Things I've figured out over the last four days (I'm kind of slow sometimes) being without power following Hurricane Beryl:
- Even if you prefer cooking on an electric stovetop, there's a huge advantage after a hurricane in having a gas stovetop,
- Unless you love cold showers and baths, a tankless water heater is not your friend because it requires electricity in order to rapidly superheat water whenever you need hot, or even warm, water,
- A built-in home generator is worth its weight in gold if you don't have one when you need it for an extended period, and if you try to order one now, it will literally cost more than the value of a full half-pound of gold (somewhere between $16 and $22 thousand),
- one kind-hearted neighbor who is willing to share what he has in order to ease your situation is a life-changer.
From what I understand, the number of people without power in the greater Houston area now totals about 978,000, down from the original number of 2.3 million people without four days ago. Of course, those numbers come from CenterPoint Energy, one of the most inept public utility companies in the nation - whose executives know that when this is all over, an accounting will be demanded by the governor, the mayor, and the Public Utility Commission.
This has all the makings of a summer that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
I am sorry to hear that you are still without power and hope that is fixed soon. Even with the fires that have come close to us over the years we have been in the Santa Barbara area, we have never been without power for an extended period of time.
ReplyDeleteI like that you shared these things you have learned. We already have a gas oven but we have thought about the pros and cons of a tankless water heater.
Day five begins, Tracy. I think power has come back on for folks that completely surround us but that doesn't mean a whole lot for us. We live in a two street area that was added on to a neighborhood about nine years after the other homes had been completed. They placed us on a different electrical circuit that serves only 30 or so homes, meaning we are extremely low priority when this kind of thing happens. I suspect this will go into next week sometime.
DeleteHang in there, Sam. Sending good vibes. I like your list of things learnt. I feel lucky to have a gas hob when we lose power, and an open fire we can light. (As you can see I can't quite stop thinking of my living arrangement as 'we' rather than 'I'.) My favourite idiocy is to think I can still go online in a power cut. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI feel the vibes, Cath, and appreciate them. lol
DeleteOne of the blessings of those big rechargeable inverters is that I am able to power up the internet and my computer. That is a link to the outside that is a true blessing.
Cath, I ached reading the "we" and "I". The electricity moment you describe is something I called the Bert and Ernie moment. There was an old Sesame Street episode where the power went out, and Ernie just couldn't remember - he would try to turn on something automatically and then Bert would remind him. I do it all the time with various things!
DeleteNeighbors like that are the best. And I've been saving up for one of those generators. When the power goes out in the winter here I don't have a good solution for keeping the house warm. Hope things get back to normal for you soon!
ReplyDeleteThe generators that run on natural gas are the way to go...at least down here. With regular maintenance, they are pretty reliable, I think. I only know of one or two that have failed among friends who have them going right now. Keep your fingers crossed!
DeleteWe have a generator, but not a whole house one. It cost, I think, $600 a few years ago. It uses regular gasoline like you use in a lawn mower. But we plug in the fridge and TV (can still watch DVDs with the power off), chargers, lights. It has worked very well.
ReplyDeleteThe other night we had strong rains that went on a while, and there is a lot of damage in the area. Parts of roads just dropped off, flooding all over. We are high and dry with no water near us so we were fine. And thankfully our town is, too. But towns around us are suffering. Lots of damage. And some deaths.
I'm now using a small generator to recharge the huge battery inverters in the house, but I have to run the generator for four hours every evening to prepare us for the night and next half-day. It works, but it's just not like having a built-in one that can run the AC.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on the rains and associated problems. I saw where your part of the country was getting drenched after Beryl headed more in your direction. Hope all is well now.