Interesting nuggets from the subscriber contract

Clearly services love you. ;)

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GabeU wrote:

We got VERY lucky during the 2003 Northeast Blackout.  We were one of the few areas that was not affected.  :)   There were folks less than three miles from here that had no power for nearly two days.  

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I think I vaguely remember that one because of Gulf II... I think that was supposedly caused by the load being too high on account of being a real hot day, made more complicated by a solar flare that impacted the way the grid switched.

Edit: Almost got it right. Software glitch, not a solar flare.

OR...it may have been those wascally Wussians.

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MarkJFine wrote:

 

Edit: Almost got it right. Software glitch, not a solar flare.

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maratsade wrote:

Clearly services love you. ;)

 

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I wish that were the case.  Because of living on the side of a large ridge that faces Lake Erie, which is about ten miles away, we get hammered with wind storms and terrible lake effect snow.  Our power goes out, on average, about four or five times a year.  It's not usually out for more than a few hours, but it's very annoying, especially when it happens during extremely cold or or horridly hot weather. 

My folks are lucky in that they have a floor furnace in their living room.  It doesn't need power, so they still have heat, and the thermostat is a millivolt thermostat, running off of power generated by a thermopile unit over the pilot on the furnace.  Me, OTOH...  I end up using my oven and stove, but if it lasts more than an hour or so I turn them off because of the carbon monoxide danger and break out the kerosene heater.  It works, but for my little house it's overkill, and I have to open windows to regulate the temperature, lest it get to the 80s or 90s in here, even when it's -10F outside.  I'm going to be getting one of those propane Buddy heaters this fall.  That will be better.  

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maratsade wrote:

OR...it may have been those wascally Wussians.

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Moose and Squirrel...

Jeez, Gabe, that's nuts.  I have kerosene heaters too, and every time I use them I have to disable all the smoke alarms, which ironically work without power.  I have to remove all the batteries and disconnect them from the house, because something in them beeps even without batteries.  Then after the power comes back, I have to reconnect them all again.  It's So.Much.Fun. I'll have to look at the Buddy heaters. 

I may finally look for a generator this winter. Everyone around me has one. I could freak them all out and get a shelter-mounted one and a chase vehicle. I know one neighbor that would think we're under attack. Lol

Edit: Ok... I think I've thrown enough shade on Mr. Lemme brag about a 33 year military career. #smh

" I could freak them all out and get a shelter-mounted one and a chase vehicle. "

Please do. And take pictures. LOL

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maratsade wrote:

Jeez, Gabe, that's nuts.  I have kerosene heaters too, and every time I use them I have to disable all the smoke alarms, which ironically work without power.  I have to remove all the batteries and disconnect them from the house, because something in them beeps even without batteries.  Then after the power comes back, I have to reconnect them all again.  It's So.Much.Fun. I'll have to look at the Buddy heaters. 

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I have often have to reset the smoke alarm when I shut the kerosene heater down, as it puts out some odor that the smoke detector evidently despises.  While it's running it's fine, though.  

For me, because I have a small house, Buddy heaters would be enough, and they're so much easier, and less stinky, than kerosene heaters.  Don't get me wrong, kerosene heaters are great, and they put out a LOT of heat (too much, in my case), but they're a pain in the rump and stink on shutdown.  :p  

I think my smoke alarms react to the heat. They go off a minute or two after the heater's on. But then, there are smoke alarms everywhere here, more than what I think would be reasonable.  The kerosene heaters are awesome (except after turning them off, when the stench is nasty, as you know) and when we were without power for 7 days one winter, they saved us and saved the pipes too. We also run a little indoor kerosene-fueled stove, so we can eat and have some hot water (another fun aspect of living in a rural area is wells....no electricity, no electric pump, no water). So I have a great appreciation for kerosene - it also lasts a very long time.  But I'll be looking into the Buddy heaters, though.  They seem small enough and I wonder if the alarms will ignore them. 

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GabeU wrote:

For me, because I have a small house, Buddy heaters would be enough, and they're so much easier, and less stinky, than kerosene heaters.  Don't get me wrong, kerosene heaters are great, and they put out a LOT of heat (too much, in my case), but they're a pain in the rump and stink on shutdown.  :p  

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Amazon carries them.

debbie.jean.bro

Regarding the Buddy heaters, in addition to Amazon, as maratsade suggested, many chain hardware stores carry them.  I don't know if you have a Tractor Supply where you live, but they carry them, too.  I think even Walmart might have them.  :)  

Here's a bit more about them.  The prices on this site are higher than what you'll see in stores.  I'm looking at one of the Big Buddy heaters.  They even make battery powered fans for them.  :)  

http://www.mrheater.com/product/heaters/buddy-series.html

I checked Walmart's site and they do carry them. 

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GabeU wrote:

 

 

Regarding the Buddy heaters, in addition to Amazon, as maratsade suggested, many chain hardware stores carry them.  I don't know if you have a Tractor Supply where you live, but they carry them, too.  I think even Walmart might have them.  :)  

 

Here's a bit more about them.  The prices on this site are higher than what you'll see in stores.  I'm looking at one of the Big Buddy heaters.  They even make battery powered fans for them.  :)  

 

http://www.mrheater.com/product/heaters/buddy-series.html

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debbie.jean.bro

You're quite welcome.  :) :) :)