Frozen In MA
 

Just another example of how some basic home preparedness can make life much better in an emergency situation.

got heat?


Frozen without Electricity in Massachusetts
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We have been since Thursday night at midnight with no electricity and not a sign of a Unitil Power Company truck anywhere in the city. But Fedex has delivered holiday packages to my house twice. Maybe Fedex should be running the power company or at the very least sharing their business plan because obviously it's working.
We're going on day 3 of a power outage as the result of Thursday night's ice storm that was only supposed to slightly bother our Friday morning commute. Thankfully my mother called and woke me at 10pm Thursday night to say that the ice storm was supposed to be bad and that we should prepare ourselves. Well, by that point all the grocery stores were closed and all I could do was push my heat up to 90 to get the house hot enough to last the couple hours it would take them to get the power back on if it went out. WRONG! Let's just say it has been nothing but a hellish nightmare since then. We've to date spent $4,000 for generator, electrician and furnace service and just now barely have heat coming on. We were supposed to fly out to my in-laws today for Christmas vacation with them. My husband and children are going and I'm staying to man the fort. Our family will have to be happy with just us for Christmas because we have now officially tapped out our savings and are onto the credit cards. What about the poor and the elderly who don't have such resources? We have several elderly in our neighborhood and several have said they've laid in bed all these days frozen stiff. I'm not a doctor but that can't be good and probably carries serious consequences to an elderly person.
The power company Unitil came under fire Saturday morning from Rep. Stephen DiNatale, D-Fitchburg, over a lack of communication from the energy company at the outset of the storm.
"I don't believe Unitil has responded the way they should have," DiNatale said. "The response, up until today, has been lackluster to say the least."
Ward 4 City Councilor Kevin Starr said Unitil did not send enough work crews to the city when the storm hit, delaying the needed repair work to restore power.
"They have set the progress back hours and hours and hours," Starr said
I'd say more like days and weeks. I also read on CNN that National Guard has been dispensed to the area and haven't seen one of them either. Our more affluent neighbors in Leominster are coming back up and running since they are on National Grid lines.
As of Sunday morning Unitil states it has 10 work crews currently in Fitchburg.. Another drive around the city produced no sitings of any Unitil workers but I did see 5+ Verizon trucks out working. I guess it's important to have my phone but I'd much rather have my heat on.
Most are insured for water pipes freezing and busting but the thought of spending 3 months in a hotel room with 2 children, while they gut my house out, does not appeal to me in the least and has driven me to spend $4,000 in 3 days to get what little heat I do have.
There are no generators from Maine to New Jersey. Ours was hand delivered by relatives from 8 hours away. One kind fellow was willing to sell me one at a 500% mark up. I actually thought about it for about 30 seconds. Desperate times mean desperation in both the good and bad. Good people will pay anything to keep their family alive and their house protected. Bad people will use every means they have to overcharge you or come in the middle of the night and steal your generator or your frozen pipes out of your walls.
After New Orleans I have no grand ideas of the Federal or State Government coming to save me in a crisis, but I would have expected at least a better forewarning from the weather companies and news outlets.
I'm off to drop my family at the airport and will give an updated report tomorrow.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Why not cut off the water, drain the pipes, put on a few layers, and relax? Heck, do the first two and head for the florida keys if you can't stand 3 days without heat or electricity. And her definition of "bad people" leaves much to be desired as does her expectations from "weather companies and news outlets" [sic].

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Cold weather in the north will drive the masses south eventually. Not those who are prepared but most all the others.

Buy Fla real estate nsoon.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

it annoys me that people who are not prepared rag on "hoarders" and
"profiteers" get your own gear before and dont cry and call the
authorities when somebody supplies a needed product or resource at current market rates because then all you are doing is destroying a good
emergency supply and making yourself more beholden to government
rescue which is always late.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Where they gonna get a construction loan?

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Techguy, do you run on Natural gas, Electrical or Kerosene Heating Oil? As a survivalist/preparation guy, why not have a small generator on hand to run the main heating system if you only need to run a blower and thermostat.

Waiting for Govt help is a joke, lived through KATRINA, GUSTAVE and IKE, MREs only showed up days later.

Truth be known, most utilities have laid off/trimmed their line crews and now depend on outsourcing which depends on finding crews with EXPERIENCE, which often or not is in short supply. Stupid Executives think labor grows on a tree and with crews still busy in Texas and Louisiana, light crew are streched thin and labor costs are rising.

do keep us posted, stay warm and PM if you need anything from the group.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

We live in the foothills of the Berkshires. Fortunately, my town just escaped the worst of it. We did not even lose power. But I drove a few miles west of here and it was a mess. Everything was covered with ice. Trees were bent, split, and fallen all over the roads. Power lines were down everywhere. I saw several utility trucks. Most of them were huddled in groups of 2 or 3 trucks fixing one line. One guy up in a bucket working on a line and 5 other workers standing around watching.

A friend of mine went out and bought his first generator. Sears was sold out, and home despot sold out of 80 generators in a few hours. He got lucky and somebody had just returned one and he bought it for $500. The temperature was in the teens all day. I saw one house with a sign in front that said "We have water thanks to our generator". They were giving away water to their less fortunate neighbors.

In a prolonged power outage, a generator will work for a while as long as you have some fuel stored for it. If you cook with propane, you will be good there. If you can heat with a wood stove and have some wood, you are good there. You can even cook on top of a wood stove.

These types of events help wake people up to imagine life without electricity, city water, sewer, or gas. When the infrastructure starts crumbling and the grid comes down, this is how it will be all the time. Living in New England is great as long as you are prepared. The view of the sun sparkling on ice covered landscapes is quite beautiful.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

This was not my story, I just posted an example of why you SHOULD prepare. I am not TNandy, but we are better prepared than most.

We run on propane, and I have a 7500w diesel generator that can run the house when needed. I store at least 100gal of diesel at all times as well. Aside from our primary 500gal propane tank, I keep 4 or 5 30lb portable propane cylinders around as well, these are useful for cooking, and spot heating. In an get out of town mode, they are also transportable.

I also live W of Houston, so the need for life saving heat is pretty nil, usually it is for comfort only. It is 60-65 outside today... I am wearing shorts.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Sorry, Techguy, I live South of I-10 below Houma Thibodaux so close to the Gulf my front yard has been a tidal pond on occasion. Shorts are the norm here but we got snow 4 days ago and now it is 70's weather again.

I have an RV, 500 Gallon Tote tank of diesel, natural gas for the house and a generator that runs off gasoline or natural gass, PK runs off Diesel and short supply of gasoline.

Food is pletiful and shrimp and fish are easy, we have extra rice and beans. Orange trees and fruit trees in the side yard, and a fig tree I have been trying to get rid of, well sort of, it makes juicy sweet figs and you know they are good for?

Re: Frozen In MA
 

I always like these kinds of storms. It is usually the only time people will pay me to collect firewood from their driveways and yards.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

So if Mama didnt call this grown @$$ man ,who is suppose to be the head of his household, He would probally be dead as a result of hypothermia right about now.

A major pruning of the stupid population is going to soon take hold of this country. I can fully see 2/3's being wiped out as result.


They they are going to learn a very hard lesson.


Soon


T

Re: Frozen In MA
 

I guess I just don't understand why some people think the electirc, water, and gas will always be on and do not prepare with some type of backup heat and or power source.

But we are the nuts for having extra fuel, a back up generator for the back up generator and a years supply of food, just to list a few.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

I live in NH. It was pretty bad here too. We lost power Friday early morning. It came back on this morning. I was waking up Friday morning to the sound of trees snapping in half. Glad I was prepared. We just fired up the generator, drank a few beers and I recently bought a 4 way powered raido that came in handy :)
It was good practice.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

last winter our area was hit by 2 ice storms ..(the first in over 10years)...we had over a mil people without power for approx. 2 wks...

here are some thoughts that might help


#1 if you have internet you are probably not hit very hard at all
#2 if you have a generator and natual gas you should be able to get heat, if you dont have access to a gen...one option is a inverter you can hook to your car and heat the house up every 12hrs or so, you can usually run a home gas furnace with 15amps of power or approx 1500watts(takes additional watts to start the blower fan)
#3 in our area we couldnt get gas because all the gas stations were out of power and couldnt pump gas, if they were on a gen and could pump gas then they couldnt take plastic money (cash only) and the lines were for blocks to the stations that could pump gas
#4 its cheaper to winterize your home and drive a ways and get a hotel room
if your not prepared
#5 around here the state attorney general prosecuted people for price gouging
#6 main mall parking lots had trucks with generators for sale
#7 if you can buy a gen you probably cant find the electrical connectors to hook it up, i helps many people do hook-ups by reverse feeding homes though the dryer outlets(illegal) but i also made sure and pulled their main breakers or meters first
#8 if you hard wire in a gen make sure your not Back feeding the power lines and kill a utility worker
#9 if your running any kind of burning fuel heat indoors, IE kerosene,propane heaters...invest in a cheap carbon monoxide detector at wal mart
#10 unplug/hook up all your sensitive electrical appliances as there will be power surges as the power starts comeing back up around town
#11 if you have neighbors close its possible to share a generator and split the fuel bills (most cheap emergency gens will burn a gal a hour)
#12 small engine gens need the oil changed regularly
#13 if your municipality water is on well water....store some water because the city may run out
#14 if you water supply is good you can let faucets drip to keep water lines from freezing
#15 downed power lines that are dead now.....may not be dead later when they reenergize them.
#16 find a way to secure your generator ...they can and will be stolen
#17 stay away from trees that are ice covered and in contact with power lines...(the tree can actually be energized)
#18 if you have a natural gas hot water heater and water you will have hot water.....if you have hot water you can build a heat exchanger and get heat from the hot water...(be inventive you will be surprized at how this can work)
#19 many gas fireplace logs do not require electricity and will run strictly on natural gas if you have one check it out.
#20 you can get heat from a gas cook stove

i was quite involved in the ice storms in our area last year just thought i would share some thoughts that might help someone...though like #1 said if they have internet they probably arnt hit bad

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Power has been out since last Thursday. All fine tips there. I'm up and running off a generator, pain in the butt, but I have the esentials.


ps- not internet...... I'm at work.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

I endured the Great Quebec Blackout and lesson number one was backups. At the time, I only had electric as a heat source. Well, a week without electric meant that I have to have ever linear foot of water pipe replaced as well as a substantial chunk of flooring and drywall. Two weeks meant a new roof. Now, I've got kerosene backups for all the rooms, and a method of draining dry the plumbing in a hurry. leaving just the main inlet to protect in times of need. Storing kerosene, however, is not my favorite thing. It's bulky (and up here, not that easy to get in volume) , smelly and the tanks on the heaters don't have a particularly long run time ... plus adjusting them for temp is a pain. You don't really have a choice about turning them up or down. They work best at one setting and crap at any other .... which means usually either too hot for the room, or not hot enough depending on room size.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Read it again. Pappa and the kids bugged out. This was the wife's mother who called and so she stayed behind to "man" the fort. Looks like she is the one with the nads.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Same here Bass, except I'm in the no generator crowd. Heated water on the stove and had a sponge bath and shave. Power is not really necessary except for freezer -fine putting stuff outside until today, which is supposed to be over 50.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

why have you lost internet is it because of the ISP do not have backup power
to last more than a day?

Re: Frozen In MA
 

I have dial up..and no power..fine here at work in the valley

Re: Frozen In MA
 

I have Road Runner...... nothing back yet. May happen sooner than the power though.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

do you have power to your router/modem? you dont need those things with dial up but for anybody using cable or dsl you do.is that all that is keeping
your internet down?

just curious because i am off grid and have everything running of battery/generator i wonder if i canexpect to lose internet with any major disruption
in power if so i might look at a dial up backup

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Ohhh, I've caught many a fish down Bayou De Large.

Ok, sorry for hijacking. Back to you.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

My husband I were discussing the power outage in new england last night, wondering if there were any way to get gas furnaces to run without the electricity to power the blower to tell the furnace to run.

We have an undersized wood stove that we use for primary heat even though we have a nice gas furnace. I figure if there's a major ice storm in this area that knocks out power I'll have the entire extended family that lives in this area piled into my house plus their friends. Board games by lantern light, anyone?

Re: Frozen In MA
 

you need electricity to run a gas furnace......you need electricity to run a wood stove IF IT HAS BLOWERS...its pretty easy to hook up temp gen power to run a furnace

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Have wood heat and enough camping gear etc. to by pass my furnace and lighting needs. Don't want to sound like an expert on generators as I have only used this one through a couple of power outages, but the little 40 pound 2 cycle 1000 watt chinese unit I bought at deep discount last winter for $89 has worked like champ. It will run my large refrigerator and icemaker, run my computer and monitor,lights, my small freezer, and my smaller power tools. Not at the same time of course. Relatively quiet and gasoline useage seems right at the 1 gallon per 10 hours at full load claimed. The Miejers store I bought it from has them currently at $149

Re: Frozen In MA
 

On a gas furnace you only need 110 volts to run the blower and control unit, the furnace should be pluged in near the main unit (indoor unit). It is very easy to run the furnace with a small generator, the start up on the fan is all you have to cover. A 2500 watt generator should cover it, just plug the cord from the furnance into the generator.(make sure your genarator is outdoors, not in the garage) a lot of people die during long power outages due to carbon monoxide.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

All the whole house gas furnaces around here use 220v. usually around 1/2 hp 220v blower.

I have 2 of those bad boys.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

This is what I use for my back up generator, 1000 watts will run my furnace just fine, tried it out. Keep it in my RV for winter backup, since I don't need my Air Conditioner, I can run the 12v convertor which will run my furnace, lights, and TV with the refrigerator switched to Propane, which I keep an extra 100 Lbs bottle filled along with 3 20lbs and 2 30lbs. I have survived a month in Colorado during Hunting season (Cold and snowy). A country boy will survive, now the original poster was the wife and she was "going to ""man"" the fort", I have to agree, who wears the nads are a little different up north. However for $4K I would have bought a camper, small generator and roadmap to a warmer bugout place. Heck, you could have stayed for a week in Bahamas Cheaper.

Draining the water should be easy to do with a low spot, shut off the Hot Water heater and secure. THEN LEAVE.

Sheeple will be thinned out by their own lack of basic knowledge, and stupidity. Grasshopper and Ant all over.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Possible if you have an older furnace. A power pile generator and milivolt gas valve would make the burner run without electricity, but usually the ductwork is not designed for gravity heat.

Here is one option. There are also wall furnaces and console heaters that work without juice.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...1779/cozy1.jpg

Millivolt Wall Thermostat Control System
No electricity is required to operate the unit.
Heat is provided - even during a power failure.

http://www.kennspenns.com/heating/cozy.html

Re: Frozen In MA
 

never heard of 220v gas furnace....of course electric furnaces would be 220...any idea why are yours dual fuel or hooked to a heat pump etc??...just curious

Re: Frozen In MA
 

220v is for the blower motors. It is gas heat only.

Par for the course with most plenum/furnace units.

I have two of these:

http://www.trane.com/Residential/Pro...XR80-Furnaces#

http://www.trane.com/Residential/Ima...URNACE_CUT.jpg

The blower motor is 220v.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

i am going to have to ask my HVAC guy why the 220....wire size, etc. .....you mention "par for the course" where you are......around here for a both 80% and 90% furnaces 110v are the norm...

thx for the info, 220v should be more efficient over all gona hafta check this out (being the contractor i am lol)

Re: Frozen In MA
 

sOK, dangit... now you have me second guessing myself.

BRB.

Lovely....

My brilliant electrician DID use a 220 volt circuit for the furnaces... EACH furnace is hooked up to one leg of that 220v breaker.... i.e 110v to each.

I could have sworn UP and DOWN that these were running 220. I even COMPLETELY disassembled one one of thes units to clean out the carbon due to improper jetting from the installer.

Lack of sleep from last night's airport adventure, plus work today. I am not even thinking clearly.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

well i feel better now ....i was starting to think us hillbillies were buying the cheap versions :) and didnt know better

Re: Frozen In MA
 

I was starting to think Tech guy had some new high "tech" blower motor none of us had. I don't feel so left out now.

Re: Frozen In MA
 

Most of us would get bagged on for preparing for a SHTF scenario but what most don't think about is that preparing for SHTF will help you out in just about any disaster. Everything from geopolitical, economic, social, or natural.

I am glad to see all those who weren't prepared getting their asses kicked. Serves them right.

For those who did prepare, well your getting your first glimpse of how well you prepared.

Uh, no. We aren't nuts because we eventually plan to use all those supplies. Food will be eaten, gas will be burned, ammo will be shot, water will be drank, backup generators will be used. It protects you from inflation, uncertainty, and dangers. Anyone who doesn't prepare, or doesn't prepare enough is a nut case though. During a crisis, I am not going to be out helping others. I'll be in my heated home with electricity, running water, food etc. with my guns close by. If you didn't prepare, who cares! Survival of the fittest at this point.