I’m writing this on my iPad using my iPhone as a personal hotspot in “Low Data Mode.” TOP Rural World Headquarters and Canine Adjutant are in the middle of what will be, by the time it’s over, the second-longest power outage we’ve experienced since we lived here—no water, no heat, no computer, no nuthin’! It is however MUCH better than the last long outage, because that time it was 3 degrees out, with the canonical accompaniment, howling wind. And the nights were much longer on that occasion than they are today on the eve of May Day. I won’t have to board Lt. Butters and retreat to a local hotel this time like I did then. However, until they get this sorted, TOP will be limping along like it took a torpedo amidships. I will be surviving on untoasted peanut-butter sandwiches, and I am sure you feel very sorry for me.
On the good side, the thunderstorm that caused this was magnificent and lovely, unfolding just as a fine classic thunderstorm ought. I was taking tremendous satisfaction from the drama until everything clicked off and went dark and my crest fell.
I definitely need backup power for my CPAP. That is both a First-World and also a cranky old porky dude problem. NYSEG (pronounced “nice egg”—New York State Energy & Gas, I think?) is promising restoration at 3:00 p.m. today, at which time HQ will resume normal operations.
Also, I have a very nice illustration for this post, on the theme of dogs, but I can’t work out how to post it with present technology. I’ll add it later.
“Butters and I shall return!” —Douglas MacArthur, with modification by the author
“It’s always something” —Emily Litella
Mike
On heat when the power is out.
Get a Propane wall heater. The kind that is ventless and requires no electricity to work.
Am in North Dakota & we have two in our 100 year old farmhouse. One in the basement and one on the main floor. Both 30,000 BTU heaters. Basement heater is generally left on low. Main floor has never been set higher than #3 of 5 settings and that only a couple times - when outside temperatures were colder than 40 below and wind was blowing hard.
A Propane tank outside & the heaters inside. No electricity involved.
No need to publish this, just information that might help you stay warm next winter.
For lighting, a good rechargable heavy duty flashlight works well. Or the solar charging small lights. Better yet, one solar cell outside hooked to 2-4 car batteries with a power inverter. Will power some lights and even the computer for some time. Not too expensive and easy to install or have installed.
You have power outages. Might as well plan for safety.
Posted by: Daniel | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 08:15 AM
Mike --
I just recently went through a decision-making process on back-up power for our cunning-cottage in the rolling hills of VA's horsey country. There are *many* degrees of freedom in your choices and -- equally importantly -- operational attributes for the system you get "in use". Much of the stuff on the internet related to this subject is either thinly veiled marketing pitches or survivalist theology, all provided by the smiling faces of "influencers".
Drop me a line if you are interested "how to think about the problem" . . . as opposed to "do this; buy that".
-- gary ray
Posted by: gary bliss | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 08:28 AM
Depending on anticipated length of your power outage, a good solution for power backup may be one of the many "solar generators" that are now available.
I have a variety of capacities from two manufacturers; Anker and Ecoflow. Both seem to be of very high quality and work well for my offgrid adventures. They also work well for our local (and frequent) power outages.
Some of their models also work really well as substitute UPSs having the ability to keep plugged into your regular power outlets with your device being powered from the "generator". They switch to battery if you lose utility power.
The main disadvantage is that they won't last for the entire duration of longer power outages as an actual generator might, given enough fuel.
Posted by: Nikhil Ramkarran | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 08:45 AM
For perspective, I suggest you have a look at the photos of Mitch Dobrowner. You may feel that you've dodged a bullet after seeing these. http://mitchdobrowner.com/lightning-strikes
Posted by: Paul Judice | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 08:56 AM
Get a small quiet inverter generator of at least 1800 watts and a quick charging solar generator (really a battery pack) of at least 1000 watt hours. You can run your fridge and CPAP all night on the battery pack. During the day you can recharge the pack and run necessities on a gallon or two of gas per day until bedtime . Both are portable and easy to store when not in use. No electrician required, just some extension cords. The battery pack can also be used as a UPS for your computer for short outages. This combo got me through several days after Helene.
Posted by: JimF | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 09:07 AM
Now that you mention, on Monday we had our first country-wide blackout in Spain, which in some places took 24 h to be solved. It was a huge surprise for us and now there are plenty of speculations about the possible causes, and the measures we should implement to ensure it won't ever happen again.
Hopefully your blackout was not too long and you are now back to normality.
Posted by: Cateto/Jose | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 09:12 AM
Wonder if you could use battery backup power with the CPAP… maybe 12volt deep cell with a converter? ResMed makes a battery-powered version for travel, but it’s expensive, especially when one’s insurance might not pay for a second one. Thought you said one time you had a whole house power generator?
Posted by: Bob G. | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 10:18 AM
I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. ~Gilda Radner, "The Marriage," It's Always Something, 1989
Posted by: Jim Arthur | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 11:18 AM
Hope you are back to normal soon. – Like now!
Posted by: Peter Wright | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 12:14 PM
I assume you know that with medical equipment at home, you can get on a priority list at the electric company for cases like this.
Posted by: John | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 02:21 PM
Out here on the farm we experience occasional outages, usually a few hours or so but they can be longer.
Last month we were out for 30 hours and it was the worst outage we have had in our 30 years of bliss in the scenic Loess hills of western Iowa.
Weather is getting sketchier out here and it has me looking into back up power.
We are all electric so a whole house generator from Generac would require a propane tank, concrete slab and a stiff install bill from our electrician. No way am I throwing five figures for a setup this elaborate.
The next step down would be a portable gas generator with an interface to the breaker box or a through the wall hook up to a dedicated outlet. It's a much less expensive solution but an install that would power the whole house is still going to eat at least three grand. Still too much for captain cheap.
What I am looking into is a portable battery back up power station.
This seems like a reasonable compromise. They are rated by their watt hour capacity and mid level systems rate at about 1025 watt hours.
Such a machine should run a computer, router and a CPAP through a outage lasting a few days.
It looks like units from EcoFlow, Bluetti and
Anker seem to get the best reviews on the net.
They all use the same lithium batteries and all appear to be made in China. Prices look to range from $450 to $700.
An hour or so on YouTube and you will know more than you want about these devices.
I think I'll pull the trigger on one of these pretty soon. The nice bonus on these devices is that you toss one in the back of the car and power up a couple of led photo lights if you are so inclined.
Posted by: Mike Plews | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 02:53 PM
Mike,
Sorry to hear this. I seem to remember your home had a generator when you bought it, no?
[Yes, and good memory. It died during a long power problem at Christmas 2022, I believe—many hours of successive brownouts. The restorers of my house bought used equipment in some cases, because the electrician told me that the motherboard in the auxiliary power system was more than 25 years old. It couldn't handle the brownouts, and blew up the generator, which was totaled. Fortunately, right around that time, they were replacing the wiring poles (formerly known as "telephone poles") and the power lines from town to here, and we've had relatively few blackouts since then. --Mike]
Posted by: dan meyers | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 02:59 PM
I hope things are back up and running by the time you read this. We have ways of working around electric power outages here but it's still no fun.
Posted by: Doug Anderson | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 05:20 PM
Mike
I have this battery for my CPAP - it last me two days (16 hours). YMMV of course depending on settings.
The key thing is to make sure that you have a CPAP machine that runs, or can run, on DC power. (I know nothing about electricity but, for whatever reason, if you plug in a CPAP machine running on AC, you will get less than 1/2 the run time versus DC on the same battery.). The second key thing is to make sure you have a DC cord for your CPAP.
I just mention this because when I started researching this years ago, several sources urged me to spend hundreds of dollars on a battery and that's not necessary.
Posted by: T. Edwards | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 06:22 PM
Mike, powering a CPAP is not a First World problem, unless staying alive is an issue only in the USA. I've used a CPAP since 1999, and will not travel without it.
For under $500, you can get either a gasoline powered inverter generator, or a storage battery inverter generator. The latter has the advantage of avoiding messing with gas, and CO poisoning. But it's likely heavy.
I have a small APC UPS under the bed, to carry the CPAP until the generator kicks in. (Yes, automatic start and transfer ... after years of the rigmarole of a non-automatic, and flipping switches on a transfer panel.)
Consider using your billiard building in cold weather. From what you've described, it may be better insulated than your house.
Posted by: MikeR | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 08:58 PM
I have a generator that can power the essential home must haves. They are very cheap insurance when compared to frozen water pipes etc.
Posted by: Eric Rose | Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at 10:52 PM
TOP HQ may be limping, but it's pretty resourceful, apparently. Good luck with the power, Mike. My sympathies on being toastless, especially. After a recent relocation I thought I could live without a toaster. Hah! After my third or fourth charred (and very uneconomical) attempt at oven toast, I not only gave in, I splurged--on a fancy little infrared toaster-oven. It makes wonderful toast, and does other tricks, too.
Posted by: robert e | Thursday, 01 May 2025 at 01:10 AM
Sorry to hear about that! If you can afford it, get a small dual fuel inverter generator that you can use for small things. Something like this one which you can use with propane canisters so you don't have to worry about fuel going bad or having to clean the generator in between uses:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J5HD8L9/?coliid=I3J9MU0DPCIHWW
Alternatively a solar powered generator (you'd have to calculate how big you need it to be), e.g.:
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Portable-Generator-Station-Outdoor/dp/B09FF46FQ9
and a solar panel:
https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Portable-Waterproof-Foldable-Charger/dp/B0CNPHD4VY
Posted by: Dori | Thursday, 01 May 2025 at 09:55 AM
You wrote, "'It’s always something' —Emily Litella"
Gilder Radner was hilarious, but actually it's Roseanne Roseannadanna, not Emily Litella.
Posted by: Jeff | Sunday, 04 May 2025 at 11:33 AM
Correction to previous post:
It's Gilda Radner, not "Gilder." With the accent of a New Yorker, the two spellings could sound the same. Sorry about that, it's always something. (Once had the pleasure of saying hi to her with a chance encounter in Westwood, Los Angeles.)
Posted by: Jeff | Sunday, 04 May 2025 at 05:09 PM