October Nor'easter

[Crestliner2008]

Got hit hard a week ago today. 13" of heavy, wet snow. Knocked out the power to 90% of Western Ma. I just got my power back this morning! Six days of hell! House temps averaged 42 degrees. Could not stay there, although we tried for the first 2 nights. "Survived" in a run-down motel for 4 days, (only room left in 50 miles!) at an outrageous price - talk about being "gouged"! Top that off with having to trash a freezer and fridge full of food. In the 66 years I've lived in this neck of the woods, we never have lost power for more than a few hours, let alone 6 days! So this was an eye opening experience, to say the least.

Will definitely be looking at a back-up generator now, for sure! If any of you are from New England, I feel your pain. It's been a very trying time for us all. God Bless you all.

[Lund Explorer]

I can feel your pain!

After several longer than normal power losses we purchased a generator for our home. It isn't big enough to power everything at the same time, but it can provide most creature comforts as well as saving the contents of the fridge and freezer.

I'm not an electrician so I can't tell you name of the part that allows us to switch from the power company to our own source, however it is a extra breaker that allows for the switch of the source. We simply turn off most of the un-needed breakers, and then turn off one main and turn on the other. I don't think the whole project cost more than a couple of hundred bucks which was much less than the cost of a freezer full of food.

BTW, expect a few comments from the neighbors about why you have lights when you first hook it up!

[Crestliner2008]

I can feel your pain!

After several longer than normal power losses we purchased a generator for our home. It isn't big enough to power everything at the same time, but it can provide most creature comforts as well as saving the contents of the fridge and freezer.

I'm not an electrician so I can't tell you name of the part that allows us to switch from the power company to our own source, however it is a extra breaker that allows for the switch of the source. We simply turn off most of the un-needed breakers, and then turn off one main and turn on the other. I don't think the whole project cost more than a couple of hundred bucks which was much less than the cost of a freezer full of food.

BTW, expect a few comments from the neighbors about why you have lights when you first hook it up!

I'm definitely going to look into a generator. Supposedly, you do not need to directly hook it up to your electrical panel (from what I've been told); rather just run an extension cord to what you want to run off of it? I will investigate, for sure. If I can run just the furnace, fridge & stove, I'd be happy. This situation will NOT happen again - to me anyway!

[tomustang]

Got to live how the power companies cut thousands of jobs the past few years, it's been biting the consumer in the *** since, you can always tell when you see out of state utility trucks in swarms on the highway.

Glad you made it through and thinking on getting a generator because I think this will still be a problem for a while

[llPa1nll]

I hear you Crestliner2008,

I live in southern NH and we were without power for 4 days. It seems that this has become the norm now. I can't remember ever being without power for the length of time, that these storms now knock out power for, even as a kid we would lose power but it would be back on in the morning. I cant understand how these companies can't get power back on in a reasonable amount of time. I think this type of disaster exposes the situation that the electrical infrastructure in parts of the country are in serious need of updating and repair, or that the amount of line crews that the electric companies have are seriously under staffed. I have a 5500watt generator that I use to power my house in an emergency. It powers just about everything and I do shut off some items that are not needed. I hope this helps.

[deaknh03]

I live in Southern NH as well, and use a 5500 to power everything I need as well. The trouble, as I see it, is that the utility company has gobbled up the competition, but has not staffed accordingly. Too many customers, not enough customer service.