Welcome to OrchidsForum.com. We are a friendly online community for Orchid Growers all over the world. If you haven't joined yet we invite you to register and join our community. Hope to see you on our forums!

Lost power today.

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Forrest, Feb 15, 2009.

  1. Forrest

    Forrest Really Neat

    Messages:
    2,300
    Likes Received:
    27
    Location:
    Northern California
    So, this morning I was out in the GH watering. No sooner did I finish up then the heater and the fan shut down. Crap.

    So, I wait a while, an hour then two, no power. I thought I would go out there and see how cold it is. Well, I can see my breath. So its cold enough. plus there is probably 6 inches of water on the floor. Lame. Well, no power, no sump.

    So I spend the next 45 digging out my backup heater and getting it out there.

    literally, I was lighting the match to light the heater and the fan turns on. then my heater. Then the sump.

    So, I turned up the heat, turned up the fan. The sump pumped out all the standing water.

    Hopefully I don't get any rot from everything being wet and cold for a few hours.

    I am sure things will be fine. I will hit it with some banrot or something tomorrow just for good measure.
     
  2. JonP

    JonP all that Supporting Member

    Messages:
    844
    Likes Received:
    27
    Location:
    Salinas
    That sucks. Hope everything pulls through.
     
  3. Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

    Messages:
    13,633
    Likes Received:
    3,429
    Location:
    Santa Rosa, CA
    I've had similar events. Didn't really have any problems (except for the stuff on the floor). Hope the power stays on.
     
  4. Clark

    Clark Gator Member

    Messages:
    1,297
    Likes Received:
    38
    Location:
    The Gator Nation
    Forrest, what do you use for backup heat. I always have two propane tanks around and have hot burners to ignite on top of them. I worry most when the power goes out and it's 96 F outside.
     
  5. Forrest

    Forrest Really Neat

    Messages:
    2,300
    Likes Received:
    27
    Location:
    Northern California
    Same thing most likely Clark. I have a little tank top heater. One that screws onto a 20lb propane tank.

    Marni, me too.

    Plus, when the power goes out we have no heat in the house either. which sucks.
     
  6. Posey

    Posey New Member

    Messages:
    350
    Likes Received:
    1
    Glad its back on but what I wanna know is does your sump have to run all the time to keep water from building up on the floor? Why did that happen?
     
  7. Forrest

    Forrest Really Neat

    Messages:
    2,300
    Likes Received:
    27
    Location:
    Northern California
    it just runs every once in a while. The water tables are pretty high here I guess. So when we get a lot of rain it fills up. My GH is sunk into the ground so the water seeps into it.
     
  8. T. migratoris

    T. migratoris Active Member

    Messages:
    588
    Likes Received:
    64
    Location:
    Mother Lode area, California
    Power outages are the number one reason I've drug my feet on the greenhouse project. I figure it's best to wait until I have the money & wherewithal to set up proper primary heating, cooling & control/alarm systems with backups. It can get brutally hot here in the summer (110F+) and reasonably cold in the winter (15F or so). No room for error in a small house. Great post - thanks for the reality check.
     
  9. YEAHYEAH

    YEAHYEAH Member

    Messages:
    57
    Likes Received:
    2
    That's the main reason I went with southern burner heaters, no power needed.
     
  10. Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

    Messages:
    13,633
    Likes Received:
    3,429
    Location:
    Santa Rosa, CA
    I love mine. A few years ago we had heavy rain on New Years and lots of flooding. I live on dead flat land and there was no where for the water to go. It finally got up high enough to put out the pilot. Got up the next morning and lit it up again.
     
  11. Jon

    Jon Mmmm... bulbophyllum...

    Messages:
    4,437
    Likes Received:
    105
    Location:
    Denver CO, USA
    My temps go from 110f in the summer to -20f in the winter. Summer backup = tap water = 60f & a sprinkler head. Winter backup = MrHeater. I have a 2 head and a 1 head.