One very important question still remains in my mind... what should be done if lights dim, flicker, or go off... should main power breaker be shut off ? should gas main be shut off to furnace and hot water tank...or just unplug frig and freezer etc to stop damage from brownouts. Also remember 1970 gas shortages everyone was buying locking gas caps , may not be a bad idea if gas continues to rise.. Also Happy Holidays to everyone, and thank you for all your helpful advice...

-- jim bern (bernj@aol.com), December 03, 1999

Answers

You might check on the Hot Water Heater, cound out mine has no electrical parts whatsover, furnace reliant on Thermostat and control power but there is probably a limit on the gas that can be supplied, not sure but the solenoids that operate the gas supply are more than likely fail shut, power open, if not sue your manufactuer. The flicker will affect adversely a lot of electronics including newer appliances anything particular valuable you might want to trip selective breakers to allow power for lighting and or critical loads. For extended periods of sporadic "dirty" power you might consider unplugging that big screen and viewing a cheapy JIC.

-- squid (Itsdark@down.here), December 03, 1999.

I like the idea of going off the grid. and buying lots of spare bulbs, as these will blow like firecrackers at voltage surges. One idea is to leave only a few bulbs on, and watch them carefully. My limited understanding is that dirty power can easily fry a frig. Any EE's out there to confirm this? One suggestion is to run your PC off a UPS, then recharge the UPS. I plan to run radios and small TV's off lead acid batteries, then recharge the batteries. By solar panels if need be. And besides, who needs a frig in the middle of winter anyway?

-- Les Holladay (holladayl@aol.com), December 03, 1999.

Best advice I've seen on this is to open all but one of the breakers in the home (or apartment). On the single operating circuit leave an incandescent light switched "on" so you will know when power comes back up. Be sure the breakers to your major appliances are open, to avoid any problems brownouts/surges during the recovery phase might cause. I'd include computer equipment in that group too, of course this stuff can simply be unplugged if it's on the circuit you're leaving on.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), December 03, 1999.

Hi Les, I want my fridge in the middle of the winter. It gets up to 85 F days, lows of 58 at night maybe.

squid, I was jus' wondering , why do you need a hot water heater? Why would someone wish to heat hot water? :)

on de rock

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), December 03, 1999.

The problem with locking gas caps is that, if someone wants your gas badly enough they will just punch a hole in your gas tank.

If they siphon it, you're just out the gas. I intend to keep a can of gas inside my truck cap so I can still get home.

If they hole you tank, you've got a problem (although _some_ kinds of epoxy will fix gas leaks).

-- biker (y2kbiker@hotmail.com), December 03, 1999.