blowing snow, but here by the river we have been protected from the worst. There are 1/4 million without power in the area, but this time, I am not one of them. After the storm is past, I'd like to hear more about whole-house generators. They are not very common in my part of the world, but something I want to seriously look at.
 
We are safe and well. We opened the shop opened today and had a great day, actually! Power is back on at home and at work, but about 213,000 homes and businesses in our state arent so lucky. NJ, CT, and NY got the worst of it

We forwarded the phones to cellular yesterday, and a call that came through in the middle of the storm yesterday turned into a 6 pc sports jersey order today. I think we will be doing that again in the future! (forwarding)

I'm not sure how Cliff made out, but I havent seen him online since the storm.

To answer your question:
Our "whole house generator" is a cheap solution. It's just a portable (wheeled) 8000w Generac model, from Home Depot. I think it was about $350 on sale, at the time. (closeout previous model) It easily powers the whole house, including all lights, refrigerators, oil furnace/heat, central air, well, washer/dryer, cooking appliances, tv's, computers, even the doorbell works fine. We had a "Transfer Switch" installed, at the mains. This is a lever that we move to switch between commercial power and generator power. We just have to wheel out the unit from the garage to the driveway, plug in the cord, start it up, and move that lever. Generators use about 3/4 gallon of gasoline per hour, and can also be set to run on propane.
 
no problem here.
no power at the shop for about 6 hours over night.
no big deal.
it was on when I got in.

Talked to Evan Bertwell down in southern RI.
he still has no power.

haven't heard from anyone else.
 
Greg,
We have a stand-by generator at home. That means that it's always connected and ready to go. It starts automatically if the power goes out and transfers power from the utility mains to the generator, and then switches back and shuts down when power is restored.

Ours runs on the house propane supply which is one of the biggest advantages IMO. The problem with today's gas is the high ethanol content, which makes the gas less inclined to stay good for longer periods of time. A generator may sit for a year or two before you need it again, and even if you've drained the tank and run the carburetor dry when you're done (such a pain that it may not get done) there will be residue that is likely to eventually cause trouble. You could establish a regular start-up and drain procedure every few months, but are you really going to stick to it? The other thing with gas is that you have to have it, and again, you want it to be relatively fresh. The house propane supply is always there (we have a 325 gallon tank which is refilled when half emptied), and causes no problems with residue, blocking or corrosion. Also, most standby generators have an "exercise" feature you can enable that will start and run the generator regularly to make sure the battery is charged and everything is in working order. Typically this is 10 minutes once a week.

Our generator is only 7KW, but it runs almost the whole house. It doesn't power the electric dryer, or the 220v panel we have in the garage, and we have a gas stove and water heater. We have a "smart" panel that senses the load and will pull certain (programmed) circuits off-line if need be for short periods of time. This feature allows you to use a smaller generator (they say approx 40% smaller) than you would with a regular setup.

A standby generator will end up costing quite a bit more than a portable. The generator itself will be at least double, and then the installation will be more as well. However, standbys tend to be quite a bit quieter than portables (we can't hear ours running unless in the room to which it is immediately adjacent, or at night when everything is dead quiet), and they tend to be built for the longer haul. For instance, ours has a regular automotive oil filter on it.

Whatever you decide to do, even a small (3kw) portable will keep the fridge/freezer going and a few lights on.

Best wishes,
 
Update: The electric company was on the radio today and stated that it would be at least 7 more days before power is restored to the southern and coastal parts of Rhode Island. This is where the server is located, in Middletown, RI. As a result, it may be a while. I'll try to contact Bill and see if he would like to move the server to our shop, which has power and internet. However, he may have other priorities to deal with right now.

Mike
 
When we lost our phone line earlier this year because a construction worker accidently cut the line, we were able to quickly forward calls to a cell phone and use that same phone to take in Square payments. Very handy and easy to set up in advance of phone problems. As far as power goes, we can't solve that problem so easily. We are under a seven story garage and if the building's power goes, we have to close until it is restored.
 
I don't know. His voicemail box is full and won't take any more messages.

I did email him though, and offered use of our shop for framing and/or to host the grumble's server temporarily. Hopefully he gets it.

Mike
 
Just got power back today. Since the storm, with all the power outages I couldn't get online that much. I was down to using the network on the phone witch was spotty most of the time due to everyone and their uncle trying to get online via the phone.
I didn't realize how bad the storm had been in ny and nj til yesterday. Makes me feel lucky to have only missed a few days of showers.
It put a damper on us opening our new location but we are moving forward and should be opening our doors within a week.
I slept at the new place for 3 nights getting painting done knowing that there would be a ton of trees down and everything would basically come to a standstill. It did. I can't complain though. The pizza place across the street didn't have power but his gas powered ovens kept me in slices of pepperoni for the last couple of days. Who can complain about about eating ny style slices for 3 days? Not me.
Now I need to see what I have missed both here and on the G. Also, check and see if registration for classes for the WCAF has begun. Needless to say, I am printing out the form for the chinese dinner tonight and will mail it tomorrow.
It's good to be back!!!!!! Now if you'll excuse me, I must go shower and shave.
 
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