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Are there frequent power outages during the hurricane season in rtp? This is the first time I am here during this season so wanted to get a heads up from other residents. Also, I have a chest freezer thats currently on a carpeted living room floor (because i dont have enough space on the kitchen hardwood floor). In my old apartment it was on a hardwood floor & whenever there was a power outage I was able to easily cleanup any mess leaking from the freezer. I dont want to deal with carpet stains so wanted to see if there is anything I could do to prepare for the outages. I looked online to see how I can shutoff the drain of the freezer but I cant find much help. Wanted to know how others deal with it.
Last Hurricane was Irene in 2011 and did not bring much damage to our area even though it messed up the Outter Banks. Fran was bad and hoping we do not see that again as power was gone for more than a week.
I would recommend everyone having a back-up generator since it's been useful outside of Hurricane season as well.
We have been here about 5 years and have not had any extended power outages to date. Our home is on the Wake Electric Co-op grid and we have a smart meter that notifies them if there is an outage in our area which has greatly decreased any outage times.
All of our utilities in our subdivision are buried which helps mitigating any downed trees that may fall on lines.
Depending on your location you may see more outages or may see less, but our experience is its not too bad out near Wake Forest during hurrican season.
I've lived in NC since 1977. Ironically, the worst problem I had for all the years was when Hugo passed over Charlotte, and then Boone NC (I lived in Boone and was evacuated from my apartment due to flooding, and was visiting Charlotte a few weeks later when I wrecked my car in an unrelated accident, which then created nightmares trying to find a rental after the hurricane. Both places have less problems with Hurricanes than our area.)
Anyway, I digress. It is rare that a hurricane hits us at all. On average every few years, and even more rare that you'd have power out for more than 24 hours. It happens, but it's rare.
Bigger risk IMO is ice storms. We get those every few years as well, and the reap havoc on the power grid.
To answer your question, I never have owned a generator. Once I had to borrow one to "juice up" my freezer. I got it cold and about that time the power came back on.
Unless you budget many thousands for a generator with hookup, personally they aren't worth it. I live in a neighborhood where ONE person had one and you could hear it a half mile away on our loop. They bought one of the cheap gasoline powered ones.
Look for a diesel one or installed one powered by propane/nat gas hookup if you are going to do it. Otherwise you won't even be able to stand keeping it running. But even then the ROI isn't there (they are many thousands of $$). Cheaper to just replace the food and stay in a hotel IF it happens for a long enough time period to be of concern.
In the 15 or so years I've been here we've had a few outages that lasted a day or more. Never did I feel that a generator would have offered much benefit. (Most were in the winter.)
Folks who were here for Fran would probably beg to differ.
(BTW: "RTP" doesn't refer to the area as a whole; it's just the commercial park.)
Moved back to NC 16+ years ago. We have underground lines. Purchased a generator. Never had to use it. Sits in the corner of our garage waiting for that day it is needed.
Should mention I have the generator as I have meat from hunting that I won't let go to waste. Expensive way to make sure the keg is always cold as well!!
Unless you budget many thousands for a generator with hookup, personally they aren't worth it. I live in a neighborhood where ONE person had one and you could hear it a half mile away on our loop. They bought one of the cheap gasoline powered ones.
Look for a diesel one or installed one powered by propane/nat gas hookup if you are going to do it. Otherwise you won't even be able to stand keeping it running. But even then the ROI isn't there (they are many thousands of $$). Cheaper to just replace the food and stay in a hotel IF it happens for a long enough time period to be of concern.
Cheap/portable are fine if you run them regularly. Of course, that also applies to the permanently installed ones. If you don't run them regularly, you may not get them to start when needed. Some permanent ones can be configured to auto start on a regular interval.
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