Non-football related stuff that really makes your day

[nhwbrooklyn]

"Most grocery stores however, do not have back ups but (you did not hear this from me.......) they have a tendency to overstate their losses."
-------------------When we had the Brown out a few years back I had just left work and was in Meijers picking up a few things when the power went out. I was astonished to find out they did not have a back up generator but hey if you can just claim all your loses and then some to the insurance company why be responsible and have a generator. After leaving the store it was all over the radio stations and people were panicking. I went back to work to see if I could be of assistance but everything was under control. We actually received several letters of thanks from city residents and a commendation from the City Administrator. The City of Ann Arbor never went without water. That was not true of all communities.

GO LIONS "11" !

Well at least Meijer is a big entity with a reputation to uphold. In New York, after that big black out, I didn't buy milk or meat for a month cause there is little accountability for the smaller independent grocery stores they got. I wouldn't doubt most of them claimed total losses and then restocked milk and meat that had been warm for hours if not longer.

[Malto Marko]

With respect to what they do, if they lose power and their coolers go above a certain temperature for a certain amount of time (don't hold me to this but it is something like 60 degrees for 30 minutes) they are required to remove all of the items from the shelf and dispose of them. They can not be sold.

When cleaning out coolers of the sizes they have and the number they have, the dollar amounts are staggering.

There is a valid question as to whether back up gennies are cost effective.

The amount of juice their coolers pull, they would need a hell of a big backup setup to not skip a beat.

[mason reese]

Well at least Meijer is a big entity with a reputation to uphold. In New York, after that big black out, I didn't buy milk or meat for a month cause there is little accountability for the smaller independent grocery stores they got. I wouldn't doubt most of them claimed total losses and then restocked milk and meat that had been warm for hours if not longer.

For a month? That cracks me up for some reason. I'm pretty sure all those small markets made enough cash by gouging people on beer and water prices to make up for any lost inventory.

[nhwbrooklyn]

For a month? That cracks me up for some reason. I'm pretty sure all those small markets made enough cash by gouging people on beer and water prices to make up for any lost inventory.

For what ever reason milk goes bad in New York City like twice as fast (I'm guessing it doesn't stay as cool when being distributed to all the small corner stores or something).. so I was already very wary

[DanO]

"There is a valid question as to whether back up gennies are cost effective."
---------------------------------In retrospect it may not. You have the initial cost of the unit, Staff training in it's operation, diesel fuel to run it, and the unit needs to be run monthly for exercise, which is a monthly cost in fuel. Oil changes, antifreeze changes, oil and air filter changes, etc along with other mechanical defects/wearouts are all costly.

GO LIONS "11" !

[Tony G]

You can get them that run on propane or natural gas. No training needed, it automatically throws over in event of loss of power and shuts down on return of power. They also do their own autostarts for testing. Maintenance is inexpensive ans easily within the reach of someone that understands the difference between a screwdriver and a wrench.

[Malto Marko]

You can get them that run on propane or natural gas. No training needed, it automatically throws over in event of loss of power and shuts down on return of power. They also do their own autostarts for testing. Maintenance is inexpensive ans easily within the reach of someone that understands the difference between a screwdriver and a wrench.

All true. However, I believe the biggest obstical is purchasing and installation costs as well as a suitable site to house the battery of units needed. Corporate plans when building new sites does not take into consideration the space the gennies would take up and the proximity to the building.

.......of course that does not mean future building could not include such plans but, for whatever reason, the Management teams have not deemed backup power source to be vital to their operation. Just an unnecessary expense and a gamble that the cost will actually save money.

After all they are not paying for the spoiled food, just insurance premiums and I don't think the savings in premiums for those who have the backups offset the cost of hardware, installation and maintenance.

[DanO]

We have one generator that runs on diesel fuel and one that runs on natural gas. The question is do they make the ones you're talking about in a sufficient size for what they need Tony. I know they have suck devices for small purposes.

GO LIONS "11" !

[Malto Marko]

I know they have suck devices for small purposes.

GO LIONS "11" !

That runs on natural gas or propane?

Where do I find one?

I need a new suck device.

[CGVT]

You can get them that run on propane or natural gas. No training needed, it automatically throws over in event of loss of power and shuts down on return of power. They also do their own autostarts for testing. Maintenance is inexpensive ans easily within the reach of someone that understands the difference between a screwdriver and a wrench.

We have one generator that runs on diesel fuel and one that runs on natural gas. The question is do they make the ones you're talking about in a sufficient size for what they need Tony. I know they have suck devices for small purposes.

GO LIONS "11" !

Tony is correct. The way to go is a unit that runs on propane. Gas or diesel is dependant on being able to get fuel. Propane or natural gas are much more efficient.

If I had the money, (5k give or take) I would put one with a propane tank in at my house to protect against power outages in hurricane season.

Having a small gas generator is pretty much useless. They go through fuel way too fast and in a situation where eveyone's power is out, you can't get gas (Ivan, Dennis,Cindy and Katrina taught me this...)

[Tony G]

35,000 watt ujnitfor 10K http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...0-49-999-watts

[CGVT]

For my home I would get something much smaller and only wire the necessities to it. If I didn't wire the entire house, it would be quite a bit cheaper. ( I checked into it once) 10k+ is a lot of coin...

[Tony G]

That was from their commercial section. They have a nice 12000 watt unit that should more than power most residential homes

[MiamiTreo3]

That runs on natural gas or propane?

Where do I find one?

I need a new suck device.

Not sure about running on it but I am sure DanO produces a lot of natural gas!

[YT]

Not sure about running on it but I am sure DanO produces a lot of natural gas!

Dano also pulls quite the vacuum when sucking