Powers out... Again

[russrob81]

It's a windy day so that means out power has gone out again. Moved into this house 2 years ago and have lost power for at least the 10th time. Over the summer the derecho storm hit here and we were out of power for 6 days, 4 houses on our grid with a tree down in the neighbours yard took out the pole while the rest of the neighbourhood was out for 3 days. Then hurricane sandy took out our power for 3 more days, I know I can't complain about that compared to other people. Anyone else have these problems. Plus it's a good new thread to vent on about.losing power. As energy prices go up and we can be charged for losing power

 

[TxBrew]

We have power outages and are on well water so as soon as the pressure tank runs out, it's no water for us. Been actively looking into solar pump setups.

We have a lot of UPC so they provide power to most devices in an outage.

 

[Jayhem]

Where do you live? I'm in VA....most of my area lost power from that Summer Derecho storm for days!...my house lost power for 15 minutes! During Sandy our power flickered...once! Can't complain as I'm also on well water and have about 500 lbs of meat in my deep freezer!

 

[russrob81]

Arnold MD, just north of Annapolis, luckily we have city water and gas water heater so we could flush and shower it was 100F that week so that helped. My buddy has well water and his roommate still used the toilets like an @$$. We lost $200 worth of food on the derecho and had an infestation of flies in our trash cans the rest of the summer. We put bags of ice in the freezer with our meat in prep for sandy and came out fine

 

[Homercidal]

We have power outages and are on well water so as soon as the pressure tank runs out, it's no water for us. Been actively looking into solar pump setups.

We have a lot of UPC so they provide power to most devices in an outage.

Wow, seems like you could figure out a way to get at least a little water out for drinking and cooking. I've never lived at a place that had well water, but I know lots of people who do.

What kind of draw does your pump motor have on it?

 

[Jayhem]

Wow, seems like you could figure out a way to get at least a little water out for drinking and cooking. I've never lived at a place that had well water, but I know lots of people who do.

What kind of draw does your pump motor have on it?

The size of the well pump depends on the depth of the well. The deeper the well the larger the pump. My well is 380 feet deep! My pump is a 230V, 1phase, draws around 12 amps when it runs. The problem with running a well with a generator is it's difficult to hook up unless you already have an auxiliary power cord phased into the well circuit. Makes it more difficult if you have a 230V pump since most generators are only 115VAC.

It's a non issue if you are smart and prepare for storms by filling your extra fermenters and food grade buckets with water.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

I live in a neighborhood where all of the electrical is underground, but the power still goes out when there's a storm. Go figure.

MC

 

[TxBrew]

Wow, seems like you could figure out a way to get at least a little water out for drinking and cooking. I've never lived at a place that had well water, but I know lots of people who do.

What kind of draw does your pump motor have on it?

We have a 300'+ well so our pump has a massive draw. Currently exploring a dual solar pump setup to fill a reservoir tank which would require far less energy and allow for solar pumps, that way our water is not depended on the grid.

 

[Homercidal]

The size of the well pump depends on the depth of the well. The deeper the well the larger the pump. My well is 380 feet deep! My pump is a 230V, 1phase, draws around 12 amps when it runs. The problem with running a well with a generator is it's difficult to hook up unless you already have an auxiliary power cord phased into the well circuit. Makes it more difficult if you have a 230V pump since most generators are only 115VAC.

It's a non issue if you are smart and prepare for storms by filling your extra fermenters and food grade buckets with water.

Yikes! I think most people here have 120V pumps and don't generally run much deeper than 150'.

Just checked with some guys and well depths vary from almost nothing (not recommended) down to 400' or so. We have lots of water table so most people can choose to go down as far as they want and hit water. The bigger the pipe the bigger the pump. I remember when I was young a 2" well was standard, now there are a lot of submerged pumps in 4-5" pipe.

 

[Jayhem]

Yikes! I think most people here have 120V pumps and don't generally run much deeper than 150'.

Just checked with some guys and well depths vary from almost nothing (not recommended) down to 400' or so. We have lots of water table so most people can choose to go down as far as they want and hit water. The bigger the pipe the bigger the pump. I remember when I was young a 2" well was standard, now there are a lot of submerged pumps in 4-5" pipe.

Yep, my deep well is 4". The reason for deep wells is usually because the driller could not get enough yield to meet the minimum standard for the location (usually 2gpm minimum yield) so they have to go deeper until they hit that mark. My well only refills at 3gpm but I have 952 gallons of extra water in my well at all times because it has water from 380 all the way up to 15' below the ground! If I wanted to I could set my well pump at only 150-200' deep and go with a smaller pump.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

A trip to Home Depot could help you to generac a solution to your intermittent power problems. Pricey, yes, but it'll keep the lights on while you write out the mortgage checks.

 

[ingchr1]

I realized years ago that an automatic home generator is a wise investment. Yes it will cost 4 to 5 grand including install, but when the power is out for a few days you'll be living comfortably with heat, running water, tv, computer, kezzer, etc.