6th day and counting with no power!

Warning: whiney rant coming So, Consumers was saying no power 'till the 28th. I figured that was just a wild estimate. Then on the 25th they changed the estimate to to 26th. Cool! So, yesterday i left the family at the in-laws so i could address a few things that had to be done while the water was shut off. I told Mrs Boost that when the power comes back on I'd get the furnace up and running and let them know when they could come back home to a warming house. Well, consumers has reverted back to the 28th! I spent the night in this house, alone and freezing. Now I'm just pissed. It looks like I'll spend most of this break from work dealing with this crap.
I know, in the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal, but dangit, right now it feels like it is. I can see neighborhoods with power from my back door. Aaagghhhh!!!!

I've done the six days with no power thing and all I can say is that I understand. I hope it's better soon.

I was ok, until they changed the date back to the 28th. I cant do another night at the in-laws. Just cant

I more than understand.. and I lost power twice this past summer for a week each time. A week after the Derecho and a week after my electrical meter literally blew up (it was fixed in a day.. took almost a week for the township to come out and inspect it so the power could be put back on)

Don't you have a diesel car you can plug in as a generator?

I only have a small inverter. That's what you're talking about, right?

Seems like I remember being able to run the furnace of the diesel tractor when I was younger. But, maybe that was a cobbled up farm project. How strong is your inverter? it's possible if attached to the battery vs the cig lighter it could run something.

This would help

One of these would help you pick it up

We went through this last year, it sucks, get a Gen for next time.

DrBoost wrote: I only have a small inverter. That's what you're talking about, right?

During Sandy, a friend of mine ran his furnace off and 1000W inverter wired up to his MINI. If you have gas or oil heat, a furnace doesn't draw much.

Did that for about 7-8 days when Hurricane Ike hit us. I had a small 3500 watt generator that kept our fridge and the neighbor's fridge going, some lights, and the TV. Not powerful enough to run the A/C, which is tougher than it sounds since I was living south of Houston.

Of course, the heat vs. cold thing is quite different. Though we had neighbors that couldn't stay in their houses because shingles had been ripped off the roof and the houses had been drenched inside. It was interesting watching the drywall in the ceiling slowly disintegrate and fall onto the furniture. So at least you don't have that to deal with...

My generator is a 5500 (8500 at startup). It will keep the whole house going with the exception of the A/C and dryer. I have pumps for my well, septic and sump. All are critical.

i ran my parents sump pump off an inverter off the battery of my running truck one night with no power. it was flooding, the water was a foot deep in the basement, and i had to drive 30 miles before i found a store that had power to buy a bigger inverter because my little one wouldn't cut it.

i now keep a big inverter in the truck and a generator in the garage.

I've got two big inverters that were given to me, both needing repair. I guess it's time to get them fixed, and hook up a couple 100 amp alternators to the 12 HP motor I was going to put on my snow blower. 2000 or so watts (right?) won't be a lot though, maybe I need to go bigger? I'll have to see how much it'll take to run my furnace.

if it's a gas furnace, it doesn't take much to run. Can't hurt to try.

Hang in there man, atleast Mrs Boost and the Boostletts had someplace to go.

FWIW, a fireplace or wood burning stove is an absolute must for my next house, and I plan to have some type of backup power too, probably just enough to keep the basics running.

The communist ghetto fiefdom that I currently live in doesn't allow anything other than gas or electric heat. Both completely useless when the ice storm comes

I did a week w/o power after Hurricane Hugo. No heat, no A/C, no hot water, working 12-18 hour days with the wife and 2 yo at home dealing with it. The following winter I built this.

10,000 watts, diesel power and quite at a tomb. It will power my entire house as long as you don't turn everything on at once. That was 25 years ago. I've never actually used it during an emergency.

I have determined the best way to avoid an emergency is to be prepared for it.

Good luck Doc, I hope they get you turned back on soon.

Fenton? Is that DTE service area? I'd see about pushing my Dad a message about it(he's the manager of the program that sends out work orders), but he's in Arizona. I'll yell at him for you.

Consumers, sorry to hear that. I hate those guys. I could rant for hours about all the wild stuff I've seen them do. Like the power lines through my parents backyard that were frayed to a strand or two, that they halfass put back up all droopy when a tree came down on them and broke the rotten timbers off the rotten pole I think the CCC installed(which they put new cross posts on). Or the years of ignored complaints about said frayed lines. Or the tree/line interference that we always ended up solving ourselves with firearms. Or when they decided to run 3 phase to power a irrigation pump for the farmer down the road, and disconnected us on the hottest day of the year, at noon, went to lunch, then came back and hooked things back up. I swear we lost power at least once a year, for several days.

DTE, even in Detroit proper, is like berkeleying magic in comparison. I don't trust Consumers to find their ass with both hands and an instruction manual.

Ouch, they had my family's power back on 2 days ahead of the estimate in Richland.

I got power last night! Woo-hoo.
I don't have a clue what goes in to the decision as to what areas to concentrate on first, but people in subdivisions on the outskirts of town got power after a few days, I'm right in town, my outage effected hundreds of houses and two major traffic lights and we were the last to get it back. I do know that they had to string a bunch of wire to get our back. It's not a huge deal, all you guys that talked about your outages after hurricanes had it worse than us. I'm just happy to have a warm house again.

Currently blasting Dire Straits at eleventh-three and cleaning the fridge and freezer. Man, that's a nasty job after a week with no power.

Glad to hear you got your power back DrBoost!

Who gets power first depends on where the hospitals, fire and police stations, senior living centers and power company employees live.

They usually start with hospitals and medical facilities and work their way down the list. If you aren't near one of the high priority places, you are screwed and get power back last.

Glad you got it back. Stay warm.

So, I get a notice from the city of Fenton today. It was from the code enforcement officer about the fact that my sidewalk hadn't been cleared of snow. REALLY!?!?!? Could that be because it was day 6 of a power outage and my family had been forced out of my house because there was no power! Do you really expect me to drive 100 miles round trip to clear my sidewalk?
I can't wait 'till Monday when the city office opens. I'm going to rip into this dude. You have thousands of residents, the folks that pay your salary, out of power and all you have to do is take pictures of sidewalks with snow on them? I'm going to rip into these people. I may get arrested.

In reply to DrBoost:

Holy E36 M3, how berkeleying moronic.

.... and yur gonna hafta report back

Good luck.

In before the arrest.

Tear 'em a new one Dr.