Post by papaof2 on Mar 17, 2022 15:20:36 GMT -6
My muse is still disappearing when unfinished stories are waiting for her input, but maybe this one is far enough along to be a good read.
Chapter 1
Wednesday, 7:10PM
Just got the strangest ever "Amber Alert" on my phone. "Winter Storm Amber" will hit us in 48 hours. A 48 hour warning before a "Winter Storm" at the end of October? This is Georgia, part of the "Sunny South" - we may get a little freezing rain this early but not the foot or more of snow I would associate with a "Winter Storm". Then the alarm from the SAME weather radio with the audio and scroll of "Winter Storm Emergency" - like when an F5 tornado is on the ground and not expected to lift any time soon. Better go to weather.com or noaa.gov so I can see what's coming, how bad it's been where it's already hit and how bad they think it will be here.
Seems 100 million other people had the same ideas. I'm seeing assorted numerical internet errors* trying to get to weather.com plus some text messages of "Network Congestion", "Network Overload" and "Server Busy". Get more of the same messages trying to reach noaa.gov. Maybe Weather Underground? Nah, same messages when trying wunderground.com. The internet weather information appears to be very popular today. Guess I'll fall back to the least inaccurate local weather-guesser and see what Channel 11's TV weatherman has to say. Looks like they did their homework on this one: time- and date-stamped log of NOAA bulletins and airport weather reports from across Canada. The storm came down from the Arctic and is currently dumping the last few inches of a forecast four feet of snow on Winnipeg, Canada after four inches of ice four days ago and tonight's low there will be -36C which is about -33F. First the ice and then a foot of snow each day - that certainly puts a large number of people and businesses with aerial power feeds in the dark and in the cold unless they have heat which doesn't require power. Driving time from there to us is about 25 hours so the "48 hours" in the forecast says the storm is moving at about 35MPH. Even if the storm decreases in intensity by the time it gets here - typical storm behavior as it moves into the warmer air of the Southern US - our forecast is "more than an inch" of ice from the freezing rain on the front side of the storm and then the temperature dropping and "12 to 18 inches" of snow - and people here thought the 7 to 12 inches of snow we got across the county a few years back was "a lot" of snow (although that forecast started as "one half to one inch of snow on grassy areas"; sure hope this storm doesn't escalate like that) - and then the low temperatures after this storm being around -5F (-20C). I'll need to use the inside shutoff valves for the outside hydrants so I can drain those hydrants and also roll the hoses out and drain them. Probably need the small air compressor running to clean out the mechanism on the hose reel as it's impossible to drain completely.
I muted the TV sound but they just popped up a crawl at the bottom of the screen:
'Stay tuned at 8PM for our two hour Special Report on "Safe and Warm in a Winter Storm". Go to wxia.com/storm for PDF files you can download on food, water, staying warm and other important topics for a major Winter Storm. If possible, print a copy so you'll have a reference if your phone or the internet isn't available after the storm hits. Similar information is available at fema.gov, gema.gov and redcross.org.'
You never see the mainstream media admitting that there might be a situation out of people's control. Wonder who got that special dispensation from the Pope? How many people only have an electronic copy of important documents these days? Half? More than half? Are they aware that the usage time for those documents is limited by the phone's average battery life? No battery equals no readable document.
I'll bet the grocery store parking lots are already jammed and every cart and handbasket is being piled with the "ice" and "snow" essentials of bread, milk and eggs. Does that typical list mean that French toast is the official food for a winter storm? We won't be part of that hysteria - nice to have a multi-week pantry.
I will check that the generators all start and produce power OK, but that will be during daylight tomorrow. Yes, more than one generator. A 1600 watt inverter generator for most things - fridge, freezer, blower on the gas-fired furnace, although we'd use the solar power system for the first twelve to sixteen hours of a power outage. The inverter gen is also first choice for recharging the battery bank if there's not enough sun. The storm is forecast to hit us around 8AM which means the freezing rain will likely have done its damage before dark and I don't want to be out in the dark, in freezing rain, trying to get a generator started. The fridge should be OK for eight hours if the doors aren't opened and the freezer for sixteen hours, so both should be fine even if they didn't have power overnight. The 3000 watt 120 volt generator is the next choice (power for fridge, freezer and furnace plus an electric chainsaw, circular saw or reciprocating saw - one tool at a time) and the 5000 watt 120/240 volt gen if we have damage from the storm and I need to run multiple power tools at the same time (simultaneous power for everything previously listed and a 10 inch table saw).
We should plan on not having grid power for at least a week, possibly longer, based on previous outages from freezing rain and "a lot" of snow. We typically would have sun again after the storm passes - that's been four to six days where the storm has hit in Canada so we can plan based on that time frame. We'll be using the inverter gen for perhaps six to eight hours on each non-sunny day. That many hours is about a gallon of gas at the loads we'll have on it. There's 15-20 gallons of treated gasoline out in the lawn equipment shed so we're good for at least two weeks of non-sunny days. If things go as far sideways as they did in Texas in February of 2021, we might be getting gas from the tanks of our vehicles - yes, I can do that in spite of the anti-siphon bit in the filler neck. We "fill at half" on both vehicles so that's gas for at least another two weeks.
Thinking of Texas - will our local natural gas feeds also by affected by that level of cold for an extended period? If so, will there be enough pressure/flow to keep our 100,000BTU furnace supplied? If not, will there be enough pressure/flow so we can drop back to the 30,000BTU gas logs in the huge wood-rated masonry fireplace in the family room? That ton of brick and mortar radiates heat into the room for hours after the gas logs are turned off and the logs don't need AC power because the remote and the gas valve operate from AA or D cells and I have a stock of both. Then there is the 22,000BTU kerosene heater to fall back on and there are a couple weeks of kero in the shed. We heated with the gas logs plus the kero heater for two weeks when the then almost new, high-tech, high efficiency gas-fired furnace ate its controller board and the promised "three day" board turnaround took 14 days - thankfully parts and labor were under warranty. Not quite as cold that January as the current forecast (those lows were only in the teens) but we do have experience with alternate heating in cold weather and this time I could use the furnace blower occasionally to move warm air around and ensure the pipes in the basement don't freeze.
The gas logs have an input for LP so maybe use the tanks from the gas grill for as long as they last? My spreadsheet on propane tank size versus burner BTU versus hours says a full five gallon / 20lb tank is good for about 14 hours at 30,000BTU. A full tank plus maybe half a tank would be 21 hours. If we must drop back to that level of heating, we can close off most of the house and live in a much smaller space - probably spending a lot of time near the fireplace and having the gas logs on for one hour out of four or whatever is needed to have comfortable space and the longest possible life from the tanks of propane. I should check craigslist.org for any free tanks and see about getting them refilled - lots cheaper than buying a new tank.
That was a good thought but checking the manual for the gas logs lists one 100lb tank as the minimum supply for the gas logs. As cold as things will be, that should probably be two 100lb tanks feeding a tee to ensure there's enough vapor pressure to drive the gas logs to full output. Rare that I see tanks that big on Craig's List so I'll do a search as far back as it goes and see if there are any.
I found two tanks for free and they're just ten miles away. How long would that run the gas logs? That's 40 gallons at 91,500BTU/gallon or 3,700,000BTU. Divide that by the 30,000BTU the gas logs need and I get 123 hours. Divide that by the 16 hours/day we might be awake and I get 7.7 days. The current price of propane is the same as unleaded regular: $3.06/gallon. That makes 40 gallons $122.40 or $15.90/day or about $1/hour to stay warm. Expensive, but better than being cold if there is a problem with the natural gas supply - and propane stores almost forever if I don't need it for this event. The dual-stage regulator to get tank pressure down to 11" WC is about $45 and lowes.com says a store near me has them. That takes the cost to about $175 but the regulator is to be amortized over a period of years. If I can get these things before the weather goes to crap...
There is a "four man" tent which could be erected in the family room and we have four sleeping bags, so a warm place to sleep once the mass of the fireplace has been warmed but perhaps a bit chilly when you get out of the sleeping bag(s) the next morning - if we stay on the same sleep schedule and aren't keeping watch overnight. Keeping watch? Maybe not needed until that foot-plus of snow has partially melted and people can sneak around. However, it's always possible that a watch might be needed when power is off for multiple days even with the snow; I'm not looking forward to being armed and awake at 4AM.
As long as the natural gas lasts at even a low pressure/flow, we can use the burners on the cooktop - they're quite happy with a grill lighter instead of the electronic spark lighter. We could even use the Coleman camp stove oven on a burner to bake a cake, but we're more likely to be baking biscuits or cornbread in a cast iron skillet or a Dutch oven. Having the camp oven in place and heated for a baking session would warm the kitchen for a while. If we lose natural gas, we have Coleman fuel, unleaded gas and propane options for the Coleman stove. The propane option is best for cooking indoors (have several one pound cylinders plus the hose and regulator for a 20lb tank). Outdoor cooking would be on the grill, with the grill lid open to serve as a windbreak and the actual cooking done using the Coleman stove which would be sitting on the grill's cooking racks. I'd be close to the house's back door and partially shielded from wind by the house, so that's probably the least bad place for cooking outside during a winter storm. That would be using Coleman liquid fuel or unleaded gasoline because it's outside and the ventilation is excellent. Other indoor cooking could be on a Sterno stove - OK for heating water for tea, coffee or soup - or a small camping stove burning scrap wood in the other fireplace.
Extended periods at -5F might cause problems with the County Water System so I should put the WaterBOB in the tub in the basement bath and fill it to have 80 gallons of potable water and ensure all eight of the five gallon water totes are full - and bring two of those up to the main level to have water in the kitchen and bath as needed for cooking and hand washing if we lose County Water. 120 gallons / two people / two gallons / person / day comes out to 30 days so that should be enough. Maybe bring in the remaining food grade barrel that never saw service as a rain barrel? That could store another 55 gallons of potable water and we could use water from there for showers and not affect our drinking/cooking water supply. I should make a paper list of these things and mark off items as they are completed.
---
I have my written list and it's on the first page of a wire-bound notebook - plenty of space to add to my list and space to keep a diary/log/history of our experience with Winter Storm Amber. Having a weather warning 48 hours in advance makes this feel as serious as a hurricane, but I'm concerned that there will be people who ignore this warning with the same levels of stupidity and stubbornness as those who refuse to evacuate because of a hurricane until they're on the roof of their house and waiting for a boat.
If we don't have grid power, the heat pump that serves the upstairs bedrooms and bath won't be running. The gas-fired furnace for this level isn't big enough to heat that space which means the gas logs and kerosene heater certainly can't heat it, so I'll close off the doors leading to those stairs. Add a note in ALL CAPS:
DRAIN UPPER LEVEL PIPES AND PUT MINERAL OIL IN THE P-TRAPS.
That can be done when/if we lose power. I'll go ahead and take the bottles of mineral oil up there as a reminder.
Anything else?
Be sure all the flashlights, phones, tablets, laptops, powerbanks and spare laptop batteries are charged. Include the Chromebook in case we just want a quick check of email or weather - if any sites are available. If power is out over a large area, the U-verse phone/TV/internet service will also be out so the only internet access will be via our cell phones - if they have service. Either phone can do "hotspot" so we could use the phone for internet access and connect the Chromebook or a tablet via the phone as a low power internet access device with a much bigger screen.
I know exactly where the tire chains for the truck are stored but I'm not likely to be out in more than three inches of snow as the truck is two wheel drive and three inches of snow is about its comfortable limit - even if the ground clearance is eight inches.
If we lose grid power over a large area or it stays cold too long, will we also lose the County Sewage Treatment Plant? Will there be a "Don't flush" email/Amber Alert/whatever or will the working radio/TV stations (if any) be telling us "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." or will the message be "Use a trash bag"? We're good on that, as the commode chair (an unused leftover from my back surgery several years ago - the bathroom was just a few steps farther away and a much better choice) could be adapted to being placed over a five gallon bucket with a "Double Doodie" bag in it and we'd have a sturdy seat with arms instead of a toilet seat on a not-very-stable five gallon plastic bucket. I think the chair is the better choice for someone over 70.
---
* www.pleth.com/posts/200-301-404-other-numbers-http-error-codes
---
Chapter 2
Wednesday, 8:50PM
I hear a garage door opening. Camera shows my better half's vehicle. Wonder if she's heard...
"JACK! Did you hear the weather? They interrupted the World Series broadcast and the Braves were down two runs when they went back to the game!"
"Sarah, did you pay any attention to what that weather was?"
"They said something about four inches of ice and four feet of snow - but it's in Canada, for Pete's sake!"
"Canada now. Here in 48 hours with at least an inch of ice and more than a foot of snow."
"Oh! So that's why there were traffic jams at Wal-Mart, Costco and all the grocery stores! Do we need... Probably not, based on the inventory list I saw last week."
"You are correct. I did make a list of things to check or do before it gets here. See if I missed anything."
"You missing things when you're making a 'staying alive' list is highly unlikely but I'll check it so I'm aware of what's needed."
---
"Jack, I don't see anything about doing laundry."
"If we have power and County Water, we'll handle that as usual. If not, we'll be wearing our outer clothes longer and just doing 'spit baths' and changing underwear most of the time. At that point, plan on one shower a week, using two of the five gallon sun shower bags..."
"And washing clothes in a #2 washtub using that clothes dasher from lehmans.com?"
"Correct. If you don't want to wring clothes by hand, their top-of-the-line, hand-cranked, tub-mounted wringer would be over $300 with Next Day Air shipping."
"And it's coming from Ohio, they can't get it to a plane this late in the day and the planes may not be flying tomorrow evening. Can you call and ask?"
"Here's the catalog, open to that page, and here's the card. You call, so you can yell at them if they can't get it here in time - instead of yelling at me for being the messenger."
"As I did when I came in. Sorry, Jack. I do get a bit worked up about the World Series."
"That's why there's cup of chamomile and some shortbread cookies waiting for you. Go make the call."
"I love you too, you sneaky man!"
---
"They can have it at the airport at 9AM tomorrow. I also ordered their 'Make Your Own Laundry Soap Kit'."
"I had that kit marked because all we have is the 'high efficiency' detergent which might not work as well when doing hand laundry with much more water. What are the damages?"
"$270 for the wringer, $60 for the laundry soap kit, $120 for 'Special Handling' including the morning trip to the airport and Next Day Air service."
"Happy Birthday!"
"You goof; my birthday is in June!"
"When else do you get a $450 present?"
"OK, I get a second birthday present this year. I'm sure my hands will appreciate it when or if I'm washing and wringing towels, sheets and jeans. I noticed that they had gasoline powered washers..."
"Made in India and truck shipment only. That one you won't get in time."
"Maybe next year?"
"We can discuss that when you're using the handcrank to wring clothes."
"Sounds reasonable."
---
"A candle lantern hanging from the ceiling fan in the kitchen? Really, Jack, we have much better lighting than that."
"Sarah, after power is off three days, do you want anyone to know that we have even limited power available? Remember the Kahns wanting to know how big an extension cord they'd need to run their central air conditioning off our generator after that nasty thunderstorm in August? And how disappointed they were that the 1600 watt inverter generator only puts out 120 volts and not the 240 volts that central air needs? How would they respond to steady bright light in the kitchen?"
"Asking 'If it can't run the heat pump, can it run a little heater in every room?'"
"That's my guess. What about Virginia? Would she be asking again for me to 'share' the solar-charged lights with her? I emailed her the links to all the sites that might have useful tools after that thunderstorm-caused power failure and never got any response from her."
"You emailed a lot of people that week. Did anyone respond?"
"Bill Thompson, but then he's another old guy who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and still squeezes every penny hard enough to make Lincoln cry."
"Hey, that's my description of your frugal ways!"
"Both Bill and I both say 'cheap' in conversation between us. 'Frugal' is for more polite speech."
"We have been by the 'urban renewal' site that was your grandparents' neighborhood in that city and the corner their house was on is a block and a half from the tracks - in the direction of the city landfill, so I guess 'wrong side of the tracks' is correct."
"The house that backed up against the tracks was a shadetree mechanic's place. He did oxy-acetylene soldering/brazing on car radiators and he also built the first power lawnmower I ever saw - he cut a couple inches off the blades of a reel mower to make room for a pulley and a V-belt and mounted an electric motor above the blades to spin them. Just 'making do' with whatever was available."
"As the solar backup system started out. You're certain that the $3600 you spent on more solar panels and replacing the battery bank with those new - What did you call them? - batteries will be worth it?"
"Lithium Iron Phosphate; chemical formula is LiFePO4. Sometimes referred to as 'LFP'. Yes, both of those will prove their worth - the 800AH of batteries during the storm, as I'll run the inverter gen a few hours in the morning and in the evening to recharge them and also cool the fridge and freezer and raise the thermostat to warm the house while the gen is running. The added 2400 watts of solar panels will keep up with most of our power needs when we have sun again after the storm. When we have solar power back, we still won't be using much visible lighting - my 'cabin in the woods with a small fridge' sized system can't power everything here and it certainly can't power another house. Be aware that the low temperatures could affect the natural gas delivery and we might not be able to use the furnace and perhaps not the gas logs."
"You did have that in your notes, didn't you? I guess you've covered everything for us but there's not much you can do for some of the neighbors."
"I picked up a two inexpensive 'floating lanterns' when dorcy.com had their BOGO sale a while back. They'll run on four AA cells or MANY more hours on the more expensive six volt lantern battery. At about $6 each, those are hard to misplace because of their size and I can pass them out with the caution 'I don't know if you'll be able to get more batteries'. The updated forecast I saw on TV now has the freezing rain starting Friday before noon - instead of 8AM, so some people will be in the dark by sundown Friday and I doubt that many have flashlights or candles that will last more than a few hours...."
"And some people know you always have a flashlight at hand."
"Happens when you get old and need cataract surgery and then the flashlight-in-your-pocket habit carries over after surgery even when you can see better than you have in years. The Fenix E12 is still the best small flashlight I've ever used - one alkaline AA cell or a rechargeable NiMH AA cell good for 40 hours at the lowest intensity. Then there's the NiteCore TUBE rechargeable for dress wear."
"The Fenix has been through the wash twice?"
"At least twice. Still works every time unless the battery is completely dead. You pay a bit more for the machined aluminum housing, rubber O-rings and the gold plated contacts but it always works."
"I hear your mantra of 'always works'. One reason you're still driving that teenaged truck of yours?"
"Hasn't failed me yet. Summer. Winter. Doesn't matter. That reminds me - the truck probably needs new wiper blades and your vehicle should get them also. Add that to my list. I'll be out tomorrow, so make a list of anything you think you might want during our days of being 'snowbound'."
"You said four to six days without sun and below zero temps after the storm. Maybe a week or ten days before the roads are even partially melted?"
"Very probable. Let's see if I can bring up the two week forecast... Surprise! I got that in just under a minute! Best guess is ten days before it gets above freezing, but expect several days for appreciable clearing on the streets and roads. If there's enough traffic, there might be tire tracks beaten through the snow to the pavement. There might also be polished ice at every intersection. I know how well the truck can go and stop with chains on but I'm worried about the people who don't understand that spinning your tires when you try to start off from a stop also means you have near zero traction when you try sliding to a stop unless you have chains or studded tires which stop the spinning and the sliding."
"Chains? You and probably less than one per cent of the driving population in this state?"
"Correct. I plan to not have either vehicle out of the garage until the streets are mostly clear. I might think differently if my primary vehicle were an Abrams tank."
"You goof!"
---
Chapter 3
Thursday, 7:20AM
Knock! Knock!
That's the back door. What does Virginia want now?
"Yes, Virginia?"
"Jack, can I rent one of your upstairs bedrooms? My boss just texted me to expect power to go out in the first 24 hours of the storm and it may not come back for a week!"
"Only if you have a 20F rated sleeping bag and are willing to use a bucket toilet. No power means we can't heat the upper level. If the natural gas feed stays up, we can use the gas logs but they can only heat part of the main level. If the natural gas dies as it did in Texas in February of 2021, the gas logs won't work and all we'll have is a kerosene heater which puts out much less heat than the gas logs. We'll be living in just a couple of rooms."
"But... But... You have solar power!"
"We have a little bit of solar power. It gets us through the frequent short outages but we don't use the TV or a lot of other things during those outages so we can keep the fridge running. We'll have power for the fridge for a few hours, but freezing rain and days of snow mean there will be no sun to recharge the batteries so we get a few hours of power and then we'll be using the little generator for a couple of hours in the morning to warm the house and cool the fridge and freezer and again in the evening to warm the house and cool the fridge and freezer."
"Can you run my furnace?"
"No. I have a transfer switch so I can switch the fridge and furnace to an alternate power source but you don't have that and I doubt that you can get an electrician out to install one today."
"Do you have a flashlight I can borrow so I don't run my phone down finding my way through the house?"
"Yes, but I only have the one set of batteries for it. I don't know where you'll be able to get more batteries..."
"I'll stop by Wal-Mart on my way home from work."
"You do that."
"You were right, Jack. The first loan-me-a-flashlight-that-you-may-never-see-again has gone out. How much longer before someone gets the other one?"
"Maybe the end of the day today?"
"Aren't you an optimist to put it out that far?"
"We'll see how aware other people are. This one we rack up to Virginia's boss being aware. There is a small possibility that I'll get the light back..."
"You stenciled your initials on the lights with the same ugly green paint you used for the lawn equipment and tools you took to the cleanup at the high school last year?"
"Correct."
---
Thursday, 2:20PM
Ding! Dong!
"Who's at the front door?"
"Love, camera shows it's Howard Kahn."
"He wants power or a flashlight?"
"I doubt that he'd walk this far for a flashlight - he'd use his phone to order it and get Prime same day or next day delivery."
"Good analysis."
"Yes?"
"Mr. Wilson, how much power can I buy from you? I saw the solar panels out back..."
"Sorry, but we don't generate enough power to run everything in this house. Our solar system is sized to handle the frequent short outages we have - less than four hours."
"But..."
"No buts. Do you remember the office building on the left before you get to Costco?"
"Yes... They have solar panels on the roof."
"Best guess from a quick scan as I drove by, they have 100 large solar panels - probably 300 watts each or more - on the roof facing east and the same number facing west. If I had the money and the roof space, that many panels would mean I had power to spare. Having neither of those, I can't provide you with power. You need a generator, preferably an inverter generator for its very clean power and high efficiency. For fridge, freezer and a few lights, a 1600 watt inverter generator is under $1000 at Lowes, Northern Tool or Harbor Freight. If you want to run one or two portable electric heaters, you'll need a generator at least twice that size - and that's in continuous watts, not 'starting' or 'surge' watts - and expect it to cost twice as much. You'll need to provide fuel for the generator and your minimum stock of fuel should be 15 gallons. You won't be able to run your furnace unless you have a transfer switch added or you know enough about household wiring to make the furnace a plug-in appliance instead of a hard-wired appliance. Or you can hire an electrician. Shouldn't be more than a few thousand dollars - but you probably can't get the work done before the storm hits. If you don't want to buy a generator, go check the rental places right now - as in within the hour - tomorrow may be too late. If you get a generator, be sure you get the proper extension cords - they will be labeled '12/3' and they're not cheap."
"Do you have all that on paper?"
"No, but I could text you or email it."
"Here's my card. Email on the front; personal cell number on the back. And thank you for sharing your knowledge with someone who's been a pain in the butt about the things you've set up to test alternate power and the like. My ten-year-old son read one of your books and told me that you only write about things you've actually tested. He now knows more about off-the-grid power, water, heat and cooking than I ever wanted to know until today. I bought him the rest of your books - there are probably more things that will be useful if we lose power and then natural gas as they did in Texas."
"Always glad to have more readers. Do you have a way to charge the device he uses for reading ebooks?"
"I need ways to charge that and the phones and my laptop... An inverter generator for clean power that those devices will be happy with?"
"Correct."
"When I get your list, we'll spend a little time shopping online and then buy locally so we can have it in hand.
"Good choice."
"It feels good to be doing something before everything falls apart. Is that why you never seem to be bothered by the weather or empty shelves at the grocery or empty gas stations?"
"We had to adapt to a monthly instead of a weekly paycheck a long time ago so we still think in terms of 'eating until the next paycheck' and stock food, soap, paper goods and so forth for more than just the next month. We fill the gas tanks at the half mark so we're not running close to empty at the end of the month. After a while, it just becomes habit."
"Very good habit. If you have a month of stuff on hand, being snowbound for ten days is no longer scary - other than having the kids climbing the walls."
"That last one I can't help you with unless you can get the kids interested in board games that need no power..."
"Monopoly?"
"More like Scrabble, Pictionary, Taboo and similar thinking games for a ten-year-old. Any preschoolers would probably prefer HiHo! Cherry-O because they get to yell."
"Can you add those to that list you'll text?"
"Sure."
"Thank you. How loud are those generators?"
"The smaller ones aren't that loud - more like conversation level. The noise level goes up with the power level. There are some generic commercial 'noise covers' - if you can find one that will work for your generator and get it shipped before the storm - but you're more likely to have one that works well if it's made for your specific generator - sound insulation, cooling fan, insulation-lined intake and exhaust vents..."
"Do you do that kind of work?"
"Not on short notice. The enclosure needs to fit well but have good sound insulation, provide adequate clearance for cooling air flow and the hot exhaust, have provisions for the proper size fan and for wiring coming into the enclosure - all of that depends on the size and configuration of the generator - and the cover should be light enough for one person to lift it in place over the gen."
"OK, lots more thought needed than just covering it with a couple of large moving boxes."
"Correct."
"Your 'Correct' makes me feel like I'm back in first grade. Maybe that's appropriate when I'm a beginner at living without the current century's conveniences."
"Welcome to the world of those who are aware of how fragile our infrastructure actually is."
"You probably have tire chains but you won't need to be out on the snowy roads, will you?"
"Only if there's an emergency that needs our attention."
"Because you've already thought of all the things you might need and either have them or have a list you'll take care of today?"
"Both. If I must be out in a vehicle, I need new wiper blades."
"Something I would never have thought of. I think I owe you for my education."
"You bought my books. Some of the info is in them. Some is specific to your situation and for that you need to ask questions."
"Yes, Professor. Now I need to get with Devon and discuss the list you're sending me."
"Devon?"
"My ten-year-old who currently knows more about most of these things than I do."
"Smart kid. Put him to work finding answers for you."
"Probably nothing he'd like better. I should go - as Devon said, I really did need a jacket to walk across the road."
"Definitely a smart kid that you need to put to work."
"I'm beginning to understand just how smart."
---
"Kahn's had his moment of revelation?"
"You know he has when our neighborhood know-it-all admits his ten-year-old son knows more about doing things without grid power than he does."
"He's off to buy a generator?"
"He's waiting for me to text my list of gen specs and ideas and the list of non-powered kids' games. Then he and Devon - the ten-year-old - will do some comparison shopping online and then go buy or rent a generator."
"How much gas did you tell him?"
"Minimum of 15 gallons."
"If they're frugal and only run the gen as needed, they might get a week out of that. Not so much if they just let it run all the time."
"True. I'll plan to run the small inverter gen when his probably much larger gen is running so his noise attracts more attention."
"Nothing like free and effective OpSec. You will have the cameras up and monitored?"
"Always when a gen is running. Probably when we have sun again. I'll have to see what the battery state of charge is to determine how many cameras we can have running at other times. We'll need the router and its 16 watts of continuous power usage plus three to five watts per camera. I'll check the battery status with the four lowest power cameras and see if that's enough coverage. The laptop that monitors the cameras and provides the motion alerts needs 15 watts so we're looking at 35 to 40 watts for the cameras and the monitoring."
"Small potatoes for watts when you're on the grid but everything needs to be managed when you're on solar power and the forecast is four to six days of little or no sun."
"Which is exactly where we'll be 12 hours or less after the freezing rain starts."
"Not looking forward to a cold house if the below zero weather affects the natural gas supply."
"Me either, but you have long underwear, wool sweaters and lined flannel shirts so you have warm indoor wear this season."
"And you have your down vest and those incredibly thick sweat pants."
"And we both have good wool socks. We could 'camp out' in a tent in the family room - but I would miss the Sleep Number bed."
"We can use electric blankets on the backup power?"
"If you don't mind the house being cold in the morning, we could set the furnace back to 55 at 11PM and back up to 65 or whatever at 6AM and divert that power for the electric blanket to sleep warm."
"That sounds like a good solution. But now you'll say that I can't complain about the toilet seat being cold in the wee hours of the morning."
"Was that a pun?"
"Not intentionally."
---
Chapter 4
Thursday 5:10PM
Knock! Knock!
"Camera shows it's Kahn, love. Care to bet he has a question about how to A) gas the generator, B) start the generator, C) connect it to the furnace or D) all those."
"I'll say D, Jack."
"Yes?"
"Jack, my reading of the generator's manual doesn't agree with Devon's. Can you set us straight?"
"Let me get my hat, coat and gloves..."
"But it's not that cold in the garage..."
"Unless you're planning suicide, you NEVER run a generator in an attached garage."
"That's what Devon said but..."
"That caution is usually near the top of the instructions."
"But it's such a small engine..."
"And you plan to let it run for hours."
"Well, yes. Even with electric start, I'd have to be out in the cold to start it."
"I'm not sure you should be trusted with the generator. Where's Devon?"
"I'm over here, Mr. Wilson."
"Some questions for you, Devon. First, how far from the house should the generator be?"
"Twenty five feet."
"Can you have a door or window open on that side of the house?"
"No sir."
"How do you get the extension cord inside the house?"
"There's some pieces of foam to block the opening of the window - like a window air conditioner."
"Now show me where the generator should be."
"About here. Two people can move the picnic table so it keeps the rain and snow off the generator."
"Very good, Devon. How soon can you refill the gas tank when the generator runs out of gas?"
"Wait at least five minutes."
"How will you keep the extension cord out of the snow?"
"Put the lawn chairs here, here and here to support the cord and use a zip tie to the generator handle and to the burglar bars on the window so it can't get pulled out."
"Very good. What's the rating of the extension cord?"
"This one is 12/3 and it's 25 feet long. There's a 12/3 splitter cord with three outlets to have places to plug in the cords for the fridge, freezer, two heaters and some lights."
"Excellent. Has either of you ever used a gas can like this?"
"Only when Dad tried to fill them at the gas station. It took forever because it sprays gas back at you if you try to do it like putting gas in the car."
"That wonderful 'feature' is the result of some of the safety 'improvements' designed by people who've never used a gas can. First we remove the 'filter' which blocks the flow of gasoline into the can. Then we replace the spout with one which does not require three hands to use it - you won't easily position 40lbs of gasoline plus can with one hand, so you need two hands for that and a third hand for the spout. That's resolved with this spout and I'll use my Leatherman tool to make a hole here for the vent plug. Open that vent when you fill the can or pour gas from it. This spout can be bent to make it easier to get the spout in the generator's gas tank before the gas starts coming out. Devon, how much gas does this tank hold?"
"Six gallons."
"So you should be able to pour the entire five gallon can into the tank?"
"Yes sir."
"Should you check the tank to see if there is any gas in it before you start pouring?"
"Why?"
"Did they start it for you before you brought it home?"
"And the guy showed how to add and check the oil before he started it and plugged in a circular saw to show that it could handle that load."
"So there is some gas in the tank?"
"Which means I should look to see how much. Can I trust the gas gauge?"
"That's something you will learn over time. Most of the 'in the cap' gauges are not extremely accurate."
"So I watch for reflections in the tank to know when it's close to full?"
"Correct. I don't think you can easily handle the weight of the full gas can, so I'll pour most of it into the generator's tank and then you can tell me about how full it is."
---
"Jack, you never turned the can upright."
"Howard, it's much easier to control the flow of gasoline if you do this slowly and gently. Spilling gas on the generator makes it a fire hazard when you start it and any gas that runs off the generator is an excellent grass killer."
"I don't want either of those!"
"Both of you look in the tank and tell me how full you think it is."
"Jack, I have no idea."
"Almost full, Mr. Wilson. The reflection of the filler neck is very close to it."
"Very good, Devon. Would you like to start it?"
"I can?"
"I'm sure you're able to. I'm just giving you permission."
"Yes sir. Fuel valve on over here. Choke on here. Turn the key to start..."
Whirrr!
Chug! Chug!
"Now I turn the choke to Off?"
"Correct."
Roar!
"Now go try the heaters and the lights."
"Yes sir!"
"I didn't know he could do that!"
"I think I mentioned earlier that he was a smart kid. He read the manual and absorbed all that he read. He just needed permission to use what he had learned."
"I think he had a good teacher. Maybe something he read?"
"You should ask him."
"I'll do that."
---
Chapter 5
Thursday 5:50PM
Knock! Knock!
"Camera shows it's Devon, Kahn's son."
"Probably with a good question?"
"Based on his knowledge from reading the generator manual cover-to-cover, probably."
"Yes, Devon?"
"Mr. Wilson, I found a video on YouTube about connecting a furnace to a generator. It's on my tablet. Dad wouldn't let me take the cover off the furnace to look at the wiring but our furnace looks a lot like this one. Would this work for us?"
"Good research, Devon. Let me get some tools and my coat and we can see whether you can run the furnace from the generator."
"Thank you!"
"You getting your coat probably means he had a good question."
"And he had done some good online research. I think he's a keeper."
"Another kid like you were? Smarter and better informed on many topics than his parents or teachers."
"Possibly why I like him."
"I see you have your electrician's toolbox and a metal outlet box and cover. About an hour to make their furnace into a plug-in appliance?"
"About that, including some time on safety - such as 'Turn off the breaker before doing any work' - and on how to use a digital multi-meter."
"And your charges for this?"
"Probably have Devon learn to use the hydraulic splitter and split some wood. Part of that wood will be his 'pay' for doing the splitting and I know their fireplace is wood-rated - all of the fireplaces in this group of houses are. When Tim Brashear cleaned our chimneys, he mentioned that he had cleaned the Kahns' chimney the previous week so it's OK for having a wood fire in the fireplace."
"You'll teach Devon to build the 'slot fire' that heats so well and burns for a couple of hours with no attention?"
"Yes. If we lose natural gas, they will be able to heat one room that's big enough for everyone to sleep in."
"And his efforts will be appreciated when no one else knows how to build a fire."
"If the temperatures are below zero and we lose natural gas, anyone who can build a good fire will suddenly be recognized as important."
---
"Let's go, Devon."
"Yes sir."
"Jack, you really think this will work?"
"Howard, I think Devon did good research so we'll open the furnace cover and see if your furnace is wired the same as the one in the video. If it is, Devon's seen how to make the changes and I'll be here to provide tools and any needed direction."
"Well, I guess you do know something about electricity since you have some solar power. Go ahead."
"Devon, what's the first thing we do?"
"Turn off the breaker that powers the furnace so it's safe to open it."
"Are the breakers marked on the panel?"
"Some of them. I see dishwasher, stove, water heater... This one is furnace!"
"OK, turn that one off."
Click!
"Why's it dark down here?"
"Devon, it seems someone was lazy and tapped the power feed for the furnace to install the light here in the basement hallway. That light should have been powered by the feed for the lights in the bathroom across the hall. That way you would still have light for working on the furnace when power to the furnace was off. There are many reasons to have a battery-powered head light such as the one I have on."
"That's my fault, Jack. I asked my brother-in-law if he could add a light here in the hallway and he said 'No problem. It'll cost about $50.' so I let him do it. He's not a great electrician, is he?"
"I started this with 'lazy' so I certainly can't say 'great'. Let me move these acoustic tiles and see if... There's a junction box up here with wires running toward the bathroom and the breaker panel. That's where this light should have been connected. First let's check the furnace and then we can fix the light. Devon, I need the 3/8" socket."
"Right here. You put that on a drill?"
"It's an impact driver and I can set the clutch for the proper torque. It's much faster in removing and installing eight screws than a hand ratchet."
Zip! Zip!
"Wow! So that's why the furnace guys carry a drill... impact driver on their belt."
"Those guys get very busy certain times of the year and the faster they can do the work for one person, the more people they can take care of in a day. And the cover's off. Is it safe to touch the wiring?"
"If we know the power is off."
"It only takes a few seconds to verify that. I set the meter to the 200 Volt AC range and check between the hot wire - that's the black wire in the US and it's also called the 'line' side - and the neutral wire - that's the white wire in the US. Does the meter show anything?"
"No sir."
"Then the power is off and we can work on the wiring. How did the guy in the video change the permanent wiring to plug-in?"
"The wire from the breaker panel goes to an outlet box - he used a metal one on the outside of the furnace - and the wire from the furnace goes a three prong plug. You plug it in normally to use regular power and you plug it into the extension cord from the generator to use power from the generator."
"Very good. Did he mark the plug and outlet in a special way?"
"He painted both of them red."
"Why did he do that?"
"So you would know that they went together and were something special?"
"Very good. Did he describe how to wire the new outlet and plug?"
"Bare or green wire to ground. And then he said 'Black to brass and white to bright' which I didn't understand."
"Look at the sides of this outlet."
"The screws are yellow on one side and silver on the other."
"You think maybe the 'yellow' might be brass..."
"And the silver is the 'bright'!"
"Excellent. How do you connect the wire to the outlet?"
"He said you could strip the wires and push them in the holes on the back or strip a little more so they can be wrapped around the screws. Why are there two ways?"
"The 'strip and push' is much faster and is adequate if all you're plugging in is a fan or a lamp. However, for the outlet to safely provide its rated power, you need more connection area between the wire and..."
"The screws! If you wrap the wire around the screws, it's connected to the screws on one side and the metal strip on the other."
"That's my smart kid! That's exactly why we'll do the wiring that way. This furnace uses a heated electric igniter to light the gas burners and that igniter draws almost 500 watts so somewhat more than a lamp. The furnace blower also draws about 500 watts so together that's close to 1000 watts."
"Like an iron or a toaster?"
"Correct. I think you've been doing some research."
"The manual for the generator has a list of how much power different things need. We can run a lot of the LED lights for the power just one 100 watt inc... inc-an..."
"Incandescent?"
"That's the word! Anyway, we need to be sure all the lights we want to use are LEDs so we get more hours of power from each gallon of gas."
"You are exactly right. Does this look like what the video guy did with the wires on the outlet?"
"Kinda - but this is neater."
"I've done a lot of this. Ready to tighten the screws?"
"I can?"
"I think you're able to. I will follow up to ensure they're tight enough."
"Like this?"
"Looks good. Let me check how snug... You did good, Devon. Ready to try the plug?"
"That looks harder because the wire is all little wires."
"This is stranded wire, made of many smaller wires so it will be flexible - the same type wiring that's used in the cord of a TV or a fridge so it's easy to put it in place. The wire from the breaker panel is solid wire because it will be put in place during installation and then most of the time never moved so it only needs to be flexible enough to be installed. I'll bring the wire from the furnace through the plug's cover and then strip those conductors and then twist the strands of each wire together with my fingers so I have 'one piece' to wrap around the screw on the plug - like this, again doing 'black to brass and white to bright'. Then I hold that wire in place while I tighten the screw."
"You did that because my hand isn't big enough?"
"Correct. You did see how it was done and you will be able to do that in a year or two. Should I plug it in or..."
"Turn the breaker on and check that the outlet is wired right before you plug it in?"
"Correct. This is the tool to check the outlet so I'll plug it into the outlet and you go turn on the breaker."
"Yes sir."
"What do the lights on the outlet checker tell you?"
"These two lit and this one dark is 'Wiring correct'. So now the furnace can be plugged in?"
"Go ahead."
"Yes sir! But it's not doing anything."
"Actually it is, just not anything you can hear. Look through this inspection port."
"Something's glowing red?"
"Remember I said there was an electric igniter?"
"It has to get hot enough to light the gas and then the air has to get warm enough before the fan comes on?"
"That's exactly how it works. Watch the lights on the controller board. This one is 'Igniter'..."
"That's lit. The next one is 'Gas valve' and then the next one is 'Blower'."
"Correct - the lights are in the sequence they follow on startup. There's also a sensor that can tell how hot the igniter is and when..."
Click! Whoosh!
"When it's hot enough, the gas is turned on - that light is lit now - and when the air is warm enough the fan is turned on. There's also a flame sensor that knows whether or not the gas did light. If it doesn't light in a second or so, the gas valve is turned off and the controller waits a couple of minutes and tries again. If it doesn't light the second time, there will be an error number displayed on the controller board."
"The numbers up in the top corner?"
"Correct. If that display ever stops with '88' then there's a problem with the controller board and it needs to be repaired or replaced. When the furnace shuts off, we can turn off its breaker and the breaker for the bathroom so we can fix the light in the hall."
"I can help?"
"I think my apprentice electrician might be useful, if only as a 'gofer'."
"Gopher? I'm not a little animal."
"Devon, the word is spelled g-o-f-e-r. You will go for a screwdriver or go for pliers or go for a glass of water so you will be my 'gofer'."
"You're fun!"
"Shouldn't learning things be fun?"
"Yeah."
---
"What next, Jack? You'll be teaching him Swahili?"
"No, Howard, but I think learning how to build a good wood fire might be very useful if the below zero temperatures affect the natural gas supply as they did in Texas in February of 2021."
"Build a fire? But he's only ten."
"Younger kids learned fire safety and how to build a decent fire in the scouting programs. Devon is intelligent and responsible so I'd say now is an excellent time for him to learn..."
"But we have almost no split wood."
"I saw enough wood to build my favorite fire so we can do that. When you ask what today's work will cost, I'll suggest that Devon split some wood for me. Part of his 'pay' will be wood for heating your house if needed."
"I think I'm getting into a debt I can't repay."
"No, you can't repay it - but you can pay it forward. Do something that helps someone else."
"You charge high fees."
"You're not the first to say that."
---
The end?
Chapter 1
Wednesday, 7:10PM
Just got the strangest ever "Amber Alert" on my phone. "Winter Storm Amber" will hit us in 48 hours. A 48 hour warning before a "Winter Storm" at the end of October? This is Georgia, part of the "Sunny South" - we may get a little freezing rain this early but not the foot or more of snow I would associate with a "Winter Storm". Then the alarm from the SAME weather radio with the audio and scroll of "Winter Storm Emergency" - like when an F5 tornado is on the ground and not expected to lift any time soon. Better go to weather.com or noaa.gov so I can see what's coming, how bad it's been where it's already hit and how bad they think it will be here.
Seems 100 million other people had the same ideas. I'm seeing assorted numerical internet errors* trying to get to weather.com plus some text messages of "Network Congestion", "Network Overload" and "Server Busy". Get more of the same messages trying to reach noaa.gov. Maybe Weather Underground? Nah, same messages when trying wunderground.com. The internet weather information appears to be very popular today. Guess I'll fall back to the least inaccurate local weather-guesser and see what Channel 11's TV weatherman has to say. Looks like they did their homework on this one: time- and date-stamped log of NOAA bulletins and airport weather reports from across Canada. The storm came down from the Arctic and is currently dumping the last few inches of a forecast four feet of snow on Winnipeg, Canada after four inches of ice four days ago and tonight's low there will be -36C which is about -33F. First the ice and then a foot of snow each day - that certainly puts a large number of people and businesses with aerial power feeds in the dark and in the cold unless they have heat which doesn't require power. Driving time from there to us is about 25 hours so the "48 hours" in the forecast says the storm is moving at about 35MPH. Even if the storm decreases in intensity by the time it gets here - typical storm behavior as it moves into the warmer air of the Southern US - our forecast is "more than an inch" of ice from the freezing rain on the front side of the storm and then the temperature dropping and "12 to 18 inches" of snow - and people here thought the 7 to 12 inches of snow we got across the county a few years back was "a lot" of snow (although that forecast started as "one half to one inch of snow on grassy areas"; sure hope this storm doesn't escalate like that) - and then the low temperatures after this storm being around -5F (-20C). I'll need to use the inside shutoff valves for the outside hydrants so I can drain those hydrants and also roll the hoses out and drain them. Probably need the small air compressor running to clean out the mechanism on the hose reel as it's impossible to drain completely.
I muted the TV sound but they just popped up a crawl at the bottom of the screen:
'Stay tuned at 8PM for our two hour Special Report on "Safe and Warm in a Winter Storm". Go to wxia.com/storm for PDF files you can download on food, water, staying warm and other important topics for a major Winter Storm. If possible, print a copy so you'll have a reference if your phone or the internet isn't available after the storm hits. Similar information is available at fema.gov, gema.gov and redcross.org.'
You never see the mainstream media admitting that there might be a situation out of people's control. Wonder who got that special dispensation from the Pope? How many people only have an electronic copy of important documents these days? Half? More than half? Are they aware that the usage time for those documents is limited by the phone's average battery life? No battery equals no readable document.
I'll bet the grocery store parking lots are already jammed and every cart and handbasket is being piled with the "ice" and "snow" essentials of bread, milk and eggs. Does that typical list mean that French toast is the official food for a winter storm? We won't be part of that hysteria - nice to have a multi-week pantry.
I will check that the generators all start and produce power OK, but that will be during daylight tomorrow. Yes, more than one generator. A 1600 watt inverter generator for most things - fridge, freezer, blower on the gas-fired furnace, although we'd use the solar power system for the first twelve to sixteen hours of a power outage. The inverter gen is also first choice for recharging the battery bank if there's not enough sun. The storm is forecast to hit us around 8AM which means the freezing rain will likely have done its damage before dark and I don't want to be out in the dark, in freezing rain, trying to get a generator started. The fridge should be OK for eight hours if the doors aren't opened and the freezer for sixteen hours, so both should be fine even if they didn't have power overnight. The 3000 watt 120 volt generator is the next choice (power for fridge, freezer and furnace plus an electric chainsaw, circular saw or reciprocating saw - one tool at a time) and the 5000 watt 120/240 volt gen if we have damage from the storm and I need to run multiple power tools at the same time (simultaneous power for everything previously listed and a 10 inch table saw).
We should plan on not having grid power for at least a week, possibly longer, based on previous outages from freezing rain and "a lot" of snow. We typically would have sun again after the storm passes - that's been four to six days where the storm has hit in Canada so we can plan based on that time frame. We'll be using the inverter gen for perhaps six to eight hours on each non-sunny day. That many hours is about a gallon of gas at the loads we'll have on it. There's 15-20 gallons of treated gasoline out in the lawn equipment shed so we're good for at least two weeks of non-sunny days. If things go as far sideways as they did in Texas in February of 2021, we might be getting gas from the tanks of our vehicles - yes, I can do that in spite of the anti-siphon bit in the filler neck. We "fill at half" on both vehicles so that's gas for at least another two weeks.
Thinking of Texas - will our local natural gas feeds also by affected by that level of cold for an extended period? If so, will there be enough pressure/flow to keep our 100,000BTU furnace supplied? If not, will there be enough pressure/flow so we can drop back to the 30,000BTU gas logs in the huge wood-rated masonry fireplace in the family room? That ton of brick and mortar radiates heat into the room for hours after the gas logs are turned off and the logs don't need AC power because the remote and the gas valve operate from AA or D cells and I have a stock of both. Then there is the 22,000BTU kerosene heater to fall back on and there are a couple weeks of kero in the shed. We heated with the gas logs plus the kero heater for two weeks when the then almost new, high-tech, high efficiency gas-fired furnace ate its controller board and the promised "three day" board turnaround took 14 days - thankfully parts and labor were under warranty. Not quite as cold that January as the current forecast (those lows were only in the teens) but we do have experience with alternate heating in cold weather and this time I could use the furnace blower occasionally to move warm air around and ensure the pipes in the basement don't freeze.
The gas logs have an input for LP so maybe use the tanks from the gas grill for as long as they last? My spreadsheet on propane tank size versus burner BTU versus hours says a full five gallon / 20lb tank is good for about 14 hours at 30,000BTU. A full tank plus maybe half a tank would be 21 hours. If we must drop back to that level of heating, we can close off most of the house and live in a much smaller space - probably spending a lot of time near the fireplace and having the gas logs on for one hour out of four or whatever is needed to have comfortable space and the longest possible life from the tanks of propane. I should check craigslist.org for any free tanks and see about getting them refilled - lots cheaper than buying a new tank.
That was a good thought but checking the manual for the gas logs lists one 100lb tank as the minimum supply for the gas logs. As cold as things will be, that should probably be two 100lb tanks feeding a tee to ensure there's enough vapor pressure to drive the gas logs to full output. Rare that I see tanks that big on Craig's List so I'll do a search as far back as it goes and see if there are any.
I found two tanks for free and they're just ten miles away. How long would that run the gas logs? That's 40 gallons at 91,500BTU/gallon or 3,700,000BTU. Divide that by the 30,000BTU the gas logs need and I get 123 hours. Divide that by the 16 hours/day we might be awake and I get 7.7 days. The current price of propane is the same as unleaded regular: $3.06/gallon. That makes 40 gallons $122.40 or $15.90/day or about $1/hour to stay warm. Expensive, but better than being cold if there is a problem with the natural gas supply - and propane stores almost forever if I don't need it for this event. The dual-stage regulator to get tank pressure down to 11" WC is about $45 and lowes.com says a store near me has them. That takes the cost to about $175 but the regulator is to be amortized over a period of years. If I can get these things before the weather goes to crap...
There is a "four man" tent which could be erected in the family room and we have four sleeping bags, so a warm place to sleep once the mass of the fireplace has been warmed but perhaps a bit chilly when you get out of the sleeping bag(s) the next morning - if we stay on the same sleep schedule and aren't keeping watch overnight. Keeping watch? Maybe not needed until that foot-plus of snow has partially melted and people can sneak around. However, it's always possible that a watch might be needed when power is off for multiple days even with the snow; I'm not looking forward to being armed and awake at 4AM.
As long as the natural gas lasts at even a low pressure/flow, we can use the burners on the cooktop - they're quite happy with a grill lighter instead of the electronic spark lighter. We could even use the Coleman camp stove oven on a burner to bake a cake, but we're more likely to be baking biscuits or cornbread in a cast iron skillet or a Dutch oven. Having the camp oven in place and heated for a baking session would warm the kitchen for a while. If we lose natural gas, we have Coleman fuel, unleaded gas and propane options for the Coleman stove. The propane option is best for cooking indoors (have several one pound cylinders plus the hose and regulator for a 20lb tank). Outdoor cooking would be on the grill, with the grill lid open to serve as a windbreak and the actual cooking done using the Coleman stove which would be sitting on the grill's cooking racks. I'd be close to the house's back door and partially shielded from wind by the house, so that's probably the least bad place for cooking outside during a winter storm. That would be using Coleman liquid fuel or unleaded gasoline because it's outside and the ventilation is excellent. Other indoor cooking could be on a Sterno stove - OK for heating water for tea, coffee or soup - or a small camping stove burning scrap wood in the other fireplace.
Extended periods at -5F might cause problems with the County Water System so I should put the WaterBOB in the tub in the basement bath and fill it to have 80 gallons of potable water and ensure all eight of the five gallon water totes are full - and bring two of those up to the main level to have water in the kitchen and bath as needed for cooking and hand washing if we lose County Water. 120 gallons / two people / two gallons / person / day comes out to 30 days so that should be enough. Maybe bring in the remaining food grade barrel that never saw service as a rain barrel? That could store another 55 gallons of potable water and we could use water from there for showers and not affect our drinking/cooking water supply. I should make a paper list of these things and mark off items as they are completed.
---
I have my written list and it's on the first page of a wire-bound notebook - plenty of space to add to my list and space to keep a diary/log/history of our experience with Winter Storm Amber. Having a weather warning 48 hours in advance makes this feel as serious as a hurricane, but I'm concerned that there will be people who ignore this warning with the same levels of stupidity and stubbornness as those who refuse to evacuate because of a hurricane until they're on the roof of their house and waiting for a boat.
If we don't have grid power, the heat pump that serves the upstairs bedrooms and bath won't be running. The gas-fired furnace for this level isn't big enough to heat that space which means the gas logs and kerosene heater certainly can't heat it, so I'll close off the doors leading to those stairs. Add a note in ALL CAPS:
DRAIN UPPER LEVEL PIPES AND PUT MINERAL OIL IN THE P-TRAPS.
That can be done when/if we lose power. I'll go ahead and take the bottles of mineral oil up there as a reminder.
Anything else?
Be sure all the flashlights, phones, tablets, laptops, powerbanks and spare laptop batteries are charged. Include the Chromebook in case we just want a quick check of email or weather - if any sites are available. If power is out over a large area, the U-verse phone/TV/internet service will also be out so the only internet access will be via our cell phones - if they have service. Either phone can do "hotspot" so we could use the phone for internet access and connect the Chromebook or a tablet via the phone as a low power internet access device with a much bigger screen.
I know exactly where the tire chains for the truck are stored but I'm not likely to be out in more than three inches of snow as the truck is two wheel drive and three inches of snow is about its comfortable limit - even if the ground clearance is eight inches.
If we lose grid power over a large area or it stays cold too long, will we also lose the County Sewage Treatment Plant? Will there be a "Don't flush" email/Amber Alert/whatever or will the working radio/TV stations (if any) be telling us "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." or will the message be "Use a trash bag"? We're good on that, as the commode chair (an unused leftover from my back surgery several years ago - the bathroom was just a few steps farther away and a much better choice) could be adapted to being placed over a five gallon bucket with a "Double Doodie" bag in it and we'd have a sturdy seat with arms instead of a toilet seat on a not-very-stable five gallon plastic bucket. I think the chair is the better choice for someone over 70.
---
* www.pleth.com/posts/200-301-404-other-numbers-http-error-codes
---
Chapter 2
Wednesday, 8:50PM
I hear a garage door opening. Camera shows my better half's vehicle. Wonder if she's heard...
"JACK! Did you hear the weather? They interrupted the World Series broadcast and the Braves were down two runs when they went back to the game!"
"Sarah, did you pay any attention to what that weather was?"
"They said something about four inches of ice and four feet of snow - but it's in Canada, for Pete's sake!"
"Canada now. Here in 48 hours with at least an inch of ice and more than a foot of snow."
"Oh! So that's why there were traffic jams at Wal-Mart, Costco and all the grocery stores! Do we need... Probably not, based on the inventory list I saw last week."
"You are correct. I did make a list of things to check or do before it gets here. See if I missed anything."
"You missing things when you're making a 'staying alive' list is highly unlikely but I'll check it so I'm aware of what's needed."
---
"Jack, I don't see anything about doing laundry."
"If we have power and County Water, we'll handle that as usual. If not, we'll be wearing our outer clothes longer and just doing 'spit baths' and changing underwear most of the time. At that point, plan on one shower a week, using two of the five gallon sun shower bags..."
"And washing clothes in a #2 washtub using that clothes dasher from lehmans.com?"
"Correct. If you don't want to wring clothes by hand, their top-of-the-line, hand-cranked, tub-mounted wringer would be over $300 with Next Day Air shipping."
"And it's coming from Ohio, they can't get it to a plane this late in the day and the planes may not be flying tomorrow evening. Can you call and ask?"
"Here's the catalog, open to that page, and here's the card. You call, so you can yell at them if they can't get it here in time - instead of yelling at me for being the messenger."
"As I did when I came in. Sorry, Jack. I do get a bit worked up about the World Series."
"That's why there's cup of chamomile and some shortbread cookies waiting for you. Go make the call."
"I love you too, you sneaky man!"
---
"They can have it at the airport at 9AM tomorrow. I also ordered their 'Make Your Own Laundry Soap Kit'."
"I had that kit marked because all we have is the 'high efficiency' detergent which might not work as well when doing hand laundry with much more water. What are the damages?"
"$270 for the wringer, $60 for the laundry soap kit, $120 for 'Special Handling' including the morning trip to the airport and Next Day Air service."
"Happy Birthday!"
"You goof; my birthday is in June!"
"When else do you get a $450 present?"
"OK, I get a second birthday present this year. I'm sure my hands will appreciate it when or if I'm washing and wringing towels, sheets and jeans. I noticed that they had gasoline powered washers..."
"Made in India and truck shipment only. That one you won't get in time."
"Maybe next year?"
"We can discuss that when you're using the handcrank to wring clothes."
"Sounds reasonable."
---
"A candle lantern hanging from the ceiling fan in the kitchen? Really, Jack, we have much better lighting than that."
"Sarah, after power is off three days, do you want anyone to know that we have even limited power available? Remember the Kahns wanting to know how big an extension cord they'd need to run their central air conditioning off our generator after that nasty thunderstorm in August? And how disappointed they were that the 1600 watt inverter generator only puts out 120 volts and not the 240 volts that central air needs? How would they respond to steady bright light in the kitchen?"
"Asking 'If it can't run the heat pump, can it run a little heater in every room?'"
"That's my guess. What about Virginia? Would she be asking again for me to 'share' the solar-charged lights with her? I emailed her the links to all the sites that might have useful tools after that thunderstorm-caused power failure and never got any response from her."
"You emailed a lot of people that week. Did anyone respond?"
"Bill Thompson, but then he's another old guy who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and still squeezes every penny hard enough to make Lincoln cry."
"Hey, that's my description of your frugal ways!"
"Both Bill and I both say 'cheap' in conversation between us. 'Frugal' is for more polite speech."
"We have been by the 'urban renewal' site that was your grandparents' neighborhood in that city and the corner their house was on is a block and a half from the tracks - in the direction of the city landfill, so I guess 'wrong side of the tracks' is correct."
"The house that backed up against the tracks was a shadetree mechanic's place. He did oxy-acetylene soldering/brazing on car radiators and he also built the first power lawnmower I ever saw - he cut a couple inches off the blades of a reel mower to make room for a pulley and a V-belt and mounted an electric motor above the blades to spin them. Just 'making do' with whatever was available."
"As the solar backup system started out. You're certain that the $3600 you spent on more solar panels and replacing the battery bank with those new - What did you call them? - batteries will be worth it?"
"Lithium Iron Phosphate; chemical formula is LiFePO4. Sometimes referred to as 'LFP'. Yes, both of those will prove their worth - the 800AH of batteries during the storm, as I'll run the inverter gen a few hours in the morning and in the evening to recharge them and also cool the fridge and freezer and raise the thermostat to warm the house while the gen is running. The added 2400 watts of solar panels will keep up with most of our power needs when we have sun again after the storm. When we have solar power back, we still won't be using much visible lighting - my 'cabin in the woods with a small fridge' sized system can't power everything here and it certainly can't power another house. Be aware that the low temperatures could affect the natural gas delivery and we might not be able to use the furnace and perhaps not the gas logs."
"You did have that in your notes, didn't you? I guess you've covered everything for us but there's not much you can do for some of the neighbors."
"I picked up a two inexpensive 'floating lanterns' when dorcy.com had their BOGO sale a while back. They'll run on four AA cells or MANY more hours on the more expensive six volt lantern battery. At about $6 each, those are hard to misplace because of their size and I can pass them out with the caution 'I don't know if you'll be able to get more batteries'. The updated forecast I saw on TV now has the freezing rain starting Friday before noon - instead of 8AM, so some people will be in the dark by sundown Friday and I doubt that many have flashlights or candles that will last more than a few hours...."
"And some people know you always have a flashlight at hand."
"Happens when you get old and need cataract surgery and then the flashlight-in-your-pocket habit carries over after surgery even when you can see better than you have in years. The Fenix E12 is still the best small flashlight I've ever used - one alkaline AA cell or a rechargeable NiMH AA cell good for 40 hours at the lowest intensity. Then there's the NiteCore TUBE rechargeable for dress wear."
"The Fenix has been through the wash twice?"
"At least twice. Still works every time unless the battery is completely dead. You pay a bit more for the machined aluminum housing, rubber O-rings and the gold plated contacts but it always works."
"I hear your mantra of 'always works'. One reason you're still driving that teenaged truck of yours?"
"Hasn't failed me yet. Summer. Winter. Doesn't matter. That reminds me - the truck probably needs new wiper blades and your vehicle should get them also. Add that to my list. I'll be out tomorrow, so make a list of anything you think you might want during our days of being 'snowbound'."
"You said four to six days without sun and below zero temps after the storm. Maybe a week or ten days before the roads are even partially melted?"
"Very probable. Let's see if I can bring up the two week forecast... Surprise! I got that in just under a minute! Best guess is ten days before it gets above freezing, but expect several days for appreciable clearing on the streets and roads. If there's enough traffic, there might be tire tracks beaten through the snow to the pavement. There might also be polished ice at every intersection. I know how well the truck can go and stop with chains on but I'm worried about the people who don't understand that spinning your tires when you try to start off from a stop also means you have near zero traction when you try sliding to a stop unless you have chains or studded tires which stop the spinning and the sliding."
"Chains? You and probably less than one per cent of the driving population in this state?"
"Correct. I plan to not have either vehicle out of the garage until the streets are mostly clear. I might think differently if my primary vehicle were an Abrams tank."
"You goof!"
---
Chapter 3
Thursday, 7:20AM
Knock! Knock!
That's the back door. What does Virginia want now?
"Yes, Virginia?"
"Jack, can I rent one of your upstairs bedrooms? My boss just texted me to expect power to go out in the first 24 hours of the storm and it may not come back for a week!"
"Only if you have a 20F rated sleeping bag and are willing to use a bucket toilet. No power means we can't heat the upper level. If the natural gas feed stays up, we can use the gas logs but they can only heat part of the main level. If the natural gas dies as it did in Texas in February of 2021, the gas logs won't work and all we'll have is a kerosene heater which puts out much less heat than the gas logs. We'll be living in just a couple of rooms."
"But... But... You have solar power!"
"We have a little bit of solar power. It gets us through the frequent short outages but we don't use the TV or a lot of other things during those outages so we can keep the fridge running. We'll have power for the fridge for a few hours, but freezing rain and days of snow mean there will be no sun to recharge the batteries so we get a few hours of power and then we'll be using the little generator for a couple of hours in the morning to warm the house and cool the fridge and freezer and again in the evening to warm the house and cool the fridge and freezer."
"Can you run my furnace?"
"No. I have a transfer switch so I can switch the fridge and furnace to an alternate power source but you don't have that and I doubt that you can get an electrician out to install one today."
"Do you have a flashlight I can borrow so I don't run my phone down finding my way through the house?"
"Yes, but I only have the one set of batteries for it. I don't know where you'll be able to get more batteries..."
"I'll stop by Wal-Mart on my way home from work."
"You do that."
"You were right, Jack. The first loan-me-a-flashlight-that-you-may-never-see-again has gone out. How much longer before someone gets the other one?"
"Maybe the end of the day today?"
"Aren't you an optimist to put it out that far?"
"We'll see how aware other people are. This one we rack up to Virginia's boss being aware. There is a small possibility that I'll get the light back..."
"You stenciled your initials on the lights with the same ugly green paint you used for the lawn equipment and tools you took to the cleanup at the high school last year?"
"Correct."
---
Thursday, 2:20PM
Ding! Dong!
"Who's at the front door?"
"Love, camera shows it's Howard Kahn."
"He wants power or a flashlight?"
"I doubt that he'd walk this far for a flashlight - he'd use his phone to order it and get Prime same day or next day delivery."
"Good analysis."
"Yes?"
"Mr. Wilson, how much power can I buy from you? I saw the solar panels out back..."
"Sorry, but we don't generate enough power to run everything in this house. Our solar system is sized to handle the frequent short outages we have - less than four hours."
"But..."
"No buts. Do you remember the office building on the left before you get to Costco?"
"Yes... They have solar panels on the roof."
"Best guess from a quick scan as I drove by, they have 100 large solar panels - probably 300 watts each or more - on the roof facing east and the same number facing west. If I had the money and the roof space, that many panels would mean I had power to spare. Having neither of those, I can't provide you with power. You need a generator, preferably an inverter generator for its very clean power and high efficiency. For fridge, freezer and a few lights, a 1600 watt inverter generator is under $1000 at Lowes, Northern Tool or Harbor Freight. If you want to run one or two portable electric heaters, you'll need a generator at least twice that size - and that's in continuous watts, not 'starting' or 'surge' watts - and expect it to cost twice as much. You'll need to provide fuel for the generator and your minimum stock of fuel should be 15 gallons. You won't be able to run your furnace unless you have a transfer switch added or you know enough about household wiring to make the furnace a plug-in appliance instead of a hard-wired appliance. Or you can hire an electrician. Shouldn't be more than a few thousand dollars - but you probably can't get the work done before the storm hits. If you don't want to buy a generator, go check the rental places right now - as in within the hour - tomorrow may be too late. If you get a generator, be sure you get the proper extension cords - they will be labeled '12/3' and they're not cheap."
"Do you have all that on paper?"
"No, but I could text you or email it."
"Here's my card. Email on the front; personal cell number on the back. And thank you for sharing your knowledge with someone who's been a pain in the butt about the things you've set up to test alternate power and the like. My ten-year-old son read one of your books and told me that you only write about things you've actually tested. He now knows more about off-the-grid power, water, heat and cooking than I ever wanted to know until today. I bought him the rest of your books - there are probably more things that will be useful if we lose power and then natural gas as they did in Texas."
"Always glad to have more readers. Do you have a way to charge the device he uses for reading ebooks?"
"I need ways to charge that and the phones and my laptop... An inverter generator for clean power that those devices will be happy with?"
"Correct."
"When I get your list, we'll spend a little time shopping online and then buy locally so we can have it in hand.
"Good choice."
"It feels good to be doing something before everything falls apart. Is that why you never seem to be bothered by the weather or empty shelves at the grocery or empty gas stations?"
"We had to adapt to a monthly instead of a weekly paycheck a long time ago so we still think in terms of 'eating until the next paycheck' and stock food, soap, paper goods and so forth for more than just the next month. We fill the gas tanks at the half mark so we're not running close to empty at the end of the month. After a while, it just becomes habit."
"Very good habit. If you have a month of stuff on hand, being snowbound for ten days is no longer scary - other than having the kids climbing the walls."
"That last one I can't help you with unless you can get the kids interested in board games that need no power..."
"Monopoly?"
"More like Scrabble, Pictionary, Taboo and similar thinking games for a ten-year-old. Any preschoolers would probably prefer HiHo! Cherry-O because they get to yell."
"Can you add those to that list you'll text?"
"Sure."
"Thank you. How loud are those generators?"
"The smaller ones aren't that loud - more like conversation level. The noise level goes up with the power level. There are some generic commercial 'noise covers' - if you can find one that will work for your generator and get it shipped before the storm - but you're more likely to have one that works well if it's made for your specific generator - sound insulation, cooling fan, insulation-lined intake and exhaust vents..."
"Do you do that kind of work?"
"Not on short notice. The enclosure needs to fit well but have good sound insulation, provide adequate clearance for cooling air flow and the hot exhaust, have provisions for the proper size fan and for wiring coming into the enclosure - all of that depends on the size and configuration of the generator - and the cover should be light enough for one person to lift it in place over the gen."
"OK, lots more thought needed than just covering it with a couple of large moving boxes."
"Correct."
"Your 'Correct' makes me feel like I'm back in first grade. Maybe that's appropriate when I'm a beginner at living without the current century's conveniences."
"Welcome to the world of those who are aware of how fragile our infrastructure actually is."
"You probably have tire chains but you won't need to be out on the snowy roads, will you?"
"Only if there's an emergency that needs our attention."
"Because you've already thought of all the things you might need and either have them or have a list you'll take care of today?"
"Both. If I must be out in a vehicle, I need new wiper blades."
"Something I would never have thought of. I think I owe you for my education."
"You bought my books. Some of the info is in them. Some is specific to your situation and for that you need to ask questions."
"Yes, Professor. Now I need to get with Devon and discuss the list you're sending me."
"Devon?"
"My ten-year-old who currently knows more about most of these things than I do."
"Smart kid. Put him to work finding answers for you."
"Probably nothing he'd like better. I should go - as Devon said, I really did need a jacket to walk across the road."
"Definitely a smart kid that you need to put to work."
"I'm beginning to understand just how smart."
---
"Kahn's had his moment of revelation?"
"You know he has when our neighborhood know-it-all admits his ten-year-old son knows more about doing things without grid power than he does."
"He's off to buy a generator?"
"He's waiting for me to text my list of gen specs and ideas and the list of non-powered kids' games. Then he and Devon - the ten-year-old - will do some comparison shopping online and then go buy or rent a generator."
"How much gas did you tell him?"
"Minimum of 15 gallons."
"If they're frugal and only run the gen as needed, they might get a week out of that. Not so much if they just let it run all the time."
"True. I'll plan to run the small inverter gen when his probably much larger gen is running so his noise attracts more attention."
"Nothing like free and effective OpSec. You will have the cameras up and monitored?"
"Always when a gen is running. Probably when we have sun again. I'll have to see what the battery state of charge is to determine how many cameras we can have running at other times. We'll need the router and its 16 watts of continuous power usage plus three to five watts per camera. I'll check the battery status with the four lowest power cameras and see if that's enough coverage. The laptop that monitors the cameras and provides the motion alerts needs 15 watts so we're looking at 35 to 40 watts for the cameras and the monitoring."
"Small potatoes for watts when you're on the grid but everything needs to be managed when you're on solar power and the forecast is four to six days of little or no sun."
"Which is exactly where we'll be 12 hours or less after the freezing rain starts."
"Not looking forward to a cold house if the below zero weather affects the natural gas supply."
"Me either, but you have long underwear, wool sweaters and lined flannel shirts so you have warm indoor wear this season."
"And you have your down vest and those incredibly thick sweat pants."
"And we both have good wool socks. We could 'camp out' in a tent in the family room - but I would miss the Sleep Number bed."
"We can use electric blankets on the backup power?"
"If you don't mind the house being cold in the morning, we could set the furnace back to 55 at 11PM and back up to 65 or whatever at 6AM and divert that power for the electric blanket to sleep warm."
"That sounds like a good solution. But now you'll say that I can't complain about the toilet seat being cold in the wee hours of the morning."
"Was that a pun?"
"Not intentionally."
---
Chapter 4
Thursday 5:10PM
Knock! Knock!
"Camera shows it's Kahn, love. Care to bet he has a question about how to A) gas the generator, B) start the generator, C) connect it to the furnace or D) all those."
"I'll say D, Jack."
"Yes?"
"Jack, my reading of the generator's manual doesn't agree with Devon's. Can you set us straight?"
"Let me get my hat, coat and gloves..."
"But it's not that cold in the garage..."
"Unless you're planning suicide, you NEVER run a generator in an attached garage."
"That's what Devon said but..."
"That caution is usually near the top of the instructions."
"But it's such a small engine..."
"And you plan to let it run for hours."
"Well, yes. Even with electric start, I'd have to be out in the cold to start it."
"I'm not sure you should be trusted with the generator. Where's Devon?"
"I'm over here, Mr. Wilson."
"Some questions for you, Devon. First, how far from the house should the generator be?"
"Twenty five feet."
"Can you have a door or window open on that side of the house?"
"No sir."
"How do you get the extension cord inside the house?"
"There's some pieces of foam to block the opening of the window - like a window air conditioner."
"Now show me where the generator should be."
"About here. Two people can move the picnic table so it keeps the rain and snow off the generator."
"Very good, Devon. How soon can you refill the gas tank when the generator runs out of gas?"
"Wait at least five minutes."
"How will you keep the extension cord out of the snow?"
"Put the lawn chairs here, here and here to support the cord and use a zip tie to the generator handle and to the burglar bars on the window so it can't get pulled out."
"Very good. What's the rating of the extension cord?"
"This one is 12/3 and it's 25 feet long. There's a 12/3 splitter cord with three outlets to have places to plug in the cords for the fridge, freezer, two heaters and some lights."
"Excellent. Has either of you ever used a gas can like this?"
"Only when Dad tried to fill them at the gas station. It took forever because it sprays gas back at you if you try to do it like putting gas in the car."
"That wonderful 'feature' is the result of some of the safety 'improvements' designed by people who've never used a gas can. First we remove the 'filter' which blocks the flow of gasoline into the can. Then we replace the spout with one which does not require three hands to use it - you won't easily position 40lbs of gasoline plus can with one hand, so you need two hands for that and a third hand for the spout. That's resolved with this spout and I'll use my Leatherman tool to make a hole here for the vent plug. Open that vent when you fill the can or pour gas from it. This spout can be bent to make it easier to get the spout in the generator's gas tank before the gas starts coming out. Devon, how much gas does this tank hold?"
"Six gallons."
"So you should be able to pour the entire five gallon can into the tank?"
"Yes sir."
"Should you check the tank to see if there is any gas in it before you start pouring?"
"Why?"
"Did they start it for you before you brought it home?"
"And the guy showed how to add and check the oil before he started it and plugged in a circular saw to show that it could handle that load."
"So there is some gas in the tank?"
"Which means I should look to see how much. Can I trust the gas gauge?"
"That's something you will learn over time. Most of the 'in the cap' gauges are not extremely accurate."
"So I watch for reflections in the tank to know when it's close to full?"
"Correct. I don't think you can easily handle the weight of the full gas can, so I'll pour most of it into the generator's tank and then you can tell me about how full it is."
---
"Jack, you never turned the can upright."
"Howard, it's much easier to control the flow of gasoline if you do this slowly and gently. Spilling gas on the generator makes it a fire hazard when you start it and any gas that runs off the generator is an excellent grass killer."
"I don't want either of those!"
"Both of you look in the tank and tell me how full you think it is."
"Jack, I have no idea."
"Almost full, Mr. Wilson. The reflection of the filler neck is very close to it."
"Very good, Devon. Would you like to start it?"
"I can?"
"I'm sure you're able to. I'm just giving you permission."
"Yes sir. Fuel valve on over here. Choke on here. Turn the key to start..."
Whirrr!
Chug! Chug!
"Now I turn the choke to Off?"
"Correct."
Roar!
"Now go try the heaters and the lights."
"Yes sir!"
"I didn't know he could do that!"
"I think I mentioned earlier that he was a smart kid. He read the manual and absorbed all that he read. He just needed permission to use what he had learned."
"I think he had a good teacher. Maybe something he read?"
"You should ask him."
"I'll do that."
---
Chapter 5
Thursday 5:50PM
Knock! Knock!
"Camera shows it's Devon, Kahn's son."
"Probably with a good question?"
"Based on his knowledge from reading the generator manual cover-to-cover, probably."
"Yes, Devon?"
"Mr. Wilson, I found a video on YouTube about connecting a furnace to a generator. It's on my tablet. Dad wouldn't let me take the cover off the furnace to look at the wiring but our furnace looks a lot like this one. Would this work for us?"
"Good research, Devon. Let me get some tools and my coat and we can see whether you can run the furnace from the generator."
"Thank you!"
"You getting your coat probably means he had a good question."
"And he had done some good online research. I think he's a keeper."
"Another kid like you were? Smarter and better informed on many topics than his parents or teachers."
"Possibly why I like him."
"I see you have your electrician's toolbox and a metal outlet box and cover. About an hour to make their furnace into a plug-in appliance?"
"About that, including some time on safety - such as 'Turn off the breaker before doing any work' - and on how to use a digital multi-meter."
"And your charges for this?"
"Probably have Devon learn to use the hydraulic splitter and split some wood. Part of that wood will be his 'pay' for doing the splitting and I know their fireplace is wood-rated - all of the fireplaces in this group of houses are. When Tim Brashear cleaned our chimneys, he mentioned that he had cleaned the Kahns' chimney the previous week so it's OK for having a wood fire in the fireplace."
"You'll teach Devon to build the 'slot fire' that heats so well and burns for a couple of hours with no attention?"
"Yes. If we lose natural gas, they will be able to heat one room that's big enough for everyone to sleep in."
"And his efforts will be appreciated when no one else knows how to build a fire."
"If the temperatures are below zero and we lose natural gas, anyone who can build a good fire will suddenly be recognized as important."
---
"Let's go, Devon."
"Yes sir."
"Jack, you really think this will work?"
"Howard, I think Devon did good research so we'll open the furnace cover and see if your furnace is wired the same as the one in the video. If it is, Devon's seen how to make the changes and I'll be here to provide tools and any needed direction."
"Well, I guess you do know something about electricity since you have some solar power. Go ahead."
"Devon, what's the first thing we do?"
"Turn off the breaker that powers the furnace so it's safe to open it."
"Are the breakers marked on the panel?"
"Some of them. I see dishwasher, stove, water heater... This one is furnace!"
"OK, turn that one off."
Click!
"Why's it dark down here?"
"Devon, it seems someone was lazy and tapped the power feed for the furnace to install the light here in the basement hallway. That light should have been powered by the feed for the lights in the bathroom across the hall. That way you would still have light for working on the furnace when power to the furnace was off. There are many reasons to have a battery-powered head light such as the one I have on."
"That's my fault, Jack. I asked my brother-in-law if he could add a light here in the hallway and he said 'No problem. It'll cost about $50.' so I let him do it. He's not a great electrician, is he?"
"I started this with 'lazy' so I certainly can't say 'great'. Let me move these acoustic tiles and see if... There's a junction box up here with wires running toward the bathroom and the breaker panel. That's where this light should have been connected. First let's check the furnace and then we can fix the light. Devon, I need the 3/8" socket."
"Right here. You put that on a drill?"
"It's an impact driver and I can set the clutch for the proper torque. It's much faster in removing and installing eight screws than a hand ratchet."
Zip! Zip!
"Wow! So that's why the furnace guys carry a drill... impact driver on their belt."
"Those guys get very busy certain times of the year and the faster they can do the work for one person, the more people they can take care of in a day. And the cover's off. Is it safe to touch the wiring?"
"If we know the power is off."
"It only takes a few seconds to verify that. I set the meter to the 200 Volt AC range and check between the hot wire - that's the black wire in the US and it's also called the 'line' side - and the neutral wire - that's the white wire in the US. Does the meter show anything?"
"No sir."
"Then the power is off and we can work on the wiring. How did the guy in the video change the permanent wiring to plug-in?"
"The wire from the breaker panel goes to an outlet box - he used a metal one on the outside of the furnace - and the wire from the furnace goes a three prong plug. You plug it in normally to use regular power and you plug it into the extension cord from the generator to use power from the generator."
"Very good. Did he mark the plug and outlet in a special way?"
"He painted both of them red."
"Why did he do that?"
"So you would know that they went together and were something special?"
"Very good. Did he describe how to wire the new outlet and plug?"
"Bare or green wire to ground. And then he said 'Black to brass and white to bright' which I didn't understand."
"Look at the sides of this outlet."
"The screws are yellow on one side and silver on the other."
"You think maybe the 'yellow' might be brass..."
"And the silver is the 'bright'!"
"Excellent. How do you connect the wire to the outlet?"
"He said you could strip the wires and push them in the holes on the back or strip a little more so they can be wrapped around the screws. Why are there two ways?"
"The 'strip and push' is much faster and is adequate if all you're plugging in is a fan or a lamp. However, for the outlet to safely provide its rated power, you need more connection area between the wire and..."
"The screws! If you wrap the wire around the screws, it's connected to the screws on one side and the metal strip on the other."
"That's my smart kid! That's exactly why we'll do the wiring that way. This furnace uses a heated electric igniter to light the gas burners and that igniter draws almost 500 watts so somewhat more than a lamp. The furnace blower also draws about 500 watts so together that's close to 1000 watts."
"Like an iron or a toaster?"
"Correct. I think you've been doing some research."
"The manual for the generator has a list of how much power different things need. We can run a lot of the LED lights for the power just one 100 watt inc... inc-an..."
"Incandescent?"
"That's the word! Anyway, we need to be sure all the lights we want to use are LEDs so we get more hours of power from each gallon of gas."
"You are exactly right. Does this look like what the video guy did with the wires on the outlet?"
"Kinda - but this is neater."
"I've done a lot of this. Ready to tighten the screws?"
"I can?"
"I think you're able to. I will follow up to ensure they're tight enough."
"Like this?"
"Looks good. Let me check how snug... You did good, Devon. Ready to try the plug?"
"That looks harder because the wire is all little wires."
"This is stranded wire, made of many smaller wires so it will be flexible - the same type wiring that's used in the cord of a TV or a fridge so it's easy to put it in place. The wire from the breaker panel is solid wire because it will be put in place during installation and then most of the time never moved so it only needs to be flexible enough to be installed. I'll bring the wire from the furnace through the plug's cover and then strip those conductors and then twist the strands of each wire together with my fingers so I have 'one piece' to wrap around the screw on the plug - like this, again doing 'black to brass and white to bright'. Then I hold that wire in place while I tighten the screw."
"You did that because my hand isn't big enough?"
"Correct. You did see how it was done and you will be able to do that in a year or two. Should I plug it in or..."
"Turn the breaker on and check that the outlet is wired right before you plug it in?"
"Correct. This is the tool to check the outlet so I'll plug it into the outlet and you go turn on the breaker."
"Yes sir."
"What do the lights on the outlet checker tell you?"
"These two lit and this one dark is 'Wiring correct'. So now the furnace can be plugged in?"
"Go ahead."
"Yes sir! But it's not doing anything."
"Actually it is, just not anything you can hear. Look through this inspection port."
"Something's glowing red?"
"Remember I said there was an electric igniter?"
"It has to get hot enough to light the gas and then the air has to get warm enough before the fan comes on?"
"That's exactly how it works. Watch the lights on the controller board. This one is 'Igniter'..."
"That's lit. The next one is 'Gas valve' and then the next one is 'Blower'."
"Correct - the lights are in the sequence they follow on startup. There's also a sensor that can tell how hot the igniter is and when..."
Click! Whoosh!
"When it's hot enough, the gas is turned on - that light is lit now - and when the air is warm enough the fan is turned on. There's also a flame sensor that knows whether or not the gas did light. If it doesn't light in a second or so, the gas valve is turned off and the controller waits a couple of minutes and tries again. If it doesn't light the second time, there will be an error number displayed on the controller board."
"The numbers up in the top corner?"
"Correct. If that display ever stops with '88' then there's a problem with the controller board and it needs to be repaired or replaced. When the furnace shuts off, we can turn off its breaker and the breaker for the bathroom so we can fix the light in the hall."
"I can help?"
"I think my apprentice electrician might be useful, if only as a 'gofer'."
"Gopher? I'm not a little animal."
"Devon, the word is spelled g-o-f-e-r. You will go for a screwdriver or go for pliers or go for a glass of water so you will be my 'gofer'."
"You're fun!"
"Shouldn't learning things be fun?"
"Yeah."
---
"What next, Jack? You'll be teaching him Swahili?"
"No, Howard, but I think learning how to build a good wood fire might be very useful if the below zero temperatures affect the natural gas supply as they did in Texas in February of 2021."
"Build a fire? But he's only ten."
"Younger kids learned fire safety and how to build a decent fire in the scouting programs. Devon is intelligent and responsible so I'd say now is an excellent time for him to learn..."
"But we have almost no split wood."
"I saw enough wood to build my favorite fire so we can do that. When you ask what today's work will cost, I'll suggest that Devon split some wood for me. Part of his 'pay' will be wood for heating your house if needed."
"I think I'm getting into a debt I can't repay."
"No, you can't repay it - but you can pay it forward. Do something that helps someone else."
"You charge high fees."
"You're not the first to say that."
---
The end?
