Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Our generator cost around $500 and I've no idea of how much we could power with it.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Generator was 200 off craigslist, 3.7kW. Two fixed 20A extensions are installed. One ending at the furnace in a double socket that the furnace plug can be moved into, the second to a double socket located adjacent to a mains socket in the living room so that when needed plugs can be moved from mains to generator easily, this supplies TV, internet and lighting. Outside the extensions end in plugs that connect with the generator. Cable about 50, plugs and sockets less than 50.

I did make a plywood cover to protect the generator when in use so cost might have been another 20 for that, when not in use it lives in the garage. When needed additional extensions can be used inside the house to connect to freezers, kettle etc. Simple and cheap and no need to keep doors and windows open for cables. Thus generator and mains cannot cross connect being entirely separate from one another.

Only need to spend 000s if you want to install a transfer panel that could require rerouting of internal circuitry and use of electricians.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

How about a couple of fixed bikes and pedal power? :lol:

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Main reason we'd want one would be for the furnace, and that's wired directly to the power with no plug to switch over to a generator. Not worth spending the money to rewire everything for the few hours we lose power each year.

Next house will probably be completely self-sufficient for power and heating if possible, but that won't happen for a few years yet.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

A good idea. Wikipaedia tells me that a resonably fit human should be able to generate about 75W continuously over an 8 hour shift.

Now 75 Watts will light a few bulbs, but can it do anything useful?
TV.. No.
Kettle.. definitely not.
Laptop.. probably.
Charge a phone.. Absolutely

So what else can it do?

Fancy a cup of tea? Typical cup about 300ml. It's cold outside so water temperature is about 5C. It'll take 300 x (100-5) x 4.2 Joules to heat this water to 100C (well insulated covered cup of zero mass) = 120000 Joules. Now a sweating cyclist pushing out 75W or 75 joules/second will take 120000/75 seconds to earn his cuppa or about 1600 seconds or 27 minutes (hope it's not dark cos there's no power left for lights).

I think he'll need his cuppa after that, but unfortunately he won't be able to rest to drink it because the wife'll want one as well... and she'll want that bloody light on too...

Ohhhh... he's had a heart attack... too much exercise... too busy heating water for tea to charge the phone.. bugger!

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

I don't have a phone to charge - unless that cordless one on the kitchen wall counts, but I have a 'normal' phone as well that would still work ;)

Wouldn't need TV on the bike but maybe some sort of VR headset that makes it look as if I'm riding somewhere?

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

We yes, that was $2,700. It's not a DIY job. The primary need for a generator is for the well pump. I suppose one could power everything with extension cords but they'd have to be very long, the generator is loud and it has to run continuously for several days each winter.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Where do you put the generator when it's running? That's always a problem for us.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

The switch panel is in the garage, 100 yds from the house. I roll the generator out of the door or, if it's a blizzard, roll it to the door. It's not audible in the house.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

No wonder your wiring in cost so much. Our garage is adjacent to the house so of course we hear the noise, along with all the neighbours generators.
Doesn't the garage fill with snow? I'd worry about somebody nicking the stuff from the garage, bikes and so on but I guess that isn't a problem in the back of beyond.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

I roll the generator out of the garage to the side of the house. Put it under the plywood awning, start it up, plug it in and that's that, apart from going inside and switching plugs over. Takes 5 minutes. Yard is fully fenced and generator is heavy, will take a determined thief to lift it... after it's cooled down that is.

You might think that the generator is loud standing next to it but the neighbour across the road wasn't aware we had one running.

Daughter has a transfer panel and like others needed the power for the well and septic pumps as well as temporary cooking, etc. Transfer panel in the garage, generator outside under a deck.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Cold as a bar steward here in the boonies just outside Quebec City. We've been here a week and my trips outside have been limited to a grocery/booze run, shuttling between the house and the wood shed (burner going 24/7) and an essential visit to Crappy Tire.

My son's blower (gift from Grandma) just didn't cut the mustard here. Some careful comparison shopping and review-reading, and he became the proud owner of a beast. 420cc, 30-inch clearance and 3-stage (with a thumb control for the chute and power steering).

Needless to say, it hasn't snowed since. When it does, we will attempt to move the snow on his driveway from here to New Brunswick. The beast looks like it has the range.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

The wiring is just replacement of the main panel with one that has an option to switch from the incoming power supply to supply by generator. The location relative to the house isn't a factor in the price, much of that is getting Ontario Hydro to shut off the supply while the panel is replaced.

Some snow does get into the garage but, as I leave the door half closed, it's not enough to be a problem.

What gets stolen here is livestock and stuff on trailers. If you leave a boat or snowmobile or similar on a trailer someone will hook up to it and haul it away.

We have, btw, continued riding through this weather.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

That's why I'm adding a generator connection this year. Truth to tell, we've had very few outages lasting longer than an hour or so in the 13 years we've been in this place. But when it does go out we lose the water which is a pain & there is also the frustration of knowing that if only we had a little bit of elek-trickery we'd be able to run the oil fired heating. So, since we're having electrical work done as part of a reno, I'm going to get a generator panel or one of these Transfer Switch | Global Power Products installed.

Haven't purchased a gennie yet but it'll be a portable version rather than anything permanently installed. Of course, if it's in the garage, one has to get it out of the garage when the power goes out & the powered garage door isn't working.;) (So opening it manually).

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Oh my, I sob for your first world problems. Our garage door isn't powered anyway and, indeed, when the garage remodeling man comes, it'll have two unpowered doors.

That does look a cost effective gadget but you won't have the joy of feeling like Doctor Frankenstein when hauling on the giant power lever.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

13 years of powered garage door ownership & I still hum the Thunderbirds theme tune when I press the "open" button...:rofl:

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

35-45cm expected Thursday.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

And strong winds, judging by the depth of the low tracking through. For this part of the world it will be a bit of snow then rain as it's tracking through the Gulf of St Lawrence. Rain means less shovelling but of course when it all freezes it means ice!

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

We can't be having such extravagance, powering a garage door costs almost as much as board for a horse for a month.

The weather here is not very good, btw, we had more than a foot of "scattered flurries" overnight, it's still snowing and very windy. The garden usefulness threshold has been breached; we can no longer turn the dogs loose in the backyard as the snow is deeper than the fence (4' 6") and they could just walk out over the fence. That usually happens in February.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

I'm free of such equine cost considerations, but the downside of the powered garage door is the shagging around with the magic eye sensor that invariably gets covered with snow thus refusing to close the garage door unless you keep your finger on the button. I have, upon occasion, hit the close button and left for work, coming home some hours later to find the door wide open and everything inside covered in snow. (but still there, which was some relief).

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Last year in Feb, I had to get a man with a tractor and snowblower to clear the fence line so the dog wouldn't jump (or step) over the fence. Not yet at that stage this year but the three days of sustained galeforce winds caused two panels to fall down & my temporary snow fence fix proved inadequate to keep the beagle contained. So he spent 12 hours on NYE roaming the woods nearby, only coming home when cold, wet and hungry.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Its not bad here today, plus 3, a bit cloudy but no rain. Low of +2 overnight, but rain starts back up Thursday....:thumbdown:

Have to give kudos to the builder of our building, it's very well insulated, have not lived anywhere in Canada before where heat hasn't been turned on by January...:lol:

Joys of having heated retail space below, heated interior hallways...Most days we have a window open as it gets too warm inside...:lol:

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

:thumbdown::thumbdown: Hey there are many of us in Ontario and Quebec who aren't experiencing your kind of winter. It would be nice to open the windows here to freshen things up a bit.

I dread to see my next natural gas bill. This week has been -30 c w/o windchill in Ottawa apparently the coldest in 9 years.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

This is why we always check it's closed before we drive away :).

Though, in our case, it's usually due to a chunk of ice getting stuck to the bottom of the door and triggering the sensor.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

I have just returned from 12 days in Florida, the weather over crimbo was beautiful, then the last few days got 'cold'.

A weather advisory was issued today as it may reach zero degrees celsius overnight :lol:

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

The Atlantic weather bomb seems to have missed us. Or Star Wars technology shot it down.

Not seen any official figures yet but the depth I cleared from the steps was only a few inches. I wasn't aware of any freezing rain here, just a short period of ice pellets and then normal rain which must have taken care of some of the snow.

It's messy and has been very very windy and, of course, it's freezing up a bit now. After a couple of balmy days of temperatures slightly above zero with the feels like taking it just below, we're moving back tp -18/-30.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

We had a windy night and about 8cm of snow before it turned to rain. Went out and cleared it all today before the temp drops tonight and it all freezes. This afternoon St John's NL was warmer than Orlando. (9C vs 0C!).

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Going down to -35c to -42c tonight.

Not amused.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

It is extremely cold here (see previous post) with lots of snow. The car is stuck in the snow. The tractor battery is dead and the truck heater has packed up. Tractor and car have to be sorted before the coming storm which means working in the dark. I believe that my right ear, never a particularly attractive ear, is frostbitten, certainly it looks as if I have pursued an unsuccessful career in boxing.

I could have gone to Australia.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Air temp or that 'real feel' temp I keep on hearing about?

I went to Tremblant yesterday - 11 c at the top and reasonably pleasant to ski.. Today is supposed to be -25 at the top and lots of wind. I guess that is one way to have the crowds to thin out.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Or home. I hope your ear and your tractor battery and all the other aspects recover in due course.

It's been a nightmare here too: we were without central heating for three days largely due to my rather poor eyesight and that fact the asshole we bought our flat from thought it best to throw away all the manuals for the various appliances.

On the other hand it wasn't colder than a £20 2Kw electric heater couldn't handle.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

There's a storm coming? Thankfully neither car is stuck in the snow, the truck and the tractor are snug in the garage (with manually operated doors) and the ducks are still alive but did seem a little pee'd off this morning and one has stopped laying in protest. It's effing cold.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Bloody hell! Get a hat on man and be damned with vanity!

Sounds like you are having somewhat of a crap day... hope it improves!


https://www.google.org/publicalerts/...=CA&source=web

:(

Are your ducks under cover with something to snuggle into? I always feel so bad for wildlife when it's this damn cold (not that your ducks are wildlife, but you know what I mean!)

:)

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

FFS, it’s arsehole, arsehole, arsehole. You’re in the UK now. It’s time to talk properly.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

It’s probably part of nature’s culling process, but disturbing nonetheless.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

They are inside a cordwood constructed barn with lots of straw and a couple of lamps. They have a heated water bowl, but they like to lie in the snow during the day. Yes I knew about the cold weather warning but the word 'storm' makes me think of 3 feet of snow.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

‘‘Twas indeed positively tropical in the area yesterday.

Today, not so much, the wind was quite vicious: the only part of me exposed to the elements when I went on a 5 minute milk run to the dépanneur was my eyes. There were icicles on my lashes when I got there :/. My thermometer says -32, but I think it’s frozen.

I’m not amused either.

I could have stayed in Hong Kong...

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Heavy snow in the forecast. Sunday, Monday, next Wednesday fortnight, Accuweather knows as well as we do. The chickens are on strike which is just as well as their eggs freeze before they can be collected and go to waste.

New tractor battery awaits daylight for fitting. Once the tractor is running all will be well.

Re: Winter 2017-18
 

Look. If I'm going to work and I spend 25 minutes sculpting my comb over, I am not going to flatten that work with some bobble hat just because I have some shoveling to do. It's better to look good than to feel good.