I'm saving 100% on utilities- AGAIN

[Sequoia]

Last November, a 4 1/2 day power outage with below freezing temps knocked my car wash pretty hard. That's when I discovered the hazards of a normally closed weep solenoid.

Here we go again-- I am now into "day 3" of the current outage with no forecast on power restoration. (But now I have a normally open weep solenoid.) I am again burning a tank top propane heater in the equipment room to prevent freeze up.

I can't buy the ventless propane heaters since they are apparently illegal here in CA. What other choices do I have to keep my equipment room from freezing? It would have to work off of propane solely since there is no power.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

I'd probably stick with the propane tank tops like you have, cheap and easy. Dont forget that burning propane puts a lot of moisture into the air, so you might need to ventilate after the power comes back on.
Kerosene heater is a good option too; less moisture issues.

Not a happy situation, I hope you get power back quickly.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

With long outages---I would get one of these and have the self serve up and running and this in the back of equip. room all nice and warm . Put the exhaust thru the wall and the intake also. Make some money on those long outages, it should pay for itself in 3-4 outages.

http://www.amazon.com/Generac-5875-...sr_1_8?s=garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1298158087&sr=1-8

Probably need a larger one to get 3 phase or a converter.. We had a power outage for 8 hours last saturday. It had 2 of my washes down, and 18K others. A couple restaurants in area had backup, and were doin awesome business.

 

[bigleo48]

Whale,

Dealing and switching with a three phase service is not an easy thing, so these are not appropriate in that case.

Also, do not underestimate the cost of maintaining these things if you want them to work when the power goes out.

We had power go out in this area for 8 days once with a big ice storm. It seems the last thing people are interested in is washing their cars.

 

[Sequoia]

Power

An oddity of my car wash is that it has single-phase power. In my market, there would be little car washing during a power outage as it usually is accompanied by a heavy dump of snow.

What really bugs me is that I have a main power transmission line on my property, but I am not connected to that. Many of my neighbors never even lost power, but I am in day 3 of the outage, headed into day 4 now.

I wonder if I could convince the utility to re-hook me up like the neighbors are?

 

[Randy]

The Natural gas/Propane ventless heaters aren’t legal in the state I live in either but that didn’t stop me from not putting one in. I think the tank Top Propane heaters are more dangerous than the ventless heaters.

 

[pitzerwm]

That main power line going by is probably 100KVAC, goes to the substation first. No idea why your neighbors have power and you don't. Unless, they are being feed from a transformer and they are the end of the run, and you are being feed from the other direction.

 

[2Biz]

Edted to add disclaimer. Do not attempt wiring a generator up to your circuit panel if you don't know what yoiu are doing. If not installed correctly, serious injury to yourself or a linesman can result....

Buy a furnace like this one:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200307959_200307959

Change your weep to run on 110v. Buy you a cheap 2hp 110v generator to run both when the power goes out. Or get a bigger gen and run floor heat too. You just have to know what your load is and manage it through your breaker box. Also need to turn off main to keep from backfeeding or put in one of these UL listed panel plates.
http://www.nooutage.com/interlock_kits.htm

I have one of these on my house panel. Works great. The main thing is to manage load so you don't overload your gen. Takes a little upfront calculations to know what you need. I'm going to put in a seperate 220v trough heater so I don't have to run my boiler. If I have a power outage, a 5000w gen is all I need to keep everything from freezing...If all I need is to run my 2hp gen to run weep and furnace, it will only cost about $10 a day to keep heat in the equiproom. If I need to run trough heat, I will use my 5000k gen which will cost about $25 a day. Cheap insurance from power outages and freeze ups...

 

[2Biz]

BTW They sell those heaters in Propane too. They are on sale for $399 right now from Northern Tool. I just bought one to replace my 40 year old unit...

 

[Greg Pack]

I have had those ventless gas heaters at all my washes for years with no issues. You can't buy them at a local store. but I'm sure you could find one mail order.

 

[bigleo48]

An oddity of my car wash is that it has single-phase power. In my market, there would be little car washing during a power outage as it usually is accompanied by a heavy dump of snow.

What really bugs me is that I have a main power transmission line on my property, but I am not connected to that. Many of my neighbors never even lost power, but I am in day 3 of the outage, headed into day 4 now.

I wonder if I could convince the utility to re-hook me up like the neighbors are?

Well there lies the real problem...the power company and the existing plant. Can you follow back the service to where the problem is? It can be tricky as power is not like phone or cable...as a grid. But shouldn't be too hard.

I would also look into the service level agreement in your service contract. 4 days seems totally unacceptable. Then I would start working the complaints/ombudsman, the paper (small business put out of business by big bad power company), etc Might even consider small claims court...might not have a case, but it might get them to pay attention.

So understand the problem and work whatever way to get it resolved once and for all.

 

[2Biz]

I have had those ventless gas heaters at all my washes for years with no issues. You can't buy them at a local store. but I'm sure you could find one mail order.

I have a three burner ventless in my family room at home we use almost daily in the winter to break the chill. We like to keep that room a bit warmer than the rest of the house. That would be the minimum I would have in the equipment room and probably the most simple. You don't need electricity and runs on pennies a day. Well maybe a few dollars! If you ordered one mail order, who would know you have it installed. Guess it might be an insurance issue. Might check with them first...

 

[Sequoia]

Result

Well into day 3 with no power, I decided to head to the wash to see what's up. Plus the weather had broke-- mostly.

I got to the wash, and to my surprise found my incoming electrical service wire completely disconnected from the pole and rolled up in a ball next to the equipment room. Although I knew it wasn't a true hazard, I called the utility emergency number and reported a line down and requested immediate assistance. Sure enough, about 20 mins later a truck rolled in, and here is what happened:

Me: Hey, I am out of power, and I don't even have an incoming wire either!

Utility: Oh, wow, did we forget to hook you back up? We fixed the line up on the pole two days ago, and that's when we did a temporary unhook on your service. I can't believe we drove away and forgot to hook you back up. Sorry!

Now, you can imagine my thoughts at that point. And what I wanted to say. But, lucky for him, I was packing that day-- and I don't confront or argue with others if I am packing. So, I just smiled and said "thank you." Grrr.

That Mr. Heater unit looks good - I think I might order one.

 

[cantbreak80]

I'd suggest you consider heater that requires no electrical power to operate...such as Mr. Heater's MH40LP

 

[2Biz]

I'd suggest you consider heater that requires no electrical power to operate...such as Mr. Heater's MH40LP

Great idea, but found this in the ad:

Provides plenty of heat even during power outages — requires no electricity. Thermostat is included for comfort control. For indoor use within the following clearance to combustibles measurements: 34in. from ceiling, 30in. from sides of heater, 30in. from back and 68in. from the base. Recommended for buildings with 12ft. to 15ft. ceilings. AGA design certified. U.S.A.

You'll need to make sure you have adequate clearance for something like this. Something to consider....

 

[Waxman]

Well into day 3 with no power, I decided to head to the wash to see what's up. Plus the weather had broke-- mostly.

I got to the wash, and to my surprise found my incoming electrical service wire completely disconnected from the pole and rolled up in a ball next to the equipment room. Although I knew it wasn't a true hazard, I called the utility emergency number and reported a line down and requested immediate assistance. Sure enough, about 20 mins later a truck rolled in, and here is what happened:

Me: Hey, I am out of power, and I don't even have an incoming wire either!

Utility: Oh, wow, did we forget to hook you back up? We fixed the line up on the pole two days ago, and that's when we did a temporary unhook on your service. I can't believe we drove away and forgot to hook you back up. Sorry!

Now, you can imagine my thoughts at that point. And what I wanted to say. But, lucky for him, I was packing that day-- and I don't confront or argue with others if I am packing. So, I just smiled and said "thank you." Grrr.

That Mr. Heater unit looks good - I think I might order one.

I'd look into some compensation for lost business.

 

[bigleo48]

Well into day 3 with no power, I decided to head to the wash to see what's up. Plus the weather had broke-- mostly.

I got to the wash, and to my surprise found my incoming electrical service wire completely disconnected from the pole and rolled up in a ball next to the equipment room. Although I knew it wasn't a true hazard, I called the utility emergency number and reported a line down and requested immediate assistance. Sure enough, about 20 mins later a truck rolled in, and here is what happened:

Me: Hey, I am out of power, and I don't even have an incoming wire either!

Utility: Oh, wow, did we forget to hook you back up? We fixed the line up on the pole two days ago, and that's when we did a temporary unhook on your service. I can't believe we drove away and forgot to hook you back up. Sorry!

Now, you can imagine my thoughts at that point. And what I wanted to say. But, lucky for him, I was packing that day-- and I don't confront or argue with others if I am packing. So, I just smiled and said "thank you." Grrr.

That Mr. Heater unit looks good - I think I might order one.

Do they not use fuses in you part of the world!?! I mean here, they just pop the fuse from the primary that feeds the transformer...or disconnect at the meter panel. Why physically remove the wires from the pole and curl it up on the ground? The fuse is there to protect the wire (and transformer)!

There is so much wrong with this, I don't know where to start.

Big

 

[scout]

check out re-verber-ray. this unit does not require any power and works with natural gas. It is a great heater for the entire room. Super wash went from hot water heat to this when they lost power at 1 location and the place froze up 100%.

 

[Jim Caudill]

My Re-verber-Ray heater requires electricity for the fan and the ignition system as well as the thermostat.

 

[scout]

These do not use power at all---no blower and controls work off mini volt thermocouple-----they really throw off heat--

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