Thoughts & Prayers for Laura and Lou(Herk)

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Weezer

Is a whole house generator an option for y'all?

Mom was on oxygen for the last three years of her life, and while we got them on the "first fixed" list, Dad has the whole house generator for "insurance" (as he's approaching that situation quickly now).

Or maybe solar panel for part of the house....there were HUGE rebates for installation of solar for a few years...not sure those are still in effect.

I do have a 5,000 watt (6500 peak) Coleman generator that will power the house, but it is LOUD (can hear it three blocks away) and involves disconnecting the house from the grid to run (so we don't know when the power is restored).

It is also not quite quite large enough to run the Central Air and the other "not controlled" AC items like the fridge, sump pumps, electronic equipment like computers/drives, and the cycler. I initially went to the generator, but it was running at it's peak RPM and I could not determine (based on a run through the house) what was causing the high load (besides the obvious).

Decided to not antagonize the neighbors all night and worse yet, run out of gas at 4 AM. You can't hear the Yamaha more than 20 feet from the generator so it was faster (easier) to go that route and shut the beast off.

The Yamaha uses 1/2 the fuel at its full rated load of the Coleman generator, is dead quiet, and can handle everything I need in the camper (including the cycler which has a large bag heater).

A larger generator with change-over might be in the future, but we do not have NG in the street and a house gasoline/diesel only generator would just be more maintenance. REALLY like having our life boat sitting in the driveway.

As an aside, I found that the DW has two heating pads for her back issues (one in the LR chair and one by the bedside) and had left them both on.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by RPAspey

BTW, another 16+ hours on the clock. Another day tomorrow. I'm tired and going to bed. Gotta be back in the office in 6 hours.

I am sure if we called in a medical emergency our own power company would also "move heaven and earth" to get us power, but then since we do have a non-life threatening condition (if she misses one completely - but will feel like crap) and a "manual" way of doing the dialysis (you have got to see the Rube Goldberg process to believe it - but it works) that involves a smaller bag and drain that is used every 4 hours (we keep 12 on hand in case the cycler breaks and a new one needs to be delivered by overnight shipping. Watched a movie on the internet (and once by the PD nurse during her bi-monthly "PET" test) to see how its done), I would not even think of doing that.

Going to the ER is also pretty much out of the question since 90% of ER doctors are totally unfamiliar with the PD dialysis system and would try to default to hemo-dialysis (which in the ER is a germ control nightmare).

True story, when we were going home from her stay in the hospital, the hospital dietician came in and gave us "the talk" about her diet to be maintained when she went home due to her end stage renal disease. She spent over an hour telling us what foods she could no longer eat; yada yada. I asked her if this diet was appropriate for a person on PD and got the "deer in the headlight" look and after a brief pause, said "of course."

The next 3 days were hell till we went for our first training session with the PD nurse and I brought all the paperwork I get from the hospital dietician. The PD nurse threw it all in the trash and said, "this is total rubbish when on PD." Everything it says not to eat you need to push when on PD; like protein and potassium.

Water needs to be limited to about 48 ounces from all sources per day because it removes excess water from your body with dextrose in the PD fluid. The higher the concentration of dextrose, the more water is removed (BUT the more calories you get from the PD - not good - water out; sugar in).

Wow - that got out of control () but I spent too much time to delete it all.

Thank you for YOUR service. Without folks like you, the grid would be even more unreliable.

[RPAspey]

You're welcome. And yes, I'm getting ready to head back to work. About 6 hrs of sleep.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by Herk7769

I do have a 5,000 watt (6500 peak) Coleman generator that will power the house, but it is LOUD (can hear it three blocks away) and involves disconnecting the house from the grid to run (so we don't know when the power is restored).

It is also not quite quite large enough to run the Central Air and the other "not controlled" AC items like the fridge, sump pumps, electronic equipment like computers/drives, and the cycler. I initially went to the generator, but it was running at it's peak RPM and I could not determine (based on a run through the house) what was causing the high load (besides the obvious).

Decided to not antagonize the neighbors all night and worse yet, run out of gas at 4 AM. You can't hear the Yamaha more than 20 feet from the generator so it was faster (easier) to go that route and shut the beast off.

The Yamaha uses 1/2 the fuel at its full rated load of the Coleman generator, is dead quiet, and can handle everything I need in the camper (including the cycler which has a large bag heater).

A larger generator with change-over might be in the future, but we do not have NG in the street and a house gasoline/diesel only generator would just be more maintenance. REALLY like having our life boat sitting in the driveway.

As an aside, I found that the DW has two heating pads for her back issues (one in the LR chair and one by the bedside) and had left them both on.

Copy that Lifeboat Lou!

Here in Alabama, power outages are sorta-frequent, especially in Tornado/Hurricane season. A lot of folks (I am considering) have installed whole house propane generator/inverters. They are pricy, BUT you might be able to take a tax write off if a medical professional certified necessity (see your tax accountant).

The advantage of the propane units is they are *QUIET* they power the whole house (everything including A/C), and you are usually good to go for 4-5 days on one propane tank.

Here in AL, when you buy the unit from a propane dealer, you are also given priority top off service....in the tornado of 2012, parts of Huntsville were without power for 3+ weeks so the top off service came around every 3 days or so and refilled your tank.

Disadvantage: you have to have a 250 gallon propane tank on your property (although our next door neighbor has his well disguised.
It usually has to be situated no more than 150' from the street for refill access.

Hope this gives you another option to consider

[RVChick]

Hey Lou and Laura! Just found this thread. My prayers are with you both! Looking forward to seeing you both in Goshen! Hugs to you both!


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[Frank-VA]

Lou here is some information about Whole Home Systems:
Generac Power Systems | Home Standby Generators | Generac Power Systems

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Frank-VA

Lou here is some information about Whole Home Systems:
Generac Power Systems | Home Standby Generators | Generac Power Systems

My father in law has a generac 17kw whole house gennie.
Imo its loud especially when your sleeping 25 feet away in a coleman pop up.

I believe his was $5000.00 installed

[Arefbee]

The other nice thing about adding a Generac whole house unit is that it increases the value of the home.
Just pick which neighbor you like least and put it on that side. You can then soundproof that area of the house. The lp tank can be buried in some cases. I believe some units even test themselves automatically.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Arefbee

The other nice thing about adding a Generac whole house unit is that it increases the value of the home.
Just pick which neighbor you like least and put it on that side. You can then soundproof that area of the house. The lp tank can be buried in some cases. I believe some units even test themselves automatically.

I believe my fil's starts every two weeks.

[QCCowboy]

Prayers and thoughts to both you and Laura.

Just a little bit of info for you on whole house units. They are quite loud. Ours is a NG one and starts up once per week to perform a self test and, yes it noticeable. In fact I set it to run while we are at church on Sunday morning so it doesn't bother us too much. Most of the neighbors have them too so it is not as much of a bother.

I looked at ours as an insurance policy. We spent just under $5k installed, but after last week with 12 hours without power and 5" of rain, I am sure it has saved us that much and more. Our sump pump ran every 10 seconds for a while during this time.

If a whole house generators is something you want to invest in, don't just look at Web site's, estimate appliances and rooms, and then choose a size. I did that at first and then called around. My 'Web site recommendation' was a 25kw unit based on my inputs. Had an electrician come out. He put a fluke on our box, and measured our average usage as it was (actually came out at night when we were at home and doing normal activities.) He than went around with me and we lit the place up. Turned on everything we could. Wound up with a 14kw unit that runs it all. He also wired it in differently than the Generac's are wired. They have a separate sub panel that you select your circuits to light up (at least the ones you'd buy at a big box store.) he made our main panel a sub panel and put the main panel/transfer switch in front of it. Simple and effective. We have a GE unit that will also shut off the AC if the draw is to great, but hasn't ever done that. 7 year warranty as well.

Last week while ours was running during the storms, I took our portable Champion over from friends house to friends house to help try and save their basements!

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by RVChick

Hey Lou and Laura! Just found this thread. My prayers are with you both! Looking forward to seeing you both in Goshen! Hugs to you both!


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

Did sorta grow thanks to OC starting it. Has become a blog of our fight to keep RVing in the face of a near "show stopper" medical issue.

So, even though last night was in our driveway:

WE ARE CAMPING!

and it COUNTS for day one of the 2014 season.

Pushing off in an hour for the Watkins Glenn Rally.

Much love from Laura and I for all your support.
Lou

[TURBS]

I applaud your upbeat attitude and willingness to forge ahead!
Driveway camping was assuredly the best "shake down" to make sure you and lovely Laura were confident that you could make it work!
I only hope MS Amy and I can have the same courage and fight to do the same in a similar situation.

You tell Laura were thinking about her and she's got the best person in the world to take care of her bar none!

Turbs n MS Amy

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

I applaud your upbeat attitude and willingness to forge ahead!
Driveway camping was assuredly the best "shake down" to make sure you and lovely Laura were confident that you could make it work!
I only hope MS Amy and I can have the same courage and fight to do the same in a similar situation.

You tell Laura were thinking about her and she's got the best person in the world to take care of her bar none!

Turbs n MS Amy

Man, I hate to have to agree with you again FT Turbs, but for once you hit it SPOT ON with this one.

[Weezer]

Ok this is weird. this is Turbo's post as it appears here for me:

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1 ROK WUD
Hello all, great forum and proud to be a new member as well as a Rockwood owner!

We recently picked up our 2007 8318SS but did not order the optional RVQ grill since we already owned one. Dealer said the plumbing is installed at the factory even if you don't order the RVQ. Well, upon delivery we noticed the RVQ bracket was installed, the shelf was included and the exterior hatch for the LP hose was installed - but no hose! We removed the power converter to see if the hose fell into the void behind the oven, but no hose! The dealer is not certain how to install the hose but "thinks" they can make it work. I would feel better if someone knows how the gas line is plumbed, can provide pictures, diagrams, etc...

Thanks!

I applaud your upbeat attitude and willingness to forge ahead!
Driveway camping was assuredly the best "shake down" to make sure you and lovely Laura were confident that you could make it work!
I only hope MS Amy and I can have the same courage and fight to do the same in a similar situation.

You tell Laura were thinking about her and she's got the best person in the world to take care of her bar none!

Turbs n MS Amy

[TURBS]

Fixed.
Not sure how that happened!

[Weezer]

Me either Turbs, but I'm getting tons of glitches here lately on this forum. Just figured it was more of the same.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Weezer

Me either Turbs, but I'm getting tons of glitches here lately on this forum. Just figured it was more of the same.

Funny thing is I never quoted lou.

[Arefbee]

Big thumbs up Herk.

[2damcold]

Sending thoughts and prayers to your family that everything works out for the best.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

I applaud your upbeat attitude and willingness to forge ahead!
Driveway camping was assuredly the best "shake down" to make sure you and lovely Laura were confident that you could make it work!
I only hope MS Amy and I can have the same courage and fight to do the same in a similar situation.

You tell Laura were thinking about her and she's got the best person in the world to take care of her bar none!

Turbs n MS Amy

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Man, I hate to have to agree with you again FT Turbs, but for once you hit it SPOT ON with this one.

X3 - Lou & Laura you guys are a shing example of "Nothing Keeps Us Down!!" 6 Actual and I can hardly wait to meet ya'll in Goshen! Enjoy the Rally this weekend!

LOL on Driveway camping -- guess i need to up our days by 2 as well - We spent Tue & Wed in the camper seeing how it worked with only one A/C JIC they cannot replace the BR A/C before we leave for Goshen