Hurricane Irma

[fan-of-fans]

We got our power back on yesterday from Irma. Our street actually got it on Monday but the storm knocked down our weatherhead and broke the meter box off the side of the house, so we had to have a new one installed before they could reconnect it.

Fortunately no damage to the house except a few shingles off. We did have one tree down and some big limbs.

I was surprised how fast the power came back. We had stores and restaurants opening last Friday and traffic lights working again, etc within a few days. After Charley it was two weeks I think before we had power. A lot of linemen and tree trimmers came from out of state and worked hard. Our power company provided updates and videos every evening about where they were working and who was getting power and how long it would be for each area.

After a couple of days I could get online with my phone at home but it was slow going.

We did have water thankfully, the good thing was the last few days we were out, it was windy so it did not get as hot as the first few days. I really thought about getting a small air conditioner to run with a generator if we have another storm. I think they have small 110V versions.

Some of our neighbors have the whole house generators but two of them actually did not work for some reason.

We had a pretty nice Honda generator we were using to keep the freezer and fridge cold. I worried it might cause damage to the circuit boards but I noticed the meter on it was very steady at 110 V.

 

[askolover]

Glad your house is ok!  You can get small AC's from 5000Btuh up to 15,000Btuh in 110V.  I have a 5K in my sleep bedroom and we have an 8k in the other bedroom so as not to have to cool the entire house down during sleeping hours which for me is daytime.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I had forgotten to mention that my house has awning style windows, so a window unit can't really be installed without modifying the window which I'd like to avoid. I have seen the portable units on wheels that sit on the floor but I'm not sure if they have to be vented or not, I know the older ones vented with a dryer tube style vent.

 

[askolover]

I've seen those too and have run across some in use while shopping in the NOLA French Quarter...they run the hose out the front door LOL.  I've never really considered one myself though since they are significantly more expensive.

 

[foraloysius]

I have two portable airconditioners. One with one hose, one with two hoses. The models with two hose are a bit more efficient because it uses air from outside to cool the condensor. A bit extra BTU might compensate for that. But they are not on par with window airconditioners. They are even noisier and less efficient. We don't have windows that can accomodate window airconditioners so I'm kind of stuck with them. In this climate it's not a problem, this year I actually didn't use them at all.

Split airconditioning systems have become popular here. They are efficient and rather silent.

 

[maytag85]

I have a Kenmore window air conditioner that is 5,300 btu, and does a good job at keeping my room cool. My room in the house in the summer is the hottest room in the house! If the temperature is set to 72F, it is still 78F in my room, and that is when I put the Kenmore window air conditioner in the window.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Too bad the portable units cost so much. I think I have seen the window units as low as $120. I saw some small generators the other day for $99 that only have one outlet and would be perfect to run a small a/c. They use little gas too and are pretty quiet, I think.