We’re located in that “between New Mexico and Michigan” swath of folks enduring high wind events. Nearly half a million people are without power. But, because of previous bad experiences, we are unscathed.
Years ago, in a rental in Two Rock, a transformer blew during a freak winter storm. Our farm (and the surrounding rural area) lost power. For. A. Week.
No power meant no heat. It was January–and even though it was in California, it was cold. I spent a week walking around wrapped in blankets. At least I had oil lamps–so I didn’t have to freeze in the dark.
I vowed, “Never again.”
Shortly after we moved here–when we were still living in a rental, we lost power for five days. It only served to strengthen my resolve.
So, here in Michigan, we built with an eye towards weather autonomy. Heating with wood was a given–the fuel was free, and didn’t rely on the grid. We knew that our area would likely be hit with weather that would take out the power–ice storms, downed trees, there are a dozen ways you can find yourself in the dark. We bought a generator for the build (since building, ground-up often means you start before the site is served with power.) In wiring the house, Rick set it up with a manual transfer switch that would let us power the house with the generator.
The winds took our our power last night. In the morning, Rick went out to the barn, fired up the generator, and threw the transfer switch. And then I made coffee, as though nothing were amiss.
We may get power back tonight, surely by tomorrow. But in the interim, we are warm, and well lit. We can see by the dim light in their windows that our neighbors are not so lucky. Even though this has been a warm storm, I hope for them that they don’t need power for heat. I can’t get those images of last winter’s Texas freeze out of my head.
We’re snug and cozy. We’re having lasagna for dinner
Rick is feeling smug. He figured it out and wired it up. It works exactly as planned. And that’s why you can read this story today
tworockchronicles 
I would be smug too! Your set up as I’ve mentioned before is on my “list” of what I want to do w/ this property. That Lasagna would have tasted oh, so fine.
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Glad your generator worked well. Everywhere now seems liable to lose power. We at least have our wood fire if not a generator. Large parts of Scotland were out of power a few weeks ago and I cannot imagine how people in apartments coped for days with no power or heating. Amelia
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Everything worked well. We still need to do some fancy electrical (a stepped down transformer) for the well. Needless to say, I think that that is coming soon. Other than that, we are set to endure the coming weather weirdnesses.
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I always appreciate the absolute quiet when the hydro goes down. One doesn’t realize the sheer amount of background noise that electricity creates – fridge, freezers, ceiling fan, hot water tank….
I always find myself taking a deep breath and de-stressing. I light a lamp, throw more wood on the stove and just….sit.
Our generator runs the barn, but unless we have say baby chicks under a heat lamp, or need to the water system to refill for the cows, or flip the switch on the well to fill the house cistern, it just sits there as quiet as the rest of the place. I sometimes think I was born in the wrong era.
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With the exception of internet news and blogging, I know I’m in the wrong era. I, too, like the quiet. We’d be fine without the generator–except every now and again we need water–and I’d hate to lose the food in the freezer. But we’re (just now) finishing the work on the root cellar–so we are seriously headed for the nineteenth century.
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Oh I would love a root cellar – unfortunately our ground water level makes that impossible. When we moved here 20 years ago we dug an outhouse, down about 8’feet. A week later it was full of water. Bought a massive chunk of culvert and had a guy weld steel plate to one end, dropped it into a new hole and discovered he was a lousy welder. It too is full of water. I’ve sealed the top – always worry a child will fall into it.
Our freezers are in a building attached to the barn – so the generator will run them. We went without a water system in the house for four years…I don’t miss that work, but I could survive again. With the climate acting up worse year by year, it’s good to be prepared.
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