Power, cable, internet, and land line down (appliances, houses)

[jtab4994]

I'm thankful we were able to invest in a 7,000 watt automatic generator after Irene last year. Power went out at 6PM Monday and I finally made it to work and can get some info now. It was really bizarre being unable to get any local information yesterday (Tuesday) since we were trapped by downed trees and power poles, the two local radio stations were out, and no internet or cable.

Lots of incredible destruction out there. I guess we were lucky. Many co-workers here in NJ had their houses damaged.

[Gettingouttahere]

Glad you're OK.

We've considered getting a generator over the years, but since Internet and phone are cable, I don't see the point. We have three fireplaces and gas appliances, so other than keeping the milk fresh I'm not sure what a generator would do for us.

[jtab4994]

The main reason we got it after Irene was we couldn't flush or run water because we're on a pressurized sewer line and need electricity to pump into the line. We had a portable generator but that can't easily plug into the grinder pump or the oil burner.

Crazy thing is we've lived here since 1993 and never had a prolonged outage until last year, and now it's two years in a row.

[Gettingouttahere]

Ah, water, right. We filled the bathtubs.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Gettingouttahere

Glad you're OK.

We've considered getting a generator over the years, but since Internet and phone are cable, I don't see the point.

I've had the power go out many times and still have cable/phone service.

If you have a standard land line get a new phone with battery backup or works without power, an old phone with just a mechanical ringer will work too. The phone line has a small amount of power in it for the ringer and I have no clue why every phone doesn't have some sort of backup feature to still operate when the power is off. The reason they need a plug is to power all the extra features.

If you have VOIP phone service like Comcast's then you have another issue because the modem is required, they have a battery backup but only work a short time. A landline phone with a mechanical ringer will still work with VOIP modem.

so other than keeping the milk fresh I'm not sure what a generator would do for us.

If you lose lights and other stuff for couple of days you'll find out what it will do for you.

[Gettingouttahere]

My point is we have phone thru cable (which I might reconsider after this) .... generator would do nothing to keep that on if it goes, which it has.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Gettingouttahere

My point is we have phone thru cable (which I might reconsider after this) .... generator would do nothing to keep that on if it goes, which it has.

Power, cable and a regular land line phone are all susceptible to failure. Having said that you don't have all your eggs in one basket if you have both a regular land line and cable internet. If one of them goes out you still have some form of communication.

You will need a generator for the modem in the long term for both internet and VOIP, the battery backup only lasts a few hours.

[Riverside4ever]

Jut got our power back a hr ago .. Been running a Honda generator the last 4 days ...

Im so glad power is back ..

Got cable and internet last night

[jtab4994]

Glad to hear they're making progress. As for me, I'm going to give up looking at Met-Ed's website. Every time I do, there are more people without power in my township, instead of less!

[DavidWebb]

Originally Posted by Gettingouttahere

My point is we have phone thru cable (which I might reconsider after this) .... generator would do nothing to keep that on if it goes, which it has.

Guess you have no cellphones either that need charging, or milk, meat, vegetables, etc., that would spoil if fridge has no power to keep them cool which a generator would provide...nice to live life with horse blinders on!!