My Super-Insulated windows aren't helping!

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Window4U (IL)
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:46 am
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My Super-Insulated windows aren't helping!

#1 Post by Window4U (IL) »

Yes, I have windows that are in the top 1% of all windows for energy savings, ....and I'm still freezing!

But,...it's not the window's fault. We are part of the 2 million people out of power in Illinois and throughout the midwest because of a severe ice storm (followed by a foot of snow) and have been out of power for about 36 hours.
The people down the street got their power on yesterday afternoon and were proudly showing off their tens of thousands of Christmas lights last night while we were freezing in the dark. For some reason that makes no sense that just makes me mad ......GRRR!
I woke up this morning and it was (and is) 39 degrees in my home. I guess that's still better than the 11 degrees it was outside. I tried going to a motel last night, but to no avail. I don't think there's an empty room within 200 miles.
May I give some suggestions to those of you who haven't had this happen to you. Make arrangements to have a backup heat source that doesn't need electricity to work, or buy a generator. Even a gas stove will keep you comfortable. My folks had just gotten a gas stove back in the early 90's when they had an ice storm in early march and lost power for 11 days. That gas stove kept them alive and kept them eating.
I actually have a new gas stove for just this sort of thing. I bought it to replace the electric one in my kitchen .........it's sitting in my garage with a bunch of boxes piled on top of it. And yes, my wife has asked me a hundred times over the last 36 hours why I've procrastinated since buying the stove and not gotten her new stove upstairs and new gas lines run. I told her to give me a break.....it's only been a year since I bought the stove.:oops:
Well, time to drive back home from where I'm getting wireless signal and see if I can get gas lines run through the basement and through the room addition crawlspace with no power, no lights, and dead batteries in my cordless tools. It's going to be a fun day....

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Randy
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#2 Post by Randy »

I feel your pain Dave. Here in Houston it actually got down to freezing last night, and just might again tonight. And the daytime highs are down in the 50's! I'm freezing, just like you! Thank goodness I have electricity, or I wouldn't be able to watch OU kick the crap out of Nebraska tonight.

Seriously, I wish you well during your hard times Dave. Stay safe, and let us know when all is well again.

Guy
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Location: Minnesota

#3 Post by Guy »

Dave, sorry to hear the storm knocked the power out. I went through that stuff back in the mid 80's and swore I'd never get caught with my pants down again. We're suppose to be such wise old Owl's at our age. When it happened to me my Owl smarts were miles away. Ten hours later I realized I had my warehouse heater we call Chernobyl in the garage. It has two settings on or off. In the on position it blasts at 250,000 BTU's, now you know why we call it Chernobyl. So that kept the house nice and toasty. I rigged a thermostat box up to it and set it at 60°. When it kicked on it warmed up fast. I also have my ice fishing house heaters we use during the Ice Fishing season. They can keep a bedroom warm with no problem at all. Just make sure you have some fresh air to vent the fumes out. there's not many fumes at all but better safe then sorry.

I've since purchased a 10K generator to hook into the electrical box outside. This will run most of the things we need to be comfortable at least. We get power outages every Summer when the bad storms roll through. I even buried all my utilities underground so fallen trees don't clip me off. I just wish the rest of the neighbors would do the same.

I'm surprised you don't have any Icehouse heaters laying around from your days in da great white Nort. You can get a good three burner for around $50 at Walmart or Fleet Farm. I'm sure their all sold out of anything by now. I feel the cold with you my friend! We've been hovering around 10° here all week. Yesterdays winds were the worst though. I'd rather have it at 0 than have it at 20 with some wind blowing. The wind is by far the worst thing in the cold. It can really make your day horrible when that wind kicks up out of the North. I guess it's time to start cutting some wood and build a bonfire in the living room. A wood burning stove could also be the ticket. In any case I hope your electricity comes on before our mighty Vikings play Da Bears. The Vikes are a frustrating team to watch lately. Hopefully all the Bears lost power and are also very cold. By the way, you don't have an inverter in your truck for charging cordless batteries. I'd die without mine. The help out when there's no electricity in the area. Good Luck and stay warm!!!

Window4U (IL)
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:46 am
Location: Sales and Installation in Chicagoland and Central Illinois

#4 Post by Window4U (IL) »

Day 7

Well, it's day 7 since we had the ice storm and we still have no power.

Even worse, it's day 6 since Ameren IP came out and restored power to all the doctors, dentists, lawyers, and city councilmen across the street, ...then left never to be seen again.
Words cannot describe the irrational anger that occurs when you are in a situation like this. I have driven around the city for an hour or two every day since this disaster, and have seen a total of 3 trucks working in all that time. I am not criticizing the workers themselves as they are working their asses off in bad conditions. But... the company has hardly been seen in my city, and we were the hardest hit in the entire storm.
Our mayor went out personally earlier this week and looked for Ameren trucks and couldn't find one in 3 hours of looking. He really reamed them in the next morning's news conference. Go mayor!

In the meantime, the power company's media department says they have 7,000 people working on restoring our power (LMAO) and are citing this as an example of why they really need to raise our rates 55% on January 2nd. BULL!!

The local paper today says the Illinois Commerce Commission is opening a probe into this much criticized recovery effort, and the Lt. Governor is also calling for another investigation as well. I'll second that motion.

Alacoyote
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#5 Post by Alacoyote »

I'm really feeling for you, Window4U. It's going to be in the 'teens here tonight and people act like the ice age is upon us. Having grown up in WV, where real winter weather does exist, I laugh at them, but even when I lived up north we were fortunate to have never lost power for such an extended period of time. Bundle up, pray for those price-gouging power folks to get their act together soon and, if all else fails, grab some of those cheap wooden single-pane windows you've torn out of customer's houses and build a big bonfire! Best of luck.

Window4U (IL)
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:46 am
Location: Sales and Installation in Chicagoland and Central Illinois

#6 Post by Window4U (IL) »

Thanks.

Well, it's Day 8, and I think I have some good news coming as there are several power trucks from another state circling my block. The criticism and talk of investigations must have done some good in getting extra help....? I went for a drive this morning and there are trucks everywhere now. I saw at least 50 trucks in my half hour drive. Hallelujah.

My only downer is that my efforts to save my almost new hot tub on my deck have failed. Several pipes on it are busted and the motor and heating element are solid with ice. Without power, I couldn't circulate the antifreeze I added and draining it didn't empty the water out of the lower pipes and motor assembly. My really good news is that my efforts to keep the plumbing in the house from freezing were successful.

So, my damage totals seem to be the hot tub, some minor roof damage, a broken bathroom window a tree went through, and a totally smashed gazebo that a tree fell on, and a week of being very cold.
I count myself as very lucky as many have it much worse than I.

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Windows on Washington
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#7 Post by Windows on Washington »

That sucks buddy. Glad you made it out without be too punished.

Window4U (IL)
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:46 am
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#8 Post by Window4U (IL) »

WE HAVE POWER!!
It just came on. What a treat!

Now........does anyone have any suggestions for a good window brand I can put in my bathroom to replace the broken one?

Dallas Burgher

How many of your pipes froze?

#9 Post by Dallas Burgher »

I had the same thing happen to me for a day in the 1980s and we had 13 breaks in the water lines. Nightmare!

Window4U (IL)
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:46 am
Location: Sales and Installation in Chicagoland and Central Illinois

UPDATE

#10 Post by Window4U (IL) »

I hate to resurrect this old thread but I just found out this weekend about some belated damage we got from the ice storm that just showed up ....and thought I'd complain a little more. :wink:

The water spigots on both the front and back of my home have big ruptures in them that didn't show themselves until my wife watered the outdoor plants and washed down the deck, sidewalks, etc. on Friday. They didn't start leaking until the extended freeze-proof valves were opened, which flooded the lower level with a spraying deluge for a couple hours which soaked the carpeting, ruined thousands of photos as well as clothes, sewing fabrics, artwork, and all our other stored "good junk".
I've been working all day cleaning and piling stuff up. A dumpster is coming in the morning so we can basically gut our basement.
This is not all bad. I've been wanting my wife to clean her junk out of the basement for a long time so I can tear out our "1964 cuban missile crisis nuclear bomb shelter" and remodel the basement. We'll just be a little ahead of schedule now.

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Windows on Washington
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#11 Post by Windows on Washington »

That really sucks about the pictures and irreplacables. More fallout from the deep freeze.

researcher
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#12 Post by researcher »

Our neighbors bath tub valve blew out when it froze; they sound asleep when it happened. The tub drain was not working well, so the tub overflowed and there was major water damage to ceilings, floors and walls. The tub is on the second floor with the valve located on the outside wall.

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