[gtojohn1965]

Been getting ready for this all week. Thursday I even helped a friend buy a small genny at Lowe's, in the dark, the stores power was out registers were on back up. In the generator isle they told me he sold 4 in the past hour. When I was there they sold 5 more. I know it gets colder everywhere else, we're just not set up for it. If you have a gas furnace it can be powered easily by generator or there's always "stove heat". Yes the Transformer is inside the furnace. ERCOT has a phone app. It shows capacity and demand . So far so good, but forecast lows in the teens and twenties coming up.

 

[InOmaha]

Cross your fingers gas pressure does not drop due to heavy furnace usage.

There's a chance the Permian gas will be down 15-20% due to production issues from the cold and ice.

 

[Stwood]

I'm ready............ in Missouri. Just need to test fire the gen again. Got gas............
Haven't had to use the gen in 12-14 years. Last 2 times was ice storms that took lines down.

Ya'll stay safe down there. Got a son in DFW, Tyler area. Not sure how he's setup for backup heat.

 

[Rural Buckeye Guy]

Well I went to my property out in the country. Small 2 room mobile home on 1/2 acre I've owned for 25 years. One of my lovely neighbors has helped themselves to my wall mounted propane heater. Was going to get it set up for my mother just in case. Ended up buying one from the propane shop. 20,000 btu for $450. Its free standing or wall mount. The lines to get propane have been a steady 10 vehicles deep for 2 days. Glad I have bottles filled.

Wife just picked up the 3 and 4 yr old grandkids to go along with the 2yr old we have. Im being a total jerk to my wife's daughter and SIL. I've been preaching hard times to them for 4 years. Same old BS answers,"we're coming to your house".
Not so grasshopper!
I can only keep 800ft warm in my house in a total outage. Expecting mid 20s for the high next few days in NE Texas. Every thing is fueled up. Wrapped the wife's hen house, promised her I'd light a fire in a grill if her girls get to shivering. Got games and books for the children. Guess I need to get the percolator out of the camper. Hope it doesn't get to bad. I volunteered for after hours service. 2 hr minimum OT every time I leave the house to do emergency water shut offs.

Y'all stay safe.


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Friendly note: most ppl here heat thier chicken coops with a strong red light. Its 20 degrees every day here. The Amish weather thier birds in thier barns with thier livestock. The hens roost on thier cows and horses and share warmth with each other. Havent seen it just heard many diffrrent ppl talk about it independently.

 

[Justme11]

ERCOT is warning that Texas may have rolling blackouts if they get short on capacity.

 

[ImStillHere]

There are many styles of interlock kits available that connect gens to the mains for home use. Some of the simple ones are mechanical interlocks that wont let the Generator CB close unless the main is open.
This lets you run any size gen for min use to full load

 

[phil74501]

I've been through two of those ice storms...2001, and 2007. In the first one, there were people in the mountains in southeast OK who were without electricity for 6 months. Worst part of it all was how boring it was. Had heat, water, food, etc etc...but no internet and no cable tv. Read a lot of books though, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

 

[puttster]

No results, sorry. Could not get the HF genny going. Froze in the dark.

 

[thess02]

No results, sorry. Could not get the HF genny going. Froze in the dark.

You own a Tesla...and bought a Harbor Freight generator...........

Going from your generator to a 240 volt dryer outlet is still a suicide cable setup. Exposed male conductors at each end.

My advice is to spend a bit of money on a safe transfer switch. Something like this is for a typical 240 volt 30 amp generator twistlock outlet. Reliance Controls 30 Amp 250-Volt 7500-Watt Non-Fuse 6-Circuit Transfer Switch Kit-3006HDK - The Home Depot

 

[SeaBeeDaddy]

You own a Tesla...and bought a Harbor Freight generator...........

 

[gtojohn1965]

My HF generator worked great last night! I didn't do t he suicide connector though. My Gas furnace is now wired with a conventional 110v plug i can unplug from its house outlet and plug into my genny. Considering installing a few generator only outlets in a few key areas so I don't need to run as many cords next time.

 

[Justme11]

My HF generator worked great last night! I didn't do t he suicide connector though. My Gas furnace is now wired with a conventional 110v plug i can unplug from its house outlet and plug into my genny. Considering installing a few generator only outlets in a few key areas so I don't need to run as many cords next time.

If you got one of those Predator gennies, they are very well regarded.

 

[Justme11]

Man, I should have taken my own advice. Didn't test run anything, and it all failed.
At least I can serve as an example of what not to do. Don't ignore a generator for 10 years and expect it to work.

 

[thess02]

Man, I should have taken my own advice. Didn't test run anything, and it all failed.
At least I can serve as an example of what not to do. Don't ignore a generator for 10 years and expect it to work.

I was wondering why your 3 generators failed.

 

[neiowa]

Friendly note: most ppl here heat thier chicken coops with a strong red light. Its 20 degrees every day here. The Amish weather thier birds in thier barns with thier livestock. The hens roost on thier cows and horses and share warmth with each other. Havent seen it just heard many diffrrent ppl talk about it independently.

Hens don't need a heater. Just a relatively draft free coop.
Well below 0F nights for the last week several nights at -15F. My hen coop (unheated) is in the goat shed but that doesn't do anything for them with heat. The hens have been a bit cranky about laying when it has been staying below -5F but otherwise seem quite content. They do stay inside the coop and eat/drink more than usual. 10F and sunny today felt like spring.

 

[gtojohn1965]

It actually took a bit of effort to get the predator going, my neighbor borrowed it and had problems when they refueled it. Either old gas or water. Luckily I had a fuel reconditioner/ water remover and enough starting fluid to pass it all. After 5 minutes all was good. Lesson learned about loaning it out, plus I will make sure I have those fluids available for the next time.

 

[Stwood]

Finally remembered to get our 5600w sears badged gen out and fire it. Been a couple? years I think.
I put in a quart of gas, and It fired on second pull. Ran it for 5 minutes (in shop) then switched the gas off and let it run dry, as I always try to do.

 

[woodyp]

Man, I should have taken my own advice. Didn't test run anything, and it all failed.
At least I can serve as an example of what not to do. Don't ignore a generator for 10 years and expect it to work.

Example noted! Gotta say I thought it was kinda funny you started that thread and then EPIC failure! Stuff that CAN happen sure seems to have been lately.

 

[puttster]

You own a Tesla...and bought a Harbor Freight generator...........

Going from your generator to a 240 volt dryer outlet is still a suicide cable setup. Exposed male conductors at each end.

My advice is to spend a bit of money on a safe transfer switch. Something like this is for a typical 240 volt 30 amp generator twistlock outlet. Reliance Controls 30 Amp 250-Volt 7500-Watt Non-Fuse 6-Circuit Transfer Switch Kit-3006HDK - The Home Depot

Come on now, that switch would have been $200 bucks following the HF $200 gen down the drain.

 

[Justme11]

Example noted! Gotta say I thought it was kinda funny you started that thread and then EPIC failure! Stuff that CAN happen sure seems to have been lately.

Well, I am smart enough to know the right things to do. And lazy enough to ignore it!