Preparing for next freeze (Houston, Tomball: 2013, home, softener)

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

A 3500w generator like ours starts around $300. If we ever decide to upgrade it would NOT be to a bigger generator, but instead to a ~3500w inverter generator. These are quieter than regular generators, use less fuel, and put out "clean" power that has a lower chance of damaging electronics (although the "dirty" power from our old-fashioned generator didn't seem to hurt anything).

This experience provided a good test of what a 3500w generator could run. In our case, it included the lights (mostly LED), two fridges, plus any two of the following at the same time:
-Furnace (gas)
-Coffee pot
-Toaster oven
-Microwave

Quieter is good. During Ike I went half mad listening to the neighbors run their loud generators 24/7 for three weeks. I often fantasized how to best destroy it in the middle of the night. I don't want to be "that guy".



Given the furnace is running almost continuously in such a freeze, I guess it's any one of the remaining three items. Which isn't that hard since they are manually operated devices.

[gwarnecke]

Yeah, I felt a little bad about the noise. Thankfully most of our immediate neighbors were either running their own generators or had an extension cord plugged into our house so they could charge phones and run a couple of lights.

I also shut the generator down overnight and restarted it early each morning.

[niwmik]

If you turn off the water at main valve or at the meter and then drain the faucets, will there be any adverse effects on you house? Like for example, will anything happen to the water heater?

[kreeyax]

Originally Posted by niwmik

If you turn off the water at main valve or at the meter and then drain the faucets, will there be any adverse effects on you house? Like for example, will anything happen to the water heater?

You want to turn your water heater off (or down to pilot/vacation mode) any time you lose water to your house. Otherwise it boils and can damage your hot water heater. I lost a water heater prematurely a few years back because of it.

[resonator]

This thread has me wondering if a simple hook up to my gas furnace would work. It's in the attic and plugs into a regular 120VAC receptacle to run its fan/igniter.

My question is do I need to power my smart thermostat with anything additional or does it run off the furnace. (it has no battery)


A little research tells me that I do need to bond the ground and neutral if using an inverter generator since the furnace needs a real ground for the igniter system.

[mojo101]

Originally Posted by rjj42

That's a really good point.
Did Centerpoint ever shut off gas to homes this time around or in past outages.

I am just outside Houston,gas was never shut off.
but how do you heat the water pipes in the attic,there are many pipes there some metal some pcb>,the metal one broke.
also we have water heater up there and the furnace as well,since gas is not shut off,it is keeping the water in the water heater hot and should generate heat in the attic,but pipes still burst

[mojo101]

YEARS ago Center Point Energy paired up with a local company to offer installing generator with a small discount.
It offers 2 sizes.
I took up the offer and a guy came and like the previous poster said,it would need a concrete slab to sit on and other stuff as well,the cost if I remember comes to under $10k,thats like ten years ago.for a small generatorMay be it will offer again.
also thru Homeserve there is insurance to cover water heater and pipes.

[mojo101]

you can use a plyer to turn off the water valve ,my neighbor did that for me,there are two,one for each house

[mojo101]

I used my Sony Walkman to listen to weather ,it is also a good idea to have a radio ,flashlight and an old fashion landline phone which requires no electricity.
candles,tapered ones cost 77 cents each,those fancy ones in a jar ,you could have problem when the wick falls off or burnt off.
Canned carnation milk,dry powder milk,SPAM,tuna.
ALSO get some hardboiled eggs while you still have water and gas

[Sarahsez]

Originally Posted by mojo101

I used my Sony Walkman to listen to weather ,it is also a good idea to have a radio ,flashlight and an old fashion landline phone which requires no electricity.
candles,tapered ones cost 77 cents each,those fancy ones in a jar ,you could have problem when the wick falls off or burnt off.
Canned carnation milk,dry powder milk,SPAM,tuna.
ALSO get some hardboiled eggs while you still have water and gas

I would add peanut butter and crackers. Many people will have some way to boil water such as gas stove, sterno, grill, camp stove, fireplace, etc. I would keep hot tea, hot chocolate, apple cider mix, ramen noodles and easy to fix stuff like that. It will help warm you up. I've made coffee before with hot water and a paper towel, but that may not be for everyone. You could keep instant coffee and creamer if you drink them. Make sure you have some disposable plates and cups because you may not have water for washing dishes.

If you have a way to warm up water, I was thinking a couple of the hot water bottles that you fill with heated, but non boiling water for sore muscles would really come in handy. It could warm you up in some places better than a blanket. Also hand and feet warmers... especially for those people who don't have access to a generator for electricity.