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4 legged storm refuges

2K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  sandypaws 
#1 ·
We were hit hard by this last ice storm. We have been without power for over 24 hours now, and don't expect that ours will return until Sunday. We are always the last to get power back. After Hurricane Sandy caused us to lose power for more than a week, we put in a natural gas run automatic generator that runs most of the house. We just lose power way too often and for days or a week at a time. So, this time, we were able to chip in and help out some friends and family. Mom and Dad moved into a hotel and we took their hav, Bacca with us. My friend Barbara also moved into a hotel, so we have her 2 havs, Wendy and Koda. I think we have one more visitor coming today if they don't get power back. Here are some of our happy/warm friends. Stay safe and warm everyone!
 

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#2 ·
Sounds like you're making the best of a bad situation by rescuing all of those Havs. The pictures of your new pack are great. Isn't the generator wonderful. We put one of those in a few years back and have used it a handful of times but worth every penny. When we lose power, we lose water as well as we have a private well run by electricity. Can't do without water for long.
 
#6 ·
Sounds like a wonderful way to weather the storm's aftermath! :)

I'm interested in the gas-powered generator. We have a gasoline powered Honda generator, which definitely works, but, of course, requires regular re-filling. We were considering putting in this central switching station, which would allow us to switch it from the sump pumps to the furnace (that's natural gas, but needs electricity for the blower) to the refrigerator in turns. That would keep us indoors except for refilling the gasoline. The unit costs about $1,000 installed. But since we have gas coming into the house anyway, a gas powered generator sounds wonderful!!! How much does such an installation cost?
 
#10 ·
Sounds like a wonderful way to weather the storm's aftermath! :)

I'm interested in the gas-powered generator. We have a gasoline powered Honda generator, which definitely works, but, of course, requires regular re-filling. We were considering putting in this central switching station, which would allow us to switch it from the sump pumps to the furnace (that's natural gas, but needs electricity for the blower) to the refrigerator in turns. That would keep us indoors except for refilling the gasoline. The unit costs about $1,000 installed. But since we have gas coming into the house anyway, a gas powered generator sounds wonderful!!! How much does such an installation cost?
Karen, this may help you, as you are familiar with our home which has 7 rooms and 3 baths on 2 levels. We put in a generator a few years ago after one of our major blackouts. The unit is a gas powered 10kw Generac generator and does basically our whole house consisting of all the usual major and small appliances, internet and cable (if the cable company is not down, of course), water as we would lose that if the power went out because of our private well which is pumped by electricity, as well as heat, hot water and AC. the only thing we eliminated was the upstairs AC, as that area is for guests. (They won't stay as long that way.......kidding). When the power goes out, we count to 20 and everything is back up and running. The unit also tests itself once a week by running for 12 minutes and we have a contract for yearly maintenance. The cost, without the yearly contract, was $6500 to install and worth every penny, just for peace of mind. Hope that helps.
 
#9 ·
We are having tons of fun here! We added one more to the party late this afternoon. I will have to take a picture of Sammy. She is a very sweet bichon/ shih tzu mix. We are up to a house of 9 now. I am going to take Bacca back to Mom's tonight (she got her power back), so we will be at 8. Good times.

Karen, the natural gas generator we have is a Generac. It is a 7 kw and takes care of our heater, hot water heater, cable, internet, family room, kitchen, 2 refrigerators, appliances, 3 of our bathrooms, etc. We didn't do the bedrooms or the back part of our house. We also didn't do air conditioning as it would require a much larger generator. It was an expensive investment. It was around $6000 investment (we already have natural gas). But, it switches itself right on when the power goes out and runs everything we need. After the brutal experiences we had over the last few years with our loss of power, it is well worth it not to have to move out with all the dogs, throw away our food from refrigerator and freezers, etc. I actually feel a little guilty as my entire neighborhood is in the dark right now and we are nice and cozy.
 
#11 ·
Thanks, Mary and Karen. Interesting to know you both have the same kind! I'll definitely talk to my husband about it.

We're in a funny situation here. We are between the two fire stations for the town, so if whole areas are out, we tend to be one of the first sections they get back up and running. BUT, we have a LONG driveway, and are set WAY back from the street. So if it's the power lines to our HOUSE that are affected, we are the LAST on the list to get fixed, because they work to get larger groups of homes up before single houses.

So in general, over 25 years now, we've only been out for a prolonged period (more than a few hours) less than a handful of times. OTOH, when we ARE out for a long time, if it's a wet, rain-type storm, we can end up with our basement flooded, because we depend on sump pumps. Our basement isn't finished (because of that!!!) and we try to keep most things a few inches off the floor. But we've had a couple of foot-deep floods that probably cost us close to the $6000 in damages. I'll talk to Dave and see what he thinks!
 
#12 ·
We are still having fun here

There are still lots of homes without power, and still no school! I am on snowday number 8, which means makeup day #8. We we keep saying we going to be watching 4th of July fireworks at school. Uggh.

We have had a few friends leave when power returned. Mom got power back, so Bacca went home. We had a bichon/shih tsu mix (Sam) come yesterday. They got power back this morning, so she went home. Oliver (a cavalier / bichon mix) arrived today since they have not gotten power back yet. Did I mention he is a 3 month old puppy? Now the fun really begins here! So, we are a revolving door of 4 legged refuges.

Here are a few more of our visitors.
 

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#13 ·
Boy, Karen, you are a brave one entertaining all of those fuzzy refugees including a puppy, but you must be happy to be able to do it. For a split second I, too, felt guilty when my neighbors were in the dark and cold, but it didn't last too long.
 
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