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Sooo... its 12F outside, my power is out until tomorrow night...

OffGridForGood said:
Actually a tent is not a bad idea too, set up a tent in a central room away from exterior walls, fill it with your warmest blankets, lay blankets over the tent even, now put the family inside the tent and you will be surprised how warm it gets in there. Fire up some iphones and laptops and plug into your Bluetti and your set for the night.
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Absolutely ? that is the way forward, could be the difference between life and death
 
Keeping each other warm in the condo wasn't my concern.

Keeping my water pipes from bursting was.

I succeeded...



MANY of my neighbors did not.



The road is soaked with water from burst pipes in my neighborhood...

I spent much of yesterday assisting many on patching burst pipes.

The pipes in the walls are handled by the hoa, but in the shed, where the water heater is, isn't covered. Several have added outside spigots unprotected water pipes directly off the main cold line... not sure why they didn't protect the pipe, but there it is...
 
OffGridForGood said:
So people in Condos or Apt buildings:
Power goes out, during winter storm, could be several days before utility electric returns, so what can they do to be prepared?
They are limited on what modifications if any then can make to the electrical service, and 2 days without heat when it is 12F out, is not going to be nice for those 48 hours.
For power, a Jackery or Bluetti will provide some power for phones/comms a bit of light >>Snip

I worked 7 years in the Canadian Arctic, often living in tents, all winter, seen minus 65C and 160km/hr (100mph) Winds, I know a bit about keeping warm.
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Or just move to AZ. ?

We have southern california edison here...they're pretty quick on response. I think a blown transformer would be a few hours.
And our low temp over the weekend was about 50, daytime 81. [shrug]

We were going to move back up to washington, but the current weather conditions are a deal breaker. Maybe we'll just drive the RV there, stay a few weeks in summer, and then come back.

The downside is 30M people in the LA basin. :rolleyes:
 
PreppenWolf said:
If you live in an Apt and are concerned about preparedness, don't spend a lot of money on preps. Make a bugout bag and save the rest of your money until you can afford to move out of there.
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That's a great thought for younger people who are making their way and looking forward to owning a home. But folks like myself, a home owner who has been self-sufficient for a very long time, who are now getting on in age, look forward to getting away from home ownership and going condo. But that doesn't mean I give up my self-sufficiency. I'll still plan and be prepared for these kinds of events.

And my bug out bag is ready and comes with me.... Portable stove and fuel, water filters, tools, a week's worth of meals..... just didn't have room for the kitchen sink...
20220105_143653.jpg
 
Nice. I used to backpack a lot when I was younger. My family each has a backpack hanging upready to go. We use them for camping so the contents are proven and they don't just collect dust.
 
Supervstech said:
Well… here, the condominiums are individual units fed directly by a duke energy substation to each meter. As a licensed electrician, I can do whatever I can pull a permit for on my unit, but it requires a commercial permit because my unit is attached to 8 other units… so, a simple unlicensed homeowner of a condo cannot pull his own permit.
Believe you me, I will be replacing this meter base and panel, or at a minimum replacing the main panel with a modern MAIN BREAKER equipped one. And I will move it off the damn fence line, so it can be serviced!!!
The fence got raised to 6’ last year, and I never looked where they put the line… no WAY it is legal to have it blocking the meter and service panel like this…
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Glad you made it thru the freeze ok, and kudos for helping others. Sounds like a mess, regardless.

I was basing my comments on apartments I've seen before, like my dad's in AR. He had no main breaker, just local circuit breakers. Main breakers and meters for individual apartments were in one location in the Maintenance area.

Maybe different codes and implementations based on location or usage.
 
Rider said:
Main breakers and meters for individual apartments were in one location in the Maintenance area.
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That is pretty typical for apartments I own in California to have each main breaker near the meters. In my case they are accessable from the street, which probably goes back to the days when people actually read the meters instead of Zigbee.
 
Mattb4 said:
Sounds good but other than directing heat it doesn't change anything.
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The BTUs, the math, sure. Right on.

Having grown up in New Hampshire and now living in Vermont 30+ years I’m gonna say it is a fact that radiant or stored-reradiating heat is way warmer feeling and effective than merely pushing around air molecules.

Example: a mobile home at 15*F outside still feels cold at 70* air/thermostat setting while just down the road the couple burning their hearthstone woodstove is watching tv in shirtsleeves at a same 70*F inside. Comfortable.
Thinking of actual situation nearby right now.
 
SamG340 said:
And also water , or the lack of !
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The rains will take care of that.
Why they don't expand reservoir capacity is another CA mystery. When it rains the majority of the water drains into the ocean. Go figure!
And the eco-freaks don't want desalinization plants cuz it super-salts the water at the outlet and the fish don't like it. Kind of like the nuclear plants - the water is too warm. And they don't want the forests touched, so they go up in flames when a fire starts.

Yes, the state is run by idiot people.
 
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How many forums would have a thread created by a prominent moderator/administrator where a member posts an anti-government rant? This forum is a nice place. Or IS it actually a hotbed of ruffled feathers?

Ideally this thread gives a number of options to survive meteorological adversity: air infiltration mitigation, radiant heating, emergency indoor tents…
 
KITROBASKIN said:
How many forums would have a thread created by a prominent moderator/administrator where a member posts an anti-government rant? This forum is a nice place. Or IS it actually a hotbed of ruffled feathers?

Ideally this thread gives a number of options to survive meteorological adversity: air infiltration mitigation, radiant heating, emergency indoor tents…
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Personally, I hope it continues to meander until @Supervstech starts to complain about the heat or the complete magnetic pole reversal kills the internet for good. Whichever comes first.
 
In a single dwelling you can get by with warm clothes a few blankets, access to any water/ice source and a Jet Boil.

Being in an apartment/condo/townhouse complex adds a lot of factors outside of your control.

Are your neighbors morons who think lighting a fire in their unit is a good idea and burns your unit down?

No primary control over main electrical panels or water supply = low options for speedy interventions.

Do burst pipes in other units flood/freeze you out?

Etc, etc....

The most expedient solution to these events for an apartment dweller is to leave the area. Save your money and keep your vehicle tank full. When something bad happens, leave. It's pretty rare to have a natural event where you cannot drive 300mi in a direction and get away from it. Go further, rent a hotel room and have an impromptu vacation.

Come home later and sort out what happened.
 
Rider said:
was basing my comments on apartments I've seen before, like my dad's in AR. He had no main breaker, just local circuit breakers. Main breakers and meters for individual apartments were in one location in the Maintenance area.
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Around here multi family has to have a main breaker for the unit accessible by each dwelling and that is usually done via a 100A panel in the unit. I believe that’s required? I have never worked in any multifamily buildings that didn’t have that, either. Some old units did have their panels in a common area but each one had a main breaker. Dunno. This just surprised me.
 
Rider said:
doesn't mean I give up my self-sufficiency. I'll still plan and be prepared for these kinds of events.
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My situation- and I chose it acknowledging the inconvenience and compromise- is autonomous.

My buddy who is an immediate neighbor said the power went out several times in the wind and 46*F weather that went to 15*F overnight then 7*F over a couple days.

I didn’t notice with batteries. I would have noticed had it been out for 8 or 10 hours, but I could either swap the fla bank to the two-days-worth of lithium batteries or run some charge into the batteries.

I’m at the end of the maintained road a couple miles from a main road, so my bugout is right here. Sometimes I get concerned that I don’t have a bugout bag, or plan. Nevertheless I could pack the jeep in an hour and skedaddle; I’d have to make a quick ‘stop’ close by to collect the stash of cash and the spare plumbum delivery administrators but I think I’d be fine for a week or so and in that time develop a longer term solution.

Don’t know if that’s a bad thing to not be ‘ready’ or not but I don’t feel vulnerable. I do feel vulnerable regarding propane (heat), gasoline, and no long-term food supply sometimes.

Then again maybe I’m prepared more than I think? I keep extra jugs of bleach on hand, water is everywhere here, gleaned ‘paleo’ firewood is obtainable easily, fast food on the hoof is at accessible for barter, my fridge isn’t going to stop if the power goes out, and I probably could eat for a month or more without going to the store if I had to.

Having solar is a comfort.
 
12VoltInstalls said:
Then again maybe I’m prepared more than I think?
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All relative. I get hooked on prepper shows and youtubes, think I'm just not prepared and go nutz for a bit, then look at what I have and compare it to the rest of the world, and consider myself to be in really good shape and reel myself back in. I probably went a little overboard when the pandemic limited store supplies, and there was no beef or chicken available. I'm still using up the stuff I bought and placed in deep freeze from early 2020. Lots of freeze dried foods bought for long term storage. I'll probably be dead before it gets used or expires. :LOL:
 
PreppenWolf said:
The most expedient solution to these events for an apartment dweller is to leave the area.
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likely a poor choice, widespread storm, blackouts, could be trouble getting auto fuel, paying for it with interact down, leave the area to go where? there could be greater danger on the road than staying put. The last thing I would recommend "they" (the typical apt occupant we are speculating about) should do is trying to drive anywhere. In Buffallo this wouldnt be an option for example.
 
12VoltInstalls said:
Around here multi family has to have a main breaker for the unit accessible by each dwelling and that is usually done via a 100A panel in the unit. I believe that’s required? I have never worked in any multifamily buildings that didn’t have that, either. Some old units did have their panels in a common area but each one had a main breaker. Dunno. This just surprised me.
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Nope... unless the place is built after 2017 codes, the unit must have no more than 6 throws to turn off all power to the unit. A single main disconnect is not required.
So if the place has an outdoor main panel with no more than 6 breakers in it, and a sub panel inside controlled by it, it meets code.
 
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