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Tag: Hurricane Sandy

March 31, 2013

I’ve Got the Power: Buying the Right Portable Generator

Worried about how to power your personal Skynet, Matrix or HAL during a blackout? Time to flip a switch and generate some watts!

Worried about how to power your personal Skynet, Matrix or HAL during a blackout? Time to flip a switch and generate some watts!

Power.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with power.
No, not the megalomaniac kind.

The type that powers your personal tech.

Feed Me!!
My tech is always hungry.

I’ve got my handy Anker portable charger for my portable tech when I’m on the road.

I’ve got multiple UPS battery backups for my home office gear.

I always feel a dull ache whenever I watch my toddler play with my arsenal of flashlights. Another emergency light source draining away…

I own multiple rechargeable batteries, and I always throw a twenty pack of AA’s into my cart whenever I’m at Staples.

I read Facebook with envy when I see one of my friends installing solar panels on his roof.

What’s going on that I crave so much reserve power to keep the digital wheels turning?

It’s like worrying about never having enough to eat…
I’m always feeling like the orphaned Oliver.

“Please sir, may I have some more?”

Like it or not, AC and DC energy is the food to sustain your digital life.

It’s Gettin’… It’s Gettin’
It’s Gettin’ Kinda Hectic!
Certainly last fall’s Hurricane Sandy was a huge wake up call.
It decimated the Northeast and knocked out power for weeks.

Mother nature reminded us how fragile our power grid can be.

Get a Portable Generator!
When Sandy blew by, my house went dark for the better part of a week.
The inside temperature dropped into the low forties.

But I was lucky.
My family and I escaped and stayed over with friends who own a portable generator.
It kept their house fully operational.

Sure, there was heat and hot water.
But I quickly turned my attention elsewhere-

  • Internet access- Check.
  • Charging stations for portable devices- All you can eat.
  • TV- Yup!

It was like living in an alternate reality bubble.

The only clue we weren’t in Kansas anymore was the hum of the portable generator sitting in the driveway.

By the end of that week, it was crystal clear what I needed to protect the House of Lester…

It’s taken me five months to follow up on that decision, but I’ve finally taken the first step.

Ring. Ring…
Mr. Electrician, I have a job for you!
So before you can actually use a portable generator to power your house,
you need to do some electrical work.
(which is why it’s not a good idea to delay making the call until
The Weather Channel starts tracking the next planet-killing storm)

There’s the right way and the wrong way to handle the electrical challenge…

Option 1: Reverse the Polarity in Your Warp Drive Engine
Certain intrepid souls with some electrical skills have been known to do their own electrical jury-rigging.
It’s called ‘backfeeding,’ which refers to connecting power from the generator directly back into a house outlet.

This is extremely dangerous, and the web is filled with warnings about how you can electrocute yourself and others down your power grid.

I’m generally not into death and mayhem. And I don’t fancy myself an electrical MacGyver. So I passed on the backfeeding idea.

Option 2- Manual Transfer Switch
Hire an electrician to properly install a manual transfer switch next to your house’s electrical panel.
And that’s what I just did last week!

This additional power panel allows you to safely use and switch between your power sources.

My electrician also ran a weather resistant 30-amp plug to the outside of my house for the generator.
(Safety tip: The portable generator can’t be positioned too close to your house or you’ll risk carbon monoxide poisoning. That would be bad, especially after you went to all that effort not to blow things up.)

The whole shebang is not inexpensive.
I spent over $1,000, doing it the right way with my electrician.
But you do what you’ve got to do.
(The idea is to survive the power outage, right?)

So my house is finally ready for action.
Time to buy the portable generator!

How Much Power Do You Need?
Some portable generators are beefier than others, and yes, you pay more for the extra watts.
How much do you really need?
5,000-6000 watts should be sufficient to handle most of your home’s basic needs.
(My friend’s generator offers a healthy 6,000 running watts.)

Sure, you can permanently install a permanent home standby generator in your backyard, but that kind of project comes at a much higher price point.

Which Brand?
Of course, there are lots of brands to choose between.
Consumer Reports likes Troy-Bilt, Honda and Generac.
My electrician let me know he’s also partial to the Generac line of generators.
So I focused on that company.

Fuel?
There are two main fuel source options to choose between…

Gas
The portable generator market today is flooded with gas generators.
Yet, everyone I’ve talked with agrees gas generators have several major drawbacks.

  1. When the power goes out, lots of gas stations close
  2. The remaining gas stations have long lines
  3. You’ve got to store many gallons in your house to keep the generator going.
  4. Gas is flammable
  5. Gas goes bad quickly

Sign me up?
Not so fast…

Liquid Propane
Yes, it’s like what you use to run your gas grill.
There aren’t many LP portable generators out there, but my informal survey suggests they’re the superior choice.

  1. Easier to store propane tanks long term
  2. LP generators are more energy efficient
  3. It’s safer

My friend is a strong liquid propane proponent and he quickly convinced me of the wisdom of LP.

Thank you, Sensei.

Which Liquid Propane Portable Generator?
You can buy my friend’s Sportsman GEN7000LP portable generator on Amazon for $1,000.
It’s clearly a solid choice.
(6,000 running watts. 7,000 surge watts.)

But after doing my own due diligence, I like the brand-new Generac LP5500.

Generac talks about its ‘breakthrough’ research bringing propane generators to the market.

In 2011, they successfully experimented with their small LP generator (LP3250).
Now they’ve built a larger version, the new LP5500 (model #6001), which will start shipping in the next few weeks.

The Brand New Generac LP5500 Propane Powered Portable Generator

The brand new Generac LP5500 propane powered portable generator is here!

It offers 5,500 running watts and 6,850 starting/surge watts.
The going price around the web is $800.

It’s a relatively small unit with room in the back to hold your LP tank. It has two cushy wheels for easy transport, and it’s powerful enough to play in the big leagues with its competition.

Consumer Reports recently posted a video report from the 2013 Home Show featuring the introduction of the LP5500.
Their video provides a great visual overview of this model.

So even though I normally like to wait to read multiple customer reviews before making a decision, I’ve already got a gut feeling that this yet-to-be-released generator is the one for me.

Where to Buy It?
Again, as of this post, the LP5500 isn’t in stores yet, but websites are already selling it as a backordered item. They suggest they’ll have it sometime in April.

The next super storm could be around the corner, so I’m feeling it’s a wise choice to pull the trigger now and get in line for this one.

My electrician suggested buying from an online company called Norwall.
But they’re not listing my Generac yet.
Bummer.

Another online retailer, Electric Generators Direct has it listed and backordered for amost a month.
I called them to check them out, and the representative I spoke with seemed very nice.
But I don’t know the company.
Next…

Amazon’s got it.
But the page lists a shipping ETA from 1-3 months.
Pass!

Then I noticed this week Home Depot has the LP5500 on its website.
(but not in stores)
Backordered only for another week.
Ships 3-6 days after that.

Everyone knows Home Depot!
BINGO!!

The Right Choice?
So I’m planning on doing the deal with Home Depot.
But before I buy my orange Generac, I thought I’d first share my own research through this post and ask if anyone out there wants to challenge my decision on the LP5500.

Really, it’s less of a decision than an educated guess.

I should also mention a major reason I’m not taking the proven path by going with my friend’s larger Sportsman is I’m simply looking for a more compact unit to store.

Slave to My Machines
So now, I’m moonlighting as my own power company to ensure the survival of my tech beyond a regional or global blackout.

I feel like I’ve entered “The Matrix.”

Maybe I should just connect the plug into the back of my skull to feed my electronics, like in the movie.
No, that won’t work. Not enough juice…
(need a bigger brain)

That’s why the entire human race had to be enslaved to power the endless whims of technology.

Things are much different in real life…
(really?)

I wish you a successful and safe journey in your search for your own watts!

Soon I’ll be able to scream at the top of my lungs…
“I’ve Got the Power!!”

8 Comments
November 4, 2012

Fighting the Digital Darkness after Hurricane Sandy

I was powerless in the days after stormy Sandy. But an army of flashlights wasn’t my only available weapon against the resulting digital darkness.

Hurricane Sandy has brought great pain to millions along the East Coast.
But I was one of the lucky ones.

Living in Connecticut, I consider myself fortunate that the only real inconvenience was the loss of electricity.
The power snapped off at 5:30pm on Monday and my house remained dark until Saturday morning.

Still, my ‘Dark Week’ did create two significant challenges for me.

Meeting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Survival is the foundation of Maslow’s famous pyramid of human needs.
At 5:31pm, this meant finding a way to keep my family warm.

Throughout the week, the nighttime temperature eventually dropped into the forties. And even though our house sufficiently held onto its ambient heat for the first couple of nights, it was clearly going to get pretty nippy as the week wore on.
I wasn’t sure how my toddler would handle these conditions.

Yes, we do have a fireplace, and I had firewood ready to go.
But when faced with uncertain estimates for power restoration, I began to lose my Grizzly Adams’ nerve.

Fortunately, on Halloween night (Dark Night #3), another family we know with a portable generator invited us to stay over at their self-sufficient abode.
(What a treat!)

They are really generous friends, and we spent the remaining Dark Nights with them in toasty conditions. Plus my son had a great multi-day sleep over with their almost three-year-old son. It ended up being their best extended play date ever…!

So the bottom line was… we didn’t suffer… at all.
(I won’t mention the gourmet dinners our hosts cooked up for us.)

That said…

Can I Borrow a Cup of Electrons, Please?
The second challenge Sandy left behind was figuring out how to stay connected with the outside world without electricity at home.

My home telephone line was, of course, dead.
(powered my now very-dark cable modem)

Internet access on my battery driven laptop – Negative.
(See dark cable modem.)

Keeping my portable devices alive meant being able to keep them charged.
And that became an immediate exercise in creativity.

Sure, all the emails came out later in the week from a variety of businesses (ranging from AT&T stores to the local health club) inviting me to come on down and charge up.

But twenty-four hours into the power void, it was clear I would need to quickly find my own battery recharging solutions or go totally dark.

This dilemma preoccupied me during Dark Night #2 as I ate dinner in a local Greek restaurant with my family.

As I looked about the restaurant waiting for my Chicken Souvlaki special, my eyes settled on an inconspicuous power outlet near an empty table.

A light bulb went off!
(Battery backup was still working in my head.)

I jumped back into the car and quickly returned home.
By the time we finished off the baklava dessert, my portable tech was charged up and ready for another day.

AT&T Keeps It Together
I began writing this post on my iPad on the morning of Dark Night #3 after locating more electrical refuge at the public library down the street.
I was happily hunkered down in the magazine section while my iPhone and work BlackBerry were topping themselves off at a wall outlet under the Dewey Decimal System.

But being fully charged wasn’t particularly useful if my devices couldn’t connect to a working network.

Remarkably, AT&T’s wireless network had continued to operate in my area after Sandy’s punch and served as my digital tether to the outside world via my iPhone.

That digital lifeline allowed me to make personal calls/emails/texts to family and friends throughout the Dark Week.

T-Mobile Falls Down
Finding a healthy network for my work BlackBerry was another matter.
The T-Mobile network was down and remained mostly offline throughout the week.

How’s a guy in this digital age supposed to work under these conditions?

Of course I had no Wi-Fi network at home.
No Metro North trains to New York City.
No way to drive into the city without recruiting a small army to join me.
(Mayor Bloomberg mandated three passenger minimums on Dark Day #4.)

And I couldn’t send or receive work emails on my BlackBerry.

Time to get creative…

The Wandering Begins
Fortunately, the gas shortages haven’t extended up into Connecticut.
So I felt comfortable driving about in search of a Wi-Fi connection for my BlackBerry.

As I’ve mentioned, my first stop of the morning had been to the library.
I sat there, all cozy… but not truly sated, because their free Wi-Fi was down.
So there was little point to staying.

While I contemplated my next move, several displaced workers wandered in, gripping their laptops, only to be greeted with the disappointing Wi-Fi news at the main library desk.
They compared war stories before heading out again on their own Wi-Fi quests.
I eavesdropped in the corner.

The consensus pointed to a nearby Panera Bread restaurant as the only place in the area with working Wi-Fi
(Not Starbucks?!)
But its parking lot was impossibly jammed. So I didn’t attempt it.

Optimum WiFi Hotspots to the Rescue!
Then, I remembered Cablevision had made a hefty investment building public Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the area for Optimum customers. So I headed out to the main drag, where I knew there were several strong Optimum WiFi hotspots.
But like an old trail horse, my car directed me back to my now empty Metro North train station’s parking lot.
I successfully logged into the Optimum WiFi hotspot and rejoined the somewhat disjointed email fragments from my similarly affected work colleagues.

Mission accomplished!

But I couldn’t realistically hang out indefinitely in the parking lot or at the Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 1.
(You can only drink so much coffee.)

Oh My! It’s MiFi!!
As I mentioned earlier, our friends had rescued us on Dark Night #3.
And yes, their generator and hospitality had addressed all our needs.
Almost…

Their generator wasn’t solving my quest for Wi-Fi.
That’s okay, because my friend has never encountered a tech challenge he didn’t like.
(Remember he’s the one with the foresight to have a portable generator)

He had also previously purchased a little Wi-Fi mobile hotspot generator, called MiFi.
It‘s shaped like a little hockey puck, and connects to your cellular network, creating its own Wi-Fi bubble.

Bam!!

So I linked my lonely BlackBerry to his magical MiFi, and I was back in business!

Lessons from the Lost Week
I woke up on Dark Day #6 to the welcome news that my house had juice flowing again.

Dark Day, cancelled!

My family and I returned home, thankful that we had a home to return to.
And we resumed our lives, pretty much where we had left off a week earlier.

For me, it was mostly just a lost week. No harm done.
With a bit of perseverance and a little help from my friends, I had even managed to keep my digital life from skipping a beat.

But the experience was also a cautionary reminder of how fragile the normal pathways of our lives can be.

If you take a direct hit from the brutal force of a hurricane, lost digital communications will be the least of your problems.

I feel truly blessed that a little digital wandering is all I’ve had to gripe about during my Lost Week.

To Whom It May Concern:
Thank you.
Really.

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