PSA: Cold Snap This/Next Week

this summed it up pretty well

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stealing…

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Our furnace has been running exactly this way for the past two days. Honda EU2000i runs just about 11 hours on a full tank when supporting only this load, so I can go to bed without concern.

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I just got power back about 30 minutes ago from when it went off at 8am Monday morning.

It was alot of fun standing at the only Family Dollar that I could find in my area that was open, showing people how to make an isopropyl alcohol heater / stove.

When the store manager figured out what I was doing, he asked me what materials I was using then went in the back and brought all of what he could find upfront so I could give the people as I explained how to make them.

I honestly never thought that cold weather survival training from the military would ever come in to play in Texas, lol!

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So how do you make an isopropyl stove

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  1. Clean 1qt paint can/bene casa oil strainer (family dollar $5)
  2. 1 Roll of toilet paper. (4 pack $1 family dollar)
  3. Bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol. (16oz $1 family dollar)
  4. Matches, lighter or butane torch, whatever you have available.

Take the toilet paper and remove the cardboard insert.

Place/stuff into the paint can/oil strainer

Slowly pour the isopropyl alcohol over to soak the toilet paper.

Light it up.

It will burn (clean, carbon monoxide free) for 1.5 - 2hrs.
Hot enough to cook over but that’s limited.

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Gee, thanks. Now there is going to be a run on toilet paper again…

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Oops.
Oh well…what ever it takes to survive, not be comfortable.

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I’ve done the beverage can stove before. Not during something like this though.

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Yup.
Comes in handy sometimes.

Back when I was a child, we learned to make this thing called a Buddy Burner for cooking. Unfortunately, it required a large steel coffee can. Either 2 lb or 5 lb size – I don’t remember which. And, while the large family/industrial size veggie can would work, most of us don’t buy those.

I see you have it in a cooker…If you had a couple more of the TP burners going, shut the lid (keeping enough air vents/air flow open), would it heat the cooker enough so it acted kinda like a radiant heater?

I would think that if there was 3 or 4 going at a time that it most likely would.

Dang, has iso finally come down in price that much? About time, tbh. I honestly haven’t even looked in months. Had enough at home already to where I was never short, knock on wood.

Another solution (not that we seem to need it anymore), no iso required and only a little prep work with another heat source needed ahead of time: melt the wax out of one of those cheap grocery-store candles in glass (or get you another wax source and a soup can, or whatever), stuff the thing with cardboard (either vertical cardboard strips or rolled-up cardboard inserted edge-first – think of candle wicks, except you’re making them take up the entire exposed cross-section of the container), pour the wax back in, light. You may not believe it, but holy smokes is it certainly hot enough to cook over. Also lasts a damn sight longer than an alcohol wick… though probably not as long as Sterno gel. You can google directions on making that stuff out of chalk or antacids, some vinegar and some coffee filters along with the above iso, if you’re really feeling adventurous.

(The “huge cardboard wick” method is almost certainly not as CO-friendly as iso, sadly – you’re burning processed wood pulp, so that’s of course carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, usually bit of formaldehyde… same as burning just about any other burnable organic substances. That’s why fireplaces are supposed to vent outside, and you aren’t supposed to make campfires indoors. That’s my CYA; I crack a window and I’m fine with it but you judge your risk your way. If you go for a gas mask any time you burn toast, this isn’t the method for you. Then again, you may want to reconsider burning anything at that point.)

Raise your hand if you’re in the crack pipe club! Oh cracked pipe club. Shoot I ordered a shirt that said member of the crack pipe club…not a good one to wear to PTSA meetings.

Kenneth, Ayden and I are doing fine. We are insured, safe, and warm. We are in an extended stay hotel for now with free laundry (which is honestly a delightful little perk). Very very thankful for friends who helped us with the initial shock of this punch in the dickhole. Now we’re playing the long game of rebuilding and trying to figure out what exactly got ruined in our garage of wonder.

More info for your pie hole so you can say you know someone who…: a pipe on an external wall was capped and burst after three days of no power. It was covered with a cabinet and likely the old dishwasher hookup. Water was burst for probably 3-4 hours. We had no idea. Inspections on the pool and spa are coming but the spa is toast for sure. RIP. Very thankful for @Adam_Oas who once again latched up his tool belt to bail me out of yet another life mess and @kpblitzen42 who’s been the calmest person ever per his norm. Smoke 'em if you got 'em because this came at us like a…well like a bust pipe.

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Some dumbass thought that putting water heaters in attics was a great idea. We exchanged it for a tankless a while back thinking that is was better not to be storing gallons of water in the attic. Evidently that was a mistake because tankless water heater seemed to fail more than regular ones. Evidently there is a shortage of them now. After several rounds of 8 hours powerless with 30 minutes of power one pipe below completely apart and another burst. The coil inside the tankless sprung a leak as well. Fortunately I heard the popping noise and after some thought was able to get into the attic to check and then run out and shut off water. Water came into the guest bathroom, laundry room, and out from under the tile on our fireplace. Not much damage to see but we are more worried about the damage that might have occurred in the walls. Our insurance adjuster is in North Carolina so not sure how she plans on inspecting the house. Remediation people will call me in four days and see if they can help. We still have no hot water but the plumber is returning coming tomorrow hopefully with the water heater to install it and replace all the copper pipes in the attic with PEX. We have just taken bucket bathes and a laundry service. Still laying low since we are both high risk for COVID. We are thankful it could have been much worse.

In our case the remediation company took photos and sent them to the adjuster who just said, yep, that looks like water damage and then approved what they sent along. Remember that you can choose your remediation company. We went with who the insurance suggested and it was a “just OK” idea. We should have shopped around a bit (though our flood was back in August so there was more availability of companies at the time).

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On the upside, shutting off the water led to a relatively immediate cessation, as opposed to having to helplessly watch 50 or more gallons CONTINUE dumping out with a tanked version…so I think you were right to think the tankless was the better choice.

I’m feeling lucky in all this. The tankless in my garage made it through (as far as I know right now) even though water in bottles in the garage froze. So sorry you guys (and the myriad others NOT on Talk) have had such troubles to overcome. Hang in there. We’ll be cursing the heat soon enough…

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The “meeting” with insurance adjuster was actually fascinating. He did a video conference and said: stand in that corner and pan left ok now pan right, now get a close up of x,y,z. We went around to all the rooms in the house and did the same dance - in and out in 35 minutes.
I need to remeasure all my rooms for him and send him all that info so he can see the scale. Basically documenting the damage with his virtual eyes from six states away. He didn’t really seem to care about the details - just getting a scope of the damage. I’m sure we will have more sharing to come via pictures and who knows what.

I feel so terrible for so many people who are worse off. Yes, our house was smacked around a bit but we are lucky and will recover from this (pending available supplies and a capable contractor). Some of my students STILL don’t have running water (getting it back today). All will be well just need to push ahead.

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Snowvid event didn’t damage my house … Blessed in that I never lost power.

However, last fall I got ran over by an underage unlicensed drunk driver while sitting at my computer in my bedroom “While sheltering safely in place at room at my computer around midnight.” Asked the police to a take a picture on my phone before they hauled me off to the hospital.

I called USAA from the hospital, day after surgery. After sending the picture, the reply was: “Do you want to choose a contractor or use one of ours?” I said “You pick one”, Their reply “I’ll send an estimator.” I’m guessing they figured the claim was valid without further details.

From my prospective, using a contractor that insurance company (USAA) choose I knew it was someone they trusted, was going to provide quality work since contractor wants keep USAA as steady source of work, I wouldn’t have a fight over the bid submitted - the contractor and USAA settled all that, plus claim couldn’t be closed if I had problems with work which would impact contractor rating with insurance company. My deductible would be the same whether I used their contractor or mine.

Now, I can say in the 44 years I’ve been with USAA I’ve never had any problems with claims so I trust them. May not be true with other companies and your experience may be different.

Only problems have been getting replacement windows, three different sizes and types. Due to Covid building materials are back logged due to supply chain disruptions. Still waiting for those. I imagine plumbing supplies will be be facing similar issues as mentioned above. But interior is complete.

The car missed me by a direct hit by 18", I was setting at a built-in desk at the window, just to the right. Was thrown across room and buried in some ruble.

I did have pipe bust during a freeze (1984) on the second floor when going to school in Topeka … I empathize with everything all y’all are going through. It buckled all my oak hardwood flooring.

Best of luck and wishes for everyone going through this ordeal. Plagues, floods, what heck is next?

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