New England B.S. Thread

Comms tower, not a lift tower, fortunately.

 

Even the beating the trees took is crazy. Almost looks like the aftermath of a tornado

 

Some people are freakin' lazy!

I've tried to remove a professional tint job WITH a good scraper, a heat gun and even the tint remover chemicals and it made a ridiculous mess. I can't imagine trying to go at it without those things.

 

We didn't have it too badly at the house; I was woken up a few times by wind gusts that made the house shift and pop, but no trees down because of it. Made me very glad that I took the time this past fall to clean out all of the Poplars behind the garage, though. Two of them were dead standing with a solid lean towards the garage and I'm sure they'd have come down last night if I hadn't cut them.

 

I can't believe I didn't lose power last night! It flickered a few times. That was crazy wind last night.

 

I trimmed the wicks, washed the chimneys, and filled the reservoirs on the oil lamps last night, which is usually an ironclad guarantee that we won't lose power. If I leave them downstairs on the shelf, though...Bzzt.

 

Geez, all I had to do was buy a generator like 6 years ago and we haven't lost power for more than about an hour since. Before that, we lost it a few times for over a day each time.

 

you got the benefit of the generator without having to put hours on it, seems like a win!

 

I have one of those, but it's in the garage and I have to drag it across the driveway (haven't fab'd a wheel kit for it yet) before I can use it, so power has to be out for a couple of days before I'll bother with that.

 

Pretty much! Thankfully, I bought a propane model so it doesn't get gummed up when it sits. I run it periodically when I'm doing work in the garage to make sure it's still doing ok and check it over to make sure mice or squirrels haven't gotten to it.

Same here. Mine doesn't have a wheel kit, but it's propane so there's no tank on it. I just have to carry the generator, run the cables, drag out the propane tank, hook it up and boom. It's only really big enough to run the fridge and the hot water though, it won't run the whole house.

 

This one's gasoline-powered, so it's at least self-contained (other than the cord). It's also not big enough to run the whole house (I probably wouldn't be able to drag on that size by hand, lol) but at 5500 watts (peak) it's enough to run both freezers, the fridge upstairs, the boiler, water pump, and some lights. And it's super convenient to hook up, too, since we've got a transfer switch in the cellar and a plug on the garage side of the house. And since it looks ghetto as hell (the GF calls it the ghettorator instead of the generator) I don't worry about it growing legs and wandering off with anybody. All I need to do is fab a wheel kit for it and hooking it up will be a walk in the park.

 

I had a 15k watt Honeywell whole house generator when I owned my house. Was great in the big ice storm where my neighbors lost power for weeks. I thought I was gonna get my house egged because the wife insisted on having all the exterior Xmas lights and decorations cranking away when the whole neighborhood was in the dark.

Now that I'm divorced I don't give a shit if the power goes out for 4 days. I barely keep food in the fridge as it is and I don't care if the house is 45 degrees for a few days! Flush toilets with a bucket of water, screw it I'll just go fishing!

 

I've never lived in a place with a generator. Definitely see the appeal though, even just for hot water.

My parents bought and gutted a house down the cape this fall. They are thinking of putting in a generac whole house generator just because just location of the house and the winds that hit the cape during the storms. They didn't do it during this 'phase' of the renovation since right now it is 75% a seasonal house for the summer. Their plan is to use some of the rental income they get this year from it to get one installed in the next year or two.

 

I've got the house set up so that we can get along pretty easily for a few days without power. Hand pump in the cellar, oil lamps, woodstoves for heat/hot water, etc. The only real stumbling block is that if it's out for more than 4-5 days I have to run the generator to get the freezers back down to temp. We've got those two big deep freeze units downstairs and it would be very painful to lose everything in them.
But it's not a big problem, really, since after 4-5 days I really need a shower anyway

 

We are going to put a generac on the house we are building. Not sure if we will power most things and not AC, or everything. The electrician is going to wire for one, and at the end of the project we will see if there is money left over for one, or if its a next year thing.

 

I put in one of those high efficiency gas boilers a few years back which also got rid of a 40 gallon hot water heater. Then I thought wait, if we lose power, no hot water!
So I picked up an inverter (similar to one in a camping trailer) that runs off of a 12v car battery. It automatically switches over when power is lost so at least I'll have heat and hot water. I'll just swap out a battery from one of my cars if the power is off for an extended period.

 

I have only lost power for a total of maybe 12 hours in two years where I am now (and a few hours of that was last night). I'm very close to Route 8, so that may influence how quickly things get fixed since it's a relatively major road. I'd need to be more out in the boonies to invest in a generator, transfer switch, etc.

The only thing that could get annoying really quick is the lack of water.

 

My parents' had that going for them. They were on a well so losing power got hold really quick. They had a wood stove for heat, but without the blower it wasn't great. My dad picked up a generator that ran off the PTO of the tractor and attaches using the 3 point hitch. It's a quick hook up and it will power almost the entire house. It's a pretty slick setup.

 

Been there. The tint itself wasn't horrible to remove, but the glue was. Went at it with Goof Off and a razor blade.

 

Annoying of course, but it's a learning process for all involved