The Emergency
Power outages are caused by several things—overloaded circuits, dig-ins of underground electric tables, equipment failures, repairing, rebuilding, or maintaining that equipment, or the weather (lighting, wind, pieces of trees falling on the wires). To be safe, you should plan on the power being out for at least 72 hours. This page will give you some tips on how to do just that.
To get you started, you’ll need a small emergency kit you can count on no matter what happens. This would include flashlights and batteries, candles and matches, a manual can opener, a battery powered radio, and a windup or battery clock.
In Case of an Emergency…
First off, stay warm. Bundle up in hats, gloves, and plenty of layers. Second, use hot water sparingly and try to use it only in locations closest to the water heater. This is because as you use the hot water, it is replaced with cool water and if you’re using it farther from the heater, it’s also losing its heat as it travels. Not only does cold water replace the hot water, it also cools down the water that’s already in the pipes. Third, leave the windows and doors closed to keep cool air out. However, if you’ve decided to use the fireplace, you’ll need to let air in from time to time as the flames will use oxygen to keep them going, leaving nothing for you to breathe. Keep the freezer and fridge doors closed as much as possible, ensuring the food will stay cooler for longer. Also, it’s wise to figure out how your garage can open without using electricity in case you have to leave or the power is out when you have to go to work. Sometimes neighbors must help each other out to get through a power outage. Be caring, helpful, and considerate of others during these difficult times. This is especially true if you have power and others in the neighborhood don’t.
Once The Power Goes Out…
The first thing you should do in this case is shut off the main breaker in your house. That way when the power turns back on, the several power spikes that may happen won’t damage the sensitive equipment. Some electric companies supply technology to help with this. However, not all of it may work.
Bear in mind that it takes more power to initially start up a motor than to keep it running in general. This is because of something called resting inertia. The more of it there is, the more power you’ll need to overcome it.
Why Does The Power Go Out?
Obviously, sometimes the weather will put out the power or other things will happen that’ll cause it to go out. However, sometimes it can be something as simple as a tripped circuit breaker. For example, say I’m a utility company that has 12 watts of power to give to 7 homes. It’s a very unrealistic example, but it’s just to illustrate the general concept. Now let’s say that an appliance in each home takes 1 watt of power to run. I’d have more than enough power as I have 12 watts and only 7 would be being used. However, let’s say the startup of the particular appliance uses an extra watt on top of the one it already takes to run normally. Now imagine if everyone in each of the 7 houses started that appliance at the same time. That would be 2 watts per customer…adding up to 14 watts total, which is more than I can supply them with. This would trip the circuit. However, if one of the customers decides to be kind and turn off their appliance and wait a second, that leaves only 6 starting up the appliance at the same time. With each taking 2 watts, it’s only 12 watts, which I can supply them with. After they’re all started up, each appliance is only using 1 watt, which brings down the overall usage to 6 watts, and leaves an additional 6 watts to be used. This means the final house can now start up their appliance and everyone will have power with 4 watts to spare!
What To Know About Generators…
Generators can be a good tool to keep your life semi-normal during a power outage. Here are a few things to consider when buying one:
- Smaller generators use less fuel which means you won’t run out of it as quickly
- Quieter generators cost more money
- Generators that run for a long time only give low power whereas generators that give high power only run for a short time
- A 230 volt generator has to be 8 horsepower or higher which means it will be big, take a lot of fuel, and have a short running time, making a 230V/5hp unit a better option
- The rating for how much fuel a generator uses is usually based on only half of the capacity of the generator. It’s important to keep that in mind when you’re looking to buy one
What Can You Power With A Generator?
Generators can only power a certain amount of volts. Because of this, it’s important to know how many volts each of the appliances in your house uses. The items that use the most (230 volts) are the electric heat, electric water heater, and the clothes dryer. Other appliances such as the TV, radio, lamp(s), refrigerator, and microwave don’t use a lot of power individually. However, when running at the same time, they use a large chunk of electricity. Furthermore, most gas heaters only use 120 volts to run the blower motor and to control electronics. Gas is difficult to get in an emergency and if you want to run everything in your home, you’ll need a high voltage generator. This means it will only run for a short time and then you’ll run out of fuel. This is why it’s wise to buy a generator that can only power the necessary stuff at the same time.
Another important factor to take into consideration is that the power needed for the initial startup of appliances is higher than the wattage it takes to run them normally. This prevents you from using a lot at once, even if the generator could handle the general running of all the appliances at the same time. Here’s some examples of some combinations that would work for 3 hours with a 1000 watt generator:
- TV (Color) & a light = 175 watts (for entertainment and/or news)
- Refrigerator & a light = 775 watts (prevents food from getting spoiled. The reason this is so high is because of the startup for the fridge.)
- Microwave & a light = 710 watts (cooking and food preparation)
- Furnace blower & a light = 510 watts (heat and light)
Another option is to use your car or batteries and convert them to the necessary energy. However, this isn’t the best option because they won’t last that long.
While You’re Waiting For The Power To Come Back On…
The first thing to remember is to be considerate and patient of the utility company. They are trying their best to get the power back on. If you would really like to help them out, you can call and let them know just where it has gone out. Keep in mind that their first priorities are to power up the hospitals, police and fire stations, and communication facilities, but also that their job isn’t complete until everyone has electricity. The time it takes will also depend on where and how much power was lost. At times a staff may have to be hired that will go through a checklist in order to get the power going again. They key in all this is patience. Remember that everyone is trying their best.