Refrigerator During Blackouts...

[Sabertooth]

I don't consider myself to be a full-blown prepper, but we had three blackouts this month that turned off our refrigerator.
We lost some food on the first one, which was overnight.
In the 18 years we have been here, we have never had this many so close together.

There are more storms coming.

After the last blackout, my wife & I decided to freeze five one-gallon jugs of water in the freezer. If we get another summertime blackout, we will move two of them over to the refrigerator side for use as an impromptu icebox.

We have ordered a back-up generator that runs on our natural gas supply,* but it won't arrive until December. We're getting the smallest capacity one to keep the furnace going in the winter** and the fridge going in the summer.

*Its fuel costs too much to replace the conventional electric service, but to date, there has never been a loss of gas service.
**We were looking at a gas-only (no electricity) back-up furnace, in the event of a winter blackout. It was much less expensive to install & operate and would have heated the basement, plumbing and some of our first floor, but we needed electricity for some medical equipment.

 

[dqhall]

I don't consider myself to be a full-blown prepper, but we had three blackouts this month that turned off our refrigerator.
We lost some food on the first one, which was overnight.
In the 18 years we have been here, we have never had this many so close together.

There are more storms coming.

After the last blackout, my wife & I decided to freeze five one-gallon jugs of water in the freezer. If we get another summertime blackout, we will move two of them over to the refrigerator side for use as an impromptu icebox.

We have ordered a back-up generator that runs on our natural gas supply,* but it won't arrive until December. We're getting the smallest capacity one to keep the furnace going in the winter** and the fridge going in the summer.

*Its fuel costs too much to replace the conventional electric service, but to date, there has never been a loss of gas service.
**We were looking at a gas-only (no electricity) back-up furnace, in the event of a winter blackout. It was much less expensive to install & operate and would have heated the basement, plumbing and some of our first floor, but we needed electricity for some medical equipment.

I turned toward low fat plant based food for my heart health. I store bulk lentils, beans, organic steel cut oats, corn meal, corn flour, buckwheat and quinoa. I have canned fish, beans, and fruit. I have trail mix, nuts and dried fruit. I worried about hurricanes. It is rare for the eye of a hurricane to strike any one spot in Florida in a given year. The eye wall does the most damage and might knock out power for a month. There were tornadoes in the eye wall. I have empty water containers I save to fill in case of an oncoming storm. When a hurricane appears to be heading towards us, people go to the gas station to top off their tanks. The gas stations run out of gas. They hoard food and bottled water. Bread shelves were emptied. I remember living in the north. When a blizzard approached, they bought all the bread.

I can charge my cell phone with my car as it has a USB port. I have rechargeable lighting. There are candles left behind by the previous owner. If a hurricane does major damage, FEMA will move in to provide temporary assistance and food rations. They were here after Hurricane Charley in 2004.

 

[GreekOrthodox]

We have ordered a back-up generator that runs on our natural gas supply,* but it won't arrive until December. We're getting the smallest capacity one to keep the furnace going in the winter** and the fridge going in the summer.

*Its fuel costs too much to replace the conventional electric service, but to date, there has never been a loss of gas service.
**We were looking at a gas-only (no electricity) back-up furnace, in the event of a winter blackout. It was much less expensive to install & operate and would have heated the basement, plumbing and some of our first floor, but we needed electricity for some medical equipment.

Did you get one of the Generac type generators? I live in hurricane country and I'm considering getting a whole house generator that connects to the main gas line.

 

[Dave G.]

How many watts or K is your backup ?

 

[Sabertooth]

Did you get one of the Generac type generators? I live in hurricane country and I'm considering getting a whole house generator that connects to the main gas line.

It is on order.
We ordered the smallest one to keep the furnace & refrigerator going.
It will power everything else,* too, except for the A/C, washer/dryer & microwave.**

How many watts or K is your backup ?

7.5kW, 50A, 8 circuits.

*Our conventional oven is gas.
**That unit would cost an extra $1.5K and be more expensive to operate.
We can live without those amenities for that relatively short duration.

 

[Freth]

In a short-term scenario, the generator is fine, but what about a long-term scenario?

If there is a long-term power outage...

• How long will the gas supply last for your generator?
• What is your backup plan when the generator can't function anymore?
• What if the generator has a mechanical failure?

My answer to these questions is to eliminate these factors altogether and to be prepared for no power source whatsoever.

• What methods can I employ now in my every-day life, in case the power never turns back on?
  • Food storage and/or preservation
    • Dried
    • Canned
    • Smoked
    • Pickled
  • Food preparation without power
    • Cooking methods that don't require power
    • Raw foods
  • Water sources and filtration, if necessary
    • Nearby backup water sources
      
    • Long-term commercial filtration products
    • Natural filtration methods
  • Long-term food sources
    • Pantry/prepper stash
      
    • Plant identification
    • Seeds on hand
    • Tools
  • Non-dependence on modern conveniences
    • Employing all of the above now, so that you don't have a steep learning curve when a crisis hits.
    • Reducing or eliminating the need for refrigeration in your home.
    • Reducing or eliminating the need for power sources in your home.
    • Being able to transition painlessly to a no power situation and thrive long-term.

 

[Sabertooth]

How long will the gas supply last for your generator?

To date, there has never been a disruption in natural gas (in our area).

What is your backup plan when the generator can't function anymore?

For heat, there are gas-only (no blower) furnaces available. They are as warm as a wood stove, requiring no wood and producing no ash.

 

[Dave G.]

It is on order.
We ordered the smallest one to keep the furnace & refrigerator going.
It will power everything else,* too, except for the A/C, washer/dryer & microwave.**

7.5kW, 50A, 8 circuits.

*Our conventional oven is gas.
**That unit would cost an extra $1.5K and be more expensive to operate.
We can live without those luxuries for that relatively short duration.

I'm running a 5.8k 30A portable and have a spare ( older)5 K as well.Either one will run what is wired in on the 6 circuit transfer switch. We selected circuits that did dining room lights, kitchen and downstairs bathroom light and outlet. It runs two refrigerators, a freezer, gas hot water heater ( it won't light without that running) vent, the boiler and our tenants kitchen work area. He has used a microwave over there, the generator takes a little fit when it kicks on but settles right down. I've run a cord from the bathroom to run the pellet stove in the living room. Keep in mind not everything runs at once, things cycle on and off at different times. I've never seen the meter run very high at the transfer switch, that microwave will bring it up a ways but he's pretty good in an outage about not using it. Mostly he's glad the fridge and cooking area are lit up and he has heat and hot water powered by our side of the house ( the apartment is attached). The two frig and freezer take next to nothing to run, the meter barely gives a wiggle on start up. Really the microwave is the big hit, the boiler system next but not too bad really. Todays motors on devices are pretty efficient. We just use the stove top for cooking and can charge devices in the downstairs bathroom, have to use the cell phone on data as the satelite dish is on a dead circuit, though I guess I could run a cord to that vs the pellet stove ( just thought of that lol).

The longest we have been without power is close to a week. We have two self supplied gas stations with backup generators so gas hasn't been an issue.

 

[Sabertooth]

I'm running a 5.8k 30A portable and have a spare ( older)5 K as well.Either one will run what is wired in on the 6 circuit transfer switch.

Are they petroleum or NG?

The electrician said that the microwave can work* but the system will shut down if fridge, furnace & microwave are all on at the same time.

*Our microwave has its own outlet/breaker that won't be backed up, but can be plugged in at a general outlet. (That probably isn't a problem in the furnace's off-season.)

 

[Dave G.]

Are they petroleum or NG?

Gasoline.

Also if your furnace is one of your large draws of power you could just turn down your thermostat to where it won't kick on while you microwave something. Turn it back up after done. My coffee maker I just bring into the bathroom lol ! You can do a lot with an outlet or two running one thing at a time. With only 8 circuits active on your 7.5K I doubt you're gonna overload the generator with short bursts of various items. I'd like to have put in an 8 circuit transfer switch for mine but they had the 6 or 10 in stock so I opted for the 6. We make due just fine all in all. For the lights we don't have we use oil lamps, I also have an led camping lamp with various settings a lot can be done with.

 

[EmethAlethia]

We picked up a bigger solar powered generator. Running out of sun is far less likely than running out of gas or electric. https://4patriots.com/collections/power-solar/products/patriot-power-generator-1800

 

[tturt]

Got battery operated external freezer thermometer to help determine when to run the generator.

 

[Sabertooth]

Got battery operated external freezer thermometer to help determine when to run the generator.

Is that an old thing or a new one?

 

[tturt]

New to me Just ordered

But am I missing something?

 

[Sabertooth]

But am I missing something?

Maybe I misread your post.

Did you mean the freezer is battery-powered,
or its thermometer is?

 

[tturt]

Thermometer

 

[Sabertooth]

We finally got our back-up generator after being on back-order for a long time.
I ran the furnace in generator mode to see how it would do.
My furnace shuts down with an error code when the generator is on, but I will see if they will fix it, first, before writing a negative review.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Don't know how I missed this thread!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Sabertooth]

My furnace shuts down with an error code when the generator is on, but I will see if they will fix it, first, before writing a negative review.

The tech recently came in and found a wiring issue that may have solved our problem. We won't be able to test it out until later in September.

 

[tturt]

Read that some keep their seeds in the frig or freezer especially in hot climates.

Considering how would you protect those seeds when the electricity goes out. We've been without power for 24 hrs and even 4 weeks (had generator problems).

Ideas?