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Earthquake - Power Outages
Wondered why it took so long for power to be restored? Why
did it go away? Apparently, any kind of vibration could damage a power generator
so they do shut down to avoid an even bigger problem - a blown up generator.
If you have your own generator power for home use you are also
aware that you can't simply plug in any and all power equipment into generator.
Some power management is required so that you don't ruin your generator as well.
Our little Honda generator ran well giving us 2000 watts of
power. It was enough to use the microwave as well as power some
lights later in the evening. After dinner we plugged the TV into the
generator and watched a DVD.
Security - Was a must for that generator as it is already
pretty quite and I didn't want to chance someone walking off with it.
Therefore we had it tied to the front of our home via a security cable.
Thinking of Getting a Generator
Billy G. recommends a Honda Inverter Generator because it is
lighter and very quiet. I you expect to use your microwave, cook rice, run
your refrigerator then get the 2000 or 3000 watt modem. The 2000 watt model is
as quite as 54 db while normal voice conversation is about 72 db. It will
run for up to 14 hours on a single tank depending on your load (speed of the
generator).
If you just want lights and small appliances get the 1000 watt
model. See the
Honda
website Contact me if you'd like to know more.
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Telephone Service
The good
news is that, as usual, the good ole' regular telephones all worked,
during the power outage. Well, let me put it this way... the lines
were working however, you may not have had service if you had the line
connected to a "wireless" phone system. Yep... now power mean no
wireless phone. The fix? Go to your favorite telephone store
and pick one or a couple of standard "wired' plug into the wall
jack phones.. they can be as low as $10. each. Next
time you have a power outage... unplug your wireless system and plug in
the "wired" phone and whamo you are back in business. Of course
your phone line would still work with the wireless system if you had
plugged it into the generator like we did.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Phones
Now if your phone service came from the cable company
then you were out of luck . Yep, you'll lose the TV,
Internet Access and your telephone access. Having a generator wouldn't
help here either because the problem is with the network,
something outside of your home.
I don't recommend using any kind of VoIP
service for home if you have family members that may need special and/or
emergency care at anytime. Yes, cell phones go down too.. but
chances are that plain old telephone service aka (also known as) POTS will work all the
time. billyg
What about Internet Access
We rely so much on the internet these days I would be
lost without. Being the first power outage since I got my DSL
service, I was surprised to see that the DSL modem still worked (all
plugged into my generator).
Also worth mentioning is that my Clearwire broadband
over radio link service worked as well.
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