[adysmom]

How big of generator does it take too run a heat pump for heat and AC in the summer? and run the rest of the house. anyone know?? I have been running a 6100 watt but not sure if it can handle the entire house so we have had the heater turned off and using the fireplace but still cold..

[AllenKarber]

And in true Arkansas weather fashion it's going to be 70 degrees here today! This is sure to bring about big storms though.

My cousin manages the electric co-op here,and I believe he sent workers up there.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by Mems

Our place in Van Buren County, off Highway 254 is still without power. We heard it will be at least 2 more weeks, more likely 3. It's been a week and 2 days now. Good neighbors and working generators all around us!

That's a drag, but we're in the same boat.

I drove south yesterday along the feed line and went about 7 miles before I saw the *one* truck working it.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by adysmom

How big of generator does it take too run a heat pump for heat and AC in the summer? and run the rest of the house. anyone know?? I have been running a 6100 watt but not sure if it can handle the entire house so we have had the heater turned off and using the fireplace but still cold..

Heat pump is a no-no.

I'm not sure how much it pulls at start-up, but those in the know told me to not even think about it if I wanted my generator to run at all.

My biggest strain is the deep well pump, which makes the generator burp on start up.

Is your 6100 continuous or surge?

I'm running 7500 continuous and it's doing fridge, freezer, small TV, sat reciever, well pump, and a few CFL's, plus the daily battery charge.

That's as far as it's going.

I heard you guys were up and running.........?

[fancygal]

May God Bless all you folks. I feel so sorry for all having no power.
Mems: Hope it comes back on soon.

[Towhee]

Our power came back on at 6:30 this eve. We were out exactly 11 days and 7 hours.
I used oil lamps for light. We have wood heat and the stove has a lid that I can raise, and cook directly on the stove. I cooked bacon, hot cakes and scrambled eggs every morning. I made coffee by tying the grounds into filter 'bags' and pouring hot water ,over them in the coffee carafe. It set on the stove all day and I would add water to it now and then to dilute it. I kept large pans of water on the stove, for hot water. I cooked our noon meal on the wood stove also. Our water ran out after a few days, but it was out only a couple of days, and I had plenty of water on hand.
Evenings were very boring, with no power, so we retired much earlier than normal.
The biggest problem was the inability to take a shower.

Tree breakage was brutal. Thank God none landed on any of our buildings. No yard trees fell, but lost a terrible lot of limbs, espacially the large Tulip Poplar that shades the west end of our house. I think we will have it removed. It will be a big job cleaning up all the debris. We may have to get help with it.
All in all, I feel we were very blessed. Many suffered a lot more damage than we.
It was a very memorable event. One I hope to never see again!

I had a throw out quite a bit of thawed-out frozen foods. The neighbor's dog, and the wildlife, have eaten well.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by Towhee

Our power came back on at 6:30 this eve. We were out exactly 11 days and 7 hours.
I used oil lamps for light. We have wood heat and the stove has a lid that I can raise, and cook directly on the stove. I cooked bacon, hot cakes and scrambled eggs every morning. I made coffee by tying the grounds into filter 'bags' and pouring hot water ,over them in the coffee carafe. It set on the stove all day and I would add water to it now and then to dilute it. I kept large pans of water on the stove, for hot water. I cooked our noon meal on the wood stove also. Our water ran out after a few days, but it was out only a couple of days, and I had plenty of water on hand.
Evenings were very boring, with no power, so we retired much earlier than normal.
The biggest problem was the inability to take a shower.

Tree breakage was brutal. Thank God none landed on any of our buildings. No yard trees fell, but lost a terrible lot of limbs, espacially the large Tulip Poplar that shades the west end of our house. I think we will have it removed. It will be a big job cleaning up all the debris. We may have to get help with it.
All in all, I feel we were very blessed. Many suffered a lot more damage than we.
It was a very memorable event. One I hope to never see again!

I had a throw out quite a bit of thawed-out frozen foods. The neighbor's dog, and the wildlife, have eaten well.

Way to go........

I think sometimes God looks upon us and says, "Stand by....this is only a test".


I have a friend, about 80 years old, near me that has great power and influence in this county. Basically, he has the power to point, and it gets done.

When we were over a week into this outage, and had no electricity yet, I asked him when we were going to get fixed.

He asked me, "Are you hungry...are you out of water...are you cold...?", etcetera.

I replied "no" to every question, and he finally said, "Well...there's city folks that are. They don't have what we have, and they need it worse".

Point made.

There's folks that were without power that can only rely on the city for water, they don't have a well. To think of living right next door to each other with 20 generators all running on a block would get old *real* fast.

Do you think everybody would agree to shut off at the same time every night?

When the freezer thaws and the stores don't have power, it's not as simple as going out and shooting supper.

If one wants to flush the toilet, they can't go down to the creek or to the cow pond for water to facilitate the flush.

It's not that their deficit, it's just an environment that demands services from a local government, and they're living in emergency shelters.

That's who I thought about.

We're in day 13....and tomorrow we'll be in day 14...and the day after that.....

They'll get to us eventually. I have nothing to complain about, and appreciate every day these fellas are out there doing it.

In our environ, even if you don't arrive prepared, after the 12th person asks you, "Do you have.....", and goes through the list, you get prepared.

It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when".

I betcha there's a lot of people out there that just got a "life lesson", dontcha think?

It's a great day in the Ozarks.

[Luvvarkansas]

This is one reason I would like to have some solar (or other alternative) power, composting toilets, wood stove, know how to preserve food without freezing, etc. It scares me sometimes to think how dependent we are on our utilities and grocery stores, and how a major, nationwide disruption could cause untold misery and even death. I wish we all knew how to be more self-sufficient.

[DC at the Ridge]

KFSM TV has a slideshow at flickr of the ice storm, if anyone's interested.

kfsmwx's Photostream

[RogMar]

One hour Sunday.......

Six hours Monday....

Now It's been up since daylight.

It's so.....*erie* to hear the quiet.

Some folks are estimated to be 2 weeks out.

Last year started with a F5 tornado, followed by an ice storm that hung around on the dirt roads for 2 days, followed by 60 mph straight-line winds that took some roofs and trees, followed by massive flooding...

This year...massive ice storm as event one...

The naysayers can trash-talk the Ozarks all they want, but ya know what?

It's anything but boring!