Saturday, February 25, 2017

Editor's Note

Lost power for about 10 hours. (bad weather)
Just restored.
The joys of spending weekends at the chalet.
Catching up on the news and email.
Blogging will return within the hour.

6 comments:

  1. I moved my generator to the GF's home in Ontario before winter. I figured she needed it more than I .... sighhh ... big mistake.

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    1. The trick is you need one for each home.

      The combination of "weird weather" and an aging grid, means that power outages in many places will become more common and often last longer.

      Btw, it's a good idea to have enough fuel safely stored to run the genny for at least a week.

      Higher end ones like the Generac Series can be permently installed, tapped into the Natural Gas or propane, have an automatic start, even be custom wired/programmed to keep certain circuits ( fridge, freezer, furnace) constantly live.

      Delete
  2. Thank you for your input Jay.
    We are actually very lucky in Quebec. They modernised the entire power grid after the ice storm 20 years ago. The infrastructure here is very good .... power failures in the city almost never happen .... but being in the country makes us more vulnerable .... as was the case today. I am more worried about the GF. Ontario's Hydro One's infrastructure is beset with power failures all the time (at least where she is in Ontario). And to top it all of .... she pays 4x what I pay .... but it is their infrastructure that needs upgrading. Go figure. And yes .... she is very happy with the generator that she now has (possession is 99% ownership), while I am now stuck getting a new one for myself in the coming weeks.
    :(
    Again .... go figure.
    On the bright note .... she, her daughter, her rottie, and my mom are with me here. So at least they are suffering with me.
    :)

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    Replies
    1. "Ontario's Hydro One's infrastructure is beset with power failures all the time (at least where she is in Ontario). And to top it all of .... she pays 4x what I pay .... but it is their infrastructure that needs upgrading. Go figure. "

      http://qspace.library.queensu.ca/jspui/bitstream/handle/1974/663/Martin_Charles_FJ_200708_PhD.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

      It's was all predictable.

      In 10-20 years, the Province will have to turn Ontario Hydro back into a monolithic Crown Corporation, the "privatise, privatise" Boomer Generation CEO's will be dead, the ratepayer will still be hosed for at least a decade getting Ontario Hydro solvent,

      Good time to set up for off-grid solar, rates arn't going to get any cheaper.

      Delete
  3. Jay. The GF is moving to Kingston later this year (her daughter has been accepted by Queens University) and I will probably be spending half of my time there. Our priority after getting a place is to get off the grid ASAP. As for my places in Quebec .... the rates and reliability of Hydro Quebec does not make it economical for me to get off the grid. Same in Russia .... energy is reliable and cheap.

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