topic Re: No electricity in Community Chat

No electricity

Group 5 minus 1 — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 12:28:25 GMT

We had no electricity from March 9 (11 AM) til March 10( 8 PM). We do have a Generac and it was ok. We had power. The best thing is we could flush our toilets.

Re: No electricity

itsmagic — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 14:07:58 GMT

I hate when our electricity goes out for an extended period of time. We don't have a generator. I remember when we used to live out in the country, our electricity went out for a couple days. To flush our toilets I took a bucket of water from the above ground pool and poured it in the toilet!

Re: No electricity

Bri36 — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 14:25:01 GMT

Maybe I'm missing something - but if your electric is out, why can't you flush your toilet?

Re: No electricity

Group 5 minus 1 — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 14:30:45 GMT

Because we have a well and a pump. Many people will flush by setting aside many buckets of water. With our generator we are ok. It is a whole house one that comes on when the power goes off. We are frugal with how we use it but we are still ok.

Re: No electricity

flickerbulb — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 14:31:44 GMT

@Bri36

She probably gets her water supply from a well. You need an electric pump to make the water come into the house.

Re: No electricity

Bri36 — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 14:46:58 GMT

Thank you.

I have no experience with a well. I had no idea they use electricity.

Re: No electricity

dex — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 15:11:36 GMT

@Bri36 I didn't know that about well toilets either...every time you flush costs ya.

Re: No electricity

proudlyfromNJ — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 15:23:09 GMT

We have our well water holding tank in the garage. When that gets low the pump comes on to bring water from the well. Not each time the water is used. No water bills.

Our street has about 17 houses. The town never put water here so all of us have a well. One block away has town water.

Re: No electricity

MalteseMomma — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 16:57:32 GMT

If a you (anyone) lives in a highrise or something like that, toilets require elec. to flush

Re: No electricity

Allegheny — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 17:34:02 GMT

If you have a well and your electric goes out, its not just flushing the toilet you must be mindful of. Our house does have a water holding tank (50 gallons I think), but we must be careful not to totally drain the tank because the electric pump from the well to the house does not come on to refill it. So no showers, laundry, etc.

I grew up with spring and well water systems. It was a rude awakening for DH when we married and he moved here from the city.

Back when transitioning from 1999 to 2000 there were a lot of concern about the possible failure of the computerized power grid. I was considering installing a hand pump onto our well so I could get water out of it manually. I remember prepping then, stocking canned goods and water, gasing up the vehicles, having substantial cash available, lamp oil, a supply of wood for our woodburner, batteries, a hand crank radio and so on.

Re: No electricity

Allegheny — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 17:39:19 GMT

@Group 5 minus 1 Is your Generac powered by natural gas?

Re: No electricity

sophiamarie — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 19:46:30 GMT

@ncascade wrote:
Because we have a well and a pump. Many people will flush by setting aside many buckets of water. With our generator we are ok. It is a whole house one that comes on when the power goes off. We are frugal with how we use it but we are still ok.

@Group 5 minus 1 I may be missing something here but we have a Generac (whole house) generator and I don't know how you can be "frugal" with it. The generator waits about 20 seconds after the power goes off and then it starts up and the whole house is "on" again. Everything. Every Sunday at 1 pm (because my husband set it that way) it powers up for about 12 minutes just to make sure everything is ok.

I live in Florida and we have many power failures. It's just one less thing to worry about when/if there is a hurricane. At least, the food stays cold, we have ice to give to neighbors and there is no interruption in our lives.

Re: No electricity

Group 5 minus 1 — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 20:17:54 GMT

Allegheny: No our generator is powered by propane.

Re: No electricity

Group 5 minus 1 — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 20:21:29 GMT

Sophia: We do not use electricity in one of our family rooms. Also I do not do laundry. We ran the dishwasher once,then we used paper dishes. Little things like that.

Re: No electricity

sophiamarie — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 20:33:23 GMT

@ncascade wrote:
Sophia: We do not use electricity in one of our family rooms. Also I do not do laundry. We ran the dishwasher once,then we used paper dishes. Little things like that.

@Group 5 minus 1 Ok - I undertand now. Our house is all electric but we have natural gas in our area, so we had a gas line put it. That way, we don't have to worry about running out. I have a friend about 3 miles away who also has a propane tank in her yard. She is so jealous that we have gas and she doesn't.

Between you and me, we use a lot of paper plates even though we have electricity. LOL So much easier. Isn't it great to have a generator? I think it's probably the best investment we ever made.